Chron.com As enrollment falls, TSU cuts 178 jobs: "July 29, 2006, 2:29PM
As enrollment falls, TSU cuts 178 jobs
The downsizing comes in wake of 21.5% tuition hike, spending scandal
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Texas Southern University announced on Friday the elimination of 178 jobs, including dozens of faculty positions, in an attempt to contain costs while enrollment continues to slide.
The decision caps off a painful summer for students at the nation's second-largest historically black university. In recent months they've seen TSU's once-popular president fired amid a spending scandal, a 21.5 percent tuition hike and now the layoffs.
Faced with a multimillion-dollar budget gap, TSU leaders made cuts across the board, with the house-cleaning reaching the executive offices. The firings included the university's chief fundraiser, who was also a vice president.
The cuts reduced the workforce by 16 percent, a rollback not seen in recent memory at TSU. But acting President Bobby Wilson said the current contraction represents 'our desire to continue to provide a high-quality education.'
A hiring and spending freeze that began in June remains in effect, Wilson said.
Regents cite other reasons
Administrators and regents blamed the university's troubles on rising energy and insurance costs and declining enrollment after six years of rapid growth.
Six months ago, they projected a surplus of more than $10 million for the fiscal year that ends Aug. 31. But officials now face a roughly $5 million shortfall in revenue and an anticipated $13.7 million shortfall for next year.
J. Paul Johnson, chairman of TSU's governing board, said campus leaders intended to balance the budget with the latest round of belt-tightening.
"You have to take care of the business," he said.
Johnson said the decision makers tried to leave areas with direct contact with students intact. Most of the job cuts came on the administrative side.
Still, the university eliminated 67 faculty positions, all of them belonging to visiting, non-tenured scholars. Daniel Adams, a professor of fine arts, said the cuts would have a far-reaching effect on an already overworked faculty.
"It's going to make things difficult for us," Adams said. "We need more faculty members, not less."
Somber mood on campusAround campus, the mood is grim. Earlier this year, the regents fired the university's president, Priscilla Slade, on the grounds that she misspent the school's money to furnish and landscape her house. She now faces a criminal investigation, which is expected to conclude next week.
Despite Slade's lavish spending, her supporters said she brought stability, while persuading donors, lawmakers and prospective students that the school is on the rise.
Regent Bill King said the university's current financial problems would have happened even if Slade were still in charge.
"Her administration ran the school on the theory that enrollment would continue to grow indefinitely," King said. "But every university hits a wall, and TSU is no exception. There was no plan for an enrollment decrease, and that makes this more painful."
Campus leaders forecast a 7 percent drop in attendance this fall, two years after a record enrollment of about 11,600 students.
Will students feel cuts?King said he anticipates the job cuts having relatively little effect on students.
"There was some fat that could be cut," he said. "I support what Dr. Wilson is doing. He has agonized over it and prayed over it. I know this wasn't an easy thing to do. But he is trying to make sure the university is financially viable."
Officials said the layoffs might not eliminate the shortfall, but regents said any additional measures would not include another tuition hike.
In May, the regents agreed to raise tuition and fees by 21.5 percent this fall. The increase was the first in two years. The school has tried to hold off increases because of the potential hardship for students, many of whom are working adults or from low-income families.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
US Bishops Approve N
U.S. Bishops Approve New Mass Translation
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - The nation's Roman Catholic bishops signed off Thursday on a new English translation for the Mass that would change prayers ingrained in the memories of millions of American parishioners.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted at its biannual meeting for a new translation after a brief but vigorous debate over several small changes in wording. The 173-29 vote on the Order of the Mass was aimed at satisfying Vatican calls for a translation that's closer to the Latin version.
Before Mass changes at the parish level, the Americans' version must go to offices in the Holy See for final approval. The bishops' leader on the issue said that process could take years.
"Without a doubt, this is the most significant liturgical action to come before this body for many years," said Bishop Donald Trautman, chairman of the conference's Committee on Liturgy.
"It will take some adapting, but it is not earth-shattering when you think of the changes we went through 40 years ago," he said, referring to the Second Vatican Council, where the Latin Mass was replaced by the vernacular languages in each country.
The new translation alters the wording of key texts spoken by Catholics during worship, including the Nicene Creed, the Gloria, the Penitential Rite, the Sanctus and Communion.
Some have worried about changing a fundamental rite of worship that is so much a part of Catholic identity, especially now. Mass attendance has been declining, the priest shortage has left a growing number of churches without a resident cleric, bishops and parishioners have been battling over the closure of old churches and schools, and the prelates have been trying to rebuild trust in their leadership after the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Prior to the meeting, the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and a Jesuit priest, said the new Mass would "cause chaos and real problems and the people who are going to be at the brunt end of it are the poor priests in the parishes."
Trautman acknowledged the adjustment could be difficult. "I think we all recognize that our priests are overburdened now and stretched thin," he said. "We do believe, however, that this is important for the worship life of the Church. These texts are presenting a new richness that we haven't seen in the past so that will have to be the driving force."
Minor changes to the wording of many portions of the Mass will be obvious to Catholics. The repeated exchanges "The Lord be with you" / "And also with you" between a priest and his congregation, for example, become "The Lord be with you" / "And with your spirit" in the updated version.
The prayer said before Communion would become "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof," instead of "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you."
Survey results released by the conference's Committee on Liturgy last November found that U.S. bishops were split over whether the changes were necessary, but in the end the proposal won more than the 168 votes it needed for approval.
