The honor of being the first to welcome you back to campus probably went to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, who sent students a mass e-mail on Saturday concerning the state and university’s economic woes. Short on words and details, the e-mail made one thing clear: Iowa State was promised $7.165 million from the state government — and that money isn’t coming.

Instead, it’s going to be up to individual university units to figure out what to axe to make up for the shortfall. As administrators decide where the cuts take place, it’s important that they take to heart the mantra to cut comfort, not safety.

In a community or corporation of Iowa State’s size, it’s easy to feel lost in the crowd. As such, wasteful individual actions become diminished in the big picture. You use more than you need because there are so many people and there’s so much available.

It sounds like a third grade class on protecting the environment. Use less water. Turn the temperature down 1 or 2 degrees. Turn off the lights when you’re done in a room. Don’t leave your computer on at all hours of the day.

Only in this case, it’s not just good for the environment — it’s good for your pocketbook.

The university should be commended for taking a proactive approach to dealing with the budget cuts. Top officials are taking furloughs, or unpaid days off. Twenty-eight administrators are being required to take the leave, saving $130,000. Four athletic department heads — athletic director Jamie Pollard and the head coaches of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball — have volunteered to take furloughs, saving $50,000.

In total, that’s $180,00. It’s a small percentage in the grand scheme, but it’s a start. At the very least, it signals the right attitude — trim from the top down, a lesson made all-too-apparent when Detroit executives took private planes last fall to beg for a taxpayer bailout.

Budget shortfalls are a reality of life, and although education is a wonderful thing to subsidize, Iowa State still receives taxpayers’ money and that can’t be taken for granted. Still, reducing the university’s operating costs is a relatively simple, fair way to make ends meet.

However, they could just leave it up to the DPS parking division to make up the difference.