6 Page 8-Wednesday, April 15, 1981-The Michigan Daily .................li....4 State Senate apProves college I oan bill LANSING (UPI)-The Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill which makes middle and upper income paren- ts eligible for federal loans to put their children through college. The tuition loan bill, sponsored by Rep. Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor) was approved 29-0 and sent to Gov. William Milliken. "WE'VE SEEN tuition and living costs go right through the roof in recent years," said Bullard. "It's kept many kids from low- and middle-income families from attending a university at all.' :;vE ii:^ i i ii:- L i i siii |Nii: ii : : vii~:}i$?~ :is l! lll iiliii: Current law opens the program only to low income families. If signed into law, the bill will make federally finan- ced loans of $3,000 per student available for the summer and fall terms. Although there are indications the Reagan administration may eliminate the college loan program, the bill makes all parents eligible to receive special low interest aid to puttheir youngsters through school. About 113,000 Michigan students now receive the loans. Bullard said if the loan cuts are finalized, about 65,000 of them would be eligible for the program. Tightening our belts .... . { . ....t................... .. ... ......n ... .....r..... ........ f.. . .. r.... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ...r ......... . . F. . . r.. ......... ............................................................................................................................................................................... (Continued from Page 1) University department and program to reduce its budget by 2 percent for the 1981-1982 academic year and to prepare for a 6 percent reduction for 1981-1982. AT THAT TIME, Frye also put a freeze on all hiring in the University, which has since been lifted for units demonstrating an ability to come up with funds for hiring. Up to this time, no programs had been designated for severe budget reductions. However, the 1981-1982 state allocation shortfall of $11.1 million forced the administration to select four non-academic departments for exten- sive budgetary reductions. Subcommittees were formed by Frye to study the impact of cuts in each of the departments - Recreational Sports, Michigan Media, the Extension Ser- vice, and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Budget reduc- tions in these four areas are expected to make up the final $3 million necessary to balance the books this year, Frye said. ONLY RECREATIONAL Sports found itself in a better position after the committee reviews than had originally been proposed. The Extension Service found itself in a worse situation, as a committee recommended the complete elimination of the program, which spends almost $2 million in general fund money annually. The Budget Priorities Committee ap- proved and passed on to the executive officers subcommittee reports calling for significant reductions in the Rec Sports, CRLT, and Michigan Media budgets, and the elimination of the Ex- tension Service. A separate committee, consisting of four LSA professors, conducted a review of the college's geography department, and filed its recommen- dation last week. The committee repor- ted it felt the geography department could be discontinued, or cut back significantly. IN ACCORDANCE with the Regents' guidelines, the LSA faculty met on the proposal Monday and voted to reject the committee's recommendation. However, the faculty's vote is not binding, and the LSA Executive Com- mittee may still choose to eliminate the department. Such a decision would have to be approved by Frye and, the Regents. All budget cuts are being made to stabilize the University's financial situation, according to Frye. WITH AN INCREASE in tuition and at least a 7 percent hike in state fun- ding, Frye said he hopes to be able to avoid in the future huge budget cuts similar to this year. However, administrators admit fur- ther retrenchments are inevitable. The University will have to continue a smaller but better program for some time, Shapiro said. Explaining his now much-repeated phrase, coined last June, Shapiro said, "We had to come up with some way to maintain quality without increasing the budget. Our aim is to make the Univer- sity become something better than it is today. We're saying even if we have to become smaller, getting better is the goal." NOT EVERYONE in the University, however, has expressed full support for the smaller but better philosophy, and the way in which it is being implemen- ted. Of those faculty members and students who have spoken out on the budget issues, many have said the University is trying to divert as many resources as possible into its research program, sometimes at the expense of academics. The administration, however, denies taking such actions, but emphasizes the necessity of maintaining a strong research program as a part of keeping the University at its present level of distinction among educational in- stitutions. A SECOND ISSUE raised by many students has been the involvement of students in the budget cutting process. The geography review committee had no student members. Each of the subcommittees studying the four non- academic units had one student mem- ber, while two students participated on the Budget Priorities Committee. "So far, we've taken the view that in- volvement of students is appropriate,". Shapiro told a group of political science undergraduates last week. All the review committees met primarily in closed session, adding to the frustration of some students and faculty in obtaining information on exactly what was happening. Another round of criticisms was directed at the budget cuts themselves. Many LSA faculty members fiercely support maintaining the geography department and faculty and staff members support making fewer or no cuts in the Extension Service, CRLT, Recreational Sports, and Michigan Media. On the question of whether or not the right adjustments are being made, even Shapiro admits he does not know. "The results aren't in on this. They won't be in next year, or two years, or maybe five years," he said. Several years ago, the University began to prepare itself for imminent financial trouble. Harold Shapiro, who was selected as Univer- sity president in July, 1979, said the in- stitution's leaders would have to work hard in the next several years to innovatively plan budget cuts which would do the least damage. But months, not years, passed before the University found itself in serious financial trouble. The following comments trace the University's attempts to cope with its current budget crisis: ' I expect in the next decade that 'we find some cut- backs in our programs necessary. We'll