To spread the word and rally student support for a protest directed toward the Sacramento State administration planned for Jan. 29, the California Faculty Association hosted an open forum attended by nearly 100 concerned students, faculty and staff to discuss the university budget, faculty pay and other university issues in Riverside 1015 today.

“We have to tell the administration that they are not managing a Supercuts outlet at the mall, that this is a frickin’ university and that we have certain needs for the quality of this campus, for this enterprise, that a business doesn’t have,” history Professor Joseph Palermo said. “They’re imposing this neo-business model on this campus and it’s going to wreck the place.”

Scott Farrand, a math professor and one of the four speakers at the forum, presented a bar graph showing that University Advancement, which is in charge of fundraising and community relationships with Sac State, received a 52.7 percent increase in budget allocation, while Academic Affairs received 2.8 percent for the current school year.

The building of the new bookstore and the athletic facility are examples of the administration’s skewed priorities, Michelle Matison, a women’s studies professor, said.

Instead of fundraising for new buildings, President Alexander Gonzalez should be asking community members to contribute to academic programs, Matison said.

Palermo, who serves on the Strategic Planning Committee for the History Department, said the administration did not consider the effects of the budget cuts that were proposed last month and was “cavalier” in attitude when asking each department to reduce its budget.

While the budget cuts were deferred, the History Department would have had to increase class sizes, cut classes offered and lay off faculty members if the cuts were imposed, Palermo said.

Jerome Brown, a credential student who has a bachelor’s degree from Sac State, said he will not be back for his masters.

With current conditions of low faculty pay and lack of funding in educational programs, part-time professors are replacing quality full-time professors who are forced to find jobs else where for better pay, Brown said.

“Your degree is only as good as the people who teach and I don’t want to spend another dime on a degree that’s losing its credibility,” Brown said.

While students may want to just get their degrees and get out of Sac State, it’s important for them to get involved in the protest because the value of their degrees are dependent on the university’s reputation as an educational institution, Brown said.

Mary Chou can be reached at [email protected]