As lame-duck legislators sharpen their budget-cutting knives in preparation for a special session that opens today, it appears virtually certain that the UA will be left with somewhere between a $16.7 million and $18 million cut to its budget.

Painful as that may be, it's not realistic to expect anything less from the Legislature, which has to deal with a $500 million state shortfall.

Though state lawmakers have not exactly been known for prioritizing universities, it would be unreasonable to expect them to spare the UA, ASU and NAU from budget cuts when the three schools combined take more money than any other state

program.

The UA has prepared, and prepared admirably. Just as he did when budgets were being cut last year, President Pete Likins has asked non-academic units of the university to shoulder a disproportionate burden of the cuts.

Just over one-tenth of Likins' office budget will be cut, as well as nearly 12 percent of the Advancement Office's budget.

When compared with the average 3.3 percent cut to the UA's colleges, it's easy to see that the university has its priorities straight.

That the UA cares about its colleges will be little consolation to the people whose jobs are the most vulnerable. About 241 of those jobs will probably be eliminated, according to documents from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Doubtless, some of those will be unfilled, but the UA is not likely to sustain this round of cuts without more layoffs.

Inevitable layoffs mean students should be especially relieved that academics will be at least partially protected. Though classes will remain difficult to get, at least crowding won't get too much worse.

Five percent will be a difficult burden to bear, but there seems to be little the Legislature can do to make it easier, and little the university can do to protect its students more than it has planned to.