An American Civil Liberties Union official is upset after the MSU Board of Trustees held a closed-door session Friday morning, but university officials say there is no reason to be upset.

Trustees said they were given a general lesson on the university's budget during the session - but Henry Silverman, president of the Lansing ACLU, said "it outrages me that the court made that decision."

"It raises a lot of questions," he said. "Closed-door meetings make it seem like there's something to hide."

A 1999 Michigan Supreme Court ruling allows Michigan's public universities to hold closed-door meetings.

Silverman said a public body should make its meetings public, except when personnel or contract issues arise.

But President M. Peter McPherson said closed-door meetings are acceptable in certain cases.

"This budget in question is complicated," McPherson said. "We weren't even close to any decisions. I think when people are trying to understand and think about ideas that sometimes it's helpful - this is such an emotional issue."

He added that any decisions on the budget or other issues will be made in a public meeting.

The meeting comes shortly after Provost Lou Anna Simon asked the heads of each academic department to submit contingency plans for 3 to 7 percent cuts.

A $1 billion to $1.5 billion state budget shortfall could result in no state appropriations increase for MSU, which would come at a time when the university's enrollment is gradually increasing.

Trustee Dee Cook said she did not know it was a private meeting, but added it would not have mattered even if she did know.

"I understand why the meeting would be closed," Cook said, adding that any kind of discussion about budgets leads to anxiety.

Cook said no decisions were made, but Silverman said if no decisions were made, then there was no reason for a closed-door meeting.

"We started to talk about 'what ifs,' because we're going to have a change of administration downtown," Cook said. "You hear all kinds of numbers. We'd be foolish if we didn't start to talk to each other about