By now, many students have heard about the Sep. 2 meeting held by the Board of Regents. In a teleconference call, the UW System Board of Regents and their fearless leader, Board President Katharine Lyall, attempted to “adjust” salary ranges of UW System chancellors. In plain English, that means they would have raised the salaries of most, if not all, of the chancellors at four-year universities in the UW System.

Fortunately, these pay increases have been delayed — hopefully for the foreseeable future — as a deal was struck between Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and the board. Lautenschlager will not prosecute a possible violation of the open meetings law, and the board has rescinded its decision.

Apologists for the original decision will claim that salary ranges for the chancellors must be increased to keep the chancellors’ positions competitive. According to John Stott, a state legal fiscal analyst, chancellor positions at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stevens Point still need to be filled; interim chancellors have currently been running these universities. And after all, as defenders of the regents will point out, the salary increases would only have totaled about $98,000 (as reported by the Associated Press) — a mere drop in the bucket, right?

So we need to keep the chancellors’ positions “competitive,” hmm? What does that mean, exactly? Are the current UW chancellors going to vacate their positions if they don’t receive pay increases? Well, let them. I’m sure there are plenty of qualified UW administrators or other candidates who’d be more than willing to take the job (a big promotion) at the current salary rates. Regardless of the salary amount, are we supposed to believe that such a bad decision would be made when hiring replacements for present or future chancellors? If that’s the case, then new people need to be doing the hiring.

While Lyall and the Regents deserve criticism for their actions, there is an even more pressing reason as to why these pay increases are a bad idea: the state can’t afford it. $98,000 might seem like a tiny blip in the budget. But if the situation is so dire that cash-strapped students must be further gouged of our incomes, and faculty positions must be slashed along with department budgets, then people who already make six figures each year (such as, oh, say, the chancellors) don’t need to be given even more of the state’s limited funds. If anything, the UW faculties should be receiving pay increases. Yet, that isn’t realistic, given the fiscal crisis our state faces. So of course, the logical answer is to give even more money to administrators who already make enough to support three or four working-class families for a year.

Oh, but wait! According to Stott, the chancellors’ salaries are paid mostly by tuition revenue and general-purpose revenue. For those who aren’t aware, “general purpose revenue” predominantly means tax dollars. So the state won’t have to worry about dipping into its wallet since enrolled students and Wisconsin taxpayers will be the ones funding any pay increases for chancellors.

Aw, I feel so honored.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that our university resources are drained while we simultaneously pay higher tuition and get less in return? On top of that, we’re forced to shell out additional money for administrative pay raises?

With that, I would like to issue a public challenge to Katharine Lyall and the Board of Regents. I would like to ask them to take the initiative by cutting the chancellors’ current salaries by 5-10 percent. After all, Lyall herself should understand the importance of a dollar. As Andrew Dowd, a columnist for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Spectator, reported on Oct. 16, Lyall now receives upwards of $300,000 as her own salary.

Since, as Gov. Doyle expressed, we all must share in the burden of the state’s budget problems, I believe it is only fair that the UW chancellors and regents also share in that joy.

I encourage everyone reading this to write to Katharine Lyall and persuade her to accept my challenge.

Pass her contact information along to your friends and professors, and ask them to do the same. If enough of us voice our concerns, administrative cuts for the UW might become reality.

Tony Eichberger ([email protected]) is a junior in electronic media from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.