President Peter Likins said Thursday he was "very moved," by the "eloquence and passion" of Democratic state Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, who argued to Likins and the Arizona Board of Regents that the School of Planning should be saved.

But those are just words. Likins needs to act to save the school.

Granted, drives for major donations, which would have made the school less reliant on state funds, haven't been successful. But at least in this case, the school's societal contributions should outweigh its financial struggles.

The planning school has been fighting for its life since January, when administrators placed it on a list of 16 programs that faced elimination.

Since the summer, when administrators indicated they still might cut the school, planning's supporters have had a vocal presence at public discussions of the UA's academic future.

Their arguments are persuasive. The School of Planning helps link the UA with the community. Planning students have helped areas like South Tucson revitalize struggling communities and the school's graduates make up half the staff of Pima County Development Services.

Consider the School of Planning in the context of several criteria for evaluating program quality and importance. The Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee created the standards and Likins and Davis promised to use them as "lenses" for selecting which programs to cut:

Vital public impact: There's no doubt the school performs a public service that no other area of the university could do. As Giffords said at the regents' meeting, "I urge you to protect this department, because they, in turn, are going to protect us."

Interdisciplinary need: Over the past few years, the School of Planning has developed a close working relationship with other disciplines in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

Other criteria include academic excellence, research and creative excellence, student demand and revenue generation. Enrollment in the program has tripled recently and the school has a record of 100 percent job placement for its graduates.

The only area in which planning doesn't cut muster is revenue generation. That shouldn't be enough to merit elimination.

The School of Planning's impact is a powerful one, and one that would be missed at the UA and throughout Tucson if the school were cut. President Likins shouldn't let that happen.

Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Kristina Dunham, Brett Fera, Caitlin Hall and Jeff Sklar.