South Dakota Budget Cuts

[Buzz]

Our new governor here in SD gave an ultimatum to the legislature that they would balance the budget without raising revenue and without dipping into our rainy day fund. He told them that he would veto any attempt they made to defy him on this. He insisted that the cuts would have no impact on the quality of education provided to our children here in the state.

So last night and this morning I hear that at South Dakota State University, in order to weather the cuts to their budget will be significantly increasing tuition. Also the will be eliminating the physics department and the biochemistry department, a department they just spend millions on putting in new labs etc that will now sit empty. We are also hearing that this is the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The full extent of the cuts will not be known until the first of May and that other programs will be chopped or merged in with other programs. I don't know how they can have an engineering department without physics. Maybe engineering will have to hire their own professor and teach it themselves. Marvin, I'm assuming that you can kiss that new dairy program you've heard about here at SDSU goodbye.

All I can say is thank goodness they didn't raise my taxes one dime. Guess I'll be sending my daughter out of state for college...

[dback]

Guess I'll be sending my daughter out of state for college...

I'll bet she's simply devastated.

[Marvin S]

Our new governor here in SD gave an ultimatum to the legislature that they would balance the budget without raising revenue and without dipping into our rainy day fund. He told them that he would veto any attempt they made to defy him on this. He insisted that the cuts would have no impact on the quality of education provided to our children here in the state.

So last night and this morning I hear that at South Dakota State University, in order to weather the cuts to their budget will be significantly increasing tuition. Also the will be eliminating the physics department and the biochemistry department, a department they just spend millions on putting in new labs etc that will now sit empty. We are also hearing that this is the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The full extent of the cuts will not be known until the first of May and that other programs will be chopped or merged in with other programs. I don't know how they can have an engineering department without physics. Maybe engineering will have to hire their own professor and teach it themselves. Marvin, I'm assuming that you can kiss that new dairy program you've heard about here at SDSU goodbye.

All I can say is thank goodness they didn't raise my taxes one dime. Guess I'll be sending my daughter out of state for college...

I'll wait till I get the Woony News as our area has a D Rep & an R Senator who don't see I2I, so it should be interesting if what you say is true. My son earned his DM degree in '87 & says tuition has not been raised since, so it might be due. At the time he paid OOS tuition & it was still cheaper than IS WA. Tho I agree that a Physics dept is a necessary evil on the road to BS Engineering.

For the dairy thing, the new building & expansion is financed entirely by donations from alumni & industy so would imagine it would go ahead.

As for your daughter, you have many choices like Tempe, Boulder, East Lansing, Berkely, that would all provide her an atmosphere she would be familiar with . That is, based on your more recent postings .

[Uncle Bill]

Here's a suggestion, Buzz.

"All I can say is thank goodness they didn't raise my taxes one dime. Guess I'll be sending my daughter out of state for college..."

Why not 'take' her OOS and live where you can cut down on her living expenses as well?

How about Michigan? They would welcome both of you, and your family. Bet you'll be able to find plenty of schools with lower tuitions in your old home state eh?

Sorry to hear the AG school won't be into engineering like they wanted to be. I suspect they had the funding for that new facility, so they built it, but now don't have the funding for the staff to run it all.

But making SDSU into an engineering school would be tantamount to making the SDSM&T or USD into agriculture schools.

Wasting money comes in all forms. Certainly higher ed management with their 'wannabe' attitudes can figure out lots of areas they'd like to expand into...kinda like their sports teams moving into a much costlier level in which to compete. And for what? To be like the AG school in Nodak that beat Minnesota one time? There is no end to the egos in that program.

Where you send your daughter to college is none of my business, but your reasoning is certainly amusing if not questionable.

UB

[Buzz]

I don't know what you're taking about UB. My father-in-law went to SDSU for electrical engineering over 50 years ago. But you're right, probably a waste of time teaching a bunch of farm boys something like physics.

Marv, I don't think there has been anything in the news at all yet. There has been a lot of construction going on that's funded by alumni giving, but the university is struggling to come up with the funds to operate and staff it.

There has also been talk of selling mines and privatizing it. I guess we have too many colleges in SD.

[subroc]

It looks like the state made a bad investment into that school building. Obviously, their program can't sustain itself when compared to other physics and biochemistry departments. Thankfully, you won't have to pay for a poorly run or substandard department going forward. Congratulations.

[dback]

you have many choices like Tempe, Boulder, East Lansing, Berkely, that would all provide her an atmosphere she would be familiar with .

OUCH!!! In the same sentence no less.......and here I thought we were friends, that hurt, especially coming from a guy living in Washington I just thought any place south of 35° 6' 7" N would be attractive to a young lady (save UTEP and New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology). I'm thinkin' she'd have more opportunity to find a 'significant other' in her freshman 'English as a second language' class then in the entire state of SD.

[road kill]

.

As for your daughter, you have many choices like Tempe, Boulder, East Lansing, Berkely, that would all provide her an atmosphere she would be familiar with . That is, based on your more recent postings .

You left out Madison WI!!!!


RK

[Buzz]

You left out Madison WI!!!!


RK

Actually, complaining that I'll have to send her out of state is dumb, since it will be her deciding where she'll go not me. She already informed me that she wants to go to UM Ann Arbor, but I bet she'll change her mind a few times. I wasn't really concerned about her so much as opportunity for SD kids. Not everyone has the option or the ability to get into a top program at a top school and some of the less noteworthy programs might be a good fit for them.

I took a few EE courses at UW Madison. Very good school, and I really liked Madison, but I'm sure you'd guess that.