Sweet's appeal misses the mark

The president of Youngstown State University has taken to cyberspace to warn of disaster if the cuts in higher education funding made by the Ohio House aren't restored by the Senate.
In a "Dear YSU Alumni Member and Friend of the University" e-mail, Dr. David Sweet seeks help "in a statewide campaign to reverse the state's disinvestments in higher education."
The letter is classic academia. The president lays out some "startling facts" in an overview of Ohio's lack of financial commitment to its universities and colleges, and then details the effects on YSU.
"YSU is not asking to be spared its fair share of cuts," Sweet writes. "We have been doing a good job of increasing enrollment and driving costs out of our operations." He provides some cost comparisons with other institutions.
Sweet ends by asking alumni to write to their state senators urging support for more realistic funding for public higher education "by maintaining this year's funding levels for next fiscal year as proposed by the governor."
There's just one problem with Sweet's letter. It lacks oomph. What is the president willing to do in return for alumni intercession?
Here's what he should have written:
"Dear YSU Alumni Member and Friend of the University:
"I am writing to ask your help in a statewide campaign to reverse the state's disinvestment in higher education. But before I detail the effects of the funding cuts on YSU, I think a show of good faith on my part is necessary.
Major announcement
"Therefore, I today announce that I am giving up the pay raise I received from the trustees for this academic year, and I'm also giving up my car allowance.
"As for the $50,000 a year housing allowance that I receive, I have decided to sign over the equity of my house in Liberty Township to the university. Why? Because as a recent Vindicator article noted, the YSU Police Department provides drive-by security checks of my house whenever I am out of town.
"I can see where that may have rubbed many of you the wrong way. And my choice of words, that such security provided by the university police is 'reasonable and prudent,' was unfortunate. It simply confirmed the widely held public belief that we in academia don't live in the real world.
& quot;Why am I giving up my pay raise? Because I hope others on campus, most especially my top administrators and the faculty, will follow my lead. I now realize just how brazen we at YSU must have seemed in grabbing such exorbitant pay raises and other benefit increases at a time of high unemployment in the region's private sector.
"I now recognize that wage concessions, health insurance premium copayments and even layoffs are the rule today rather than the exception. And I also now realize just how hollow my argument sounded when, in justifying the huge pay increases for faculty and even my own, I talked about the need to keep highly qualified individuals at YSU.
"I am acutely aware that the Republican leadership in the General Assembly and the office of Republican Gov. Bob Taft know of the lucrative labor contracts entered into with the unions on campus and the golden compensation packages received by the administrators.
"At a time when state legislators are being urged to take a pay cut, and when the state's largest labor union agrees not only to zero percent wage increase, but also to health insurance copayment, what has occurred at YSU must certainly appear irresponsible.
"I, therefore, believe that as president I must take the lead in restoring the university's reputation, which has suffered statewide as a result of the press reports.
Comparisons
"I know that the whole issue of wages and benefits has triggered comparisons with other institutions of higher education. My colleague Dr. Carol Cartwright, president of Kent State University, got a lot of mileage from her decision to give up a portion of her salary. Also, she and her husband, Phil, have received high praise for their contributions to Kent State that now total $264,865.
"It certainly must be a lot easier for Kent State's alumni to write to their state senators urging a restoration of funding for their institution than it is for YSU's alumni to make the case for more money for ours.
"I hope my decision to give up my raise and to make other concessions will bolster your argument for an increase in state funding for YSU and the other universities and colleges.
"We're all in this together."