EDITORIAL: Cutting the Fat

Kudos to the UA Budget CommitteeKudos to the UA Budget Committeefor coming up with practicalKudos to the UA Budget Committeefor coming up with practicalways to save student moneyKudos to the UA Budget Committeefor coming up with practicalways to save student money___________________________________ Not only are Debicella's proposals an example of "common sense" waste cutting that would benefit all students, but they are also a step in the right direction for the UA. One suggestion involves hiring work-study students to replace unionized workers, who earn at least $4 more an hour. Currently, Dining Services pays almost $3 million a year in union salaries. Another consists of analyzing the usefulness of expensive and underpublicized services which are seldom used by students, such as the obscure "box lunches" program. We commend Debicella and the UA Budget Committee for compiling the report, and the rest of the UA for passing it unanimously. This is exactly the kind of work the UA should be doing on a consistent basis, but has often been unable to do in the past. Representing student interests and formulating specific resolutions to protect those interests should be the norm, not the exception. The UA's Budget Committee had also planned to examine the budgets of the four undergraduate schools to determine how more money can be saved. But just as the UA finally moves to serve students in practical ways, administrators have begun placing obstacles in its path. After months of giving members the ol' runaround, the four undergraduate schools denied the UA access to any of their budgets. We are outraged at their decision. At a time when the University is constantly complaining about budget constraints, worrying about funding the Revlon Center and axing departments left and right, we would've thought it would welcome a few ideas on how to save money. Especially when those suggestions come from the people who ultimately pay most of the bills -- students themselves. We can't help but wonder what secrets lie hidden in the University's budget that the administration doesn't want to be made public. In the meantime, we urge the UA to continue pressuring the administration to have the budgets released.