College chiefs to tighten belts

RENO (AP) - The presidents of higher-learning campuses in Northern Nevada said classrooms will be colder, warmer and fuller under statewide budget cuts, but they hope to spare the quality of education as much as possible.

To prevent having to cut classes or lay off employees, the presidents have targeted utilities, capital improvements and other areas to trim their biennial budgets to offset falling state revenues.

"We will not cut classes, but we will have larger classes," said Delores Sanford, president of Truckee Meadows Community College.

Classrooms will be cooler in the winter and hotter in the summer to lower TMCC's more than $1 million annual utility bill, she said. Adding to TMCC's problems is record enrollment.

At the University of Nevada, Reno, President Milton Glick's top priority is ensuring classes will be available so students can graduate on time. "Our second priority was to protect research, and we didn't do that as well as we protected student progress," he said of the $21.6 million cuts being made by UNR.