On the same day President Boren promised there would be no layoffs, OU Press laid off eight workers to meet the needs of a trim budget.

In a time of poor economic situations plagued with unemployment, isn’t it a bad idea for President Boren to promise job security?

It is true that Oklahoma has not felt the impact of economic troubles as much as other states have. But balancing a budget doesn’t require knowledge of the current national market to understand where internal money needs to be saved and where expenditures can be cut.

The budget cuts at OU Press are quite significant; more than 20 percent of their production will be cut. Could the money saved here, in addition to the money saved across the University, not prevent the loss of these employees’ jobs? The University should help spread the saved cash around to where it is needed most, which seems to be the OU Press. These employees would still be needed if the cut for this department wasn’t so large.

Although the University Press is an auxillary enterprise, the University should aid its budget with the money saved from other sources, in order to allow these employees to keep their jobs, and not have to find new jobs.

In a time of economic uncertainty, the University should not focus on making empty promises, but should work to reassure and inspire our current workforce to produce what we can in a fiscally conservative manner. Because of this mix-up, Boren was left with egg on his face and the University has started what will hopefully not become a trend.