http://www.madison.com/captimes/opinion/column/zweifel/47318.php Dave Zweifel: Historical Society cuts target heart, soul By Dave Zweifel April 21, 2003 The people at the Wisconsin Historical Society are beside themselves. Why, they'd like to know, has their nationally renowned institution been targeted to shoulder what amounts to draconian cuts in Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed state budget? "We understand perfectly that Wisconsin has a terrible budget problem," Peter Gottlieb, the state archivist, told a group of us who visited the society's venerable library and headquarters at the foot of Bascom Hill last week. "We're more than willing to do our share, but we're being asked to do double what other agencies are being asked to do." here are a few paragraphs, please see the link for entire article But if you quit collecting history for a period of time, as Mark Gajewski, the president-elect of the society's board of curators, points out, there will always be a gap. The history you ignore today will be gone forever. Gottlieb points out that the proposed cuts for the society are more today than they were back during the Great Depression. Right now the society, which is currently without a director, a fact that certainly doesn't help the fight, is trying to convince the Joint Finance Committee to hold the cuts to 15 positions. "When we lose resources this rapidly, it's like someone has pulled the rug out from under us," Gottlieb said. Indeed, someone has. The state shouldn't be turning its back on an institution that has meant so much to Wisconsin - from its schoolchildren to its very culture. Cuts will have to be made, but let's be fair about it.