Chancellor Michael Martin made his way across a wind-torn and muggy campus late September, lit cigar in his mouth and lack of sleep beginning to form dark circles under his eyes.It was on this day — 24 hours before the University re-opened after Hurricane Gustav — that the new Chancellor fell even more in love with the land of purple and gold. “I got to see the University and local community come together in a time of need and disaster, and came away incredibly impressed,” Martin said. “In that sense, it was a wonderful chance to discover how much people care about each other and how much people care about this place.”Martin, a Minnesota-native and former economics professor, Martin arrived at the University on Aug. 1 from New Mexico State University, where he worked as president. Little did he know he would soon face storms of all kinds, including hurricanes Gustav and Ike, a rare snow fall and possibly the biggest budget reduction in LSU history. Gustav struck the Gulf Coast on Sept. 1 as a Category 2 hurricane, ravaging Baton Rouge as it plowed through the state. The University’s Emergency Operation Center — established by former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe — was immediately enacted to help with recovery. Martin said he spent 10 to 12 hours on campus every day during the clean-up process and was impressed with the EOC’s efforts. “I was impressed … with how thoughtfully that was done and how well they functioned on behalf of the campus,” Martin said. Eric Monday, vice chancellor of Student Life and EOC official, said Martin didn’t micro-manage the EOC. “He was concerned, but he trusted in what we created and what we did,” Monday said. “He let the process work.”Monday said he was impressed with Martin’s ability to connect and listen to students, faculty and staff. Martin held several “Chancellor Forums” and “Chats with the Chancellor” sessions during the year, giving students and faculty the opportunity to ask him questions about campus issues. Kevin Cope, Faculty Senate president, said he was pleased with the forums this year. He said he hadn’t seen Martin’s degree of openness in former chancellors. LSU System President John Lombardi said Martin had a very positive first year at the University and has been able to make strong connections with donors, legislators, alumni, students, faculty, staff, and other constituencies of the University. “He has led the campus through a major natural disaster with calm effectiveness and mobilized the campus to complete the semester without loss of any significant academic work,” Lombardi said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. While not a natural disaster, December 11’s early-morning snowfall during finals week took University students by surprise. Jay Grymes, University climatologist, said snowfall totals from around Baton Rouge were between one and three inches, making it one of the biggest snow events in the past 50 or 60 years”For a guy who grew up in Minnesota, this looked like a less than average morning,” Martin said of the snowfall. “I found it kind of refreshing.”The EOC was not activated for the snowfall and exams went on as scheduled. “My friends back in Minnesota would’ve laughed themselves silly if they found out that I chose to close the school here with this much snow on the ground,” Martin said. But perhaps the greatest storm Martin has faced and is continuing to face is the possibility of large-scale budget reductions next fiscal year. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed state spending budget has higher education taking a $219 million reduction, on top of the now permanent $55 million mid-year cut, to help make up for slacking state revenue. LSU-Baton Rogue is expected to take a cut of about $40 million — or about 18 percent — in state funding under the Board of Regents’ allocation of Jindal’s cuts. The LSU System as a whole would be cut by about $102 million.”It will be like the Flagship Agenda never happened,” Martin said in a University news release. “The cut will likely cause us to fall back to where we were eight or 10 years ago.  This kind of cut — 20 percent — would be a major setback for LSU.”Layoffs and elimination of vacant faculty and staff positions at the University would total nearly 400, according to the University’s 2009-2010 budget draft. The Bengal Legacy Scholarships for Non-Resident Sons and Daughters of LSU Graduates, the Board of Supervisors scholarships and the Louisiana Freshman Merit Award would be eliminated. A 2 percent increase in auxiliary enterprise surcharges will cause student fees for Residential Housing, the Student Health Center, Student Union and the Office Parking, Traffic & Transportation to increase. “This won’t be minor,” Martin said. “Anyone who has been in higher education as long as me will know that contrary to what people might say, there is no fat [to cut] at LSU.” Martin said Jindal’s higher education budget breaks a covenant between the state of Louisiana and students who have worked hard to get to the University.  A cut of about $7 million to “non-academic units” — like the University’s payroll office, admissions office and custodial employees, for example — would result in 110 layoffs, according to the document. “Services across the campus will be reduced,” the document states. “It may take longer for a student to be admitted, receive financial aid, register for classes, for vendors to be paid, repairs to be made and buildings to be cleaned.”Martin said his goal is to lower the cuts to higher education overall, or opt for greater tuition-increase flexibility. The legislative session started last week and the 2009-2010 budget should be known by late June. “Despite the various things that have come my way unexpectedly, including weather and budgets, I’ve found [Louisiana] to be a fascinating and enjoyable place,” Martin said.—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]