State Voters Broke UC Promise

Re George Skelton’s “He’s Huge in the Capitol but Definitely Not Big Man on University Campuses,” May 17: The voters of California let the students down. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger merely was their agent.

There was a simple measure on the March ballot, Proposition 56 [to lower the Legislature’s vote requirement for budgets and taxes from two-thirds to 55%], that would have made it possible to keep the promise made that hard-working, meritorious students could attend the University of California. It would have made it possible, if still quite difficult, to raise taxes enough so that their dream would not be shattered. Of course, those people who voted against the proposition may have not realized that they were shifting the tax burden to the middle class from the wealthy. But that is how they voted.

The people of California voted, in effect, to slash enrollments at the campuses. They, not the governor, are responsible for the scholastic disaster to many of our promising young students.

Emil Lawton

Sherman Oaks

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Dick Meister’s May 18 commentary about executive salaries at the University of California is way off base. The UC is one of the finest systems of colleges in the world, and its extremely high ranking, even against the Ivy League schools, is due to the high caliber of executives that it has employed over the years. Most of these executives could command far greater salaries in the business world, with its stock options and bonuses, but their love of academia keeps them on their campuses.

Meister would do better to lobby for more money for schools of all levels than to aim his criticism at the few executives whose expertise keeps the University of California among the premier universities of the world.

Nate Rubin

Los Angeles

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Taxpayer money is not corporate money. Public institutions are not corporations. If a college or university president says, “Show me the money,” show him or her the door. Whatever happened to public service?

Beverly Cope

Valencia