Las Vegas mayor: Proposed higher education cuts ‘draconian’

[Bluebear]

Mayor says it would be a ‘sin’ to cut UNLV’s philosophy department:

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says the cuts state officials are planning for higher education are not only severe — but are "a sin" in what they would slice from the college experience. "They’re draconian," Goodman said today at his weekly news conference at City Hall. Goodman said that although it might be a luxury to study philosophy, "to take that away from a college student and the ability to have expert teaching into areas that really make you into a complete human being, I think, is a sin. I really do. I think it’s a sin."...

The mayor said he empathized with a group of accelerated students from Clark High School, a local magnet school that specializes in science and math, who he met during the last two weeks. The students, who are college-bound, recently traveled to Carson City to talk about their educational needs when higher education budget cuts were being discussed in the Nevada Legislature.

It happened to be the same day that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid began talking about eliminating legalized prostitution in Nevada, so the students voices were drowned in the media out by the prostitution issue, Goodman said. The students were disappointed in having made the trip and not being heard, he said.

"I told them if it happens again, I would advocate a revolution," Goodman said. "I would sit on the steps and I would bang on the doors and I wouldn't let them do business until they listened to me. I thought it was rude, I thought it was insensitive and I thought it was inappropriate."

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/apr/07/goodman-proposed-higher-ed-cuts-draconian/