In an old game show named Friend or Foe? during the pivotal moment of the round, two contestants, after working together to accumulate money, decided if they wanted to be a friend or a foe. Two friends would split the money, a foe would steal all the money from a friend and two foes would both go home with nothing.

Real life of course is different than a game show, and luckily, in regards to budget cuts, heads of each department are not labeling each other foes. Likewise, Skorton said last semester that the best strategy for budget cuts is not to split the loss equally among everyone. Despite these differences, though, one principle remains true in both: if everyone gets their ideal outcome, no one wins.

The Theatre, Film and Dance Department is the latest participant in the budget cuts. They certainly have good reasons for protesting the deep cuts they received from the College of Arts and Sciences, much like supporters of the Cornell Cinema vigorously protested the budget cuts handed to them by the Appropriations Committee and upheld by the Student Assembly.

In the latter case, the S.A. eventually allocated them some money from the Student Assembly Finance Commission’s budget. However, the S.A. also increased the total Student Activity Fee from $204 to $216, so they obviously had the flexibility to modify the budget in the first place. The College of Arts and Sciences does not have that type of luxury with their own budget.

In the College of Engineering, budget cuts were focused on preserving teaching and research, but even that strategy did not stop the merger of the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM) with Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Much like theatre, film and dance served many outside their major, TAM also had a considerable role outside their department. In addition to producing great theoretical research broadly applicable in many areas, the department also taught a lot for the undergraduate engineering math sequence, offered additional upper-level courses in applied math and other areas, and ran the minor in Applied Mathematics along with the Math Department. But they still got axed.

While these cuts to the fine arts are unfortunate, one must not lose perspective of what could be otherwise cut. Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Lepage may not have handled the whole situation elegantly, to put it mildly, but he correctly stated that the college’s core mission is teaching and research.

No one can deny Cornell’s Theatre, Film and Dance Department is one of the few to offer both extensive professional support as well as accessibility to those outside the major. Additionally, the experience these professionals bring in enhance both the prestige of the program and its educational value. Unfortunately, they also rack up quite a bill, especially when you consider the goals of the university. At Cornell, the goal is not to produce high-quality productions. The goal is to teach students.

Certainly the quality of productions will suffer as a result of these cuts, but judicious management of these cuts will limit their educational impact. While many of the staff also play an active role in teaching (whereas some tenured faculty hardly teach or even produce worthwhile research), a certain portion of the staff contribute a lot to the production but little to the students’ education.

For the professional staff that remains, they will have to focus more on teaching and supervision and less on professional work. Some tasks require the hands of a professional more than others, but every task a staff member does denies students the potential lessons they can learn from doing it themselves.

Of course, there will be exceptions. Just like The Sun employs a few full-time staff ers and the S.A. hires a clerk, the Theatre, Film and Dance Department will need to maintain some professional staff, especially in areas where liability is involved such as set construction. Nonetheless, the exception cannot become the rule.

And while the rallying cry against any cut is often Cornell’s (abbreviated) motto, “any person … any study,” this motto also means that Cornell has a large pool of potential student resources if faculty resources diminish. In the area of costumes, for example, there is the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design. Broadening your base of students also broadens your base of support, providing an additional level of security against future cuts.

Similarly, since so many people who do not major in theatre, film or dance have benefited from this program, then these departments should have a pretty large base of potential donors to help mitigate the effects of the cuts. And while this department may not have the resources of a consulting firm like Bain & Co. at their disposal, I am sure they have some students or alumni who have the business skills to help them streamline the departments.

As daunting as these cuts may be, to some extent they represent the very goals of Reimagining Cornell. Cornell remains committed to the concept of “any person … any study,” and it only hurts itself when it reduces the breadth of its offerings. At the same time, if it does not more precisely define its mission and what it will fund, then the resulting cuts will affect many people in many studies.

Mike Wacker, a senior in the College of Engineering, is a former Sun Assistant Web Editor. He may be reached at mwacker@cornellsun.com. Wack Attack appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.