Small Departments Find Budget Reduction Hard

Smaller departments of the University are having difficulty in adjusting to Provost Buck's two-week-old request for cutbacks in their budgets for the coming year, a check of department heads revealed last night.

The larger departments have found compliance with the economies easier and have already made large reductions in their budgets. David V. Widder '20, Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, said last night that his department planned a one-third reduction in the number of personnel on "annual salaries." Widder also stated that a cut had been made in the budgeting for office supplies.

Emory L. Chaffee, Chairman of the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Physics, stated that he was decreasing the amount of money allotted for the purchase of new equipment by 30 percent. A 25 percent reduction in the number of teaching fellows is also planned.

Chaffee added that while his department would get less money from the University, it was expecting to make up part of the difference through increased private contracts. He emphasized that nobody would be fired, and that no wages would be reduced. In fact, he said, wages had recently been increased.

The smaller departments, such as the Department of Music, are finding the recommended cuts difficult to make. It has already made a 50 percent reduction in the number of teaching fellows, and Professor Arthur Merrit, chairman of the department, stated that no more cuts are possible for the next year.

Rupert Emerson '22, Chairman of the Department of Government, stated that his department has only one secretary and cannot economize further. He has, however, made a one-third cut in the combined teaching-fellow-instructor budget.