If the gargantuan veto cuts to the University of Alaska are not overridden by the Legislature, here’s some practical advice to anyone who’s ever taken a class, worked with, or for, the university. Order an official copy of your transcript. Download and back up tax documents. Do it now, before the inevitable chaos means you might see long delays as things break down.
These cuts won’t just mean children crying as they leave their schools and hockey teams and move out of state. It won’t just mean closed campuses and students leaving. Their parents are hard workers, in important but unglamorous jobs. With cuts this big, their work will go undone. That will certainly include the scrappy and shrinking band of support staff that keep the lights on, fix things when they break, and make sure forms are filed that keep federal and private grant money flowing into Alaska.
I was a 30-year Alaskan who left such a job voluntarily when prior rounds of university cuts and a booming job market convinced me that leaving was the only responsible choice. I miss Alaska every day. You will, too, when the recession from state cuts pushes you to the same decision, no matter in what sector you work. Alaska is a small, tightly connected community and one disastrous cut can’t help but affect the whole state.
Somewhere in Anchorage or Fairbanks, there’s an office with only one worker left, because they’ve already cut everyone else. If they have to instantly chop 41% more, it’s utterly impossible to ask “was that person doing something important?” Will Alaska lose millions of dollars more because of something as simple as filing a regulatory document?
For today, think of the governor’s budget cuts like learning that your parents’ health has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. While you process all that you might lose, go get any signatures and documents you might need. Soon, that might be harder to do.
— Gregg Christopher
Anchorage
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