To those of you who have followed the saga of the closure of the Horner
    Museum at Oregon State University, and the more general discussions at
    ACUMG etc. re the threats to University museums in recent years, I'm
    pleased to let you know that we have reopened on a limited basis as
    "The Horner Collections" for at least until June 30.  This is a
    'weekends only' mandate but we can serve groups by appointment during
    the week.  There is still the distinct possibility that this will
    become a Community Museum.
 
    There is much more to the story, of course, and there is still the
    upcoming legislative session budgeting for the last biennium of
    Oregon's Measure 5 budget cuts, so we aren't yet out of the political
    and financial woods yet, (the expectation is -0- budget for Horner) but
    the bottom line is, don't abandon ship - hang in with your collections
    and work for a responsible solution. (For those unfamiliar, the Univ.
    had proposed deaccession and dispersal of all collections, and we
    closed for inventory in June '93).  This is especially important if the
    collections have their origins in the community.  It once again points
    out the importance to a University museum to have a strong community
    constituency. They saved the day and THEIR collections.
 
    PS I am now delighted to have hired Larry Westfall as my other hand, in
    case any of you wondered where Larry went!
 
    Lucy Skjelstad
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