Western Front - 1971 May 25

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TUESDAY
MAY 25th 1971
BELLINGHAM
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"The Leading College Newspaper in Washington State"
REPRINTED FROM WESTERN UNION, FACULTY UNION NEWSLETTER
Faculty Flak Hits Flora's Budget Cuts
By LARRY LEMON
Copy Editor
President Charles Flora didn't need to ask for reaction to his
proposed budget cutbacks. Cries of fiscal agony and howls of
"discrimination!" are ricochetting around campus in letters and
memos.
Mel Davidson, faculty council chairman, said that "on most of it, I
don't see what choice we've got."
He said the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council approved
of Flora's recommendations "in the sense that they are bitterly
necessary." He explained:
"This is a good time to take advantage of the financial crisis to
chop out things that we haven't had the courage to take a hard look at
before," he said. "His (Flora's) early-closing suggestion, ideally, is the
way to fly, but I guess it would be impractical in the long run."
Davidson said he was surprised at the proposed cuts in the music
and foreign language departments, "but there might be good reasons
for them."
Davidson said the president had to have all feed-back by Friday so
that he can prepare his recommendations for the next Board of
Trustees meeting.
Phillip Ager, chairman of the Music Department, said he wasn't
sure how to interpret Flora's recommendation to "eliminate all state
supported individual instruction effective fall, 1972."
"If individual instruction is put on a fee basis then it's pretty
discriminatory against one set of students. It's the only part of the
report that suggests that students should pay fees in addition to
tuition for what they have to have."
Ager was unsure of whether the individual instruction policy
would apply to other state schools or just to Western.
"If it's not duplicated in other state colleges it would be disastrous.
Many students would switch schools and I don't think we'd have a
music major much longer.
There will'be a college-wide meeting at 4 p.m. today in the Music
Auditorium to discuss the budget recommendations. President Flora
will be available to answer questions concerning campus problems
caused by the proposed budget cuts.
Possible budget cuts would include the elimination of all
state-supported individual music instruction, elimination of
college-supported intercollegiate sports, combination of the Men's and
Women's Physical Education Departments or a possible six-week
spring session during the second year of the biennium.
He said that individual instruction, two-thirds of which is handled
by faculty members, is vital to the music major.
"It's a lab for music majors," he said. "It's the single most central
activity that a music major takes part in."
"The whole thing is pretty disturbing, but then the whole fiscal
situation of the college is pretty disturbing," he added.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
WESTERN WASHINGTON STATE COLLEGE, VOLUME 63, NUMBER 57