Why European countries think we're nuts
With that in mind, here are three folks who work in the Lansing area whose annual income makes me wince. You, too?
#1 Person Who Makes Too Much: MSU Football Coach Mark Dantonio – $1.8 million – The university is shuddering in the face of looming budget cuts when the stimulus runs out. In comparison, the president of MSU only makes $520,000, which shows where the university’s priorities lie. And in exchange for this overly generous rate of pay, Coach Dantonio presided over a lackluster season that culminated in allegations that a number of his players launched a violent surprise attack on their fellow students. Maybe Dantonio should put aside part of his annual windfall to pay for around-the-clock minders for his young charges, since he has apparently had little effect on helping them grow up to become responsible citizens.
#2 Person Who Makes Too Much: Michigan Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Dan Loepp – $1.79 million in 2008 – Watching the health-care debate on Capitol Hill has made me sick. The free market for health care is brutal, since I really can’t take the time to comparison shop when my appendix has burst. Insurance companies, no matter whether they are for-profit or non-profit, are proving themselves our enemies and not our friends.
#3 Person Who Makes Too Much: Delta Dental CEO Thomas Fleszar – $1.6 million in salary and benefits in 2008 – See above about health care – just substitute a throbbing tooth for a burst appendix. Adding insult to injury, Delta Dental continues to cut local workers, even as City Pulse reportedits top 11 execs collected almost $10 million in salaries last year.
Bonnie, you are entitled to your own opinion on whether Dantonio is earning his paycheck. However, it should be made clear that the same fund that pays Lou Anna Simon’s salary is not the same fund that pays for Dantonio. Most universities, including MSU, have a separate athletic fund to pay for the coaches, the scholarships, etc. Not one dime of taxpayer money pays for Dantonio, the stadium, or the players’ tuition. (see http://www.msuspartans.com/spartanfund/annualfund.html)
While I generally agree with your point that Dantonio makes a lot of money, and the team is not at all well-behaved, I think not being clear about who pays for what is harmful. A person who didn’t know better would assume the university cared more about fielding a team of law-breaking melee causers than keeping the sign language programs intact, which is simply not the case. Moreover, it strikes and widens the gap between athletics and academics, when in reality, athletics bring an awful lot of exposure to the university, and are one reason some non-athletic fund donors are so proud of their degrees and experience and continue to fund the College of Arts and Letters, etc.
Definitely Mr. #2. Insurance rates go up, people who will actually get covered by the health care “reform” keeps fluctuating between “halfassed” and “token,” and this guy gets that much money to keep making money off of pain and keeping sick people from getting better.
I think football is an anachronism, a violent and sexist sport that leaves far too many young people seriously damaged, physically and emotionally. I remain baffled that universities continue to pretend the sport reflects civilized values. Somehow most community colleges survive just fine without recruiting aggressive young men to act as their gladiators.
It, quite simply, is the case that the university cares more, “about fielding a team of law-breaking melee causers than keeping the sign language programs intact.” It has to be the case because the university receives less than 30% of its funding from the public sector. Like any business operating within the private sector, MSU must be constantly vigilant of economic viability, of profit; education is merely an abstraction. They must therefore cater to the often nauseating priorities of those who provide the other 70% of that funding: private donors, corporations, research granting institutions(which are often federal), and the ever-expanding portion from tuition(which is and has, sadly, changed the demographic of this university to represent those more privileged in society: white suburban kids). It’s a sad state of affairs, but we must recognize the wider picture here. Money does not exist within two isolated worlds just as academics and athletics at MSU are not isolated from one another. We can demand academic justice! And in my opinion, we must or the quality of education will continue decline while it’s cost will price it out of the range of those who most disparately need it…
In a shameless plug: Come fight for education this January/February! We will be protesting the State of the State(which is tba as of yet), and holding our own State of the People outside of the Capitol to tell our legislators what actually needs to be done! We are a coalition of students, faculty, and community members concerned about both the state of higher education and preK-12. Contact me if you’re looking for more info: lynchke7@msu.edu.
Kevin, I understand your perception, but the reality is that athletics is a separate entity. Academic programs are not cut because the university spends on athletics — the university does not contribute to athletics. These are facts.
If any person truly wants to shore up the future of public funding for the university and for k-12 education, he or she must be willing to fight for higher taxes. Michigan simply doesn’t have enough revenue to fund the base priorities of the state — education, infrastructure, health care for the elderly, children and poor, etc.
I hope your rally is successful, Kevin, an I hope that you and your coalition present some concrete solutions. Our legislature needs to be pressured and needs to hear that we’re all willing to pay more for a real future. Best of luck.