Colorado's colleges and universities are under assault. They're besieged both politically and financially. They're besieged because of some very shortsighted decisions by our political leaders and some very political maneuverings by our governor. That's going to cost us dearly as we struggle to educate our children and return our economy to health.

Let's start with Colorado State University. Dr. Albert Yates has brought distinguished leadership and enormous stature to CSU. Here's a man who graduated Phi Beta Kappa in chemistry and mathematics at a time when African Americans had to fight for the opportunity to attend America's great universities. He went on to earn a doctorate in theoretical chemical physics, to teach, and to serve in executive positions at top universities.

CSU has thrived under Dr. Yates. He has built a reputation for academic excellence. He has managed budget woes and floods, brought students and faculty from diverse backgrounds to the campus, and enhanced CSU's research capabilities and grants. We are all the better for his tenure there.

Now comes Governor Bill Owens, who wants to install his own person as president of CSU. Marc Holtzman has been a successful businessman, but that does not make him an academic leader. It is possible that he could turn out to be a strong college president, despite having limited academic credentials. But, the governor's selection taints him with political patronage.

There are two problems here. First, our universities should be outside partisan politics. They need to be focused on academic excellence, on recruiting the best faculty and students possible and on world class research that advances both knowledge and economic opportunities in Colorado. For a governor to insert himself into the search process smacks of a political agenda that doesn't belong in higher education.

Second, academic prestige is not just about raising the most money. It requires a deep commitment to teaching and research that is on the cutting edge of knowledge. Prestigious universities generate enormous economic benefits for a state. The president of a major research university should be selected after a very broad, exhaustive search, not on the basis of political pressure.

Next is Colorado's financial mess. That is a direct result of the short-sighted decision by the governor and legislature four years ago to make permanent what should have been a temporary tax cut. Our enormous state budget shortfall is roughly equal to that tax cut. While we gained a few dollars then, we are suffering long-term damage now from huge budget cuts that include higher education.

The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee staff has recommended a massive $315 million cut in higher education spending. Imagine what that means to our kids' opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. Imagine what that means to Colorado businesses as they look to our colleges and universities to provide them with the best labor force and the newest ideas. Just picture what that means to Colorado's competitiveness in a tough economy, to our ability to attract new businesses and to create new jobs. It is a disaster hurtling towards us.

As University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman (who was selected through a broad, legitimate search process, to the University's great advantage) has pointed out, colleges and universities are built over many decades. Destruction can be rapid, but recovery may not occur in our lifetimes.

Great public higher education systems are cornerstones of their state's economic, social and cultural life. They attract the best minds, stimulate new business development and broaden the intellectual potential of a state. They provide our children with the knowledge to move themselves and our country beyond where we are today. And, in many rural areas, they are the lifeblood that sustains a small town's existence.

Colorado's colleges and universities deserve to have the best leadership they can find through a thoughtful search process, not political patronage. They must be funded adequately in order for our children and our state to thrive. The governor should stay out of selecting academic leaders. The Legislature should find a better fix to its self-inflicted budget mess than dismantling a higher education system that has made Colorado proud and successful. Our citizens should demand nothing less.