“Although we are tightening the budget, we are working hard to ensure that budget cuts do not affect the quality of the university or its academic mission.”Astrid Merget, University executive vice chancellor and provost, sent this message in an e-mail about the University’s hiring of three new deans to oversee the Colleges of Engineering, Music & Dramatic Arts and the School of the Coast & Environment.Someone didn’t send this message about “not affecting” the quality of the University.In a Jan. 22 e-mail to student workers on Chancellor’s Student Aide or Work Study in the Manship School of Mass Communication, Angela Fleming, assistant to the dean, inferred the possibility of reduced hours and even the possibility of job cuts for student workers.”I am sure you’ve heard LSU has had severe budget cuts,” Fleming said. “We cannot support students after their Chancellor’s Student Aide or Work Study runs out. Please plan your hours accordingly for the rest of the semester. I will have to separate you once your funds run out.”Sorry.”Unfortunately, “sorry” just doesn’t cut it anymore.The state is eliminating $10.3 million from the University’s budget this fiscal year, ending June 30.In this economy, jobs are hard enough to find. The Career Expo at the PMAC on Tuesday will feature about 50 less companies than last year.We stress how important it is for the University not to impose the core of these budget cuts on the students.”Everything possible needs to be done to ensure students don’t feel the brunt of these cuts,” we said Jan. 12.This is the students’ campus, too.Is an honest, open dialogue about our collective future too much to ask?——Contact the Editorial Board at [email protected]