As the budget cuts for the fiscal year of 2012 become a reality, Texas A&M is appropriately preparing for the worst. Although the Texas Legislature told universities to prepare for budget cuts in five percent increments, statements from administration and legislature indicated the state will cut funding by 10 percent.

The cuts may have a larger effect on faculty, because 89 percent of state funds support their salaries. Although cutting faculty while keeping a large freshmen class may not seem like the best option, it is the lesser of two evils to allow students from the state of Texas to attain the best education possible with given Educational and General funds.

University President R. Bowen Loftin and his administration are making the best of a terrible situation while planning for the future. These cuts are inevitable, and the $39 million in state funds the university could lose has to come from somewhere.

The plan in place to address this situation has come from both faculty and student input, and is the best way to keep students from feeling the effects of the cuts as much as possible. Cutting faculty positions and different departments on campus will keep the University from passing these costs onto students through tuition increases. Loftin has chosen the best option in this balancing act by keeping education and students in the forefront instead of cutting admissions, raising tuition, and treating the University as simply a business.