Csu

Re "Colombian artist mixes light and dark," April 27 One of the reasons that peace negotiations in Colombia went forward was that the people were able to overcome their fear. And I honestly believe that for many Colombians, that came from watching artist Fernando Botero. He simply refused to be afraid. And being that way, he gave other people courage. Evan Dale Santos Adelanto, Calif. ALSO: Letters: Locking up kids Letters: CSU hunger strike Letters: Infrastructure in the U.S.

Cal State's crunch Re " CSU to freeze spring student rosters ," March 20 My daughter just graduated from Cal State Fullerton. My brother, two sisters-in-law, husband and I are all products of the Cal State system - Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge, San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona, with a combination of five undergraduate degrees and three master's degrees. I'm sure that my family echoes that of many middle-class Californians. Education is paramount to the success of the state and the nation.

As chairman of the governing board of the California State University system, Herbert L. Carter has positioned himself as a consensus builder at a time when the system has been battered as never before by budget cuts, student protests and discord over salary and hiring policies. The former president of the United Way and chairman of the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations has spent decades attempting to forge compromise with differing factions. But now he is struggling to bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats in the state Legislature to win a second term on the Board of Trustees.

Maybe the trustees of California State University need to take a remedial music class. Their tone-deafness is disturbing. A few months ago, CSU drew widespread criticism for setting the salary for the new president of San Diego State at $400,000 — an increase of $100,000 over what his predecessor had received. Now, the trustees are expected to approve a new compensation policy that, if it had been in place at the time, could have paid him close to $460,000. Salaries for new presidents at other campuses also could increase under the policy.

The California State University system is reportedly considering a salary cap for campus presidents, perhaps with incentives tied to campus graduation rates. Whatever its merits, any such cap should not be linked to graduation rates, a subject over which presidents have no direct control and one that can be misleading. Presidents are the public faces of their campuses. They do not run the academic programs. Admission requirements are established by law, which obliges campuses to admit increasing numbers of students who, on paper, are "qualified" but who, on arrival, soon prove to be poorly prepared for university-level work.

California State University is proposing to pay the new president of its San Diego campus $100,000 more annually than his predecessor, a move that is raising hackles as the university grapples with another round of student tuition hikes amid deep state funding cuts. If the plan is approved Tuesday by the Board of Trustees, San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman would receive annual compensation of $400,000 — $350,000 from the state and an annual supplement of $50,000 from the campus' nonprofit foundation.

Since he entered UCLA in 2006, Carlos Juarez has interrupted his studies at the Westwood campus four times in response to increasing fees. At Cal State Fullerton, the rising cost of her education has caused Michelle Santizo to reduce her status to part time, and the health science major will leave the school next semester to complete her coursework at a less-costly community college. The two students have come of age at a time of unprecedented change at California's public universities, when students and their families are being asked to pay a greater share of education costs because of declining state funding.

In an otherwise gloomy state budget deal, California's two public university systems emerged as rare winners, garnering significant infusions of extra revenue, officials said Wednesday. The additional money for UC and Cal State, combined with previously announced federal stimulus funds, is expected to help restore some classes and hire professors. "We are very pleased at this point," said Patrick Lenz, vice president for budget of the 10-campus University of California system. Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system, said in a statement: "We appreciate the commitment by the governor and the Legislature to reinvest in higher education.

The leaders of California's three systems of public higher education made a joint plea Friday for quick passage of the much-delayed state budget, warning of negative consequences on campuses if the deadlock in Sacramento continues much longer. "A late budget really hurts us in the pocketbook and simply denies more and more students access," said Jack Scott, chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Scott, along with University of California President Mark G. Yudof and Cal State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed, told a Los Angeles business forum that the lack of a state budget since July is causing the colleges and universities to borrow money, and said the situation threatens the ability of some students to enroll and receive financial aid. At Cal State campuses, for example, financial uncertainty could jeopardize tentative plans to admit transfer students for next winter or spring.

As California's public universities prepare to break with tradition and make broad use of waiting lists in their admissions decisions this spring, high school counselors and even some university officials worry about the emotional toll on students. For an applicant, getting onto a favorite school's waiting list offers a glimmer of hope that a spot on campus might eventually open up. But because relatively few students ever make the jump from waiting list to enrollment, some experts say the lists merely increase anxiety and extend an already stressful time for college-bound high school seniors.