Letters

Monday, December 4, 1995

Letters to the editor

Student priority

Editor:

We want students in the humanities to understand the reasoning behind

the administrative reorganization of the Humanities Division - the subject

of a recent Bruin article ("Department clustering creates strange

bedfellow," Nov. 14) and Viewpoint piece ("Humanities merger sells all

involved short," Nov. 16).

First, a little background. UCLA's budget - including the budget for the

humanities - was cut dramatically, effective July 1, 1994. The Humanities

Division alone was required to sustain a cut of $1.4 million in annually

recurring expenditures.

Our highest priority in the face of this reduction was to preserve the

academic quality of the humanities, with a special concern for the quality

of undergraduate and graduate education.

We could have taken the entire $1.4 million out of our teaching budget,

but that would have put an intolerable burden on our students. Had we done

so, classes would be larger than they currently are, scores of courses

would be permanently eliminated, and undergraduate education would suffer.

The alternative was to reduce our much smaller administrative budget.

Both the teaching and the administrative budgets had already been

subjected to previous rounds of budget cuts, and painful cuts could not be

avoided. We were not eager to reduce the administrative budget either, but

the alternatives were worse.

Contrary to the Viewpoint piece, our administrative reorganization has

produced needed savings of almost one-half million dollars annually. The

decision to take these funds out of the administrative side of the

humanities has saved some 100 courses per year. The decision was difficult,

but we remain convinced that it was the correct one in the best interests

of students.

The front page Daily Bruin article suggested that the separation of

French, Germanic, Italian, Scandinavian, comparative literature and romance

languages/linguistics faculty from their administrative staff - and the

resulting diminishment of their sense of community - was owed to the

administrative reorganization. It was not.

The faculty/staff separation predated the reorganization by six months

and was a direct consequence of the Northridge earthquake, which displaced

all Royce Hall occupants. The staff were moved into Murphy Hall; the

faculty, initially housed in a Westwood office building, have recently and

mercifully been able to move back to campus into temporary quarters.

Faculty and staff will be immediately reunited on the first day that we

are allowed to move back into Royce Hall.

UCLA's departments and programs in the humanities are strong, and we are

working hard to see that they remain so. In the face of painful budget

cuts, our goal is to inflict as little damage on academic programs as

possible.

Pauline Yu

Dean of Humanities

Dave Wilson

Assistant Dean of Humanities

Lost tradition

Editor:

Missing: one graduation hood. If found, please return to the graduating

class of 1996.

Have any of you seniors (or anyone else for that matter) noticed that we

don't wear hoods at graduation anymore? We used to. Other schools do. We

even wear them when we take our yearbook/senior portrait pictures. Do you

wonder what happened to them?

Why it is that we don't wear them when we walk on that special day in

June? Now for those of you that have no idea what we are talking about, we

are referring to the hoods - those white and yellow pieces of cloth that

drape over your shoulders and down your back, distinguishing your college

graduation pictures from those of high school.

Now, you may be wondering why we are spending so much time on a subject

that only affects a select few students, but hoods are part of a

long-standing college tradition which has been noticeably absent from our

commencement ceremonies for quite some time now.

We believe that it is time to bring this tradition back. (Think of how

good our pictures will look in color!!!!) If any of you are planning to

graduate (we know you exist) and feel as we do, speak now, or be doomed to

wear ALL BLACK (unless you are an honor student) on that "joyous occasion."

Keep in mind that the June sun in Los Angeles is mighty hot on all black

polyester.

Please stop by the general representative's office in Kerckhoff 311 and

leave word with Cheryl Chang, Nancy Licker or Maita Schuster. This is the

first step of the rest of your life - make it a colorful one.

Maita Schuster

Fourth-year

HistoryNancy Licker

Fifth-year

Psychology