From Richards@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu Fri Jan 20 14:25:43 PST 1995 >From Richards@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu Fri Jan 20 14:25:42 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by lists.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA13488; Fri, 20 Jan 95 14:25:42 -0800 Received: from wpo.SOSC.OSSHE.EDU by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA26988; Fri, 20 Jan 95 14:25:37 -0800 Received: from SOSC-Message_Server by wpo.sosc.osshe.edu with WordPerfect_Office; Fri, 20 Jan 1995 14:26:09 -0800 Message-Id: X-Mailer: WordPerfect Office 4.0 Date: Fri, 20 Jan 1995 14:25:28 -0800 From: Richards@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu To: galya@u.washington.edu, slavic-uw@u.washington.edu Subject: Slavic -Reply The University of Washington is known for several centers of excellence outside of the medical and laboratory sciences and these centers add prestige to the university as a whole and consequently to all of its departments. The Department of Slavic languages and literature is one such department, East Asian Studies another. If the move to cut the SL&L department is in response to a perception that the need for Slavic Studies is reduced now that the cold war is over, then the administration had best review its thinking. I received my BA in SL&L in 1977 from the U of W, which enabled me to spend the last four months in Odesa, Ukraine on a Fulbright fellowship. I assure you, our ignorance of the region is deeper and more dangerous now than ever. I urge the administration to work with the department in identifying ways to increase the department's audience and funding. To do otherwise is terribly short-sighted and a betrayal of the University's mission. -- John Richards .