Illustration by Arnie Bermudez

Cash is king. So, in a supposed effort to keep administrators' salaries competitive with those at peer institutions, the Arizona Board of Regents - with the blessing of President Pete Likins and the money of state taxpayers - approved sizable salary increases for this small but resilient crowd of about a dozen.

Collectively the increase adds up to very little in the large scheme of things.

Still, the raises take effect in the midst of program cuts, oversized classes and faculty "brain drain."

Placed in the context of the UA's financial tribulations, the regents, in essence, stuck their middle fingers up at faculty.

Evidently, all of this was done with good intentions. The salaries of ASU President Michael Crow's administrators were disproportionately higher than those at the UA - a problem we all lose sleep over.

Although they didn't twist his arm, it looks like the Regents were strongly in favor of raising salaries here and told Likins, "The money's here, let's do it."

Since the state has all these different "sets of money" that it claims can only be used for certain things, it's not as if Likins could have taken the money and done something more useful with it.

Nevertheless, the move was politically disastrous, not to mention useless.

The Regents want to talk about the market? Let's talk about the market.

The fact of the matter is that anyone making more than $80,000 a year can live like a king in little old Tucson. An administrator making six figures is not struggling. If one did find a job making more somewhere else, the cost of living there would probably far exceed Tucson's.

Like most things, this is all ASU's fault. Its administrative salaries are disgustingly high. What we should be doing is banging on Crow's door, asking him, "What the hell were you thinking?"

But why does Likins feel so obligated to do what the guys are doing up at ASU, anyway?

The administrators at the UA aren't completely indispensable. If they can find a higher salary somewhere else, then let them.

We're talking about 12 people here; 12 people who have shown no indication of jumping ship - particularly for ASU.

For God's sake, Vice President for Enrollment Management Patti Ota - Likins' right hand gal and long-time colleague - is the biggest UA fan you'll meet. You'll find her on the sidelines of most football games snapping photographs and pepping up players.

Provost George Davis is a world-renowned geoscientist and, folks, this is the capital of rock research - an obvious passion of this mild-mannered man.

What would possess these folks to drop all that for the land of the Sun Devil - or anywhere else, for that matter?

Think about it: With a couple of exceptions, most of our administrators are not spring chickens anymore. They're near retirement, so there's little reason for them to pick up their bags and head off.

Believe it or not, there are strong parallels here to Southwest Airlines - the model of a well-managed company.

Southwest pays less than most other major airlines, but the company's style lends itself to attracting and retaining employees with relatively uncompetitive wages.

The success of the airline is based in large part on a strong emphasis on the employee, rather than management. It's less corporate and more comfortable, so people sacrifice the money in order to avoid the politics and mumbo-jumbo of an American or United Airlines.

The administrators who just got the salary boost are the same people who have argued for years that in the face of low state funding, faculty "brain drain" can be combated by creating a comfortable and enjoyable workplace environment.

Our bureaucratic leaders have failed to live up to their ministry.

In reality, no one's going anywhere. That's not because of chunky salary

raises or meaty incentives. Rather, it's because, for some peculiar reason, these 12 people appear to be crazy about the UA and its fearless leader, Pete Likins.

If an administrator threatens to leave, then deal with it individually.

It could be that some of these people are not worth aggressively holding on to. But if any of them are, sit them down, level with them and strike a deal.

After all, that's the approach this university has always taken with its underpaid faculty.

- Daniel Scarpinato is a journalism and political science senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.