Bad News Budget: Emporia State U faces sizeable cuts - Allen Twitchell, Emporia Gazette

Even as the Kansas House and Senate wage the “battle of the budget,” there’s no doubt, whatever the outcome, as to the identity of one of its casualties: Emporia State University. The House budget bill looms as a much more lethal threat, including as it does a 4-percent across-the-board cut to higher education, resulting in a $3.6 million reduction in total funding for ESU. The Senate’s budget bill dictates a 2-percent monetary bloodletting, but “only” amounts to $600,000 in lost revenue for the local institution, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. “Put simply, (the House) budget scenario results in a devastating cut to our institution,” said Tyler Curtis, ESU’s legislative liaison for government relations and executive director of alumni relations, who furnished most of the financial data for this story. “Cuts of this magnitude will stifle our ability to grow and provide services to our students. http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/article_82f3c618-9892-11e2-8e0b-10604b9f6eda.html