COLUMBIA, S.C. - Clemson University President Jim Barker asked a House subcommittee Wednesday for more than $52 million to support existing public service programs and create new ones.

Barker also asked lawmakers to restore $2.75 million in base funding for the Public Service Activities budget, which has had a 33.3 percent drop in state funding since 2001 and faces another 12 percent cut in Gov. Mark Sanford's 2005 budget.

"The PSA is what differentiates Clemson from other universities in the state," Barker said. "Through public service we take discovery and put it in the hands of those who need it."

The base funding covers the PSA's chief operations in research, extension and regulation. The funding request asks for another $1.2 million for a biotechnology research initiative to hire nine biotechnology specialists.

"We'll be working with the private sector to help move things to the marketplace more quickly," said John Kelly, Clemson's vice president for public service and agriculture.

A $28 million biotech and bioprocessing facility also would play a key part in developing an agribusiness cluster in South Carolina. Research could lead to genetically programmed foods designed to prevent chronic diseases like high blood pressure or colon cancer, Kelly said.

Earlier in the day, Barker asked another House panel to block cuts to base funding for higher education that have forced them to make deep internal cuts and raise tuition.

Clemson's operating budget faces another 2 percent cut from Sanford's budget.