University students are sending out an S.O.S. — for higher education. The Save Our Schools blog, recently developed by students in professor Bob Mann’s political communication class, is designed to spur conversation about the looming budget cuts LSU and universities across the state are facing next fiscal year.”My expectation is that this will grow and take on a life of its own,” Mann said. One of many projects for the class, the blog is an exercise in how communication can inspire organization and political action. Nine students contribute to the blog — adding articles and posting pictures about what schools in Louisiana and the rest of the U.S. are doing to combat the threat of possibly large budget cuts.Mann suggested the subject matter of the blog, but his students voted in favor of pursuing the topic. The blog is not specific to the University’s budget difficulties, but rather offers a forum for members and students of all Louisiana higher education entities to express their feelings about possibly large-scale budget reductions and their effect on students, faculty, staff and Louisiana as a whole. Gov. Bobby Jindal warned higher education officials in January that cuts in state funding of up to 30 percent are possible for the 2009-2010 fiscal year beginning July 1. Including the University’s $10.3 million mid-year budget cut, LSU’s main campus would see a budget reduction of about $71.9 million if state funds were cut by 30 percent. The drastic cut would result in layoffs, a decrease in course offerings and larger class sizes, according to a “budget reduction exercise” the LSU System released Feb. 4. Parker Wishik, Student Government senator and contributor to Save Our Schools, said the blog offers a centralized database for all budget cut news and discussion. Since its first post hit the Internet Feb. 5, the blog has garnered more than 750 views. A Facebook group was also created. “A lot of stuff is going on [right now],” Wishik said. “The main goal is to generate conversation at this stage of the game.”Wishik said he hopes the blog will eventually spark a unified student movement across campus to fight the budget cuts. “We don’t want people to ignore it,” Wishik said. “We want them to do something about it.”The blog can be found at sos-saveourschools.blogspot.com.