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Smith says he is uncertain about continuing at SOU, where officials hope to create a �Center of Excellence in Fine and Performing Arts.� (Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell) Questions on campus 'I don't have a back-up plan' one SOU student says in reaction to $4 million in planned reductions By anita burke Mail Tribune Since Magdalena Staniek learned this week that she will lose her job as coordinator of Southern Oregon University's international studies program, she has spent time in her classroom and office reassuring students. "They all want to know, 'Am I going to be able to graduate?' " she said. "I tell them that the major is viable. We are still taking new majors and growing; it's just going to be administered differently." With a preliminary plan for carving roughly $4 million from SOU's budget announced Monday, students' questions are echoing around campus. The plan calls for cutting about 24 faculty positions in 22 academic programs; eliminating German, geology and geography majors; ending the honors program; and consolidating three schools into one new College of Arts and Sciences. On the nonacademic side, 30 jobs will be cut, mostly from student affairs, business services and other administrative staff positions. Staniek reminds students that even though she has been the face of the international studies program for four years as its coordinator, a faculty advisory board actually runs the program and will continue to do so. Other professors in economics, history, foreign languages, political science and other participating departments will take over her duty advising about 50 international studies majors. Advertisement "The program will outlast the person," she said, noting that she will leave the university this spring after a decade there. Molly Mattick, 20, a sophomore from Gold Beach, had considered majoring in international studies, but now she isn't sure. "It seemed kind of vague," she said of the proposed changes. "I'm hoping upperclassmen can tell me more." However, the changes are even worse for Mattick's twin brother, Alex, a geology major. "He's really bummed trying to figure out what he's going to do," she said. Underclassmen won't be able to continue in the majors slated for elimination, although officials promised to see juniors and seniors through to graduation. "It's going to be a crappy situation," said Alex Martinez, 20, a junior geology major from San Jose, Calif. "This program is why I'm here and I don't have a back-up plan." He said he knew he wanted a geology degree, which should offer him good job prospects, and was drawn to SOU's small class sizes, excellent field work opportunities and the chance to work one-on-one with professors. Even students not in departments directly affected by the proposed cuts are worried. "It makes me want to leave," said Ethan Smith, 18, a physics major from Eugene. He liked the idea of small classes and the chance to do research with professors, but he thinks he's the only freshman physics major and fears his program could be next. "I see SOU focusing on liberal arts," he said. Indeed, the plan documenting the proposed cuts describes creating a "Center of Excellence in Fine and Performing Arts," and the theater department wasn't considered for any cuts. "Theater has a large number of majors and supports the strategic mission of the institution as a Center of Excellence in Fine and Performing Arts," the plan said. "It draws more students from out of state than any program on campus and has obvious important links to the Shakespeare Festival." The plan's analysis of the geology department notes that the department has been "very effective" in getting external funding for teaching and research and operates a nationally known field camp that attracts students from other universities. The number of geology majors is comparable to larger Oregon universities, but the number of graduates is low, the study said. Eliminating the program as a major might cause 40 to 50 students to leave or change to another major and prevent about 10 students a year from even coming to SOU, the analysis said. The field camp will be eliminated. The plan also notes that the decision to cut the program should be reconsidered if resources become available. The geology department, which started offering degrees in 1976, was on the chopping block in 1991 because of state budget cuts, Mail Tribune archives show. By cutting other personnel costs in the School of Science, officials saved the department that time. [email protected] . 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