UW to eliminate about 1,000 jobs by May 1

UW to eliminate about 1,000 jobs by May 1: "'In the best scenario I can come up with, we're going to have significant budget cuts,' Emmert said.

Emmert said he was 'offended' by the funding proposals coming out of Olympia. Across the nation -- including hard-off states such as California and Michigan -- no states are proposing such drastic cuts to higher education funding, he said.

Nationwide, Washington is ranked 30th in state funding for four-year institutions, Arkans said. After the proposed budget cuts -- using either the House's or Senate's budget proposals -- Washington would drop to a rank of 42nd.

'We're running out of adjectives and adverbs,' Emmert said. 'It's unprecedented in the state's history. What's happening in the Senate and the House may be unprecedented in the States -- the United States -- in the post-war era.'

The budget cut is estimated to take 10,000 students per year out of the state's four-year university system. That means, Emmert said, that Washington's major employers -- such as Boeing and Microsoft -- could end up recruiting more employees from other states.

'And our sons and daughters will be washing their cars,' he said.

The 100 or so people at the discussion nervously laughed.

'Now I'm not saying all of this to depress you,' Emmert told them later. 'I'm saying it -- maybe to make you mad.'"