IFS Remarks to the OUS Board

July 18, 2003

Bend, Oregon

Bill Danley, President, Interinstitutional Faculty Senate

President Lussier , Chancellor Jarvis, Board Members, University Presidents and Officers, Students, and Guests;

May I say at the outset that I am very pleased to be here with all of you in this beautiful and dynamic part of our state. My wife and I backpack near here often, and we very much enjoy the spectacular scenery, the generous hospitality of the residents, and the almost spiritual nature of the solitude and grandeur of this area. We plan to return with our new puppy Bailey before this summer is over.

I would like to welcome OSU President Ed Ray and his wife and former Dean Beth Ray to our state and to our university system. I noted and agree with his remark to his Ohio faculty quoted in the Oregonian that “...if you aren’t a little depressed (with the economic situation) then you aren’t in touch with reality...” but I share his optimistic attitude and enthusiasm, and wish him the best and offer cooperation from the state-wide faculty in any way we can be of assistance.

With mixed feelings I acknowledge the retirement and resignation from the OUS Board of my friend, colleague, and mentor Roger Bassett. In my 15 years or so as a faculty representative to the Interinstitutional Faculty Senate, I have known and worked with many gifted and articulate Board members, and I have admired them all. Roger Bassett, however, has a special place in my heart and memory as impeccably honest, a true friend of Oregon, and a staunch supporter of higher education. I wish him well, and I know I speak for everyone here when I say that he will be missed more than I can say.

We are in the final stages of another legislative session, and likely face the prospect of yet another special session to do the work that should have been done earlier. I don’t remember when I have been more frustrated, disappointed, and depressed concerning our state’s ability to work together to solve problems and move forward. Granted that we face monumental challenges in Salem and our leaders have honest disagreements about how to proceed, but no challenge is big enough or bad enough to warrant this paralysis of our legislative leadership and the failure to identify and deal with the basic economic nature of the situation we face. How can we fail to recognize that the heart of virtually every problem our state faces is obvious and urgent? Let’s face it --

Our revenue system is inadequate, inflexible, unbalanced, unpredictable in the extreme, and simply not worthy of a great state with a generation of Oregonians losing educational opportunities and needed health care.

Our legislative and political leaders, with some notable exceptions, have been too timid, too ideological, too partisan, and too inexperienced to take the broad and bold steps to lead us out of this morass. While our leaders turn down federal dollars and wait for federal tax cuts to trickle down, real people are suffering real problems, and I’m tired of trying to deal with the problems our leaders are expecting us to solve. Our universities are in trouble, like other state agencies, and no agency is going to survive by cannibalizing others. We need more revenue, and we need to have it well-spent and fairly distributed. It is incumbent on faculty members, students, administrators, OUS board members, and everyone else to demand that our lawmakers do their job now and not wait for special interest groups or lobbyists to create the revenue system we need.