Proud Students, in conjunction with the Residence Hall Association, hosted a presentation to University students, “The Current Budget Crisis: Don’t Sink LSU,” in West Laville Hall on Monday night.
The event featured three guest speakers: Brian Sain, Proud Students member and English junior, John Proveti, French studies professor, and Kevin Carman, College of Science dean.
“We wanted to, in conjunction with RHA, bring in the facts and the numbers that are readily available but also reinforce what we think [students] should know about the budget cuts,” said Bradley Wood, co-founder of Proud Students and biological sciences and philosophy senior.
Sain, who held a German flag in his pocket as he spoke, reviewed a brief timeline of the recent cuts to the University.
“It is affecting all of us and will affect all of us,” Sain said.
Sain also told students how to get involved in the effort, mentioning the “Rally for Higher Education” on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. The rally is a collaborative effort of universities state-wide to call attention to the budget crisis.
“We also brought in two faculty members to give a historical overview of how the University got to where it is today,” Wood said.
Proveti discussed higher education and funding from a historical perspective, spanning institutions in the Colonial period to the creation of the corporate university.
“We have to understand [LSU] and how it has gone through different phases,” Proveti said. “If you don’t understand the past, you can’t understand the future.”
Proveti emphasized there are two sides with every budget crisis — the expenditure side and the revenue side.
“Jindal is only looking at the expenditure side, and that’s wrong,” he said.
Carman presented information on how the College of Science has been impacted by the cuts, even if the effects have been less visible. He told students about the potential effects on the University as a whole.
“We want to try to help students become critical and creative thinkers,” Carman said. “The necessities will be there [after the cuts], but what I’m concerned about is the breadth of the experience.”
 
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]