Funding Slashed for General Ministry Institutes

MRKEESH, MRLSST – Scientists and scholars at the various General Ministry Institutes will have to contend with even tighter budgets for the next year. In a move largely predicted by the academic community, the General Ministry slashed budgetary allotments for such prestigious Institutes by as much as 60 percent in some cases.

“It saddens me that it has come to this,” said Proctor Cheelka, Academy Head of the Mrlsst Center for Linguistic Studies. “So many of the issues predicating the current recession could have been foreseen and solved through education, yet now it’s the educators being punished.”

The 800-year-old Center for Linguistic Studies is dedicated to the cataloging and cross-translation of all forms of verbal communication in the galaxy. It is a common training ground for diplomats and tradesbeings throughout the Republic. The CoLS has increasingly turned to charitable contributions to cover operating expenses.

Private funding is a common alternative, but there are only so many credits to go around. The Fondor Academy of Engineering and Design is currently being subsidized by generous donations from Kuat Drive Yards and the Techno Union, private entities that draw a sizable employee pool from the Academy.

One of the hardest hit institutes is the ExGal Society, an agency dedicated to finding evidence of extragalactic life. “We’re going to have to pack up most of our offices and rely on long-term droid observations now,” said a visibly crestfallen ExGal President Tobbert Dalonbian.

“It’s hard to justify the spending money to look at the horizon when your house is on fire,” said an ExGal scientist who wished to remain anonymous.