PSU Magazine Fall 1996

E T T E R S Engineering grad asks why As a native of Portland, it seems that I have been hearing about school funding and budgeting issues for Oregon schools, as far back as I can remember. Also, it seems that every few years, another proposal to disman– tle PSU or one of its programs, is put forth by the State Board of Higher Education. When, if ever, will a fair and effective higher ed structure be identified for the state of Oregon? When will the most populous part of the state, get proportionate fund– ing for its programs, which are in such high demand? These are just some of the questions I ask in response to the latest proposal under consideration by the board, to have Oregon State run Portland State's Engineering School. Why? Can anyone really answer this question? Is it more cost effective? Or is it yet another way to divide up the pie, only this time Advanced laser research is conducted by Professor Lee Casperson in PSU's Electrical Engineering Department. 2 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1996 OSU gets PSU's engineering funding? If OSU is making the decisions for both engineering schools, then where will the money be spent? Why should Corvallis run programs in Portland, when Portland has the majority of the need and the students to fill its programs? Shouldn't the Oregon State System of Higher Education try to meet its customers needs in the best way possible? Will the customer be best served by a satellite engineer– ing program, run from a distance? If the majority of the customers (students and companies) are in the Portland metro area, then shouldn't the local and nationally recognized urban university, be allowed to continue fulfilling its role? PSU has built a strong, quality Engineering School in a re latively short period of time, to help meet the high demand for engineers in the state and metro area. PSU's program is a success story, a very good thing. I know, because as an engineering graduate, I thank PSU's program for preparing me for the workplace and excellent career opportunities that followed upon graduation. And there are hundreds of other alumni that have positively benefited from PSU's Engineering School as well. It is no wonder that OSU would like to be a part of this successfu l program. But why does the Board of Higher Education want to consider changing a program that is working and continues to work so well? If the board truly believes that consolida– tion of the university system in Oregon will reduce costs of higher ed, then why are they not proposing to consolidate the entire system statewide? Could it be that schools in Eugene and Corvallis would not like to be run from a boardroom in Salem anymore than PSU's Engineering School would like to be run from an office in Corvallis? Deanna Hotchkiss '88 Portland, Oregon The 'Lightbulb Parable' Yesterday morning The Oregonian ran an article on how OSU may be taking over PSU's School of Engineering, and how UO may be dominating graduate business education in Oregon. The journalist noted that PSU was left out of the loop. Not a new development to be sure. When I was at Portland State in the early '60s a student writer composed the "Parable of the Three Lightbulb Factories." (The big and growing bu lb plants were down south while the demand was up north, etc.) That is a perennial theme at PSU it would seem. Last fall the idea was to simply "deep-six" PSU. Now it looks like incremental dismemberment instead: take a leg now, then a hand, etc. Does this latest master scheme give PSU anything? For example, UO has given up teacher training for the most part, and OSU merged its school of educa– tion with the school of home econom– ics. Do the new proposals perhaps suggest giving PSU a major role in teacher training? Or do the proposals suggest funding urban studies and social work outside Portland? So far the chancellor is focusing on business and technology and UO and OSU are on the receiving end. I'm not at all clear on this but even in a time of tight budgets the other two universities never seem to be as short as PSU. And somehow they can move into PSU's "turf' quite easily. For years UO has run an ad for computer classes in Portland. Then UO rented a bigger location and became "UO in Portland." Today, June 23, they took out a full-page ad. ls there a reason for UO, not PSU, offering those courses? PSU has always been a study in limitations. Yet somehow the school and the students learned and grew and developed no matter the severity of shortcomings. The early '60s were even more limited: few buildings, a small library, almost no campus; every student was literally a street person. We managed in and through