Letter: UA Research in Fiscal Crisis

The same day, February 23, that The Star’s sports section headline read “Regents approve Lloyd [basketball coach], Reed-Francois [athletic director] contracts,” The New York Times carried a whole-page article under the headline “Arizona Braces for the Impact of a University’s Budget Crisis.” The administrative malpractice that caused this crisis has rightly received plenty of attention. Regrettably, the inevitable and devastating impact of the fiscal crisis on retention of current and recruitment of new research-focused faculty has largely escaped comment; leadership apparently attaches greater importance to sustaining the institution’s athletic prowess than to protecting and enhancing its intellectual capital. University of Arizona (UA) prowess in my field of cancer research attracted me to join the UA faculty over 20 years ago. If the UA is to continue competing nationally in the first rank of public universities, its research prowess is every bit as important as the quality of undergraduate teaching and athletic success.