Gov. Steve Bershear’s six-year budget, an austere plan that requires a 6.4 percent cut to UK’s operating budget, cannot come as a surprise.

Economic hardships, nationally and in the commonwealth, have forecast difficult financial decisions for the government and the programs that benefit from it.

While the governor can be commended for attempting to spread the budget cuts as equally as possible across the board, and the new budget has included President Eli Capilouto’s goal to renovate campus facilities, the importance of the state’s continuing support for UK and, indeed, all educational programs, cannot be stressed enough.

Capilouto said in an email to all students that the current cuts UK is facing will result in strategic and tough decisions.

This road is well-traveled, leading to tuition increases, wage freezes and an overall less-competitive university.

We all must share the load, and it is egocentric to assume that UK should be exempt from budget cuts.

But education is the most important tool for the future, and the solution for many of the problems that plague the present.

The double talk of politicians’ commitment to education grows tiresome, particularly when UK’s financial assistance from the state has been cut 10 out of the last 11 years.

Capilouto has stressed his support for the university and pledges to work tirelessly for its cause. We applaud his commitment and hope his continued efforts in Frankfort provide results that are beneficial to students, faculty and staff.

We encourage student organizations such as Student Government and the Wildcat Interest Group to voice their support for UK to our legislators.

The survival of a university is not a task solely endowed to its leaders, though.

The more students who contact their legislators, travel to the Capitol to express their support and take a noted interest in the vivacity of UK, the stronger and louder the cause becomes.

Budget cuts are inevitable. We can only hope that the severe measures taken effect the university and its population in the smallest of ways.