Western Front - 1983 April 5

              Annie Rose was quite
a thrill p.8 Vol.75, No. 19 Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash. Tuesday, April 5, 1983
Universities open fire on Grimm budget
By JEFF KRAMER
Administrators and students have
joined together in opposition to a plan that
would cut university enrollment by 2,000
statewide and radically alter the way
higher education is funded in Washington.
The proposal, introduced to the House
Ways and Means Committee last week by
Chairman Dan Grimm (D-Puyallup), gives
universities roughly $65 million less than
the amount provided in Gov. John
Spellman's budget.
Washington Student Lobby Director
Allen Jones blasted Grimm's proposal in a
WSL release. "Universities couldn't even
carry on with current program levels," he
wrote.
WSL Chair Scott Hogan called the
budget "worse than anything we had
expected" and "a giant step in the wrong
direction. We should be throwing open,
not squeezing shut the doors of our uni­versities,"
he said.
Grimm's budget would, in fact, shut the
door on about 2,000 university students by
abandoning the traditional way in which
the Legislature funds higher ed.
Photo by Blair Kooistra
Getting a kick out of spring
Spring has sprung in the small park near the commisary building, and Dave Sanders, a
junior majoring in broadcast, was taking full advantage of the clear weather Sunday
. afternoon in an impromptu game of soccer with friends.
GBE faces one faculty cut
By MARGARET CARLSON
The office administration/business
education department might have to drop
one Full-Time Equivalent Faculty member
by next fall.
Hubert Thoreson, chairman of the office
&-, adilMillfi « r # ti o»/l»u s i oe^s e d u c ^ t i en
department, said this could result in a loss
v^lJJfcSfjbrae sections. Tb*. <cfe^*attirierit*
would riot be able to serve the needs of the
students with this faculty cut, he said.
A part-time employee may be hired to
fill in for the lost position, Thoreson said.
"Hopefully within a year or so, we will be
able to restore that faculty position," he
'.' said. '.''','..
. . . Dennis Murphy, College of Business and
Economics dean, said that despite this
faculty cut in the office administration
department, the college is "actively recruit­ing"
eight members for other departments.
He said the department is conducting a
nationwide search to fill part-time and full-time
positions vacant or soon-to-be vacant
tbafc.were.c^tt^d l^jpefi^Mtf^^^r^
.tibn and leave of absences/
Murphy s$H9that university ^ s i d e n t G ,
Robert Ross realizes that the CBE con­tinues
to attract students to Western who
will support the other departments while
completing their General University
Requirements.
"It is in the university's own best interest
to provide for those (programs) that attract
• See CBE/page 3
Instead of following the current practice
of adjusting funding to enrollment, Grimm
would provide universities with a fixed
amount and require them to adjust enroll­ment
accordingly.
The proposal also features the virtual
elimination of non-formula budget
expenditures—those expenses which are
particular to each university and must
therefore be handled separately—and the
elimination of Western instructional
equipment budget.
Under such a plan, however, Western
would actually come out ahead compared
to other state universities. Recent revisions
in Grimm's budget show Western receiving
$700,000-$800,000 less than what Spellman
provides, an improvement over the $2 mil­lion
figure originally proposed.
Western would also be allowed to boost
its enrollment by more than 300 with
Grimm's plan because enrollment here
has been kept low relative to the number of
faculty.
But Western administrators gave no
indication they might come out in favor of
the budget. Western President G. Robert
Ross, one of the six state university presi­dents
opposing the plan, noted that even
with the revisions, Grimm's bill would
force Western to operate below its continu­ing
budget.
Ross also found fault with the timing of
the proposal. "At this late date, to come up
with a new method (of funding) is disturb­ing,"
he said.
Executive Vice President James Talbot
said "no dissent at all" exists between
Western and other universities, and that all
six schools will work together to increase
overall funding to higher ed.
Grimm's budget would reportedly be
most harmful to Washington State Univer­sity,
Eastern Washington University and
Central Washington University. Commun­ity
college funding would be maintained
at current levels.
Darcy Roenfeldt, chair oftheWSL's local
chapter, predicted unified student opposi­tion
of the bill even though it favors
Western.
"We're sticking together on things," she
said. "The WSL is a consolidated
organization—at least it's supposed to be."
Roenfeldt and other student leaders
have argued that it is not the Legislature's
place to limit the number of faculty at an
institution.
The bill also has drawn protest because
it would eliminate state matching money
for federally financed student loans.
Roenfeldt said the Western chapter of the
WSL will try to influence legislators by
mail. A letter writing session is scheduled
for 7 p.m. tomorrow in Viking Union 219.
Computer science
may get separate
department by fall
By SETH PRESTON
Mathematics and computer science
might become two separate departments
by next fall, James Davis, College of Arts
and Sciences dean, said last week.
Davis will decide within the next two
weeks whether to recommend the split.
Hisapprovalwould.be the first step toward
implementing the proposal.
Pressure to split apparently has come
from the computer science instructors,
who feel they can accomplish more as a
separate department. Fred Ives, spokes­man
for the computer science faction,
declined to comment on the possible sep­aration,
hi wever.
"I just aon't want to talk about it now. At
least not until a decision has been made,"
, Ives said. "Whatever I say might have an
impact on whether or not the split occurs."
"I'll admit I'm sympathetic," he said. "I
think computer science is such a timely
field. Jobs seem to be in that area, and
student interest is high."
Richard Levin, current chairman of the
math/computer science department,
posed division. '"' , ^
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enough to separate and fight for its own
resources. When you have two groups, and
both need resources, you have constant
arguments over using them."
Levin said he thinks the division should
occur, and hopes that by doing so both
math and computer science will be able to
allocate increased funding on their own.
Considering class sizes and. student
demands, Levin said he thinks his depart­ment
should have five to 10 more faculty
members, despite a proposed .5 Full-Time
Equivalent Faculty reduction in math/-
computer science for next year.
"I don't think we'll lose any instructors.
We're hard-pressed; we're low on West­ern's
budget funding," Levin said. He
added that new math/computer science
courses need to be created to meet
demand. Updated figures for math/com­puter
science majors, and current class
sizes, weren't available at press time.
If the first step in the separation process
gains Davis' approval, the proposal would
have to be approved, in order, by: the
Faculty Affairs Council, the Academic
Coordinating Commission, the Faculty
Senate, Acting Vice President for Academic
Affairs Paul Ford, President G. Robert Ross
and the Board of Trustees
Davis doesn't see the recent merger of
the speech and journalism departments
(into a single communications depart­ment)
as having a positive effect on a math/
computer science separation. The number.
:-and Sciences isri'tjlimite^ajjd shouldln't-
"It (the merger) was a logical thing to do,
since journalism and speech are interre­lated,"
he said. "It seems to be a national
trend, since many universities have separ­ate
Schools of Communication." He said
that as a result, the two small departments
may have more impact as a single, larger
'•.unit .w' •.'•.'•.