UNIVERSITY SCALES BACK EARTHQUAKE CENTER

State and federal funding cuts have delivered a major jolt to operation of the Center for Earthquake Studies at Southeast Missouri State University.

University officials said Thursday that two of the three members of the center's staff Director Michael Coe and staff member Karen Bonnell will lose their jobs as a result of the funding cuts.

That will leave the center with only one staff member, Linda Dillman, who will assume the duties of center director on Oct. 1, university officials said.

Mark Winkler, Southeast Missouri area coordinator for the State Emergency Management Agency, will continue to maintain an office in the center.

Both Coe and Dillman said the funding cuts will result in scaled back operations at the earthquake center on the university campus.

"Anytime the budget is cut so severely, it has to limit what you can do," said Dillman.

Leslie Cochran, Southeast's provost, said the university has had to trim its basic operations as a result of major state budget cuts. As a result, he said, the university could not provide additional funding to the center to make up for the loss of federal and state money.

The university provides space for the center and pays the utility expenses.

In June, Gov. John Ashcroft vetoed more than $317,000 and withheld nearly $1.6 million from the university's budget. In all, the budget cuts amounted to $936,000 more than university officials had expected.

Cochran said the university administration had little choice but to eliminate staff positions at the center. "It's pretty cut and dried."

The center, he said, provides an important service to the region: disseminating information about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness. "It is important; it is a critical need," said Cochran.

But he added, "It just can't compete with the Number One priority of classroom instruction."

Coe said more than $100,000 has been cut in state, federal and university funding for the center, leaving the center to operate on a "shoe string budget" of about $25,000.

In June, Ashcroft vetoed about $65,000 in State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) funding for the earthquake center or about one-third of its budget.

"That was just the beginning," said Coe, adding that the university also slashed its funding of the center.

The center's co-director David Stewart resigned Dec. 11 amid controversy over what critics saw as his support of the late Iben Browning's prediction of a major earthquake occurring along the New Madrid Fault.

The earthquake prediction and Stewart's role in the issue thrust the earthquake center into the national limelight.

While no longer co-director of the center, Stewart remains a university employee as a member of Southeast's science faculty.

Coe said that Stewart's departure from the center has resulted in the elimination of $20,000 from the center's budget, including $13,000 for salary and benefits for Stewart and about $7,000 for general operations, including student labor.

Even with those cuts, Coe said, the center had hoped to continue its existing operations through an expected $50,000 in funding from SEMA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"We were told by the State Emergency Management Agency even back in June that we didn't have to worry about the $50,000, that that was secure," recalled Coe.

But FEMA officials subsequently withdrew the funding, saying that the money had been contingent upon the center receiving matching funding from the university, which did not occur, Coe said.

The center will operate this fiscal year on what's left of a $28,000 grant, which was obtained last fall and runs through next March; and on an additional $6,000 earthquake grant, Coe said. Both grants were obtained through the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, a group comprising emergency management officials in the Midwest.

Richard D. Ross, director of SEMA in Jefferson City, said Thursday that the university can't be faulted for scaling back the center.

He maintained the university is committed to keeping the center open. "I would praise the university for its foresight in establishing the center and at least maintaining it through this very difficult period.

"I am optimistic for the future of the center," said Ross. "It's just tough times right now."

University officials including Southeast President Kala Stroup have repeatedly voiced support for the earthquake center and praised its educational role in dealing with last year's earthquake prediction.

But Coe said it appears that the center, which opened in April 1989, is not a top priority of the university or state leaders. "Basically, it's strictly a matter of priorities and earthquake preparedness is not a high priority with the governor or the university at this time," said Coe.

He said the controversy over the Browning prediction resulted in some "bad publicity" for the center. "I think it probably embarrassed the university to some degree and whether or not this had a very major impact on some of the decisions, I certainly can't say," said Coe.

But he added, "I have seen the overall attitude of the administration change. ..."

He said university officials have praised the work of the center "but when it comes down to determining where the cuts will come, it was an easy place to turn to."