Proposal to cut funding in education should not affect crucial research
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Kudos to Allison Bush and The State News for her fine story on proposed funding cuts for some of MSU’s most important research in Cuts could stall MSU research (SN 2/19).
Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposal to slash funding for the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, or MAES, and MSU Extension would be a significant blow to another of her proposals — the admirable target of reducing the state’s dependence on imported fuels by 45 percent by the year 2020.
MSU Extension and MAES are key players in the race to rebuild Michigan’s economy and combat the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels.
They’re also an invaluable resource for the state’s $71.3 billion agriculture and food industry and an example of what a land-grant university is all about: the 300-plus researchers at MAES push the science of farming forward, toward higher yields and diminished environmental impacts, and MSU Extension gets the latest knowledge into the hands of the people who grow our food and, increasingly, our fuel.
Halving the money available for such important work would be a step in the wrong direction.
Andy McGlashen
environmental journalism graduate student
Commentary
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Juan
(02/24/09 9:21am)Report
Well, the money has to come from somewhere, right? And as it stands, we don’t have the money. At my house, when we don’t have the money for something, we have two choices: allocate funds previously destined for something else, or do without; it doesn’t matter how “important” or “core to our mission” the particular thing happens to be – the rules of “you can’t spend what you don’t have” still apply. The state shouldn’t be any different.
Now if these researchers could work on growing a money tree, then they might be able to solve their problem permanently!
Um Juan....
(02/24/09 11:22am)Report
In a sense, growing money on trees is EXACTLY what MSUE and MAES does. They help keep the state’s second largest economic sector (agriculture) competitive. Additionally, for every dollar the state invests in these programs, they leverage 3 dollars in federal and private investment. Last year, the state invested $64 million in these programs, which were then leveraged to bring in an ADDITIONAL $148 million in external funding,, which were then used to create research and programs that resulted in over $1 billion in economic impact in Michigan.
I challenge you to show me a single example of any other state investment that can demonstrate this level of fund leveraging or economic impact. Cutting these programs is a prime example of the state cutting off their nose to spite their face.
common sense
(02/24/09 12:51pm)Report
What the dense folk like Juan don’t get is that the researchers ARE the money tree. Ever heard of the FRIB?
If I had a money plant growing but was running low on funds, saving some cash by not watering the plant would not be a wise long term decision.
Here's another titbit
(02/25/09 7:27am)Report
I was reading a comment earlier that said that line item for corrections overtime was greater than the entire budget of the department of agriculture (where MSUE and MSUAES is funded through) Granted we need to keep our state safe from criminals but we are spending more money on people who broke the law than we are on developing the state for the entire population.
I guess I would not make a good gov. since that dosn’t make since to me.