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

DATE: MONDAY, December 19, 1994                   TAG: 9412200048
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

BALILES PROMOTES COLLEGE FUNDING

The General Assembly needs to reverse the disintegration of Virginia's colleges and universities by making a financial investment in higher education, former Gov. Gerald Baliles said Sunday.

``Virginia seems to be walking away from its commitment to strong colleges and universities,'' Baliles said at Old Dominion University's winter commencement. ``There are problems on the horizon occasioned by ... an apparent lack of public will to invest in the future of our commonwealth.''

In a 15-minute speech to nearly 1,000 graduates at the Scope, Baliles likened the strain of budget cuts on colleges to ``elegant degradation'' - an engineering phrase that refers to the ``constant, repetitive stress'' that some machines endure.

``The machine continues to look the same while it is slowly becoming weaker and weaker,'' he said. ``Finally, unable to withstand the stress, it breaks down.''

``We're on the slippery slope of elegant degradation. Whether Virginia's leaders have the wisdom and will to change remains to be seen in the months ahead.''

State aid for colleges has been slashed more than 20 percent since Baliles left office in 1990. Baliles noted that state aid per student has dropped by one-third since 1990. That puts Virginia 43rd in the country, just above Alabama.

He told the graduates to contact their legislators during the upcoming General Assembly session: ``Let them know that you support investment in the future, that you want the next generation of Virginians to have opportunities as good as or better than those you have had.''

Baliles' remarks came the day before Gov. George Allen is scheduled to unveil his proposed state budget for 1995-96. Allen has promised no ``across-the-board cuts'' for colleges, but administrators are still nervous that their budgets will be hit.

Allen's announcement will include his plans for funding a promised $2.1 billion tax cut over the next five years, building 27 new prisons and work camps, refunding $340 million in illegal taxes on pensioners and closing a projected $350 million shortfall in the current budget cycle.

The plan is expected to be based on a conservative agenda of what spending is necessary, instead of designing a budget based on how much money the state expects to get.

Baliles declined to elaborate on what alternatives to the higher education cuts he would have proposed to balance the state budget.

by CNB