Editorial: Students should lobby congressmen to protect federal funding for university research

Current negotiations in Congress may end with $335 million in cuts to university research. This board urges members of the UCLA community to inform themselves about the fiscal cliff, which the country will reach on March 1 unless legislators reach an agreement to halt the preplanned cuts.

The purpose of deep automatic spending cuts, known as the “fiscal cliff,” is to significantly decrease the national deficit. The cuts are scheduled to be carried out through a series of across-the-board reductions in spending combined with increased taxes.

Although federal spending cuts may appear unrelated to the campus, several higher education programs are at risk of being cut 5 to 6 percent.

Researchers from the University of California are among the nation’s leading recipients of federal research funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health – all of which are subject to cuts if legislators do not reach a deal by the March 1 deadline.

Lawmakers continually point to further development of science, math, engineering and technology disciplines as the pathway to innovation in the country, but a publicly funded university like UCLA could have a hard time producing advancements in these fields if research is hindered by federal cuts.

With federal funds, UC scholars generate groundbreaking research and provide first-class education to the students.

While 5 percent may seem like a small reduction, students should keep in mind that this would come on top of already existing cuts that have threatened research over the past few years.

One of the benefits of UCLA is that students learn from professors who are at the forefronts of their fields, who can teach most effectively because they have themselves conducted the research that continues to mold their field. In addition, many students can work with these professors and be a part of the research, an opportunity that could be lost without funding.

It may seem impossible to affect Washington politics, but congressmen respond to constituents. If students lobby their representatives in Congress to protect federal funding for university research, there is a higher chance that it will be protected.

The first step to that, though, is education. This board urges students to understand how research will affect UCLA, or the department they are a part of, and then to reach out to their representatives and lobby for sustained funding.