June 16, 2008
There has been much talk recently in Gainesville about the University of Florida's budget cuts and how they will affect the university, students, the city, and the surrounding area. Really, any budget cuts with some of UF's operating divisions such as its Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) will have statewide ramifications as IFAS, while based out of the UF campus in Gainesville, has satellite research and education labs statewide and also contributes greatly to agricultural-oriented education efforts from the K-12 to college level across the state. As IFAS was one of the hardest hit of all major divisions of UF during this spring's round of budget cuts, IFAS stands to be unable to fill some positions, fund research projects, and in general continue its good work all over Florida-not just in Gainesville. In this sense, IFAS is a prime example of how a loss of funding at UF can reach far beyond just the classroom and why people aside from UF students, faculty, staff and Gainesville citizens need to be concerned about the funding situation for the University.
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