Last weekend's ribbon-cutting on the $14 million Eddie Lynch Athletic Pavilion was a tribute to the effectiveness of private donations toward the advancement of a university ÷ especially in a time of financial uncertainty.

The sparkling new pavilion, which includes a state-of-the-art weight-training facility, a medical treatment center and a hall of champions celebrating UA's athletic heritage, is an especially proud addition to the campus because not a penny of state dollars was spent to open it.

With the state in the depths of a $1 billion-plus budget crisis that is threatening to strip tens of millions of dollars from an already-bare-bones UA budget, it's reassuring to know that community members still care about the well being of the university.

But sports are a peripheral function of a university, and while it's good to know that our athletes are well cared for, it will be far more reassuring when we will be able to say our academic departments are being protected.

The most effective way to protect those departments is by raising more private dollars.

The Arizona Health Sciences Center receives about $63 million in state funds, but also brings in $126 million per year from private grants and contracts.

Two-thirds of their budget is completely immune to state cuts. That's the reason people don't seem seriously concerned about health sciences.

The same can't be said for other academic programs, especially areas like humanities and social sciences, where, according to President Peter Likins, it's much harder to get grants and private contracts.

University fundraisers need to stress the importance of those areas to private donors, who seem to prefer having their names attached to very public facilities like the new Lynch Pavilion.

Without strong liberal arts programs, the UA could easily become a glorified trade school. If state budget cuts go deeper and private donations to those areas don't increase, it may be difficult to keep that from happening.