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Indications
point toward budget cuts Editor-in-Chief
Uncertainty
and budget - the two words seem to coincide at Missouri Southern. Following
the cuts and withholdings from the state in the past two semesters,
students and officials at the College are walking on eggshells going
into the spring 2003 semester. It s
kind of uncertain right now because we re waiting to see what the
situation with the state is going to be, said College President Julio
Le n. The indications are that there are going to be withholdings.
At this point, we have no idea how extensive they are going to be. That
is going to determine the budget situation for next semester. Le n
said it may be well into the month of December before the state decides
where cuts will be made. He said by that time it will be too late to
increase tuition or implement a surcharge. Last
year, we were able to do that because we found out much earlier that we
were going to have a big problem, Le n said. Michelle
Burns, junior general studies major, said the tuition increases the
previous two semesters have caused her to use more financial aid. I ll
have to pay all that back when I get out [of college], she said. She
said thanks to the aid, she has not noticed the effects of paying more
money to attend Southern. But Burns said any more increases would
definitely affect students. I
think it would hurt them because they d have to pay more money out of
their pockets, she said. To
prepare for another possible withholding, instead of another tuition
increase, Le n said 10 percent of the appropriations from the state
were not budgeted to the College s departments. Consequently,
we have asked our departments to hold back, Le n said. Each
department at Southern received 50 percent of its usual budget
allocation. The
other half is depending on whether we re going to have
withholdings, Le n said. If withholdings come, that would
probably be the first line that we would address. Bud
Sloan, physical science department head, said because of the tight
budget, some tasks, such as maintenance and upgrade, are not happening. He
said class work, like labs, have yet to be affected. But he said that
does not mean there will not be future problems. We
have a little slack, he said. So far we re hanging in there. Burns
said if cutting back spending in the departments is the only way to
solve the problem, then the College is doing the right thing. But
it s hurting the departments because they re not getting everything
they need, she said. Le n
said it seems as though the departments are moving along OK
despite the depleted allocations. By
increasing tuition last year, we were able to restore some of the
problem, he said. Departments are still functioning at a lower
level than last year, but it s not as bad as it could have been. Although
no legislative candidates in the recent election put higher education on
the forefront of their platforms, Le n said there appears to be a
feeling of sympathy toward higher education because we bore the brunt of
cuts last year. If
there s a need for more cuts this year, I think a lot of people want
to see a more equitable distribution of the pain, he said. One
person Le n expects to fight for higher education is Quentin Wilson,
the person recently appointed as the interim commissioner of the
Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. Wilson
was named interim commissioner for a six-week period. When that time
ended last week, he accepted a one-year term. He
is definitely working to do something about the problem, Le n said.
He appears to be a very capable individual, and one that seems to
understand the value of higher education through economic development
and growth of the state. During
this time of uncertainty, Le n said people have to stay informed and
contact their legislators about the value of higher education. This
year, we will be a little more prepared, he said. But it s still
going to be a difficult situation. In
the meantime, Southern s departments are surviving on what they have. We re just really pinching pennies and really hoping for some more money, Sloan said. |