Uncertainties remain about what budget cuts will be necessary

Oregon State University still has plenty of uncertainties before officials know what kind of budget cuts might be made this school year and next biennium, but a federal stimulus package signed into law Tuesday will help soften the blow, said President Ed Ray.

Ray spoke Wednesday night at the University Honors College's annual presidential forum, which focused on the nation's financial crisis and how that will impact higher education.

The stimulus package will bring about $1.5 billion to the state, including $400 million this fiscal year. While school representatives didn't know how that will impact OSU, Ray said the university is poised to take advantage of more federal research funding.

"A lot of money is going into research and it needs to go out the door pretty fast. We have one heck of a research enterprise here," he said.

About 40 people attended the forum, which was held in the Memorial Union.

"We know there will be budget reductions," said Nancy Heiligman, associate vice president for budget and planning, who added that no layoffs or furloughs are expected this school year. The state will release another financial forecast Friday, and the news is expected to be bad, she added.

If major cuts are made by the state, OSU might have to increase tuition more than 3 percent, Heiligman said.

Mark McCambridge, vice president of finance and administration, said that if cuts at OSU are made, "The quality of students' education and access to classes is the No. 1 priority."

Oregon State University sophomore Jay Levesque, another panelist said he's seen the impact of the nation's financial crisis on campus, noticing the fear some students have regarding the job market.

"They're seeing their colleagues graduate and not being hired," said the business major. To make matters worse, students can't get a part-time job now, because many Corvallis businesses are struggling or even closing.

Ray said the stimulus package is a move in the right direction, because the money will have a multiplier effect. Other government actions to combat the recession, however, have been bungled and killed public confidence rather than built it, he said.

The current financial problems are impacting people, Ray said, but he made clear this recession was nothing like the 1920s. America is now trying to avoid 10 percent unemployment.

"In the depth of the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was 25 percent," Ray said, and that was a time when many women weren't in the work force.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.