Corinna Cohn painted letters on a sign Monday morning in front of the Nevada Legislature to protest budget cuts that she said will make it difficult for her nieces and nephews to attend college.
"Don't cut our future," her sign read.
Cohn, a senior at the University of Nevada, Reno, said her rally was small and organized quickly, but larger student protests will come soon to oppose the 36 percent budget cut to the higher education system that Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed last week.
Students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, are also organizing a rally.
Cohn and Samuel Owens, a junior at the Reno university, said the state government needs to hear from students immediately how the cuts would hurt universities and colleges.
"I just can't tolerate (the idea) that the school that I love and received a high-quality education from might have its future taken away from it," Cohn said.
Cuts would make school more expensive for students and jeopardize the value of the degree she hopes to get in economics, she said.
Owens said he sees himself as an "investor" in state higher education, relying on financial aid.
"The funding cuts that Gov. Gibbons is proposing for our schools is too big of a toll on us and we can't handle it," he said.
Cohn suggested that the state take away tax breaks from some businesses or raise the gas tax to avoid education cuts in a state she wants to see succeed.
"I'm a Nevadan," she said. "I'm not just using Nevada and getting the hell out of here."
Owens said part of keeping education strong means making sure that college is affordable.
"I'm going to stand up for what's right," he said.
But the governor's proposed cuts were only a suggestion and aren't as bad as some people think, said Dan Burns, Gibbons' representative.
He said the governor wants to hear other views when the Legislature convenes next month and see the budget go through its proper course.
"This is just a starting point," he said.
Federal money and private donations will also make sure universities aren't left only with state funding, he said.
- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212. The Associated Press contributed to this report.