Illustration by Abbey Golden

How ironic: Going to college in the richest country on Earth is becoming unaffordable, difficult and, in many cases, beyond reach.

A few weeks ago, Vice President Dick Cheney had to cut short his visit to the Middle East in order to cast the tie-breaking vote on a bill that will cut $40 billion dollars of federal spending. The bill will end funding for, among other things, student aid totaling $12.7 billion.

One of the sponsors of this shameful bill, without whose support it would not have passed, was Arizona's own Senator Kyl. As USA Today noted, "Jon Kyl voted to cut student aid by $13 billion - the largest cut to student aid in American history."

Kyl claimed that the so-called "Deficit Reduction Act" "does not cut anyone's actual federal benefits - it simply makes a number of programs more efficient." He charged that such a bill improves federal student loan programs "by reducing lenders' fees (and) raising borrowing limits."

Making it easier to borrow money and incur debt is not an achievement to boast about. Many students would rather put a halt to their educations than keep borrowing. However, that fact appears to be lost on our senator, especially when one considers that he repeatedly voted against a bill that would have increased maximum Federal Pell Grant awards, grants that serve thousands of students in Arizona alone.

Tawfik Maudah

During an interview with the UA Alumni Association a year ago, Senator Kyl was asked whether he resigned from the Appropriations Committee. "I didn't resign from appropriations," he responded. "It was a stepping-stone to the Finance Committee. I can affect a lot of policy at the national level and for Arizona from that place." He lived up to his words.

Indeed, we are feeling your "effect," Senator.

Ironically, in the same interview, Kyl seemed disappointed to see the humanities program disappear - an elimination that was caused by the reduction of state funding, according to UA administrators. "The humanities program that existed then was second to none. I really credit the humanities program to some extent for making me what I am. I regret that they've gone away from that."

You would think a senator who regrets seeing the humanities program disappear would do everything in his power to keep similar cuts from occurring in the future. Instead, he has done the opposite.

Moreover, Senator Kyl said that in order to have "a good a society free of crime" we have to "educate people to grow up with skills to lead productive lives, to be good citizens." Did he remember that sentiment when he voted to slash college funds by $13 billion?

We have seen how drastic reductions in state funding during the past three years have had an impact in the form of increases in tuition and the elimination of programs. The UA has been forced to raise tuition by more than 74 percent since 2002, the largest such increase in the nation. Now, with new massive federal reductions in place, things will only get worse. We will see more tuition and fee increases, more program cuts and more students finding it harder, if not impossible, to go to and stay in college.

It has been reported in The New York Times that as Congress makes those cuts, it is creating a new program for students from low-income families. However, the program is one based not on need, but on other criteria that are difficult to meet.

To qualify for aid, a student must be a U.S. citizen enrolled full-time in a recognized degree-granting institution; he must also maintain a grade point average of 3.0. Furthermore, juniors and seniors qualify only if they've declared a major in science or in a language program deemed critical to national security. In short, the program is only available to a select handful of students; it does nothing to promote the interests of the average collegegoer.

What if our government, instead of spending billions of our hard-earned tax dollars on its dubious and illegal wars, were to spend more money on, among other things, public education? There's no one better situated to make such a dream a reality than Kyl, who proudly affirms that he is "on the most powerful committee" in the Senate.

Tawfik Maudah is a non-degree-seeking graduate student. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.