
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990                   TAG: 9007270183
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Daniel Howes
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Short

TECH CLOSES MUSEUM TEMPORARILY

Virginia Tech's Museum of Geological Sciences, open since the mid-1960s, has been closed to the public temporarily because of the worsening state budget crunch.

Curator Susan Eriksson called the museum in Derring Hall a "service we have worked hard for, and I would hate for the state budget to close it down."

She said she hoped the museum - which students and faculty still may use for research - would reopen to the public in late August or September for the start of the school year.

Officials hope the museum's temporary closing will help trim costs.

The museum was closed to the public at the request of Herman Doswald, dean of arts and sciences, after Richmond asked state agencies to show how they would trim 1 percent, 3 percent or 5 percent more from their operating budgets.

Administration officials already have trimmed $9 million from Tech's budget, including the elimination of 267 jobs. In the so-called "second round," officials are looking for additional cuts, which might include 135 layoffs.

by CNB