California Universities Face More R&D Budget Cuts

doi:10.1126/science.299.5605.325b

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State research funding took another body blow in the 2003-04 budget request released last week by California Governor Gray Davis . The plan would reduce the University of California's (UC's) research activities by 10%, to $259 million. That's on top of a 10% hit already doled out for the current fiscal year that ends in June (Science, 20 December 2002, p. 2305).

Science isn't singled out in the $3.4 billion system--administrators, libraries, educational outreach, and student services would all take a hit. Faculty and staff would have their salaries frozen, and student fees would increase substantially to make up for the shortfall.

The proposed cuts are "devastating," says UC president Richard C. Atkinson. But given the state's deficit--$30 billion and climbing--legislators will have few options when they begin debating Davis's proposal this spring. In the meantime, UC officials are mulling over where to apply the knife.