Rescue the German Program!

The current economic climate is admittedly terrible, and drastic measures must be made. However, it is the opinion of the undersigned that such measures should not be exacted on departments at the University level. The answer in an economic downturn cannot be to slash and burn the University's own system, as this sets a dangerous precedent which will ultimately result in a continual decrease in the scholastic capability of Nevada's higher education system, and UNR in particular. Cutting any scholarly department should not be a solution whatsoever to a University's economic downturn.

We the undersigned thus demand that the departments of foreign languages and literatures, and in particular the German department, remain intact. We believe that continued cultural understanding between our country and of those abroad is paramount in the currently forming and future global community, economically, politically, and socially. We believe eliminating this program, thus barring students from even obtaining the capacity of inter-cultural communication and understanding, will prove detrimental to scholarship domestically, nationally, and internationally.

Thus, we the undersigned urge Marc Johnson, provost at UNR, and chief academic officer of the university, to cease these budget cuts, which are holistically un-academic. We urge Mr. Johnson to consider another approach to managing the budget crisis, one which does not violate tenured professors contracts, retard intellectual development, and dash the futures of so many students at the university.