Amendments pile up into quagmire for regents

The second day of a contentious meeting of the Board of Regents quickly bogged down today in arguments over an amendment to an amendment to a proposal aimed at reducing the discrepancies between funding colleges in the northern and southern parts of the state.

Regent Thalia Dondero first offered an amendment that would change the budgeting of programs funded by the estate tax fund.

When Chancellor Richard Jarvis pointed out the changes could eliminate a number of good new programs, including a $1 million dental residency program that would pay for dental residents who aid needy children, Dondero decided to amend her amendment.

The amendment to the amendment would assure that the dental residency program would not be affected by any change.

The amendment to the amendment passed 6-5, but the argument over whether to approve the original amendment raged on as some regents shouted or made snide comments about opposing points of view.

When the vote finally came, the amendment failed in a 6-5 vote.

Regent Mark Alden, of Las Vegas, immediately demanded in a news release the resignation of regents Dorothy Gallagher, Douglas Hill and Howard Rosenberg, all from Northern Nevada.

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