<div id="subtitle">Potential higher education cuts signal that Nevada is in need of a new vision</div><div><p> Dan Klaich, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, made a sobering presentation Tuesday to the Board of Regents, laying out potential budget cuts facing the stateÕs colleges and universities.</p><p> Klaich said the $900 million budget deficit could mean a 22 percent reduction in general-fund revenue for the stateÕs colleges and universities. That would translate to a loss of $37 million this fiscal year and $110 million next fiscal year.</p><p>To make up that much money, the system would have to take drastic action. To demonstrate, Klaich presented several different scenarios, including:</p><p>¥ Closing colleges. He laid out three options that would close various campuses and programs — one plan would close the doors at the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College, another plan would shut down the law and dental schools at UNLV and the medical school at UNR.</p><p>¥ Reducing payroll. The system could cut employee pay by 20 percent or force employees to take another five days off a month unpaid or lay off 1,290 employees.</p><p>¥ Raising student tuition and fees by nearly 50 percent.</p><p>There are those who would say a college education is a luxury and students should pay the full cost of their own education, which would undoubtedly make a college education unaffordable for most people. In an editorial board meeting Wednesday with the Las Vegas Sun, Klaich noted that such thinking Òassumes there is no public good in an educated populace.Ó</p><p>Public education provides a great benefit to society as a whole. Studies have shown that regions that have higher education levels do better economically than other areas of the country. Businesses go to those areas because the workforces are better trained and the people there often have more money to spend because they have better jobs. Good colleges and universities have proved to be economic engines for their communities, and they are vital to citizens.</p><p>In todayÕs world, it takes a college degree to qualify for many jobs, and this economy has sent many workers back to school, particularly community colleges, to gain skills for new careers.</p><p>Given this economy and the deficit, the best the state may be able to do is make careful cuts to avoid decimating education, not to mention other necessary government services. But KlaichÕs presentation should be a wake-up call for Nevadans, showing yet again the long-standing problem with the way the state funds schools, roads and necessary government services. ÒAt some point in this state, weÕve got to define what we value and be prepared to pay for it,Ó Klaich said.</p><p>It has been clear for years that the tax system is broken, but we donÕt expect that to come up in the special session Gov. Jim Gibbons is expected to call to deal with the deficit. Gibbons, by law, gets to set the agenda. However, the governor and lawmakers will have to deal with the ramifications of their cuts.</p><p>Some of NevadaÕs leaders have been caught in an intellectually lazy ideology that despises taxes of any kind and then decries a lack of services, blaming problems on government waste and bureaucracy. That may play well with some voters, but it ignores the facts. Nevada has a low tax burden and, thus, a corresponding low level of services.</p><p>Despite that, the stateÕs colleges and universities have made great strides in the past decade or so, but budget cuts could wipe out those gains. Klaich said the system could revert to the level of funding it received in 2002 — when it had 20,000 fewer students.</p><p>The bottom line is state leaders canÕt cut a quarter of the university systemÕs budget in the name of Òbelt tighteningÓ and expect Nevada to have a bright future.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68497446&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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