“Students are going to have to pay because the state of Illinois won’t.”

These words spoken by Arthur Doederlein, director of Undergraduate Communications, seem to be continuously popping up at NIU.

Thanks to inadequate state funding, professors in the communications department recently had to cut back on producing extra materials for class because the department’s funds are depleted.

One excuse for the limited funds is that NIU doesn’t receive funding comparable to other state schools. The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana is able to spend about $16,000 per student. NIU can spend about $6,000.

And although the $10,000 difference is not something to ignore, attention needs to be focused on funding for higher education as a whole.

Governor-elect Jim Edgar is getting ready to take office and put into effect a permanent income tax surcharge for education. However, the past has proven this isn’t enough. Additionally, the projected recession for Illinois is another obstacle to be overcome.

Decreasing funds in the communications department—the largest department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences—is a precursor for a number of problems for other departments.

This is but a small cry in one college at one university, but the General Assembly and Edgar should listen before the cry multiplies.

And students should be listening as well, because the legislature is looking to our pockets to fill the funding gap.