Two-thousand dollars is petty cash thrown around by all the student millionaires that go to MSU.

"Students in general who have scored well enough on the MEAP exam to achieve these scholarships are students that are college bound and will find the resources to funding," said Pamela Horne, assistant to the provost for enrollment management and director of admissions, in response to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed cut to the Michigan Merit Award scholarships.

"I don't think a single $2,000 difference is going to make that much of a difference in a student's college choice."

It's ignorant to assume that money wouldn't make a difference in student's college finances. That $2,000 is what high school students will lose from the scholarship if Granholm's shady proposal passes.

Her plan to cut the $2,500 scholarship, which students receive for taking the Michigan Education Assessment Program test, to $500 will make a difference. A big difference.

That money is helping a lot of current MSU students through college right now. It is nearly enough to cover room and board at MSU for a semester.

It is bad enough Granholm wants to slash higher education funding, but eliminating a great chunk of the MEAP scholarship is an extra kick while students are down.

Granholm's plan includes cutting higher education funding by 6.5 percent, therefore forcing schools to raise tuition.

People have already voted against cutting the scholarship - last November, Proposal 4 tried to move the state's tobacco settlement money from the merit scholarships to health care programs, and Michigan said no.

The people have already spoken.

To put it in figures lawmakers can understand, $2,000 would buy a lot of freedom fries.