PSU’s Wiewel looks for more money

New university president speaks to a crowd at PSU along with UO, OSU leaders

By Jennifer Anderson

The Portland Tribune, Jan 7, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

Four months into his new job as president of Portland State University, Wim Wiewel is calling for change in the Oregon Legislature to be able to provide more stable funding for higher education.

“We need to find a way to increase state resources,” Wiewel told The Tribune in a telephone interview on Wednesday, just hours before he was set to deliver similar remarks at a public forum.

“Economic recession or not, we need to think about changes in fiscal structure of the state to provide more consistent funding source to fund higher education without taking money away from K-12. It will have to play out between the Legislature and voters.”

Wiewel said ideas about ways to bring in more revenue – everything from increases in the corporate tax to other fees, and adding a sales tax – should all be “seriously considered” if the state is able to compete in the global marketplace in terms of higher education.

“For me to be successful as university president is not to just get a bigger piece of the existing pie,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to increase the size of the pie.”

Wiewel was set to speak along those terms Wednesday night at a live taping of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Loud” radio program at PSU. The year-old show is a forum for dialogue about politics, sports, entertainment and other issues.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit