Let's fight to keep college

We don't want the Minden campus of Western Nevada College to close and we understand that college officials share that view.

That's why they are pressing the large red button to sound the alarm over the governor's 8 percent budget cut request. We figure there are lots of ways to structure those budget cuts, but one way that's bound to generate public support is to threaten to close rural campuses.

The conflict between Gov. Jim Gibbons and University and Community College Chancellor Jim Rogers has consumed a lot of ink in the state.

We agree with the governor that Nevada's institutions of higher learning have to be ready to do their share to prepare for hard times. We also agree that if part of Gibbons' long list of sacred cows, including the state's single largest budget item, the K-12 schools, were included in the cuts, they would be a lot easier to swallow.

We would remind both sides that the state didn't spend a nickel to build Minden's Bently Hall.

Douglas County residents raised the $2.3 million to build the college campus. Minden Industrialist Don Bently donated the land. All Western Nevada has had to do is keep it staffed and equipped, which at a rate of $84,000 a year is a bargain.

From Starbucks to General Electric, Bently Hall has served as an incentive for major firms to choose Carson Valley.

The Record-Courier was a major supporter of the effort to have a college campus brought to Carson Valley. We believe now as we did then that the campus reflects Carson Valley's commitment to education and we're not about to let it go without a fight.