The Student Senate passed the $114,000 Student Government budget Wednesday night following weeks of delays and revisions.
Because of a drop in expected enrollment, the budget, drawn from student fees, fell about $2,000 short of initial projections. The budget legislation was delayed while the legislative and executive branches negotiated which SG accounts would be reduced to resolve the deficit.
“It took too long for the budget to develop,” said David Iseral, Finance Committee chairman and co-author of the bill. “In the end, this is the best scenario.”
LSU System President John Lombardi spoke before the Senate during Public Input, discussing the University’s goals and the recently passed first-year residency requirement.
“The main focus of LSU here at this campus is clearly to try and set the standard for the state,” Lombardi said. “The question is: In being the best in the state, are we also doing what it takes to be the best in the nation?”
Lombardi also addressed the passage of the first-year residency requirement by the LSU Board of Supervisors. The Board passed the requirement during its October meeting with a sole dissenting vote from Board member and SG President Cassie Alsfeld. Lombardi said despite being unsuccessful, Alsfeld’s opposition to the requirement was “impressive as hell.”
Lombardi told the Senate the residency requirement is not “frozen in stone,” but is an experiment with fast and easily measurable results. He said if the requirement does not correspond to tangible academic results in a few years, it may be abandoned.
“I think as these controversial changes go, this one has about as many escape hatches as you’re bound to find,” Lombardi said.
Lombardi concluded by discussing the recent security breach by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance, which lost a disk containing FAFSA and TOPS application information including student names and social security numbers.
“At the moment there’s no indication that this data has gotten into the identity theft world,” he said.
Alsfeld also spoke about the LOSFA mishap, urging the senators to take a proactive stance and educate students about how to protect themselves from identity theft.
“We deserve answers, and we need to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible,” Alsfeld said.
—Contact Daniel McBride at [email protected]