During a budget hearing yesterday, Illinois lawmakers considered how a 10 percent across-the-board cut -- as proposed by GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady -- would impact state government. Already covering the decline in state funding with tuition hikes, layoffs, and furloughs, university officials testified yesterday that more cuts would be devastating. University of Illinois' President Stanley Ikenberry did the best job of putting the numbers in perspective:

"There are many agencies that you will hear from that will be talking about the impact in terms of broken lives," Ikenberry testified. "I think for higher education, it's better to think about it in terms of broken futures."