MERCED -- Carol Tomlinson-Keasey says nothing has changed for the University of California at Merced, despite a legislative vote earlier this week to slash funding and delay the campus's opening a year.

"We're a long way from the end of this story," Tomlinson-Keasey, the UC Merced chancellor, said Wednesday. "We're carrying on with construction. We're hiring faculty."

The vote took place Tuesday in the three-member Senate budget subcommittee, wrestling with the state's projected $38 billion deficit.

"This is only the third act of a five-act play," the chancellor said. "We still have to hear from the Assembly and the governor."

Assemblyman Barbara Matthews, who represents Merced County, said the budget is not a done deal, "not by a long shot."

"It's that (Senate) committee's responsibility to make the decision they believe is best. We disagree.

"The Assembly committee, thus far, has not come to that conclusion," said Matthews, D-Tracy. "Members have expressed that we have a lot of money invested in UC Merced and it would be wise to get it open so we can begin serving students."

As for Gov. Davis, a spokeswoman said Tuesday that he still wants UC Merced to open according to plan -- in the fall of 2004.

Tomlinson-Keasey said: "The governor has been very supportive of education in general and UC Merced in particular. That support continues."

UC Merced had sought $15 million in the state's 2003-04 budget. And even though Davis cut the allocation to $11.3 million in his budget proposal, university officials figured they could still get the campus open in 2004.

The Senate budget subcommittee decided to cut $4 million more, leaving $7.3 million -- which would push back the opening to the fall of 2005.

Campus construction money is secure, since it comes from bond revenue. A crew of 80 worked Friday at the site northeast of Merced, preparing foundations and utilities for the first three buildings. The structures are expected to start going up in June or July.

Even if a delay is forced on the university, Tomlinson-Keasey said, "I'm looking ahead for 15 to 30 years. In that frame, this (budget crisis) really doesn't matter. What matters is bringing a quality education to the Central Valley."

The UC is planning for a starting enrollment of 1,000 and an eventual enrollment of 25,000.

Matthews said she and others in the Assembly "agree we need this institution."

She noted that supporters such as Merced County Supervisor Kathleen Crookham have gone to bat for the university.

"We have a big cheerleading section for this because it's so important for California to get a new campus. The UC system is turning people away. We've run out of places for them."

Information gathered by Matthews' office shows that when UC Santa Cruz opened in 1965, the state projected a need for another UC campus by 1975. It did not happen. In fact, UC Merced is the first new campus to be under development since 1965.

Tomlinson-Keasey likened the UC Merced project to the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

"I forget how many delays it took but it's there now, for the ages," she said.

The chancellor said the university will continue to move forward, pending a budget decision in Sacramento.

"I think it's all going to be worked out at 2 a.m. when, hopefully, I'm fast asleep."

The Assembly's select committee on UC Merced, with Matthews as chairwoman, is scheduled to meet today with the Senate Education Committee. The hearing is set to run from 2 to 4 p.m. in Room 127 at the Capitol.