Sweeping Budget Cut Approved at University

Cal State Long Beach President Curtis L. McCray has approved a sweeping $13.2-million cut in the campus budget that will sharply reduce classes and eliminate programs at the university.

“The magnitude of the state’s current and cumulative fiscal problems . . . have made planning for the 1991-92 budget year . . . the most difficult financial planning task this university has ever undertaken,” McCray wrote in a four-page letter released Tuesday in response to recommendations made by a campus task force.

In addition to reducing each academic department’s budget by 7% and support services by 10%, the president’s action will slash funding for the university’s Center for International Education by 15%, University Television by 33% and radio station KLON by 41%. McCray also formed committees to examine the task force’s recommendation that the university football program and the University Art Museum be gradually phased out.