While local government feels obligated to cater to its locality's permanent residents, college kids are only around for two elections at most. Our vote is not one that politicians, especially liberal ones, particularly worry about changing. Accordingly, given the choice between prioritizing permanent residents or Badger undergrads, it will always be college students who take one in the arm.
Two weeks ago, Governor Jim Doyle asked the University of Wisconsin System to suggest ways it could cut next year's budget by 10 percent. The 10 percent cut comes after the Legislature reduced this year's budget by $250 million. This year, it meant tuition had to be increased. Next year, if the budget reduction plan the UW Regents recommended comes to pass, Doyle's budget will force enrollment and the number of instructors to drop.
Implementing the proposed budget will be a terrible thing because the fewer students and higher tuition a state school has, the less apt it is to enroll the students who need state schools the most-potential students without the money to go elsewhere.
Likewise, the fewer teachers a school can afford, the worse the training many future permanent residents of Wisconsin will receive. And the university provides benefits for more than just students. The UW System contributes approximately $9.5 billion to the state's economy by creating 150,000 jobs and annually generates $408 million in state tax revenues. The state will only be hurting itself if it continues cutting from the UW System.
The governor is traveling down a dangerous path-there are not enough administrative cuts our school can make without reducing the quality of our education. But half the school will have graduated by the governor's next election. Doyle figures the people his budget hurts the most, us, will have little recourse.
Because college students are transient voters, the UW System will always be vulnerable to cuts from the state. Students must send a message to the Legislature and to governor Doyle to assert their importance when it comes to crafting a budget.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
