I'm concerned about the ongoing search to fill President M. Peter McPherson's post in the coming year. I've heard Dick Posthumus' name being bandied about, and today, former governor Jim Blanchard's.

If you look at any other academic institution of the size and stature of MSU, at the helm you will find a well-paid, qualified academic administrator who has become distinguished within their field of academics.

I can point to many examples: Karen Holbrook at Ohio State University, Mary Sue Coleman at the University of Michigan, Nancy Cantor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Robert Bruninks at the University of Minnesota, John Wiley at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

MSU is not, should not be a political plum. If the recent news stories accurately reflect the wishes of the board of trustees, we have a big problem.

I'm at MSU now because of the cost of attendance. I started my degree out of state and away from home at Ohio State University, avoiding MSU in no small part due to the political bent of McPherson and others. The coming expansion to Grand Rapids, although financially sound, will further polarize and divide the institution politically. I'm concerned that the institution from which I will soon graduate will not be a place I can be proud of.

I believe that it's in the best interest of the students that our school be managed by a talented, apolitical, educational administrator and not an underpaid political hack.

I believe that the search committee should be looking outside of the state and outside of the political arena. I believe that, ideally, they should look to an administrator who has proven themselves in the creation of a new campus within an established and respected, but languishing university system.

I believe that the cost of hiring such an administrator, while likely to be three times that of McPherson's salary, will likely be offset by the overwhelming benefits that come from an intelligently managed institution: improved reputation, increased enrollment, more and better research, more grants awarded and more alumni donors.

David Himelright
linguistics junior