All the cutbacks that the university has been making are completely absurd. The main cuts are being made in the number of faculty, administrative staff and organizations. These three components are essential to the success and operation of a college. The less faculty we have, the larger the classroom sizes, which is something the university has avoided in the past.

The administrative staff, although not seen by students most of the time, is what causes the university to function. Without them, we would not progress, we would not have any events and the school would suffer.

Last but certainly not least, our organizations are what help retain students. The school cuts are a result of government funding cuts which root from poor retention rates, so cutting organizational funding is counterproductive.

Now don’t get me wrong — I understand cuts have to be made, but why are we cutting the vital components of our school? For instance, why is it that we had a major faculty cut over the summer while building a large-scale, completely useless fountain?

Sure, the new Coleman Commons looks a lot better, but more students know the professors whose salaries were cut than actually know what the Coleman Commons are.

Instead of building scenery that costs the school obscene amounts of money, we should be allocating our resources to the reason this school exists. I love our school and I love watching it grow, but I’d rather it grow in educational prowess than in atmospheric prowess. The recent UA cuts, although necessary, were made in the wrong departments of the college.