Students around campus might directly be affected by cuts made to higher education.

Gov. Bob Holden said he will cut $82 million from public schools and institutions of higher education if lawmakers don’t OK the selling of more than $150 million in tobacco bonds.

Although students aren’t lobbying daily for or against the legislation, some still have an opinion.

“Being an education major, I believe education is very important,” said Janelle Starchman, senior music education major.

“Education is what creates our future working force. Education is the future, and without it, our future is not very promising.”

Starchman said she understands the economy is going through a rocky time, but she believes that if education funding goes down, the economy won’t prosper in the future.

Steve Reed, senior general studies major, said he doesn’t think using the tobacco money to fix the budget will work.

“He’s (Gov. Bob Holden) just using another one-time patch instead of fixing the problem,” he said. “I wish he’d get his priorities straight.”

Shauna Hurst, senior dental hygiene major, said her program has seen many cuts due to lack of money it has received.

“We’ve not reaped any benefits,” she said.

If cuts do occur, tuition could be one of the ways Missouri Southern covers the gap in expenses.

Hurst said even if Southern does hike tuition, she will continue to attend, because the College is the most convenient institution that also carries her degree.

“For me, this is the best place to go,” she said. “But, it depends on your major.”

Jennifer Griest, senior biology major, said despite the fact the College might have to raise tuition, she wouldn’t go anywhere else.

“The cuts are something you just have to deal with,” she said.

“Going somewhere else isn’t going to save you any money, because if they take from us, won’t they take from everyone else, too?”

Ross Brown, senior history major, said although he doesn’t care for the current condition of the budget, he’s looking forward to the possibility of attending a university.

“Any budget cut is bad,” Brown said. “But, the name change will be good. It’s going to spiffy up the College.”

April Stanley, senior international studies major, confesses her opinion is a bit biased, but believes education should be a top priority of the state.

“Education should be one of the last things to cut,” she said.

Shoji Noro, senior psychology major, said he doesn’t understand why the College is spending money on things like the new turf for the football field when there’s not a lot of money to spare.

“I don’t know why they don’t spend what money we do have equally across campus,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to be the governor right now,” said Donna Griffin, senior history major.

“What he’s doing isn’t right. All he’s doing is hurting the future of the state when he takes from education.”