Idaho May Ax Undgergraduate Physics Degree

The Argonaut laments the possibility of 41 academic programs being cut from the University of Idaho lineup in April. One of those programs is the undergraduate physics program. The cuts are part of a strategic plan launched in 2005 to "increase the overall financial and academic efficiency," according to Dean Scott Wood of the college of science

One justification for the undergraduate cuts is to help bolster the graduate physics program, allowing professors to forgo teaching upper-level courses and instead focus on research. "We want (faculty) to focus on research," he said. "We think they should be drawn to that."

The undergraduate physics program has 57 students, and the possibility of it being cut has been unsurprisingly controversial.

"I don't know how they could cut physics from the college of science and still be the college of science," points out one student. "It's a core science."