budget cuts

I spoke with someone yesterday at the University of South Carolina's M.A. program in history of art (in the Art Department). They are fighting efforts to shut down their program completely. It is a successful program and the only such program in the state, but because of retirements and departures they are short on tenured faculty and therefore the powers that be decided they would be an easy one to shut down. Things aren't quite that bad here; I guess I should be grateful. It is a depressing time to be in academia.