State Colleges

Thanks to Alexander Cockburn (Column Left, May 17), the public is beginning to understand what is going on in higher education with the bloated administrations--the “pashas” of the systems. Two things are missing: 1) Many of these overpaid administrators span the gamut from the incompetent to the mediocre in ability--having failed as teachers and researchers. 2) In the case of the California State University system, the role of a politically appointed board of trustees in creating this state of affairs is missing.

With the firm belief that owning a restaurant, being a real estate developer, or--best--being a fund-raiser for Gov. Pete Wilson renders one supremely qualified, a group of amateurs and dilettantes lacking any real knowledge of higher education is succeeding in driving one of the greatest educational systems in the world straight into the ground.

LAURENCE SHUTE

Department of Economics

Cal Poly Pomona