Some bishops said the changes would deepen lay people's understanding of Catholicism and Scripture. They said priests could use the changes to spark a discussion of the liturgical reasoning behind them, including citing biblical stories and the Latin version.
"All these changes should require ... a certain amount of explanation and allow the people who are using them to grow in faith and not remain where they are," said Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala.
Bishops debated for about 20 minutes on a variety of wording changes, some pitting the familiar against the new. A proposal to change the words of the Nicene Creed from "one in being" to "consubstantial," which is closer to the Latin, failed.
Roman Catholic bishops in Australia, England, Scotland and Wales have already approved translations with at most only slight differences, said Monsignor James. P. Moroney, who leads the liturgy office for the bishops' conference.
On another subject, retiring Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has been leading the bishops' task force on Catholics in public life, announced that a new ad hoc group will serve as a liaison between the bishops' conference and Catholic politicians. He also said the task force had met with Catholic Democrats and Republicans privately to discuss how to best merge their religious beliefs and their politics.
Catholic politicians' duty to adhere to church teachings — particularly Catholicism's anti-abortion stance — was a hot-button issue in the 2004 campaign when John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, was the Democratic presidential nominee.
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - The nation's Roman Catholic bishops signed off Thursday on a new English translation for the Mass that would change prayers ingrained in the memories of millions of American parishioners.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted at its biannual meeting for a new translation after a brief but vigorous debate over several small changes in wording. The 173-29 vote on the Order of the Mass was aimed at satisfying Vatican calls for a translation that's closer to the Latin version.
Before Mass changes at the parish level, the Americans' version must go to offices in the Holy See for final approval. The bishops' leader on the issue said that process could take years.
"Without a doubt, this is the most significant liturgical action to come before this body for many years," said Bishop Donald Trautman, chairman of the conference's Committee on Liturgy.
"It will take some adapting, but it is not earth-shattering when you think of the changes we went through 40 years ago," he said, referring to the Second Vatican Council, where the Latin Mass was replaced by the vernacular languages in each country.
The new translation alters the wording of key texts spoken by Catholics during worship, including the Nicene Creed, the Gloria, the Penitential Rite, the Sanctus and Communion.
Some have worried about changing a fundamental rite of worship that is so much a part of Catholic identity, especially now. Mass attendance has been declining, the priest shortage has left a growing number of churches without a resident cleric, bishops and parishioners have been battling over the closure of old churches and schools, and the prelates have been trying to rebuild trust in their leadership after the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Prior to the meeting, the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and a Jesuit priest, said the new Mass would "cause chaos and real problems and the people who are going to be at the brunt end of it are the poor priests in the parishes."
Trautman acknowledged the adjustment could be difficult. "I think we all recognize that our priests are overburdened now and stretched thin," he said. "We do believe, however, that this is important for the worship life of the Church. These texts are presenting a new richness that we haven't seen in the past so that will have to be the driving force."
Minor changes to the wording of many portions of the Mass will be obvious to Catholics. The repeated exchanges "The Lord be with you" / "And also with you" between a priest and his congregation, for example, become "The Lord be with you" / "And with your spirit" in the updated version.
The prayer said before Communion would become "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof," instead of "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you."
Survey results released by the conference's Committee on Liturgy last November found that U.S. bishops were split over whether the changes were necessary, but in the end the proposal won more than the 168 votes it needed for approval.
Some bishops said the changes would deepen lay people's understanding of Catholicism and Scripture. They said priests could use the changes to spark a discussion of the liturgical reasoning behind them, including citing biblical stories and the Latin version.
"All these changes should require ... a certain amount of explanation and allow the people who are using them to grow in faith and not remain where they are," said Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala.
Bishops debated for about 20 minutes on a variety of wording changes, some pitting the familiar against the new. A proposal to change the words of the Nicene Creed from "one in being" to "consubstantial," which is closer to the Latin, failed.
Roman Catholic bishops in Australia, England, Scotland and Wales have already approved translations with at most only slight differences, said Monsignor James. P. Moroney, who leads the liturgy office for the bishops' conference.
On another subject, retiring Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has been leading the bishops' task force on Catholics in public life, announced that a new ad hoc group will serve as a liaison between the bishops' conference and Catholic politicians. He also said the task force had met with Catholic Democrats and Republicans privately to discuss how to best merge their religious beliefs and their politics.
Catholic politicians' duty to adhere to church teachings — particularly Catholicism's anti-abortion stance — was a hot-button issue in the 2004 campaign when John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, was the Democratic presidential nominee.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Bush Explains Medicare Drug Bill
Bush Explains Medicare Drug Bill-Verbatim Quote
Submitted on 2005-12-13 16:35:14
WOMAN IN AUDIENCE: “I don't really understand. How is it the new plan going to fix the problem?”
Verbatim response: PRESIDENT BUSH: “Because the-all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers.
For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table.
Whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price
increases.
There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered.
And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those * changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be-or closer delivered to that has been promised.
Does that make any sense to you?
It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate * the benefits will rise based upon inflation, supposed to wage increases.
There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those-if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.”
Submitted on 2005-12-13 16:35:14
WOMAN IN AUDIENCE: “I don't really understand. How is it the new plan going to fix the problem?”
Verbatim response: PRESIDENT BUSH: “Because the-all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers.
For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table.
Whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price
increases.
There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered.
And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those * changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be-or closer delivered to that has been promised.
Does that make any sense to you?
It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate * the benefits will rise based upon inflation, supposed to wage increases.
There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those-if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.”
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