Officials fear Vet demise

Gov. Robert Casey's proposed elimination of all state funding for the University would devastate the Veterinary School if approved by the state legislature and could ultimately force its closing, University adminstrators said yesterday. They said the governor's proposal casts new doubts on the Vet School's chances for long-term survival because the school depends on state money for 40 percent of its annual budget and cannot further streamline its operations. "You can't yank 40 percent of your entire operating budget and be expected to absorb it," Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews said yesterday. "It just doesn't work. We are at rock-bottom in terms of cutting personnel. There is no fat to trim off." Under the proposal announced yesterday, the Vet School -- the only one in Pennsylvania -- would be cut out of the government loop permanently along with three programs related to the Vet School, which together are receiving more than $15 million from the state this year. The University asked for almost $17 million for Vet programs, known collectively as the combined Vet appropriation, in its funding request filed last fall. Andrews said yesterday the University will have to consider closing the school within several years as one of several "worst-case scenario options" unless new revenue sources are found to offset the proposed cuts. But Andrews said he would work with other University administrators to develop alternative funding plans to avoid such an extreme move. He also stressed that the University would seek the support of the Vet School's "friends and constituencies" to help lobby lawmakers in Harrisburg to reverse what he called Casey's "egregious error." Stephen Golding, the executive director of planning and budget, said the need for the Vet School's continued existence will be "a significant part of the message" the University will take to the legislature in its lobbying campaign. "I would hope and think that when it comes time to make the decision, the Commonwealth will understand it is in its best interests to have [the Vet School]," Golding said. But Education Secretary Donald Carroll downplayed the Vet School's impact on Pennsylvania during a press conference yesterday, suggesting that the state could get veterinarians from "Cornell and other places" if the Vet School were to close. Andrews sharply criticized Carroll's portrayal of the Vet School for failing to appreciate that the school's economic impact on the area accounts for more than 2000 area jobs and pumps more than $94 million into the state's economy every year. The Vet School has long justified the state's support of its programs by emphasizing that the school is vital to the general welfare of the state and its many farmers. The school has graduated 1200 veterinarians who live in Pennsylvania and currently provides services, such as veterinary care for rare animal diseases, that administrators say no other facility in the state offers. Last year, legislators said the prospect of the school's closing alarmed them and a few added they considered funding the Vet School a higher priority than providing money for the rest of the University. Microbiology Professor Robert Davies called Casey's proposed cuts "extremely short-sighted and foolish," although he added that the news did not surprise him. Pointing to past battles with the governor over the University's appropriation, which the University ultimately won, Davies said he hoped the state legislature would restore the funding to prior levels in the final budget. But he, too, sounded a note of alarm. "It's bad that we're put in this situation once again," he said. "Unless the Vet School gets this funding, its chance of surviving are remote." Last year, the combined Vet appropriation received more than $15 million from the state after the legislature ignored Casey's proposal to cut Vet School funding by $6.9 million. Before the legislature restored the funding last summer, Andrews and other University officials said the cut would cripple the school's already-stretched abilities to teach and perform research. "The only thing I can say is that if last year cut was going to cripple the school, this would kill us," Andrews said.

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