Opinion

The task force shall rise again

Shaun Salnave
Opinion Editor

Those of you who follow such things will have noted that our dear old UH is going to be making some cuts in its budget requests for the coming financial year.

Now, 7 percent doesn't seem like a huge amount -- what's seven cents out of a dollar -- but it totals to some pretty serious money in the long run, as well as a potentially serious impact on students. Mr. Dr. Chancident Arthur K. Smith is doing his best, but difficult times require difficult people to help out.

Keeping this in mind, I called into emergency session the Student Committee on University Friendliness, defunct since Fall 2000, to once again help Smitty when he needs it most.

A brief history lesson for those of you who don't remember: In Fall 2000, Doc Smith formed a University Task Force on Student Friendliness that contained few students on its board.

I created the student task farce on University Friendliness to add the student input that Smith's task force was lacking. The student task force made a number of suggestions, none of which were adopted, that might have dramatically improved everybody's UH experience.

Well, my fellow Cougars, the situation this time is even more dire than before. Despite some bitterness at being overlooked two-and-a-half years ago, and fears that it might happen once again, the student task force was there to help out.

The meeting was held at Rice University's Valhalla because of lack of proper and available accommodation on UHis campus. The following is a summary of their meeting and the task force's initial findings and suggestions:

Shaun Salnave, the chairman of the task force, started things off by reading Gov. Rick Perry's letter to state agencies about budget cuts and Chancident Smith's letter on the University's cuts. He also read a letter from Daily Cougar Opinion editor Shaun Salnave, charging the task force to maximize savings while minimizing negative effects on students.

Salnave's letter closed with some encouraging words: "I know this will be difficult; budget cuts always are, and you will be doing your best to save money without hurting student experience. Remain hopeful, though: you are the most talented group of students at this University, and you will succeed."

The chairman then opened the floor for what he termed a "brainstorming session," allowing members of the task force to express their ideas without having to worry about procedure. As might have been guessed, this led to considerable shouting and a few injuries, but none were serious. Overall, junior education major Max Meinung said, "It was very successful."

Some of the suggestions were immediately decried as ridiculous. Meinung suggested cutting the Athletics Department's budget to "just enough to fund intramurals," and paving over its various facilities.

"This would eliminate several problems at once," Meinung said. "We'd have plenty of parking, enough money to make up the amount we have to cut, and some left over, which could be used to fund a Valhalla-style beverage distribution center on our campus."

While most of the task force agreed about the importance of Valhalla, real suggestions were demanded. Few were found, however.

"I think it might have been a mistake holding this meeting at a bar," said Woodrow Forbes, a sophomore philosophy major, shortly before falling over.

Salnave, a senior history and creative writing major, can be reached at ssalnave@uh.edu.