When I first read that Gov. Steve Beshear has talked about a 12 percent decrease in funding for UK for the 2008-09 school year, I was mortified. How will UK manage to survive in its current severely depleted state if it has to bear a larger funding burden than it presently does? Images of UK having a going-out-of-business sale on degrees and closing its institutional doors were all I could envision. Then my wife made this ingenious insight: You did it to yourselves!

Last year, prior to the November gubernatorial election, I received a personal letter from then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher, responding to an earlier letter I had sent on state support of our school. Gov. Fletcher’s letter informed me that he had a plan in effect to increase state funding for UK by $21 million, or 6.8 percent, in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007. Then, on Nov. 6, the liberal faculty and newspaper of UK got their wish and Beshear became the new governor of Kentucky. Now, two months later, UK is being asked to foot a $50 million bill in fiscal year 2008-09! Good job.

However, at least I can be thankful that I had already seen the sad shape that UK’s ideology and the Democratic leadership of Kentucky were leading our university to and jumped ship to finish my schooling in a university already in the top-20 ranks — the University of Florida. Good luck, Gator bait!

Todd Burus

Former UK mathematics student