Decisions on whether or not to cancel classes should not be left up to two individuals who combined make more than half a million dollars per year.

Kent State President Lester Lefton makes $350,000, not including his bonuses of up to $70,000.

David Creamer, senior vice president of administration, who advises Lefton in making school closing decisions, receives $187,000 a year.

The skin-killing cold really isn’t a problem for two individuals who, no doubt, have the privilege of starting their luxury sedans by way of an electronic remote from the warm insides of their lavish dwellings.

And I wonder how far their designated parking spots sit from the buildings that house the desks they so righteously sit behind. Lefton: Does your secretary already have that coffee brewed for you when you make that 10-second scurry from your vehicle into the building?

Most of us here aren’t gifted top-of-the-line vehicles. Mine doesn’t even have heat, so I can’t even keep my hands on the wheel for too long. It’s a piercing burn. I’d get the heat fixed, but I just dished out the hundreds it would’ve cost to do so on the newest editions of books I must have that have changed nothing more than a word or two from the previous edition.

Commuters converge on this campus from all sides. And from all sides, resentment towards authority converged upon this campus last week. That’s something you don’t want from Kent State students.

How much time did Lefton actually spend in that frigid cold last week? After the outcry from the student body last Monday, Lefton should’ve been just outside the M.A.C. Center on the following day with Creamer. They could’ve set up a free hot chocolate and coffee stand.

Perhaps they could’ve dug through their couches the previous night and scraped together a couple thousand in spare change to show they care about more than just depositing checks and burning bridges with their primary investors.

Actions speak louder than words Lefton. How many seconds did you guys actually spend in the bitter cold?

Or how about this? You and Creamer could’ve hopped in one of Kent State’s little golf carts and driven around high-traffic campus walkways with a couple boxes of complimentary scarves, hats, and gloves. Sure it would be an out-of-pocket expense for you guys. But thanks to your salaries, we’ve got holes in ours and are lucky enough to fit feeding ourselves into our tight Kent State-imposed budgets.

You really think we can easily afford all the stuff it takes to keep warm when this university is extorting us into voiceless overpaying customers rather than valued students?

You and I both know you’d just be giving something back to the students who have just footed yet another 7 percent increase in tuition.

The bottom line is, the decision to cancel classes shouldn’t be left up to two individuals who obviously cannot acknowledge or relate whatsoever to what we, the students, have to do to get here and the frigid hell that numbs us into spiteful and unsatisfied customers. The decision should be left up to student council; they speak for us, or at least, I wish they would.

Believe me, the last thing you want is the Kent State student body against you. University presidents can’t be impeached. Can they?

We’re upset, but we’re getting over it.

Consider yourself on probation.

In the meantime, enjoy y(our) money. I hope it keeps you warm.

Ryan Szymczak is a junior English major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].