<p>I'm linking a Daily Bruin article here to spread the word. Though this is happening to one department, it could well be the start of a long downhill slide for the reputation and prestige of UCLA when the Academic Senate can indiscriminately close down a nation-wide #2 ranked department.</p>
<p>“This means that UCLA is going to focus more on the sciences”</p>
<p>– crappy excuse by a die hard Bruins fan… -__-</p>
<p>There, I said it before any of you optimists out there can argue that we should look on the bright side and that UCLA is still the greatest public university on the planet (Sadly this might still be true).</p>
<p>Look, I hate to be harsh, but there is a funding shortage and decisions have to be made. For one thing, I’m pretty sure (though not entirely because the author of the article didn’t source his info) that it is the graduate, not the undergraduate, applied linguistics department that is ranked second, mainly because those types of rankings don’t tend to exist at the undergrad level. So it’s not only misleading, but also meaningless. Additionally, the applied linguistics department was given the chance to remain at least partially intact by merging with another department (see [The</a> Daily Bruin :: Proposal to merge European language departments nears completion, will be considered by UCLA Academic Senate](<a href=“http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/06/proposal_to_merge_european_language_departments_nears_completion_will_be_considered_by_ucla_academic]The”>http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/06/proposal_to_merge_european_language_departments_nears_completion_will_be_considered_by_ucla_academic)). If they decline that offer, they have to face the consequences because although in an ideal world every major would have adequate funding and resources, this is not an ideal world. Does the department deserve the ability to hire full time professors, etc.? Probably yes. But when it comes down to taking money from them or taking it from a bigger major that produces more research and ultimately secures money in return for the university, do they deserve the money? In my opinion, no. Also, the per student spending on professors is much larger for a major with 30 students than it is for a major with 500 students.</p>
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<p>It’s one department :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Its not like they actually discontinued the Underwater Basket Weaving Program. Its only the Applied Underwater Basket Weaving department that was affected.</p>