Universities need protection from continuing budget cuts

"'There is only one justification for universities, as distinguished from trade schools,' Robert Hutchins told TIME Magazine 40 years ago. 'They must be centers of criticism. If you turn the university into a trade school or a branch of the knowledge industry, there is no real possibility of maintaining it as a center.'

In the current recession universities face multiple threats to their ability to remain centers of criticism. The most obvious threat comes in the form of radically reduced funding. Washington is one of 39 states that have cut funding to public colleges and universities, and Washington higher education is bracing for another round of cuts."