UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
MARCH 28, 2000
The Student Voice Since 1903
TUESDAY
Regents seek $504 million salary increase for state university professional staff By N. David Owens
StaftWriter
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—Student photo by Tsuyoshi Shiraishi
Employees of the UCO Bookstore presents Pres. Webb with a t-shirt designed to encourage local high school seniors to attend the university after graduation. Pictured is (left to right) Ben Ngigi, Pres. Webb, Debra Schneider, Frank Newcombe, and A. K. Rahman. By N. David Owens
StallWriter
Bookstore employees design new university logo T-shirt
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n an attempt to draw more graduating seniors from the three Edmond high schools, the UCO Bookstore has created a T-shirt depicting President Roger Webb driving a stagecoach carrying the mascots of each of the schools. The shirt also features a drawing of Oklahoma State University's mascot, Pistol Pete, laying on the ground looking broken-down, and a conestoga wagon laying in a ditch with the University of Oklahoma's logo on the side. Book store employees Ben Ngigi and Debra Schneider have been working on this project for
Don't go north. Don't go south. Go to UCO.
T-Shirt Slogan eight years, Schneider said. This logo may also be featured in banners and other media at future recruiting trips to area high schools, Schneider said. Shirts will sell only at the UCO book store. The cost is $17.95 for the public or $14.36 if purchased through a university department. '
klahoma college faculty make an average of $10,000 less than their peers in other states, causing several universities to lose faculty members, and most universities report difficulty in recruiting faculty, according to reports from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Due to inflation, the Regents say that they will need at least $37.6 million in additional funds just to stay current with last years funding levels. To this end, the Regents requested the state to increase by $215.7 million the Brain Gain 2010 Initiative, which aims to increase the number of college graduates in the state and reduce the amount of college graduates who leave the state. This funding includes faculty and professional staff increases of $4,000 and a support staff increase of $2,500. The requested salary increases would total $50.4 million, which Gov. Frank Keating's aides say he would try to support. "The governor is a friend of higher education, he has signed the highest level of education funding increases in Oklahoma history," said John Cox, press secretary to Gov. Keating. "To retain faculty, we have to be competitive salary wise, and that is certainly a priority...but there are many
issues," Cox said. "It is just too early to say; we have to wait to see what the legislature is going to do," Cox said. The legislature has yet to formally draft legislation on this request for funding, and may prevent it from ever reaching the governor's desk. "The growth money that is left after doing the (grade school) teacher pay raise is only about $250 million, and we have to fund the prison system ... roads that have to be maintained ... it is just not realistic to happen," said Sen. Mark Snyder (R-Edmond). "The reality is, you've got a low income state, which means that the revenue coming into the state is low. "You have to turn that around, or you have to take takes from someone who is already making below that national average, which I won't do," Snyder said. "We have to do things to raise our per capita income. You need a right to work law, decent workers compensation, and a tax structure that encourages people to come to the state." T.
The reality is, you've got a low income state, which means that the revenue coming into the state is low
—Sen. Mark Snyder R-Edmond