looming budget woes
State treasurer visits
BY PHIL HAMPTON
UCLA Today
State Treasurer Phil Angelides recently visited UCLA’s Center
for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) at the Henry Samueli School
of Engineering and Applied Science to hear firsthand of potential
effects of proposed reductions in state funding for 2004-05.
UCLA was the first of six stops he made at universities and colleges
across the state Jan. 20-21 to learn about the potential impact
of budget cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Administrators,
faculty and graduate students involved in CENS told Angelides that
the cuts would impair cutting-edge research that directly benefits
the state economy. Schwarz-
enegger’s budget calls for a $372-million reduction in funding
for the University of California, including a 5% ($11.6 million)
cut in research.
CENS director Deborah Estrin, a professor of computer science,
said the planned cuts could jeopardize research at CENS because
it is funded through a $4-million annual grant from the National
Science Foundation that is contingent on a 30% match, much of it
coming from state sources.
In addition, the proposed cuts would hamper the engineering school’s
ability to recruit top-flight faculty by slashing money available
to cover salaries and administrative costs and by reducing the number
of graduate students available to assist with research, said Greg
Pottie, associate dean of the engineering school.
CENS is developing sensor technology that will enable scientists
to help detect and monitor the physical world in ways previously
thought impossible. Current projects include sensor systems to monitor
soil and air contaminants and buildings’ response to earthquakes.
Estrin believes such research is cost-effective because it helps
companies save money, produce jobs and stimulate the economy. “Investment
by government will reap many times its value in the coming years,”
she said.
The state treasurer took a similar position. “We must fight
to protect and increase investments in these institutions, as they
will be our ticket to economic progress in the decades ahead,”
Angelides said.
He thanked the graduate students, faculty and administrators for
giving him “the ability to tell your story.”
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