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Presidential forum answers students' questions on economy
President Ed Ray said university is doing just fine as a whole, encouraged students to look to the future; not to current recession
Makenna Bishop
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News
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On Wednesday night the University Honor's College hosted a presidential forum to answer student's questions and concerns involving the economic crisis and the impacts it is and will have on higher education.
The panelists include Mark McCambridge, vice president of finance, Nancy Heiligman, vice provost of budget and planning, Bruce McGough, professor of economics and Jay Levesque, a senior member of the Oregon Investment Group, as well as President Ed Ray.
Ray discussed the similarities and differences between the current recessions to the Great Depression.
Ray said that while unemployment rates reached 25 percent during the Depression, current numbers have only hit 8 percent.
Ray also alluded to the internal things that Oregon State students and faculty could be proud of. OSU continues to receive grants that allow departments to bring in outside resources that better the university.
Ray said he thought the university is doing just fine as a whole, especially through a tough situation.
Students had the opportunity to submit questions to be discussed in the forum prior to the event. These questions covered the job market, financial aid and the overall impact of the economic crisis on education.
David Liskey, a member of the Honor's College and a senior in biology, said he's been thinking about putting this event together since fall term. Since he was the coordinator for a similar event last year, he took on the planning of the presidential forum.
Liskey said it was fairly easy reaching all the panelists and asking them to be a part of the forum.
"All of them seemed eager to participate in the discussion," Liskey said. "I think the presidential forum is a great opportunity for students to connect with campus leaders and groups to discuss issues that are affecting them."
The purpose of this discussion is to get students talking and thinking about how the current economic environment is going to affect them, not only as students but also as individuals who will soon be entering the work force, Liskey said.
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