NorthwestJanuary 28, 1996

Craig Hill

OLYMPIA Sen. Eugene Prince was still a little surprised as he sat in his office Saturday morning.

He had heard rumblings earlier in the session that the Washington Higher Education Network, known as WHEN, might not get funding this year, but he thought that noise had finally gone away.

That racket is back and clanking through the capital this weekend.

House Republicans are saying they probably will not fund the $34.5 million network that would link Washington's universities, Prince said.

Instead, the House Republicans seem only willing to fund a study of the proposed network.

But while Prince, R-Thornton, sees this as a threat to getting the system funded this year, he doesn't see it as the end of the road.

"I was holding my breath and hoping the opposition wouldn't start up again," Prince said. "But it doesn't take many people to hold things up around here. It takes both houses to get things done."

The interactive network would link classrooms to instructors at other state universities. It seemed to have bipartisan support as part of a solution to an expected college access problem in the next century.

Some legislators seemed less thrilled with the plan when private businesses such as GTE and U S West informed them that the audio-video link between the schools could easily go out of date. But even then lawmakers seemed excited to fund the project this year, said Washington State University Student Lobbyist David K. Reiter.

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"This really surprises me," Reiter said. "Everyone on the hill seemed so turned on to this idea."

Senators such as Prince are ready to get the network hooked up now and are concerned about putting it off for a year.

"I'm just hopeful that doesn't happen," Prince said. "I'd hate to see this sit for a year."

But both Prince and Reiter are quick to point out that it's just a setback.

"Who says they have to appropriate all of the money right now?" Reiter said. "They can supply some of the money now and we can come back for a larger appropriation next year."

Reiter suggested setting up the classrooms now and linking them with the network next year.

Prince didn't talk of compromise and seemed unfazed by the recent threat.

"Nothing is for sure around here," he said. "There are people from (both parties) who want to see this work."

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