Leave it to my dad to cut everyone off at the pass by sending an e-mail out pre-thanking us for our birthday well-wishing. It's definitely the efficient way to go. Happy Birthday!

In the 2003 budget at Virginia Tech, it's been decided to cut the Arts budget by 10-14% across the board. Among the changes initiated by the VT Music Department in response to this was the firing of two new professors, the jazz professor who replaced Chip McNeill this year and the choral director who replaced Kevin Fenton two years ago (Fenton, by the way is now a professor here at FSU). The jazz program was essential kaput last year when Chip left to head the department at Florida International University and took his wife, jazz vocalist Lysanne Lyons, with him, but the choral department was just getting off the ground. Under the new director's supervision, the two original choirs were expanded into three of varying sizes and focuses, with constant tours on the East Coast and Europe, as well as lots of recognition on-campus. By firing this director, the school loses recruits that apply specifically to study with him, destroy the chance of having a choral education or choral conducting program, kill the third choir, and leave the other two in the hands of a performance professor with no specific study in choral conducting. The reason for firing these two? They had the least amount of tenure.

This is one great argument for doing away with the tenure system. Like any respectable university, Tech has its cavalcade of tenured professors past their prime who still sport impressive resumés. They get paid high salaries (sometimes three and four times higher than an associate professor) to lend prestige to the program through their name, and have minimal teaching responsibilities. With smart use of those wasted dollars, I bet the department could not only keep the professors it needs, but also hire another one. Professors who no longer put the interests of their teaching to the fore should not be able to hide behind the protection of tenure -- the reason you save money all your life is so you can retire in peace when you've become useless.

Harsh words, yes, but I bet everyone can name at least one tenured professor from their college careers that no longer gave a damn about teaching, but kept on getting paid until they were gently nudged into retirement. With this one move, Tech's gone from one of the best well-rounded music programs in Virginia to one that's not bad for instrumental education, and all because of tenure.

It's like the Serial approach to Arts Administration -- do evertyhing in accordance with the established rules without caring about the appeal of the outcome.