The Big Orange Screw digs a little deeper this year.

It arrived quietly over the summer and continued to progress until presenting itself with one conclusion. Not only is the university going to begin "phasing-out" the College of Audiology and Speech Pathology, but it has cut 26 unfilled faculty positions in the College of Arts and Sciences, and plan on cutting other programs from the university. If the raised tuition and $15 football tickets don't turn you off, then this just could.

Not only is the university going to begin "phasing-out" the College of Audiology and Speech Pathology, but it has cut 26 unfilled faculty positions in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The university may continue to run the audiology and speech pathology program for now, but according to Darren Dunlap, who wrote an article in the News Sentinel, believes the program might not be around forever.

"UT hopes to restore positions through the closure of three academic departments, including the proposed phase-out of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology," he said.

Dunlap wrote his article just two days before a UT announcement from Interim Chancellor Jan Simek.

"The university is committed to keeping the clinic open, and in Knoxville. Details are still being worked out, but UT will continue to operate the clinic and the academic program," Simek said.

It looks like UT must have been getting too many complaints to completely disband the program. If anyone is interested, the UT Board of Trustees is having a meeting on Oct. 23-24 to discuss the closure of the college.

While UT is doing this to help with a $21.1 million budget shortfall, the students are the ones who get to feel it. With less classes, freshmen and sophomore students are going to have more trouble getting into the classes they need. As if signing up for class isn't hard enough without the university taking away lecturers.

Some other programs being cut are the College of Business' Industrial and Organizational Psychology graduate program and a dance program concentration in the College of Education.

As the years go by, the Big Orange Screw just continues to dig into our side, whether we are paying for football tickets just so the football coach gets a raise or dealing with greater tuition costs. College is going to continue to cost us and we are paying in lack of sleep, money, and time.