University's budget outlook is less bleak
By Harry Esteve
04 th* EmorakJ
As a movie documentary, it might be
titled "The Story of U” — with the U
standing for the University
It would open with a wide-angle shot of
"new student week” on the University
campus, summer, 1982
‘Everything proposed is
good for us, ’ Olum says of
state board’s budget
request.
The camera roams over small groups
of high school graduates being led
around campus by cheery volunteers. It
focuses on a large green and yellow
banner sagging over the north entrance
to the EMU The banner is faded, tattered
and soiled. It reads: “Welcome to the
University of Oregon."
The sign is an ominous relic from some
Lawmakers need enlightenment
of the worst years in history for the
University and for the state's seven other
higher education institutions
Time for flashbacks The 1981-82
academic year, perhaps the worst of the
worst
State revenue projections come up
short twice, and both times the State
System of Higher Education is ham
mered with funding cuts Meanwhile, the
State Board of Higher Education looks
for a new chancellor to replace veteran
Roy Lieuallen Their first choice declines
because the board can't afford to pay
him what he thinks he's worth
Presidents at three Oregon colleges
abandon ship The first two give some
what vague reasons for leaving But the
third, Eastern Oregon State's Rodney
Briggs, blasts the state Legislature for
over-funding elementary and secondary
education — as well as community col
leges — at the expense of higher educa
tion
Here at the University, Pres Paul Olum
struggles to keep up with the onslaught
of mandated budget cuts
Olum pares away at faculty salary in
creases, reducing salaries to nationally
uncompetitive levels Some faculty
leave, snatching up offers that in some
cases nearly double their University
wages Most stay, however, in an almost
touching display of loyalty — if not for the
University then for Eugene
Money for services and supplies dis
appears. The library's books and per
iodicals treasury is raided Olum tells
legislators and state board members that
the University is "at the end of its rope ”
More cuts are announced
The University's natural history mu
seum loses its funding Olum liquidates
the schoool of Community Service and
Public Affairs, dispersing its vital organs
among several other schools Em
ployees at the art museum — including
the director — are laid off for the three
summer months and the museum is shut
down until fall.
In late spring, the state comes up short
again, and the University is forced to
come up with about another $1 million in
cuts Olum sends academic shock waves
across the state when he immediately
proposes cutting off funds for the Labor
Education and Research Center, the
Bureau of Governmental Research and
Services, the Oregon Institute of Marine
Biology, and KWAX radio station, all
"outreach" programs that directly ben
efit the community outside the Universi
ty
These programs are spared by a letter
from the new state system chancellor
Bud Davis, who asks Olum to wait until
fall enrollment figures are in before mak
ing final decisions on cuts
The flashbacks end with the University
finding itself teetering at the edge of a
financial cliff — a rocky abyss of
bankruptcy and academic mediocrity
yawning below
This is no "worst case scenario" — this
is history — and there are some strong
forces working to push the University
over that edge. Consider a few of the
worst:
• Declining enrollment. Because of
the way Oregon funds higher education,
any significant dips in the number of
students attending college can bring the
University to the brink of a financial
crisis. This happened in the early 1970s
and is happening again Last year
enrollment dropped to 16,645 for fall
1981, a 4 percent drop from 1980, ac
cording to Registrar Wanda Johnson
Projected enrollment figures for this year
indicate another drop of about 6 percent
to nearly 15,600 students
• Oregon's withered economy. Even if
the state legislators were as generous as
higher educaton officials would like them
to be, the state s coffers aren’t bottom
less Hundreds of other state agencies
and programs vie for what funds are
I-- l
Charlene Curry jokingly
refers to herself as an
‘Evangelist. . .spreading
the word. ’
there
• Faculty salaries. Unless something
can be done to raise them, University
officials are worried that the best
teachers will leave, as some already
have
• Public attitudes and “misconcep
tions.” According to several administra
Continued on page 24
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