have to do it very selectively, and very discriminately-getting rid of those things that aren't so relevant and don't speak to the University as well as they ought to. "So if we're going to have some growth and some new things,'we're going to have to phase out some of the old things. " --Harold Shapiro, in an interview, July 27, 1979 * , # * "A program may be eliminated because it fails to meet the requirements of a particular School or College.for academic excellence." -From Regents Guidelines for Discontinuance of Academic Programs, October, 1979 "'Quality is not judged by, the number of things we do, but by the number of things we do well. " -Harold Shapiro, to faculty members, June 23, 1980 "Anything you cut (from our budget) is going to hurt." -Michigan Media Director Hazen Schumacher, in air interview, Jan. 7, 1981 * * * * "It's tough. It's terrible, (Making these budget cuts) ,is probably the toughest thing I've had to do since I've been here." - Vice President Michael Radock, in an interview, Jan. 7, 1981 "The executive committee and I believe that the best way to protect the overall strength of the College in a period of retrenchment is to make hard decisions about what activities we should attempt to sustain" -Acting LSA Dean John Knott, Jan. 26, 1981 *. * * * "We can'tget rid of chemistry or history; those are central to the college ... but we will have a hard time convincing our colleagues that we are central. " --Geography Department Chairman John Nystuen, in an interview, Jan.,'26, 1981 "The idea of reversing that tradition (of program expansion) has shocked people out of their skins." -LSA Executive Committee member and Communications Prof. William Porter, March 2, 1981 "Whereas I am quite convinced that further modest, carefully planned and carefully paced retrenchment will continue to be an important part of our overall strategy, I am at the same time of the opinion that the overall amount of reallocation through retrenchment will be of relatively modest proportion. " -Bill Frye, to Regents, March 20, 1981 * * * * "We are unanimously agreed that the Department of Geography cannot be continued in its present form. " -From Report of the Geography Review Committee, April, 1981 "Only once or twice in 36 years have I seen a faculty meeting as angry as this one. It's bad medicine. "I do not believe that any administration can carry through a project that has so much opposition. I think the action proposed needs at least 70 percent r support so as not to rip the University in two." -Mathematics Prof. M. S. Ramanujan, at LSA faculty meeting, April 13, 1981 I I 9 'U' new to serious budget cutting (Continued from Page 1) services, eliminating duplication of programs, and spending state money prudently. Opinions on campus are mixed about the University's approach to meeting its budget needs and, inevitably, redirecting the University's educational focus. Many say the debate is healthy, and no one ever expected everyone to agree on everything. YOU'RE ONE. YOU'RE IN GXDD COMPANY So everyone can feel they have had a fair hearing, opportunities to speak in favor of, or against (most often it's against), a specific budget cut are plen- tiful. During recent hearings to gather student views of the proposed elimination of the geography depar- tment, students paraded before com- mittee members. All who spoke op- posed the department's discontinuance. The committee anxiously awaited a student who could provide reasons why geography should be kept as an LSA department. The wait was futile. Instead, the committee members were told the process followed by the college in recommending discontinuan- ce was all wrong. Keep geography, the students said: it's an integral part of a liberal arts education. Yet, none of. Bivouac goes on vacation. . with the i I those students had ever bothered to take a geography course. Again and again committee members heard: Don't cut the geography department.4 Still, no reasons why. But, for the students, it's a vicious cycle. They are asked for quality arguments, yet they'll never have ac- cess to the information administrators, who review departments and programs on a regular basis, have. And, it's only a tiny portion of the student body who care to respond to suggestions of budget cuts. So the students are told there aren't enough of them. Student government leaders get9 numbers of people to sign up for forum speaking duty. They all say the same thing. Another scenario also occurs. University budget administrators, at a recent hearing on non-academic budget cuts, tried to listen attentively to oft- repeated arguments. As the speakers finished, vice presidents asked some appropriate questions, the answers to which they've4 already heard. The administrators then made appropriate notations on the speakers' responses. The process of making selective budget reductions to bolster the University's strengths when money is tight is still in the experimental stage and the philosophy is still being debated. The geography department is the first to come under review under the Regents Guidelines for Discon- tinuance of Academic Programs established in 1979. BUT THE sizable budget problems won't end in'the next year or two. The decade of serious financial problems that loomed when Harold Shapiro assumed the University presidency last year is still ahead. Already being suggested in some cir- cles is a reorganization or recom- bination of programs and curricula in the health sciences, Which includes$ pharmacy, nursing, public health, and medicine. It is also possible that entire schools or colleges will be dropped from the University offerings. One such oft- mentioned possibility is the transfer of the School of Education to a Depar- tment of Education within LSA. Other departments, such as statistics, are especially vulnerable as budget targets. A wide range of statistics courses are offered in many individual departments. I Congratulations, Graduates! You're about to join the good company of Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright Arthur Miller, CBS investigative re- porter Mike Wallace, opera singer Jessye Norman, actress Gilda Radner and the 300,000 other University of Michigan alumniliving around the sociation can advertise, free of charge, in our "Employ- ment Wanted" column of the Alumnus magazine. Need insurance? You can participate in our low-cost term life insurance program. Moving to a new city? Our alumni clubs throughout the country offer personal and bership dues enable us to provide services such as student scholarships and teaching awards.) You see, we really would like you to be a part of us. You're one. You're in good company. PS. Of course, we're in- terested in als tudents , latest fashions II Sex and Mathematics Heredity or Socialization? 0. ii) Sr , -mm- A