The
S TUDENT P RINTZ www.studentprintz.com
SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Volume 95 Issue 4
USM cuts budget BUDGET
COMICS
TAKE THE MIC
How well were students represented on UPC? See page 6
REVIEW FOOTBALL P
See page 8
PINION UPC CUTS O
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90/69 TOMORROW
93/69 INDEX Calendar ...................... Sudoku ........................ News ........................... Opinions ...................... Arts & Entertainment Sports ..........................
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Printz Staff The administration has announced the plan to cut the university’s budget by almost $15 million for the next fiscal year, meaning the University Priorities Council has temporarily finished its work. However, it seems that some students are still not sure what that work entailed. Some students wonder if their voices were heard in the decision-making process. Two student representatives served on the council. One position was the SGA president, which switched from J.R. Robinson to Kasey Mitchell midway through the process, and the other was a graduate student representative. Robinson, former SGA president, was a part of the early research that the committee undertook until he relinquished his duties to current SGA president Mitchell. “I did a lot of the legwork, like research on programs in non-academic and academic areas,” Robinson said. “I was more a part of doing the work to get to the point that the committee could make their recommendations.”
Robinson was not part of the final decision-making process for the committee, because he gave up his duties when his term ended. “I hated to transition like that, but Kasey did a good job,” he said. “It’s a hard job to do.” Robinson added that the fact that Mitchell was not present for the early research probably did not make her job any easier. Mitchell said she did not make any decisions directly but had her say by reading over the reports from the various initiatives and submitting her rating to the UPC. Mitchell said she came in at the tail end of the process, but when she attended meetings she was not simply a bystander. “I spoke up and really spoke on the student’s behalf,” she said. “I know I was very concerned in pushing for general things like scholarships and things that broadly affect all students,” Mitchell said. Students were also represented by Alice Ferguson, a doctoral student in the school of mass communications and journalism.
Printz Writer USM released its budget reduction announcement Monday morning, listing the many academic programs facing deletion or consolidation. Among 27 programs listed was the Bachelors of Arts for religion, which, pending approval, will remove the religion major and minor from the university. Daniel Capper, religion professor and founder of the religion major, is one of the 10 professors in the College of Arts and Letters that has been let go. Capper is also the
Total: $3,77,041 Administrative Support Services Amount of Savings
See UPC, 3
Religion program suffers fatal blow Chris Greene
Academic Program Deletion/Consolidation Amount of Savings
faculty advisor to USM’s chapter of Amnesty International and is the head of the study abroad program in India. When asked about the loss of the religion major, Capper said, “The influence of religion on humanity has been so pervasive that we really cannot understand human life without understanding religion. This is especially true in a post-September 11th world. “Our major in religion provides resources for students and faculty to explore and appreciate these realities in a scholarly, academic way.”
See RELIGION, 3
Total: $1,887,223 Campus-Wide Initiatives Amount of Savings
Total: $7,450,000 TOTAL SAVINGS: $14,786,523