Students speak out against closing college in Minden

Anger and frustration resounded through the halls of the Douglas campus of Western Nevada College on Thursday as students and faculty prepared for final exams in the shadow of a proposed 8 percent budget cut that would close the campus next year.

"It's dumb. It's retarded," said 18-year-old Jamie Bitetto.

Bitetto was at the campus registering for classes next spring. She recently graduated from Douglas High School and plans to pursue a degree in art.

"There are so many kids in Douglas who want to go to school and who aren't going to drive to North Carson," she said.

Because of a shortfall in tax revenue, Gov. Jim Gibbons recently asked higher education officials to cut their budgets by 8 percent, sending shock-waves through college administrations, specifically Western Nevada College.

President Carol Lucey reported that such a cut would force the closure of rural campuses in Douglas, Yerington and Fernley. Only campuses in Carson City and Fallon would be kept open.

Budgets for K-12 education, public safety and corrections were exempt from the governor's proposed cut.

Bitetto wasn't alone in her frustration.

"I was one of the people who organized the protest on the capital last Friday," said 18-year-old Austin Scott.

Scott was home-schooled in Carson Valley and has been attending Western Nevada College since he was 14. He's working toward an associate's degree in math and wants to transfer to University of Nevada, Reno, to pursue a bachelor's in science.

Scott is also a senator in the student government of Western Nevada College.

He helped organize a student petition that he and other student government officers from around Nevada plan to present to Gibbons after fall semester.

"Just at WNC, we have more than 300 signatures," he said. "I'm not against the governor, I'm just against his decision. I want to stay in Nevada. I want to be able to get a good education and not have to go to another state."

Scott said the most of the 679 students who attend the Douglas campus don't have the time to drive to Carson City.

"It makes me angry," said 30-year-old student Jason Erdman who travels to the campus at least twice a week from Walker, Calif.

Erdman is a maintenance officer at the Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center near Bridgeport, Calif. This is his first semester at the campus and wants to earn an associate's degree in science, transfer to University of Nevada, Reno, and earn an engineering degree.

"Don't close the campus. This is an investment," he said. "These rural locations affect so many people. Nevada's education will hurt."

Pelinda Hamilton, 45, agreed.

"I'm a single mom, and I'm just trying to make a better life for me and my kids," she said. "If this campus closed, I'd be devastated."

Hamilton works as a receptionist for Prudential Nevada Realty in Minden. For four years, she has been pursuing an associate's degree in science with a minor in math.

"I want to be a teacher eventually," she said. "Living in Gardnerville, I can be at this campus in five minutes. If something happens with my 4-year-old son at school, I can be here. I couldn't do that in Carson. It would be horrible."

Minden resident and geoscience instructor Penny Nicely is one of about 50 part-time instructors at Douglas who risk losing their jobs if the campus closes.

"I've taught at the campus since it opened," said Nicely. "I think if there's a budget shortfall, budget cuts should be across the board. If everyone cuts a little, then no one agency will hurt this much."

Nicely estimated that one-third to one-half of her students would not be able to make the commute to Carson City.

"A lot of these students work full-time and have families," she said. "Education is the basis of everything. Companies come here because there is an educated workforce. The ramifications of this would be widespread."

Nicely said if she met with Gibbons one-on-one, she would tell him to be a leader, and not pursue something that would be so detrimental to the state.

"This campus was not something that the state just gave us. It came out of the community," she said. "You can take the word 'community' out of the college's name, but you cannot take the community out of the Douglas campus."