Spurned proposals frustrate committees

The University of Hawai`i has decided not to close the John A. Burns School of Medicine, in spite of faculty groups' recommendations.

Although this saves the medical school, the faculty is becoming increasingly frustrated at the repeated rejections.

Other ideas created by the faculty board include the combination of programs in the College of Education, a merger with the Arts and Sciences Colleges, and the creation of a School of Integrated Life Sciences.

The purpose of the two faculty groups, one made up of academics, the other made up of researchers, was to find ways to help UH balance the budget through program cuts.

Yet if their ideas are only to be ignored, either because they are too extreme or because it will cause some administrators to be downsized, the groups' recommendations will be a waste of time and money.

The School of Medicine uses 14 percent of UHM's instruction budget on only 2.4 percent of its students. Roderick Jacobs, chairman for one of the faculty committees, said that by educating them at Harvard, UH could spend less than it does now.

We should listen to the faculty's ideas, especially if they are extreme. H needs a good shake-up.