Our View - Sunday

THREE YEARS OF GROWN-UPS
CU SHOWCASES AMAZING COMEBACK

Three years ago Aug. 1, something profound happened that changed the course of higher education in Colorado: Grown-ups took over at the University of Colorado. Since that landmark day, when former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown began his short term as CU president, the university has grown in stature, reputation and private funding every day. Under the new leadership of President Bruce Benson and his brilliant and supportive wife Marcy, also grown-ups, it looks as though all campuses of the University of Colorado will only continue to become more rigorous, reputable and affluent.

   Before Brown arrived, CU was embroiled in so many embarrassing scandals they had become dificult to track. A succession of Boulderbased presidents, with lofty academic credentials but limited business experience, didn't know what to do. The athletic department faced poorly managed allegations involving drugs and prostitutes, and lawsuits involving rape. A self-styled American Indian and tenured professor in the ethnic studies department compared victims of 9/11 to Nazis, and violated the university's academic research standards. Three high-paid public relations professionals concocted a scheme to solve the university's problems with a pricey cloak-anddagger publicity gimmick that was leaked, and then they questioned a local reporter's intelligence in an e-mail that was accidentally sent to her. Every day, it seemed, the university was rocked by a new scandal and a weak and strange response from the leadership. As a result, alumni and other donors lost confidence in CU and private funding for all its campuses took a hit.

   Then came Brown, a nationally known conservative Republican. Before noon his first day, Brown fflred the scandalizing public relations crew and a host of other key administrative personnel. He moved the president's offlce to Denver, and nixed the president's parking space. He slashed the bloated administrative budget, and then held a press conference. The grown-up had done more to correct course in one morning than previous presidents had done in years.

   "The whole state breathed a sigh of relief when he became president of this university because they knew it was in good hands," said CU regent Pat Hayes, as quoted by the Boulder Daily Camera.

   Brown - a lawyer, CPA and former judge, not an ensconced academician - managed to settle lawsuits brought by two women who said they were raped by CU athletes and recruits during an off-campus recruitment party. Scandal resolved. He carried out the regents' firing of Prof. Ward Churchill, who had become the national poster child of academic mayhem and arrogance. Scandal resolved. One scandal resolution at a time, Brown restored the prominence of CU.

   Earlier this year, Brown retired and passed the torch to Benson - a conservative businessman whose life accomplishments would be difficult to top. He had already headed a successful fundraising campaign that raised roughly $1 billion for CU, and he's quickly building on the stability established by Brown. Boulder's leftist protest militia squawked, assuring Colorado the regents had made a good choice.

   Three years ago the scandals surrounding CU seemed countless. Today there are none big enough to count. Three years ago the school was trying to get by with annual donations of roughly $60 million. This year, private donations increased to $162.5 million. Fundraising for the Boulder ffagship alone has grown 80 percent in the past two years, from $32 million to $58 million, despite a sagging economy.

   Benson and CU-Colorado Springs Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak, also a grown-up, met with The Gazette's editorial board Friday to discuss the state of CU. Today's biggest scandal involves the expulsion of a troubled 4-year-old from a UCCS childcare service. The leaders attribute the growth in donations to hard work and an improved reputation system wide. Benson expects a good reputation will do more than generate cash. He thinks it has already shown that all campuses of the university can be more selective in who they admit, because the quality of applicants has improved. The higher quality of admissions, he said, should go toward reducing the drug and alcohol problems that have characterized CU-Boulder for decades.

   Good character defines the leadership of CU. It's quickly beginning to define the entire institution. A top-tier university system will do more to improve the financial health of the Pikes Peak region, and all of Colorado, than almost anything else.

Amendment 47 A boon to workers

Often we hear that Colorado's a "right to work" state, or an "atwill" state, in which employers and employees work with each other on a private and voluntary basis, and nobody is forced to join a union.

   It's not true. In Colorado, unions can force a person to join in order to get or keep a job. It's called a "closed shop" arrangement, and it's not always in the best interest of employees.

   Throughout much of the 20th century, unions accomplished great things. They have taken on some of the unfair practices of ruthless employers. They have promoted worker safety and improved wages and benefits for workers in Colorado and throughout the country. Like all great organizations, however, unions have always been susceptible to corruption, stagnation and decline.

   In Colorado, we've seen that unions are more likely to spend union dues promoting political causes and special interest agendas that have little or nothing to do with the workers they supposedly represent. They merely use the membership as a way to raise funds for disassociated causes. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of union spending goes to political campaigns not related in any way to worker interests. Some pro-life workers have found that they're paying dues to support pro-abortion causes; some Republican workers have found that their dues are going for Democrat causes. And the dues are typically taken from the payroll, with the worker having no choice in the matter.

   It's unthinkable that some workers are paying their wages, through extortion, to causes they may not believe in. It's worse to imagine they're paying for causes they vehemently oppose. Even worse, some are paying for causes they oppose at the expense of meeting their household and family obligations in an economy that's increasingly difficult for working families.

   How do unions get away with it? Through the mandatory membership afflorded them in the "closed shop" arrangement.

   Amendment 47 would eliminate mandatory membership, or "closed shops." It would in no way attempt to eliminate unions, or "bust" unions in Colorado.

   The 22 states that already have Right to Work laws have seen that the law strengthens their economies. Prospective employees see it as an advantage, as one small reduction to doing business in a state.

   Under Amendment 47, unions are likely to thrive in Colorado. That's because they will no longer operate with the security of having guaranteed membership. Rather, union bosses will have to compete for the favor of prospective members. They'll have to promise and deliver better wages, better working conditions, and better benefits - just like in the old days - or they will perish.

   It's time for employment law in Colorado to protect millions of individual employees, not the few who control unions. Amendment 47 would provide that protection, while improving unions and strengthening economic development in Colorado.