Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell didn't try to hide his pessimism Friday as he talked about freezing enrollment, tightening admission criteria, cutting hours for labs and libraries and raising some student fees.

The culprits, Wetherell said, are threefold: years of inadequate funding from the state to pay for enrollment growth; Gov. Charlie Crist's recent veto of a 5-percent tuition increase at state universities; and the unseen effects of the Legislature's decision Thursday to cut property taxes.

"Something's gotta give, guys. It's just that simple," Wetherell said, standing in front of a large horizontal banner that bore the same message. He also sketched out numbers that he said demonstrate a major deficiency in the way Florida pays for higher education: Legislative appropriations are tied to the number of students enrolled, not graduated. So it's to a school's advantage to flunk students or to make it as difficult as possible for them to graduate.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Crist and Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp are both proud 'Noles. But Wetherell said the higher-ed funding situation in Florida is bleak -- and getting worse.