Cuts not new to higher ed
By Debbie Howlett
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This article is the first of a three part series
that explores past, present and future cuts in the
University's professional schools and depart
ments and what effect those cuts will have.
When Gov. Vic Atiyeh asked for a plan to
reduce state agencies by 20 percent, shock
waves rippled through Johnson Hall.
After the initial fury over the Governor's
mandate, questions began echoing in many peo
ple's minds.
Where and how could the University cut that
much and still function meaningfully?
Budget cuts of this magnitude are not com
mon, said Glenn Starlin last spring when he was
acting provost
"These are the worst of times,’’ Starlin said.
That was before Atiyeh’s latest proposals.
But financial trouble is not as rare as one
might hope
In the depression year of 1932, several sug
gestions on money-saving measures were voted
on by Oregonians
The measures included merging the Univer
sity with Oregon State University and centralizing
all administration functions in Corvallis. Changing
the University into a teacher’s college and merg
ing the University’s law school with Willamette
University’s in Salem also were proposed
But the voters said no
Recently, a legislator suggested that cutting
one or more of the state institutions for the sake of
the rest may be necessary
Fifty years ago, on the same referendum as
the mergers, voters were asked to close what was
then Oregon College of Education in Monmouth
They said no again
In the early 1970s the University was in the
mtdst of another budget crunch University Pres
Robert Clark was asked to cut $2 million in 1972
Clark convened the Hearings Panel on
University Priority and asked faculty members to
cannibalize’’ themselves After months of
deliberation, S1 6 million was cut from the budget
and several departments suffered
The home economics department was axed
as was the Portugese language department The
Honors College was suspended, but has since
been reactivated
The equivalent of 100 full-time positions were
cut - 42 professors, 30 Graduate Teaching Fel
lows and 28 classified staff. Much of the reduction
was accomplished by attrition and most were
given one year’s notice
“It's like that story about the farmer who was
experimenting giving his horse one less straw to
eat each day," said Robert Trotter, dean of the
music school, in 1974. “It was a successful
experiment — except the horse died.”
Five years after the crisis in 1972, the Univer
sity shut down the school of librarianship and cut
the community service and public affairs school in
half
Now, in 1982, the University is feeling the
pinch again. Combating the possibility of even
further closures of schools and departments, the
University has raised tuition, left vacated teaching
positions unfilled and proposed cutting faculty
and staff salaries.
In the last 12 years the physical plant staff has
decreased 7.3-percent while their responsibilities
have increased 9.7-percent.
Professors have been lured to other schools
and communities for many reasons, but most of
them are financial ones
And there are some who believe if the past
looked thin, the 1980s will look emaciated.
Tomorrow this series will look at the present
effects of budget cuts on the University’s schools
and departments.
Governor
Continued from Page 1B
more dependent on state pro
grams, he added
"A major budget truth: we do
not have the funds to fund the
property tax relief program at its
present level,” he said
Sen Ed Fadeley, D-Eugene,
co-chairer of the Joint Ways and
Means Committee, said Atiyeh's
two proposals — a 10 percent
cut for higher education and a
$500,000 high-technology
training program — are 'highly
inconsistent and
self-defeating ”
The ‘ high-tech” plan was
devised “to improve his
(Atiyeh's) image, not their
(higher education) program,”
Fadeley said. “Most of his
speech was image ”
"We can’t start," said Rep
Margie Hendriksen, D-Eugene,
"by abolishing our state
government.” Budgets have
been cut several times before,
she said, and with other special
sessions likely, programs
should not be submitted to
"death by inches
Although it is not her position.
Hendriksen said the Legislature
is likely to approve cuts of five
percent for state services, but
she said lack of support for
revenue bills may cause prob
lems. Because even a five per
cent cut would be devastating,
she said, she is proposing a
revenue plan of her own. Her tax
proposal woula take up the
slack created by Pres. Ronald
Reagan s tax cuts, she said.
Some other legislators were
more supportive of Atiyeh’s
“State of the State" proposals
Rep Billy Bellamy, R-Culver,
said “it was one of the best
speeches I’ve heard him give.”
Rep. Robert B Kennedy, R
Klamath Falls, agreed with the
governor’s economic recovery
plan: "We really need some help
there.”
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