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Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Acknowledging ethnic districts encourages cultural diversity. Opinion 5

Men’s and women’s cross country sweeps competition. Sports 8

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Volume 112 Issue 3

CSUF PRESIDENT RECEIVES $98,000 PAY RAISE The 26% increase is more than triple the 7% faculty increase. SINCLAIR ANDRUSKA Asst. Editor

President Framroze Virjee received a $98,000 raise this academic year, an increase of about 26%, in addition to a personal electric vehicle charger in his university parking spot that cost more than $100,000. Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton faculty negotiated an 8% pay increase over two years, but the state legislature unilaterally reduced that amount down to a little over 7%. President Virjee is the fourth highest paid CSU president, making about $476,000 annually, not including benefits. Virjee was previously an executive vice chancellor of the CSU, where he supervised all legal services for the 23 CSU campuses, and was a chief legal officer for the CSU trustees. One of the board’s responsibilities is approving executive compensation. In 2019, the trustees established a policy that bestows executive raises following performance reviews. Virjee said that the presidents have been lobbying the state senate and state assembly for this raise since 2019. “When folks say that the CSU didn’t try to get that money, it’s just not true. I was in Sacramento asking for it. I know for sure that I asked for it. Every other president was there asking for it. The Chancellor asked

CAL STATE FULLERTON

Presient Virjee previously served as general counsel for all 23 CSU campuses.

for it,” Virjee said. “We wanted our faculty and staff to get it. The governor and the president pro tem and the speaker of the assembly, they decided not to do it” The speaker of the Assembly, Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles County), attended CSUF as an undergraduate and earned his masters degree in political science in 1994. The faculty received a 4% increase in 2021 and negotiated a 4% raise this year, which was reduced to 3% by the legislature. Since these raises affect the pensions of the faculty members, the decrease will affect some older faculty members for the rest of their

lives. “It’s common that faculty get the praise, administrators get the raise,” said Dr. Gregory Brown, president of the California Faculty Association at CSUF. “How many faculty make $98,000? That’s just his raise,” Brown said at an Aug. 25 Academic Senate meeting. “We have faculty that are housing unstable, that are food unstable.” In 2021, the average pay for a CSU 12-month lecturer was $76,495 with salary and bonuses. The CSU campus police officer salary is $98,000 with salary and bonuses. The average CSU 12-month

coach makes $88,376 with salary and bonuses. The University of California chancellors received raises as well this year, ranging from 6% to 29%. UC officials claimed raises were necessary to reach parity with university executives around the country. In comparison, Florida International University compensates its president at about $787,000 annually, and the Georgia State University president follows at $719,000. However, Florida has only 12 state university presidents and Georgia has nine, while California has 23. The decision to raise top executive pay comes as the CSU is surrounded by controversy. Last February, CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro resigned following reports that he mishandled allegations of sexual harassment and bullying against key members of his staff while he was president of Fresno State. Reporting from the Los Angeles Times also revealed payments to officialsofficiaos at other CSU campuses following allegations of sexual misconduct, including at Sonoma State and San Diego State, .Sonoma State President Judy Sakaki resigned in July after complaints that she mishandled sexual assault allegations against her husband, the Los Angeles Times reported in June. University presidents are either provided free housing, or a housing allowance of up to $60,000. Virjee is contractually obligated to reside rentfree at El Dorado Ranch, a large estate in Fullerton that belongs to the SEE SALARY

$100,000 infrastructure gives CSUF president free electric car charging One of two new charging stations is open to the public.

HUGO RIOS Editor

ROSEMARY MONTALVO / DAILY TITAN

The charging pole is located in front of the College Park building.

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As part of a $200,000 pilot program, an electric vehicle charging port was added to President Framroze Virjee’s personal parking spot in College Park for the cost of $100,000. Adjacent to his spot is a compact electric vehicle parking space that any member of the public can use for recharging at no cost. Two street light alternatives,

referred to as smart poles, were built at Cal State Fullerto in summer 2021 and funded by CSUF Information Technology. Pending reviews, the Australian-based vendor ENE.HUB will partner with local cellular network providers to provide more smart poles at no cost, said Rommel Hidalgo, associate vice president of information technology. One of the two black multipurpose poles, which does not include a vehicle charger, is located ins front of Titan Shops on the main campus. The other, which has a charger installed, is located in College Park at the CSUF president’s reserved parking spot. SEE PARK

Racial slur found on dumpster NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ Editor

SPENCER OTTE / DAILY TITAN

A racist message painted on a dumpster at off-campus housing along Yorba Linda Boulevard was discovered by a Cal State Fullerton student on Friday night, according to social media posts. Conflicting accounts of the incident from CSUF officials and the University Village apartments managers led to confusion and calls for greater transparency from students and faculty. The graffiti, containing a racial slur directed at Black people, was first found by a student named Phoenix Hodges, a third-year music major. According to a statement by the UVA, the racial slur on the dumpster was painted over within an hour after being notified. Both CSUF and UVA released statements on social media about the incident with conflicting information. According to CSUF officials, the dumpster, rented to the UVA by Pirate Dumpsters, was delivered with the message already painted on. However, UVA stated that a case of vandalism occurred on the property late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Mykayla Miller, a fifth-year biochemistry major and co-president of the Black Student Union, said that other students did not see anything painted on the dumpster during the day or evening on Friday and that a dumpster was not delivered that day. The statement from the university also stated that CSUF students were not responsible for the vandalism, but it is not known how this information was found or if there is a suspect. Mei-Ling Malone, a lecturer in the African American studies department, said that she was frustrated at the lack of transparency by CSUF and UVA. “We’re all members of the university and we need and deserve to know SEE GRAFITTI