Mayor John Haila and panelists addressed the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences budget cuts at the Political Science Club’s panel Thursday. 

Along with Haila, the panel included:

• Iowa state Rep. Liz Bennett (IA-65), 

• Attorney Angelina M. Thomas,

• Alex Tuckness, professor in political science 

• and Demaree Donaghu, director of LS2group

The panel covered local government, public policy, law, graduate school and public relations.

Chukwunenyi “Obi” Agba, a sophomore majoring in political science and newly elected Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator for Student Government, asked panelists about how to address the budget cuts facing LAS.

“I am sure there are going to be some programs that end up being cut, you know, before everything is done, but most of them aren’t,” Tuckness said. 

Tuckness said more students speaking up would help LAS because resources follow students.

“It’s sad, especially with a multitude of departments being cut,” Agba said. “I believe political science is being cut by about 10 percent, and it looks like that could possibly affect a lot of professors and students’ ability to expand their knowledge of political science and what they can do with it.” 

The panel was hosted with the aim to help students get a look into what their careers could look like, according to an email sent out by the Political Science Club. 

“[Political Science Club members] do have goals and things they want to accomplish but they don’t know how to get there, so we wanted to respond to that need,” said Natalia Rios, a senior majoring in political science, international science and public relations and president of the Political Science Club.

Rios said that the panel went well, and there was a lot of good insight and interaction from those present.

“I was very impressed with the variety of the panelists, the outstanding advice and input that they offered,” Haila said. “It was an outstanding panel.”