Starting this semester, the University permanently expanded the operating hours on the first floor of Middleton Library from midnight to 2 a.m.Library hours were first extended in October. The trial was conducted on an experimental basis, providing only the first floor for student use, without reference or circulation services being provided. If an average of more than 200 students showed up every night, the operating hours for the spring semester would be extended until 2 a.m. The nightly average failed to reach the mark, but Student Government President Colorado Robertson was able to extend the late night operating hours for the spring semester.Many students applauded SG’s decision, citing the many top-tier colleges that keep their libraries running 24/7 to provide their students with a suitable environment for studying. Though this option hasn’t been seriously considered, SG felt extending the hours would be a positive step.”As a high-caliber academic institution, extending library hours was something we ran on during the campaign to help give students easier access academic resources,” Robertson. “We understand today’s students are staying up later to study and so extending the hours was something we felt was necessary.”But so far this semester, after-hour activity has been very slow. In the first week of class, only 15-20 students showed up after midnight per night. One night, library workers claim the number was as low as five.The past few weeks, though, attendance has steadily risen to a more reasonable sum. Still, the library’s services are being vastly underutilized. If this trend continues, it’s possible the benefit will be revoked next fall, especially with dramatic budget cuts looming.The University is already facing about $10.3 million in cuts for this fiscal year, ending June 30. Chancellor Michael Martin has already said the LSU System is preparing for a reduction in state funding between $44 million and $71 million for the next fiscal year beginning July 1. Martin said these cuts — between 19.6 percent and 31.6 percent of the System’s state general fund appropriation — could have “dramatically negative impacts on our students, faculty, staff, campus and all others we serve.”The University is responsible for compensating the late night workers who have adjusted their schedules to meet the extended period. The circulation desk typically keeps three workers on staff through the night, while LSU police officers are also provided for security. That doesn’t take the additional funding required for electricity bills and other extraneous expenditures into account.If students want to reap the benefits other universities enjoy with extended library hours, they’re going to need to take advantage of its services.The library offers an excellent, distraction-free venue for studying, and there are plenty of technological resources available free of charge to students.But if students fail to meet required expectations, these  privileges will be rescinded and the funding hole will be plugged.The ominous graffiti on the wall is if this glory hole isn’t filled by students, the facility won’t keep kneeling on the adjacent side of the wall waiting to accommodate our desires.The only way not to get this privilege revoked is to actually take advantage of it. Otherwise, there’s no reason to think it won’t be chopped by future budget revisions.Budget cuts are the quintessential guillotine to student privileges. When these benefits get revoked, students will be the ones who have to feltch up what’s left, while the University will take its financial splurging elsewhere.–Contact Scott Burns at [email protected]