Oh, no, not the steam whistle!

We understand that times are tough at Kansas University and difficult decisions need to be made, but silencing the whistle that has signaled the end of classes for nearly a century?

We almost lost it a few years ago when the old whistle was deemed beyond repair. The tradition was saved by a donor who paid for a custom-made replacement. It seemed that the whistle would live on for future generations, but this semester, the $3,000 annual utility bill to power the whistle scuttled its distinctive blast once again.

KU officials acknowledged that $3,000 isn’t much in the big scheme of the university’s annual $10 million utility budget, although Provost Richard Lariviere said in a Journal-World chat Thursday that the savings might be more like $7,000 or $8,000. A $3,000 savings would be enough to buy paint for about a dozen classrooms (labor not included, of course).

But what is tradition worth? That piercing whistle that released students from class or warned them they only had 10 minutes to get to their next lecture is a memory that brings a smile to alumni faces. True, as KU administrators pointed out, it comes with a price tag, which many traditions, like the Rock Chalk chant, do not, but it’s all part of the ambiance that binds generations of KU alumni together.

The university spends millions of dollars on athletics, which, in no small part, exist to boost alumni loyalty and support. But $3,000 for the whistle is too much?

Well, apparently not. Late Friday we learned that because of an outcry from alumni offering to fund the whistle’s operation, KU officials had a change of heart and decided to power up the whistle once again. It’s good that the university is trying to pinch pennies and spend wisely, but sometimes you just have to listen to your heart. That whistle is as much a part of KU lore as the carillon bells. We’re glad KU saw the light and brought it back.