Entertainment funds get the ax

 Cornel West. Salman Rushdie. Nicholas Kristof. These are names of intellectual giants who have shared their views with student audiences at Central Washington University. Due to budget woes, the likelihood of seeing these big names again could be slim, as the programs that showcase campus events have been forced to reevaluate their spending and make some tough decisions.

Several centers, committees and programs, such as the Diversity Education Center (DEC), One Book, One Campus, One Community (OBOCOC), Center for Student Empowerment (CSE), and Presidential Speaker Series (PSS) have suffered budget cuts this year.

The DEC, which is funded by S&A funds as well as private grants, has also experienced a decrease in funds. The DEC received $230,000, 7 percent less than the requested $247,790, according to Marian Lien, acting director for the DEC.

Programs focused on multi-cultural studies are often the first to suffer when budget cuts are assigned, according to Lien.

“I am trying not to cut events or programs by re-allotting some lines in my budget,” Lien said in an e-mail. “I will instead take a four-week leave without pay cut in my salary so that I may redirect that back into goods and services as well as help finance more student programmers for the center.”

The DEC, which puts on events such as Parade of Nations: International Fashion Show and National Transgender Day of Remembrance, focuses its efforts on increasing cultural competency.

“In this global landscape, it is imperative that we prepare all students with a cross-cultural skill set of being adaptable, flexible and knowledgeable of those communities unlike their own,” Lien said. “Only then can they stride forth and succeed.”

Much like the CSE and the PSS, the DEC has been working on collaboration with others in an attempt to continue to bring their multitude of events to campus while still maintaining quality standards. One example of this is the current collaboration between the Symposium Without Boundaries Series and the Presidential Speaker Series and their combining of funds.

The OBOCOC committee turned into one of assessment this year because of a significant budget cut. The committee typically puts on events to supplement the book chosen each year. This year, OBOCOC was allotted only $20,000, which is only enough to pay for the books.

Without the ability to bring speakers or events to campus, the committee decided, instead, to change gears and utilize the opportunity to determine whether or not its goals were being met. The committee is hoping to broaden student perceptions by restructuring.

Nelson Pichardo, associate professor of sociology and former chair of the committee sees “a revision of OBOCOC where, instead of choosing one book, subsets of departments with natural cohesion each choose one book, so there may be four or five on campus.”

Ideally, whichever books are chosen each year will be integrated into the classroom so that different perspectives can be explored. According to Pichardo, there are multiple truths. A sociological perspective on a book will reveal one truth, whereas an anthropological or historical perspective will reveal another, equally important but vastly different truth. OBOCOC is thinking about renaming the program “Many Perspectives, One University.”

The committee also suggests assigning chosen books in class and putting the responsibility of purchasing the books in the hands of the students. The $20,000 saved from providing books could be used for speakers and programming.

The committee is also hoping that the restructured version of OBOCOC will be more inclusive of upperclassmen.

Another department that is currently dealing with the repercussions of budget cuts is the Center for Student Empowerment (CSE), which provides programming centered on gender issues and violence prevention. The CSE is mostly funded by the Services and Activities (S&A) fee. This year the CSE requested $269,265 but received only $184,000. The CSE also receives funding from a state budget, but it was almost entirely lost this year.

“We’ve been creative enough to continue doing what we’re doing,” said Mal Stewman, assistant director for the CSE. He wishes, though, that they could bring bigger speakers to campus.

In an effort to continue with their programming and their goal to develop understanding and better awareness about gender issues, the CSE has created more partnerships with community members.

According to their Web site, the CSE supports their goal of supplementing classroom learning by putting on programs such as Manuary, which focuses on what it means to be a man, and Women’s History Month, which explores historically successful women.

“Hopefully things improve so we can continue to grow,” Stewman said. “We’re not really in a growing state right now, just a maintaining stage.”

The Presidential Speaker Series (PSS) was also under scrutiny this year. In light of recent budget cuts and economic difficulties, the president’s advisory council was asked if they should even organize a PSS this year. It was decided to keep the series, but to be more collaborative and have fewer independently sponsored events.

Despite the fact that the PSS received approximately $25,000 less than last year, the PSS will continue as usual. This is largely due to increased collaboration and the co-sponsoring of several events.

“These events are important in creating a rich cultural environment for our students, for our faculty and staff, and for the larger Ellensburg community,” said Libby Street, interim vice president for university relations. “We are first and foremost an academic institution and are responsible for cultural enrichment.”

This year’s PSS theme is “Bridges and Beacons.” According to Street, the theme was chosen by Jerilyn McIntyre, former Central president.

“The theme was chosen because we have a new president who will be our bridge from the past to the future, and because we want to provide beacons of light for those whose voices are silenced in the world,” Street said.t