Last Wednesday, at the Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, figures were released by the California State University showing that 53.83 percent of freshmen students entered CSUs in the Fall 2001 semester were proficient in Math and English.

Why does the CSU system even bother worrying about proficiency in Math and English for incoming freshman? All Sacramento State President Donald Gerth seems to talk about is about how enrollment at Sac State is increasing, as if he is running a business and getting more customers.

What?s so great about a state college, you can call it a university if it makes you feel better, that admits anyone with a pulse and a seventh grade reading level?ahh, high school diploma.

Unfortunately this has serious ramifications for students. They cannot graduate in four years because it?s impossible to get into the classes they need. They cannot find a decent parking spot within 15 minutes of their class. The value of their degree is diminished by the parity of the school.

The corporatization of the campus suggests Gerth doesn?t care; all he cares about is the financial success of the University. He doesn?t care how long you stay here, as long as you can come up with a thousand dollars every semester. And if you can?t come up with the cash, it?s like that old saying, “You can stay anywhere, but you can?t stay here.”

The CSU system is full of contradictions. The Trustees in Long Beach act like they are serious about education, but if Gerth had a 95 percent graduation rate and fiscally ran the University like Associated Students, Inc., he would be fired in a heartbeat.

Trustee Ralph Pesqueira, in Friday?s San Francisco Chronicle, said, “I don?t think we are paying our teachers to be teaching high school subjects.” What he really meant was, “I don?t think we need to hire part-time faculty members, who make less than full-time high school teachers, to be teaching high school subjects. We as a system are getting the short end of the stick. They should be getting under paid to teach college subjects.”Education has slowly become the largest racket since the inception of organized religion. You get somebody who has serious convictions and passion to propagandize your message, clothe them in rags and let them travel the countryside. The only difference is that the message is education, teachers wear the Old Navy catalogue and they travel the freeways and work at five different schools so they can afford to pay their rent. I once had a teacher, a very intelligent one, who confided to the class that we, her students, probably made more money than she did last year. This is deplorable.

I say we trim the fat off of the administrative level of our school and the CSU system and hire more full-time faculty and lower tuition. Gerth makes about $75,000 more a year than Governor Gray Davis. No, that?s not a typo; there are no extra zeros in there. Now I?ve got to admit that I am just barely proficient in Math, but that is insane.

Be the one to finally shut this guy up. E-mail Matt Wagar at [email protected]