CSSM Group to Mount Lobbying Campaign : Education: It hopes to persuade politicians and administrators not to shut the school in a budget crunch.

Saying they want to nip a worst-case scenario in the bud, members of the Cal State San Marcos advisory University Council voted Thursday to mount a lobbying effort to persuade state politicians and the Administration to keep the 2-year-old school open, no matter how bad the state budget crisis hits the state’s university system.

The decision follows remarks to reporters in Sacramento on Tuesday by California State University Chancellor Barry Munitz that, because of the state’s budget crisis, Cal State San Marcos is “in jeopardy” of being closed.

He said that, if the university system is forced to sustain a 10% budget cut this summer, one university may be closed, and, if the cuts run deeper, two or more universities may be at stake.

The letter-writing campaign to key legislators and Wilson Administration staff members was suggested by council member Janie Phillips, a staff representative for U.S. Rep. Bill Lowery, R-San Diego.

“I do know hit lists are being drawn up, and we need to take a stand,” she said. “We don’t want to be a target. We don’t want to be singled out. I propose that our voice be heard early, that we be pro-active.”

Her suggestion was rejected by board President Robert Spanjian, who argued that, until Cal State San Marcos is specifically named as a possible casualty in the state budget crisis, more harm might be done to the young university by too quickly coming to the campus’ defense and bringing undue attention to the campus’ vulnerability.

“I won’t make a mountain out of a molehill,” Spanjian said. Referring to the recent publicity over Munitz’ comment, Spanjian remarked, “Today’s news wraps tomorrow’s garbage.”

But Phillips countered that she doesn’t believe Munitz’s statement was “a slip of the tongue. I know a hit list has been asked from both the president of the University of California system, and the (CSU) chancellor.”

And Cal State San Marcos, she said, would “at first blush” be a likely target if any campuses were to be closed.

“This budget (crisis) is serious enough that, if this is one of the communities that speaks up now, they (legislators) may say, ‘We’d get some heat’ ” if San Marcos is targeted, Phillips said.

Council member Dr. Wayne Miller agreed.

“Even if it was a slip of the tongue, it was designed to cause quite a stir,” he said. “And what additional attention we bring to this matter will be minuscule compared to what the press already has done.”

University President Bill Stacy said he has since received reassurances from Munitz that the school is not in jeopardy of being closed and has argued that the state already has sunk $100 million into the new campus and that its proposed operating budget of $22 million would be insignificant to the overall state university system’s budget of $1.6 billion.

But council member Ann Hunter-Welborn said she wasn’t so confident. “It’s not inconceivable to me that the state might walk away from a development,” she said.

And Miller noted that, with a drop in enrollment at San Diego State University, politicians might perceive that there is less demand for the North County university. “I really think we’re vulnerable,” he said.

Even assuming that the university is spared in the current budget talks, officials say the campus would be seriously stricken--with no money to furnish or equip science and computer labs--if voters in June reject Proposition 153, a $900-million bond issue for the state’s higher education institutions.

The advisory council agreed to help privately finance, to the tune of about $2,000, a postcard-writing campaign among North County voters to support the measure.