Ellington

The discussion that filled the HUB Auditorium last night echoed one concern over and over again: money.

During the Town Hall meeting on Budget Cuts and Financial Aid, which was hosted by ASUW, Young Democrats, College Republicans, and RHSA, UW administrators addressed several student and worker financial concerns in light of the current economic crisis, one of which was the issue of budget cuts.

UW administrators have faced criticism from activist groups on campus, such as the Student Worker Coalition, as to how the cuts in state funding to the university have been handled.

President Mark Emmert said that this anger has been “misplaced.”

“None of us like what’s going on right now,” he said in his opening remarks at the meeting. “When folks come in and they get unhappy with me or the Regents or someone else, in a lot of ways, that’s misplaced anger. The budget is being cut in Olympia, not in Seattle. … That’s where we need to focus our attention right now. And that’s what students need to be involved in.”

However, Senior Audrey Thomason later pointed to figures from the Education Appropriations Committee which indicate that, despite about a 20-percent cut to the UW’s state funding, the university’s overall budget is increasing by 5 percent and has increased by about 150 percent in the past decade.

“You have money,” she said. “Where are you putting it?”

Emmert and Randy Hodgins, vice president of External Affairs, responded by saying that the budget increases are specific to increased funding for the UW hospitals and research and cannot be used for any of the other operations at the university.

“The only reason that the aggregate budget of the UW has grown at all during that period is because of the success of our faculty in getting research dollars,” he said. “When our faculty get a research grant, they [use] that money for a specific project. They can’t use that money for anything else, unless they like jail.”

UW administrators have also received criticism regarding their salaries and how they have allegedly refused to take pay cuts, despite the critical financial condition of the university.

“We recognize the job that you have done for the university and your potential for being one of the best university presidents in the nation,” sophomore Camilo Moreno-Salamanca said. “At the same time, we can’t really shy away from the elephant in the room. How do you believe that your reluctance to take a pay cut will not undermine your efforts in terms of raising funds for the university?”

Emmert refuted this claim and said that he has taken a pay cut by not accepting any salary increases. He revealed that his salary has not increased since 2007.

During a phone interview after the meeting, Emmert added that in 2008, the Board of Regents offered him a 5-to-6-percent pay raise, but he did not accept it.

“I don’t anticipate that my pay will ever go up again in my life,” he said. “But, you know, the fact of the matter is that we look at all our salaries [across the university] … and we manage it as effectively as we possibly can.”

Amid the concerns over the effects of budget cuts to the university, one solution proposed to offset the deficit and generate new revenue was to look at the state’s tax system. If Washington state were to implement a state income tax, the revenue from this tax could fill the state’s budget shortfall.

“We all know what the missing part of Washington’s tax system is,” Hodgins said. “We have, perhaps, one of the most backward and regressive tax systems in mankind. It was designed in 1932; it’s 2010. If I were [a student], and I wanted to be politically active, that’s where I would be spending my time, supporting candidates who are willing to take that issue on.”

As a closing remark, Emmert said that he understands the student and worker concerns, but that the UW populous has to work collectively in order for the university to survive the current financial crisis.

“There are many things to be angry and frustrated about, but being angry and frustrated about it isn’t going to solve anything,” he said. “We need to find some ways to work collaboratively, together, to deliver the kind of messages of what value the UW is to the state and to all of our citizens and encourage them to support us. That’s the fundamental problem that we face right now, and not enough people understand that and care about it, and we need your voices to be joined in with that chorus.”

Reach reporter Joanna Nolasco at news@dailyuw.com.