Ohio University has been doing the right thing by keeping a 2-year-old hiring freeze cold. When former OU President Robert Glidden implemented the hiring freeze two years ago, it was in response to a budgetary crisis and necessary to keep the university's books in the black. But President Roderick McDavis and the administration are looking into eliminating the hiring freeze or modifying it.
OU does need to hire some new faces, but the hiring freeze should be kept cold when it comes to administrators and the bureaucratic machine. For two years, it has done just that, saving $4 million and keeping frivolous positions from being filled. But while Cutler Hall has weeded out the office chaff, any increase in classified positions has also been stymied. These hourly positions are just as important as any vice president in charge of doorknobs, if not more. They keep the university running and are vital to its day-to-day operation. So, while classified positions need to be monitored with an eye on the budget, a fixed amount of personnel cannot be expected to care for an ever-expanding university.
Also, to keep OU in the good graces of legislators, the university needs a lobbyist in Columbus -something it does not have in any dedicated capacity. A new, outside-Athens media specialist and a governmental relations lobbyist are absolutely necessary for the university to clean up its image and invigorate its communications department. OU needs someone who can get the university's story straight the first time, every time to avoid being cast over the coals statewide for every spending decision.
The money outlaid on these new hires would be well spent -much better than a new airplane or an increase in technology fees. But after the two new hires, let the ice return. A truly hard freeze on administrators would keep money in OU's coffers for other, more important projects and would send a message to the General Assembly that the university has realized how to spend its money wisely.
Hed: The sad tale of Terri Schiavo
After nearly 15 years, the tragic story of Theresa Terri Schiavo soon might be coming to a close. In one of the most publicized right to die court cases in recent history, the Supreme Court has dismissed Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's claim that he was both obligated and justifed in keeping Schiavo alive, despite her severely brain-damaged condition and her husband's desire to remove a feeding tube -her only means of survival. The court's refusal to hear the case is the correct action and soon Schiavo, whose life has been hijacked by politicians pursing their own agenda, finally might be at peace.
In 1990 Schiavo collapsed due to a chemical imbalance in her body and was left in a vegetative state. Nearly eight years after Schiavo's accident, her husband, Michael, sought to have a feeding tube removed from his wife that would have ended her life. After the ensuing court battle between Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents, a Florida judge ruled in favor of Michael Schiavo. But before the feeding tube was removed, Bush overstepped his bounds and became involved in this personal matter. Bush even went so far as to push a law specifically written for her situation through the state legislature, and now the Supreme Court has upheld the lower court ruling that Bush's actions were a violation of the separation of powers.
Although the story of Terri Schiavo likely will not end for at least a few months, the Supreme Court's refusal to get involved was both correct and compassionate. Terri Schiavo's story has escalated from a private matter to a public campaign. Somewhere in the course of the saga it seems people have diverted their attention from the real tragedy -Terri's condition -to a possible situation for political gain. All those responsible for prolonging Terri's life, not for her sake but for their own image, should be ashamed of their exploitation of an innocent woman. Death is natural and people in circumstances like this one should be allowed to pass on peacefully and respectfully. But the sad truth is that because of the legal and political maneuvering, Schiavo's passing could never be peaceful or respectable, and she -as well as those in similar conditions -deserves more.
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