EDITORIAL: "It Pays To Discover"

Even in a normal year this sparse attendance would seem curious, since the budget proposals guide everything from student tuition hikes to the overall quality of the University. But last year wasn't normal -- Pennsylvania's governor threatened to cut $18.6 million from the University's state funding. This year, the University risks losing all state funding, a contribution of over $40 million. We hope more than 20 students will show up to the administration's briefings of next year's budget from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. this afternoon in Logan Hall 17. Last year's presentation was disconcerting, to say the least. Administrators detailed how they would end a tradition of decreasing the rate of tuition increase, would halt all building projects and downsize faculty and staff. In the end, the Trustees opted to run a deficit rather than end the tuition tradition, state legislators decided not to cut the funding, no one was forced out and constuction continued as planned. But not everything could be fixed -- among other things, it was too late to hand out all the student research money or increase faculty salaries to the level that could otherwise have been budgeted in a less eventful fiscal year. The proposals outlined today will have an effect on how much students pay to attend the University, the opportunities they receive for study, the quality of the professors attracted here to teach them, the breadth and caliber of individual school's programs, the adequacy of indoor and outdoor facilities and the range of services provided to students. In short, the environment and prestige of the University as a whole. Show up today and play a part. Become involved in the weeks to come.