California State University trustees are understandably concerned about security and safety at their meetings, but canceling them is not the solution.
They're avoiding the real issue: As long as they keep giving big raises to top administrators while jacking up tuition, angry protestors are going to show up.
The potential for confrontation was particularly high at the now-nixed Monday meeting in Long Beach because of the topic – pay for campus presidents. The issue, a flashpoint for protesters, was symbolized in July when CSU trustees hiked tuition by another 12 percent, and then mere minutes later gave the new San Diego State president a salary of $400,000, $100,000 more than his predecessor.
After canceling Monday's special meeting, trustees plan to take up executive compensation at their regular session Jan. 24-25.
If they wanted to bury the issue, that isn't happening.
"If the CSU's so-called leaders think they can cancel this meeting and take it on in January without anyone noticing, they are badly mistaken. CSU students and faculty have seen enough and will hold the board accountable for their misplaced priorities," Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association, said in a statement.
CSU trustees are trying to avoid a repeat of the mayhem at their Nov. 16 meeting, where they voted to raise tuition yet again. The 9 percent hike, amounting to about $500 more in fall 2012, was approved in private after protesters disrupted the public meeting. Three police officers were injured by broken glass; four students were arrested; and at one point both police and students used pepper spray.
University of California regents also canceled a meeting last month for fear of violence and vandalism.
Last Monday, when shouting protestors interrupted proceedings, UC regents disconnected a teleconference and reconvened in rooms accessible to the media, but not the demonstrators. They still found time, however, to grant raises ranging from 6 percent to 22 percent for the chief lawyers at six UC campuses.
UC and CSU leaders could go a long way toward defusing the outrage with a simple act: Freeze pay for top executives during the budget crisis.
Protesters vehemently oppose higher tuition and executive pay increases and want UC and CSU leaders to support raising taxes on the wealthy to help pay for higher education. They also decry the use of force on demonstrators, including the infamous pepper-spraying at UC Davis.
These are real issues that deserve debate, but in a reasoned and civil way. Both sides need to do their part.
Protestors ought to realize that disrupting these meetings isn't the way to win public support on issues they care about. UC and CSU leaders must redouble efforts to come up with ways to have orderly meetings, but without heavy-handed security.
If they're waiting for things to calm down to hold meetings, it could be an awfully long wait.
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