Our View-Time for somebody else to take CSU wheel has come

When an employee earns a net salary nearly twice that of his or her boss there’s little incentive to make waves. Cronyism becomes the road most traveled because it’s less bumpy.

California State University Chancellor Charles Reed earns approximately double the annual salary as his boss Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That alone should explain why Reed hasn’t taken the “Educ-Hater” to the mat over CSU budget cuts and looming tuition increases.

The overpaid chancellor earned $421,500 last year compared to Arnold’s $212,179. The big difference, however, is that the millionaire movie star donated his salary to charity and “Chuckie Greed” did not.

Reed announced to all media within earshot that he would grovel for yet another 10 percent tuition increase at tomorrow’s Board of Trustees meeting. Reed waved a magic economic wand and predicted $306 in tuition hikes wouldn’t hurt the average undergrad. His reasoning was that state and federal financial aid would fill the hole.

If passed, overall estimated student costs for attending Cal State Long Beach will rise beyond $20,000 per year for undergrads.

The Daily Forty-Niner has persistently claimed that our landlord is merely Schwarzenegger’s evil minion in a plot to ultimately destroy California’s public higher educational systems. This is “Pinky and the Brain” on steroids.

Reed’s ploy is timed to catch CSU students — especially the current graduating class that won’t have to foot the bill — during finals; a time when it’s historically fortuitous to pull such schemes and expect little resistance. Timing is everything. Caps, gowns, got mine, “We’re out of here and ready for the real world” mentalities kill student movements — so the strategy goes.

CSULB students should be leading the charge in a revolt against Reed’s request. We are, after all, at Ground Zero because the vote will take place in our backyard. Only a few from The Beach, however, will protest the board meeting.

Reed’s logic is that increasing tuition by 10 percent will “maintain educational quality.” Shouldn’t such fee escalations be accompanied with increased educational quality? Under his reign, tuitions have more than doubled, far outpacing California’s inflation. “Educational quality,” however, has not more than doubled.

Students will still be shorted on course offerings and crammed into overcrowded classrooms. Approximately 10,000 hopeful students will still be rejected, forcing them to either drop out or be warehoused in community colleges.

Reed told the media that the problem is Sacramento and the Legislature. Bull! The problem is that Reed and the board didn’t represent the CSU in Sacramento or the Legislature whatsoever throughout the budget fiasco. That would be too much like work. He was the governor’s bitch, plain and simple.

The Alliance for the CSU was never a major player in fighting tuition increases in Sacramento. Administrators intent on protecting the system hijacked the movement. The only thing that really came out of that coalition was a tassel of “CSU is the Solution” lapel buttons and a bunch of lip service at staged campus events.

Students trusted educators to lead the charge and were led down a dirt road. The entire scenario has been set up to jack students through a process of misdirection and misrepresentation.

The old Plymouth is out of gas because the driver, Charles Reed, ignored the dashboard’s dummy light. It’s time for somebody else to take the wheel. CSU students are the engine that makes this system run, not Reed and his evil master.

Reed boasted at Tuesday’s news conference about a hiring freeze in his office, restricting travel for staff and freezing salaries for the university’s top executives and other “belt-tightening measures.”

He stopped short of cutting his own salary, though, after telling the San Francisco Chronicle, “These are tough times financially, and everybody needs to do their share.” He obviously didn’t consider himself as part of “everybody.”

We challenge all CSU students concerned with the value of their degrees to tell the board “Hell no.” If we let Reed and Schwarzenegger continue driving students and families to the poor house, our diplomas are worthless.

Reed will ask for the fee increase at tomorrow’s meeting and they will vote on it on Wednesday. The meetings are at the Office of the Chancellor at 401 Golden Shore in Long Beach. A student revolt needs to happen before the next generation gets sucked dry.

Our needs exceed Reed’s greed.