Budget cuts start at top

Thursday, IU President Myles Brand announced the University's plan to absorb the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Frank O'Bannon. Brand announced that the majority of the cuts would come from administrative areas including travel expenses, supply costs and hirings. He also said cuts will come from information technology and repair renovation. Students could face paying an additional technology fee. \nBrand also announced that IU would have to eliminate some position at IU's Physical Plant, the department responsible for maintenance of IU's buildings and grounds. Brand told the IDS that "IU is doing our part...we will share this pain." But some of us will be sharing the "pain" more than others.\nWhile some Physical Plant employees could face a layoff at the beginning of next year, Brand also announced that there would be no freezing of salaries for faculty or upper-level administrators.\nAccording to the IU Financial Data Retrieval System, these are the 2001-2002 yearly salaries for the following IU administrators:\nMyles Brand -- $298,700\nSharon Brehm, Bloomington chancellor -- $250,000\nTerry Clapacs, chief administrative officer -- $200,850\nMichael McNeely, athletics director -- $250,000\nMichael McRobbie, vice president for information technology -- $236,900\nJudy Palmer, vice president and chief financial officer -- $200,850\nAll of the above administrators make significant and positive contributions to IU. But if serious cuts to the budget must be made, it is important that students, staff and faculty feel that the entire University community is in this together. Not freezing or cutting administrators' salaries while possibly laying off Physical Plant employees sends exactly the opposite message. \nLast year, Brand received just over a 10 percent raise, according to the IU Financial Data Retrieval System. The raise comes out to $26,700 more a year. Several of the overall yearly salaries for some Physical Plant employees are less than this amount.\nIn his speech Thursday, Brand stressed the importance of not letting possible budget cuts hurt the University's mission or its ability to build and attract world-class programs and employees. But for people who already work here -- particularly administrators who have invested time, effort and pride into this institution -- taking a salary cut to save the jobs of others would not drive them to seek other employment.\nIf Brand and the other administrators do feel that we are all in this together, they need to put their money where their mouths are for the greater good of all the people -- students and staff -- who think of the University as home.\nStaff vote: 16 - 0 -1\nyes - no - abstain