
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995                   TAG: 9502270047
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG                                LENGTH: Short

STUDENTS PROTEST JMU 'DEATH'

Twelve black-clad James Madison University students laid down in front of mock tombstones Friday to protest recent restructuring that has eliminated a department and one of the university's colleges.

The protesters were members of the JMU Student Solutions Committee.

``This is a demonstration to symbolize the death - or potential death - of some programs and principles of this school,'' said senior Monica McFerrin, an English major. ``This is mainly to show the administration we're serious.''

Named on the tombstones were the physics department and the College of Letters and Sciences. School administrators announced Jan. 13 that the physics department will be eliminated and the components of the College of Letters and Sciences will be merged with the College of Communication and The Arts and the College of Integrated Science and Technology.

When the cuts were announced, university President Ronald Carrier said they were necessary cost-cutting measures. He said Virginia colleges and universities faced a future without ``significant additional funding.''

Other restructuring measures announced by the university in the previous 18 months included the elimination of four top-level staff positions and many operational changes.

Faculty members upset about not being consulted on the changes expressed their discontent with a January vote of no confidence in Carrier.

by CNB