Cecelia, I share your concern about the University of
Nebraska.

However, while I am not discouraging the group from
trying to do something about this, I would suggest,
perhaps, that folks who are interested do a Google
News search on the state of economy in the various
states ( http://news.google.com ).

One of the things I provide the 588 folks in MuseJobs
is some understanding of what the job market/economy
actually looks like, and I try to give them some
alternatives to tide them over in these very tough
times--vis a vis jobs with transferrable skills.

It's a shame that the University of Nebraska is
removing this program, but the greater shame is that a
majority of the states are having quite severe
budgetary constraints.  The reasons are many, some of
which (dancing very lightly on the subject here due to
its political nature) tie to the reasons we got into
the Fair Use discussion in the first place.

State budgets are hemorraghing, and the governors have
begged the current adminstration for assistance.
Regrettably, much of this has fallen on deaf ears
because their requests do not match the current
paradigm of this administration and do not match the
agenda at hand.

Examine the unemployment situation.  The tanking stock
market, which closed at the beginning of the week in
the 7,500 ball park after being in the 12,000 range
just three short years ago, is having a very severe
impact on jobs in general, and state budgets as well.
There are so many facets tied to this market, not the
least of which is state bonds that help to support key
programs.

It's such a travesty, but until the economy can be
righted, I seriously can't see that our letter writing
is going to do a lot.  I read about 9 online
newspapers daily from different geographic locales and
demographics (and numerous publications of a
special-interest nature).  I believe the SacBee,
Denver Rocky Mountain News, and Seattle Times have all
had articles recently talking about the impacts in
their states to libraries and universities.

What we could do is perhaps come up with some
alternative locations for students to study, not the
least of which is the University of Leicester in the
UK.  Jim Roberts of UL is commoderator on MuseJobs,
and I believe they run a distance education program.
If someone needs it, let me know, and I'll dig out the
California virtual university site that links the
California colleges, many of which have online
programs.

The next problem for students across the board is
going to be the increase in tuition.  Because the
private sector is failing in the market, funding is
getting more and more restricted.  It's going to be
very tough for these folks to get the dollars they
deserve to get the quality education.

That, in turn, drives the old tried and true (flame
war here, LOL) discussion of salaries are too low when
muse studies folks graduate from college heavily
enmeshed in debt (smile).  I don't see a respite soon
forthcoming.

I think it's time to pull the Ramen out again.
Perhaps time to revisit the Ramen recipes resident in
the archives.




--- "Gibson, Cecelia" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Second, I
> would like to suggest that
> we now take a closer look at what is happening at
> the Univerisity of
> Nebraska and I would urge anyone who can to please
> write a letter of support
> for the program and museum as suggested below.  I,
> for one, am outraged by
> their plan to eliminate the museum studies program
> and tenured professors,
> not to mention the museum employees who will also
> lose their jobs.  I am
> interested in hearing how other museum professionals
> and students feel about
> this situation.
>
> Best,
> Cecelia
>


=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

Looking for a Job?  Try Got Links?, Your One-Stop Portal
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online
http://webhosting.yahoo.com

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).