Western Michigan University - Brown and Gold Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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ag' . I Applied Sciences -What Do You Think O Damn car! I knew I shou1d've never bought a foreign car. Maybe it's only a loose distributor wire. Hmmm. . .I wonder where the distributor wires are. Maybe the battery's dry. No, that's not it. I know! It's probably out of gas. Hell, I can't even get it to turn over. It sure is dark out here. I wish I was on a main road. I'm going to get the hell out of here. Maybe I should register for an auto tech. class. When someone says College of Applied Sciences to you, what do you think of? These and many more areas of study should come to mind: Agri- culture, Military Science, Food Dis- tribution, Aviation, Engineering and Technology, Home Economics and many more. Students in the College of Applied Sciences learn more than just theory. They get actual training that pre- pares them to step out of the class- room into a job. Almost every stu- dent graduating from the College of Applied Sciences finds a position immediately. Even teachers coming out of the College have relative ease in finding jobs, much easier than in- structors in other areas. The College of Applied Sciences does work on a strict University budget but outside help from con- cerned businesses is accepted by the 0

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rn's finances are experiencing lily rises in expenses, but with- .t a similar rise in their corre- ondin g revenue categories. WMU's administration is faced th a need to either cutback in penses, and thus services, or to ake up additional revenue. Mak- g additional revenue can not be sily accomplished in today's ght money market, so the univer- ay is forced to reappraise their iorities and determine where tbacks can occur without hin- ring Western's ability to teach a studentsg obviously its primary lrpose. Westem is already rated as one the lowest salaried schools in e state when it comes to faculty. ren so the outlook for significant ises is at best doubtful since the iiversity cannot afford salary in- eases at a time when its own idget is being curtailed. This di- rnma alone may force some fa- lty members to migrate to gher paying institutions. Cutsin e Auxilliary Activities budget e next to impossible with main- nance costs rising and the Uni- rsity commited to improving its hletic facilities and police de- rtment. Student Aid will be ore needed than ever. Student ervices will, however, suffer some cuts in the General Fund. But such cuts will not be' of the magnitude expected in the academic areas of the university where President Bemhard has already ordered a hiring freeze for the university, precluding replacing anyone who decides to leave the employment of Western. The number and var- iety of classes will be the most no- ticable cutback as larger more crowded classes become the norm. This will help to both cut the cost per capita of classes and also make up for any instructors who fail to be replaced due the freeze. The only making up of revenue will be a small raise in dorm rates and an increase in out of state tui- tion. The rise in tuition is neces- sary because the state now de- mands that state supported schools pay for seventy-five per- cent of the cost of a non-residents education, and the increased dorm rates will to a great extent reflect rising food costs. Everyone is caught up in the same double edged problem. First it was simply a problem of rising costs, now the added burden of stringent revenues has served to multiply the difficulties. Faculty members are living with rising prices and little hope of early, sig- nificant raises. Students are find- ing themselves caught between paying more for their education while enjoying less opportunity to find employment in order to gain an income. The administrationtoo is caught in the middle of trying to maintain an acceptable level of services while suffering a substan- cial loss in net revenues. The combined effects of reces- sion and inflation have forced Western into decisive action. The result will be cutbacks in nearly all fields of service that the university offers and increased efforts to raise revenues merely to offset inflation- ary losses. These changes will uri- doubtedly detract from Western's ability to serve both its students and the society it trains them for, but if it continues to display the fiscal awareness and sensible man- agementthat it has in the past, WMU should survive relatively unscathed its Worst financial diffi- culties since becoming a Univer- sity.

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Y ll' . l pg. . H, - x I .'l'fU-gtk, ui , , I A Helping Hand The Occupational Therapy depart- ment here, at Western, claims the third oldest curriculum in existence. Currently, there are two hundred and five students seeking an under- graduate degree and thirty-six more students who are engaged in the master's program. As part of the course requirements, occupational therapy students have to take part in two, three-month affiliations. I' 5 iq The occupational therapy depart- ment's major role is to treat chronic and acute disabilities and they ac- complish this by engaging the person in his own treatment. Screening the patient, working with the parents, providing remediation activities, and teaching day-to-day survival skills, fosters independence in the person and helps minimize the pain for the family. The health related professions are becoming more pertinent today as society finds a way to include all its members. The O.T. department at Western is making a meaningful con- tribution by alleviating the affects of illness and making a disadvantaged individual a more productive mem- ber of our society.