No cash

In case you haven't heard, the UA is again looking for ways to trim its budget. Why? Because we have about $1.8 million less coming in this year than we'd expected, due to the enrollment of 800 less students. That will bring in only $66.8 million from tui tion, on top of the $281.4 million from the state in this fiscal year's budget. Because enrollment figures not only mean less tuition dollars, but less state money, the university incorrectly assumed that there would be more money than in reality.

So where will the money come from to make up the difference? That's the $1.8 million question at the moment.

Provost Paul Sypherd has already asked academic deans, directors and vice presidents not to hire any faculty or staff, to cut down on state funded travel and look for other ways to cut corners. The UA's Chief Budget Officer Richard Roberts says those cuts would account for $1.6 million. Sypherd is now looking for ways to cut the other $200,000.

Although Sypherd has the best interests of the school in mind when he made his request, is it not the university's main business to educate? How is the university supposed to keep its Research I ranking when departments cannot hire esteemed faculty or all ow their current faculty to travel and present papers, which reflects well on the school.

If the only "choice" is to cut faculty or departments, the university needs to re-evaluate its mission and purpose. What the university needs to do is to either postpone construction or totally cut the infamous $20 million Integrated Instructional Facili ty, a.k.a. the freshman day care center, the useless cave, etc.

The building, being financed through bond sales, is supposed to serve as a "homebase" for about 4,500 first-year students. Small point, though. If there are budgetary problems now, where is the money going to come from to hire people to staff the IIF? Syp herd may be a great provost, but he is not a god who can staff the building alone.

The current budget has allocated $1.7 million to pay off this year's interest on the bonds and the associated administrative costs for the IIF building. Postponing construction wouldn't eliminate the whole $1.7 million payment, but it could reduce it, cer tainly enough to help balance the budget this year.

The Arizona Board of Regents will review the budget and, hopefully, make some decisions at its March meeting.

The regents, however, need to make the right decision: totally cut the IIF building. The university should take a loss this year and transfer the bond money to something that affects the whole student body, not some small minority. The future money saved by scrapping IIF could be used to upgrade the library, whose reference collection seems to be stuck sometime in the 1950s, and to rebuild the Student Union, which would have duplicate services as planned for the IIF building.

UA students have a chance to let the regents know what they think should be a priority when the regents meet Thursday at the UA. Although the budget is not on the meeting agenda, students should take this opportunity to let them know it's not OK to slash programs or cut faculty and staff positions, affecting students campus-wide. It's time that the students let the regents and the university administration know what is important to them: a top-ranked, quality education.

By Staff Editoral
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 12, 1997