From galya@u.washington.edu Fri Jan 20 13:27:24 PST 1995 >From galya@u.washington.edu Fri Jan 20 13:27:23 1995 Return-Path: Received: from carson-oms1.u.washington.edu by lists.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA11198; Fri, 20 Jan 95 13:27:23 -0800 Received: from carson.u.washington.edu by carson-oms1.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA25445; Fri, 20 Jan 95 13:27:16 -0800 Date: Fri, 20 Jan 1995 13:27:16 -0800 (PST) From: Galya Diment To: wpg@u.washington.edu, John Simpson , Richard Salomon Cc: Kurt Engelmann , slavic-uw@u.washington.edu Subject: Slavic Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In a recent response to a letter of concern about the possible elimination of the Slavic Department (sent by e-mail by Mary Ellen Fischer of Skidmore College), Arther Ferrill, Special Assistant to the President, suggested to her that "one of the reasons there are so few [Slavic] programs around the country is that they are very expensive." Anyone who knows the kind of salaries we get and the kind of support our students get (three TAships for the whole department) will immediately realize that this is not the issue. The issue is: we are not SCIENCES. What is thus at stake here is not the question of whether this or that particular department is worthy of being retained but whether HUMANITIES and ARTS in general deserve being protected. The university is obviously redefining its mission. As President Gerberding told everyone in Kane Hall last month, there are "core" programs (mostly sciences and probably English since this is after all the language of the country) and then there are dispensable others which do not bring in money (i.e. one Microbiology Lab is worth scores of us, no doubt). If that is the case, how about some honesty in discussing this new re-direction of this university so that other programs likely to be targeted for possible elimination next year or a year after that can, unlike us, actually participate in this debate PRIOR to the "Invitation to a Beheading," as Vladimir Nabokov would say. Galya Diment/Associate Professor, Slavic L & L .