UMMS facing layoffs.(University of Maryland)(Brief Article)

Leaders of the University of Maryland, Baltimore say the school is facing immediate faculty cuts that will affect its training, research and patient care programs if it does not receive a hefty budget increase and $3.5 million worth of emergency funds.

The university's desperate appeal to state legislators comes after consecutive years of being funded below a state-mandated guideline, while the costs of being a teaching, research and service institution have skyrocketed.

News of the university's financial troubles does not bode well for organizers of the city's west side redevelopment, who view the large employer as the economic engine to spur business growth in that area.

The news also is unsettling to state and city leaders who do not want to see the university make faculty cuts -- even to its famed R. Adams …