NIU must remember not to compromise students’ education as it tightens its belt until January.

NIU announced this week it is instituting an across-the-board hiring delay to save some money. NIU officials hope the delay will create a cushion in case the legislature doesn’t increase its commitment to higher education.

It is unfortunate that an institution dedicated to education and service must play politics and take this kind of action. However, in an age of increasingly tighter budgets with the recession monster rearing its ugly head, NIU has no other alternative.

What NIU students must do is be patient.

Between now and January, most of the positions that NIU will let slide center around temporary help. The delay might cause a longer turnaround time in some offices or departments.

The last thing these workers need is to have students berate them for being slow. Remember, these employees don’t like the financial outlook any more than you do. They don’t like being understaffed and certainly don’t need to hear you whine.

With that in mind, NIU officials should make efforts not to take advantage of students’ good dispositions. If students are going to give the administration the benefit of the doubt, then the administration must remember not to take advantage of the situation.

There is no doubt that these are hard times. Administrators and students must work together and not take advantage of each other.

Yes, indeed, politics make strange bedfellows.