“We’re very excited about a number, and there aren’t many good numbers to get excited about these days,” BSU President Bob Kustra told legislative budget writers this morning. So far, in the third quarter of this fiscal year, he said, research grants at Boise State are “half a million dollars ahead of the third quarter of last fiscal year - and we still have two months left.” He said, “What that says is that we have a very aggressive and entrepreneurial research faculty doing everything they can. … I think it’s a sign that even in bad times some good things can happen.” JFAC is hearing from the presidents of Boise State and Idaho State University today, as it continues a week of hearings on education budgets. Most of the news isn’t so good, as budget cuts loom. “We’re delighted to be here in one sense, and not so pleased to be here in another,” Kustra told lawmakers as he began his budget pitch. “These are not easy times for any of us.”

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