Tasmania Uni cuts provoke anger

BY ROHAN PEARCE

HOBART -- Official attempts to transform the University of Tasmania into a “business-friendly” institution have provoked anger from students whose departments are being de-funded.

Thirty-five students, approximately half the University of Tasmania Physics department, attended a protest meeting on April 5 organised by the Education Action Collective (EAC). Department head John Humble warned of the impact next year's projected staff reductions would have on students' chances of completing a physics major and on the range of subjects available.

The EAC's plan to combat university cuts draws heavily on a successful 1999 campaign by students at the Bankstown campus of the University of Western Sydney, particularly the students' adoption of a “log of claims” on university administrators.

EAC activist Joshua Garfield said that, having surveyed students' concerns, the group is planning a similar claim on the University of Tasmania. The group is building towards a student general meeting in early May, encouraged by growing support amongst staff and students outraged by administration plans.

According to Nikki Ulasowski, a member of the EAC and an activist in Resistance, the administration has an almost $13 million surplus from its operating grant and receives research funds from joint projects with various businesses. “Yet it expects us to swallow the de-funding of departments and student services so that the university can present itself as `business friendly'”, she said.

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