Women’s studies program endures cuts
By DIANE WINOCUR
Of lh« Emaratd
Women's studies programs
statewide are threatened by an
impending department elim
ination at Portland State
University, says the University
Women’s Studies Committee
But the committee also
reports that the University's
program is the most cost ef
ficient program on campus and
is in no danger at this time
Mary Jo Wagner, temporary
director of the University
Bookstore—
Continued from Page 6
kage" and increasing man
agement personnel
The manager's report shows
a 156-percent increase in the
used textbcok sales during the
Sept 21-Oct 3 period
Overall sales are up only 8 9
percent over the same period
last year Manager Jim Williams
said he had predicted a
13-percent jump in sales when
the University forecast an en
rollment increase However, the
2 8-percent enrollment drop
makes re-assessment of that
sales prediction necessary, Wil
liams said
To make it through the result
ing tough economic times, Wil
liams said the store overes
timates costs and underes
timates income
At their next meeting Oct 28,
the board will discuss an em
ployee compensation package
r
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women's studies program, says
it PSU's program is eliminated,
the likely outcome will be inclu
sion of women’s studies cur
riculum in related departments
PSU's decision could in
fluence other universities, she
says
"It's that first wedge into the
state system."
"We’re down to bare bones,"
says Laurel Butman, office
manager at the University
women's studies department.
"We are presently managing
with only two half-time em
ployees and two third-time
GTF’s. Yet with a budget that in
some departments salaries one
professor, the program is
producing over 1,500 credit
hours annually.”
"It’s a small and very cheap
operation that makes a big in
pact," says Mimi Johnson, head
of the women’s studies pro
grams She says its cost ef
ficiency is quite remarkable.
Johnson believes the admin
istration would not eliminate the
program because, as she says,
they have been very happy with
K.
“We’re not costing them
much, and we’re meeting a
need ''
Wagner says "the threat of
such programs is part of the
national trend toward eliminat
ing those things in education
that seem radical.”
But, as Johnson says, the
department fills needs that more
traditional disciplines cannot
offer.
Wagner describes those
needs as two-fold
Wagner says "a women’s
studies program is a beginning
to correct the deficiency in
which women are not included
in the rest of the curiculum.
"Women’s studies is becom
ing a discipline in its own right, a
collegiality and a language of
feminism on which scholars in
many areas of women’s studies
can agree," she says.
Although Wagner concedes
that the program will never be
perfectly safe, she maintains
that it has a strong future ahead.
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