Chico State President Paul Zingg’s job is essentially to raise money for the university. He’s paid more than $300,000/year to do just that. I would think that would entail meetings with lots of local civic groups, maybe a local scholarship program, even working with the local high schools to raise local attendance, etc.
No, apparently, it means, e-mailing the local newspaper and telling them, “Chico State’s total loss of general-fund funding in this latest scenario (would) be about $33 million…We are facing program eliminations and significant negative impacts on our workforce in this scenario. Not to mention threats to supporting student access and progress to degrees.”
So, he’s threatening to kick our kids out of school unless…
“The November election will be critical because if the tax measure is not approved by voters, there could be long-lasting damage to the system based on another $250 million cut.”
…unless we raise our sales tax by a minimum of half a cent.
Well, let me tell you something folks, I went to Chico State – graduated Suma Cum Laude! That’s Latin for, ”we got all the money we could out of her!”
My experience at Chico State was that of a turnip being squeezed. I had to sit through classes that made me feel as though somebody was putting a plastic bag over my head for 50 minutes. I had teachers who should have retired years earlier, but were riding their bullet-proof “tenure.” I had teachers who sat in front of the room and point blank told us Chico State was a piece of shit – one teacher used the term “Sausage School” – and still expect us to show up every day. One teacher told us, in a lengthy lecture, that he felt the grade system was bad for students’ morale and self-esteem, but when we asked him why he still gave letter grades, he said, “I know you guys, you’re tough enough to handle it!”
I had a couple of wonderful teachers – okay, make that three. Two had been great in their day, but were beyond retirement, and getting forgetful and distracted. One of these guys still works in the department, I mean, he’s practically mummified!
The third was still sharp, admitting to me that half her class should not be passed, but the college “doesn’t like too much failure…” She actually complained to me that “Chico State populates most of the area schools with teachers, probably 30 percent of whom are not qualified…” This she told me on finals day, when she had to give a group an ‘A’ on their group project, simply because one of their members hadn’t shown up and the project was ruined. It wasn’t their fault, so she gave those who showed up an A, even though she admitted their project didn’t show much work. These gals, some of whom couldn’t write a complete sentence and often didn’t understand the course work, are now teaching in schools all around us, maybe teaching your children or grandchildren!
If you have a child at Chico State I would certainly recommend a visit to their classes, and make it surprise. Unless every seat in the room is packed, the teacher has to let you in. Wait a few weeks – these classes always start brimming over, but by the end, the teacher is lucky to have a dozen students left. I know the feeling – sometimes, the last two weeks of a class was the worst, and people would begin to drop like flies. I’ve been to finals where only a handful of the original 30 – 40 students even bothered to show up.
The level of teaching I suffered was horrific. Good teachers teaching down because they knew their students were not prepared. Poor teachers bumbling on day after day, knowing they can’t be fired. I felt like I lost years of my life, and then there was the money! I paid my own way through school, working minimum wage jobs. Boy, did I feel like a sucker.
In fact, toward the end – and this happened to plenty of other students – my department head made me retake 9 units I’d already taken at Sacramento State. She said they didn’t transfer, and she made me do it. It was awful – one class even used the same textbooks as my previous teacher, I just had to sit through an entire semester of rehash. When I went to Evaluations, they told me I was nine units over, and I could have already graduated. It wasn’t a coincidence that my department head was removed about a semester later. I heard the same story from more than half a dozen of my fellow studentsover the course of one semester. The department you major in gets your money, the longer they can keep you the better for them. Liberal Studies department head Sara Armstrong kept me, and Gawd knows who else, for an entire semester that I didn’t need to take or pay for, just to get money for her department. And, they didn’t fire her, they removed her from the department, they gave her another job – secretary to another staffer. I’m not sure, but I think it was Scott McNall, I’ll have to ask him.
So excuse me when I say, go ahead and CLOSE CHICO STATE. Send Zingg packing. I don’t think he could get a job in the private sector – maybe he could run a medical school in Grenada or something. But if he thinks I’m paying another half cent on the dollar to foot his lifestyle up at 14 Mile House, he better think again.