University Pay Raises

Re “Board Approves Raises for Cal State University Officials,” Sept. 17, and “Regents Vote Raises for Top UC Executives,” Sept. 21:

I can’t begin to tell you how enraged I am at the outrageous disregard for intelligent use of taxpayers’ dollars. Besides the salary increases, how much additional is involved in pension benefits and other perquisites that usually go unnoticed until bankruptcy is imminent? What are the total salary packages?

In private enterprise the executives generally have to produce noticeable, measurable results, which have some bearing on their salaries and perks. Why aren’t similar results reported for all these indispensable university prima donnas?

ROBERT WHITNEY

Monterey Park

Once again, top public employees are excusing their pay raises by claiming they must be “competitive” with the private sector to attract highly capable people.

We, the public, should keep in mind that there is a different set of rewards for working in the public and private sectors. There are many highly capable people who value public service over the profit motive and are willing to make the trade-off. These are people we should seek to run our public institutions.

STEPHAN FOLEY

Venice