HIGHLIGHTS
A PUBLICATION FOR OUR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS
Winter/Spring 2003
Chair's Message, Gary B. Anderson, Chair
 Hello
from UC Davis. Another half-year has passed, and it's time for an
update on activities from the Department of Animal Science. In most
issues I use this space to crow about the accomplishments of our
students, staff and faculty, such as the Notable Notes on the back
page. Regretfully, my message this issue is less about celebration
and more about the gloom of looming budget cuts. The Department of
Animal Science faces the most bleak and potentially devastating
budget since the early 1990s' slump that resulted in layoffs, early
retirements and elimination of programs. Cuts imposed a decade ago
were never fully recovered, and proposed new cuts threaten both
departmental infrastructure (e.g., animal facilities used for
teaching, research and outreach) and programs. During the current
fiscal year, the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), which
supports departmental research and outreach, suffered a 10% budget
cut. Another 10% cut is proposed for July 1 of this year, requiring
the department to absorb a 20% cut in support for AES research and
outreach. Cooperative Extension (CE), the University's outreach arm,
was dealt a 5% midyear cut in January and faces a whopping 25% cut
July 1 for a total 30% budget reduction.
The department's applied research and outreach programs cannot sustain these budget cuts without affecting how we serve our stakeholders throughout the state. Our AES and CE faculty will be forced to divert their programs from traditional missions |
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to meeting the obligations of whatever funding sources are available, which is likely to mean an emphasis away from applied agricultural missions. Research conducted through the AES has produced the California Net Energy System, the California equation for determining energy content of hay, nutrient values for by-product feedstuffs, genetic improvement and manipulation as well as reproductive and biotechnologies for use in livestock and other domestic animals, behavioral endpoints for improving animal management and a host of other advances appropriately funded by the AES but for which other funding is largely unavailable. Our CE faculty have produced nationally recognized Quality Assurance Programs, helped to spawn new industries like aquaculture, provided public education on critical issues like the Exotic Newcastle Disease epidemic, developed programs on water and air quality for animal producers and generally served as liaison between the department and county-based CE staff and the public. Without doubt, California faces a severe budgetary shortfall, and everyone shares responsibility for belt-tightening. But agricultural interests were disproportionately targeted in the early 1990s' UC budget cuts and were not the beneficiary of financial recovery enjoyed by the rest of UC later in the decade. Once again we find the AES and CE disproportionately carrying UC budget cuts. Our dean, Neal Van Alfen, said in a recent letter sent to stakeholders, "I welcome any assistance you can provide to get our message out so that informed decisions can be made in Sacramento." My message for Highlights readers is the same. |
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