Until recently, I had never paid much attention to politicians.
Elitists spending loads of money and drawing enough attention to get elected, then representing only themselves and their respective “parties” — there are infinitely more important things in life.
But this apathy toward our elected “leaders,” both on campus and statewide, came into question when I learned of our own Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plight of indifference with regard to our campus.
He has ignored us time and again, aside from a post on his official Facebook page Tuesday asking students about higher education — and we all know that post didn’t come directly from him. In all likelihood, it came from one of his press handlers.
Jindal’s recent acts of disenfranchisement with higher education came under fire in the media Monday, as LSU Student Government President J Hudson’s letter to the editor featured in The Keene Sentinel, a New Hampshire newspaper, went viral.
CNN, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe and The Washington Examiner all gave the letter attention — and those are just the major outlets. This spark from Hudson could trigger an all-out political forest fire for Jindal on the national level, especially if he tries to run for higher office in the future.
We should all give credit to Hudson. His letter got Jindal’s attention — something no one else has yet been able to accomplish.
But before we put away the life rafts and call the rescue mission for the flagship a success, let’s take a look at what has actually been accomplished here.
Simply put, not much.
Our legislators remain deaf to our SOS-like cries of “save our flagship,” The Daily Reveille’s Jindal Count currently reads “day 8,” and the midyear cut projections keep growing.
Might I suggest we fly the University flag upside down as a symbol of distress. Maybe Texas or Mississippi will heed our pleas for help.
Better yet, how about we declare, “All hands on deck!” as we brace ourselves for the impact of a crippling cut to our futures.
“Enough!” I say.
No more nautical metaphors, and no more tolerance of careless politicians.
So a letter from our SG president got national attention, and in return the governor’s press secretary, Kyle Plotkin, responded with an all-too-politically apathetic statement having nothing to do with Hudson’s concerns.
Nothing has actually changed. We’re still the victims of the political game, and we’re not even being allowed to play a hand.
I’m reminded of the Oct. 4 Faculty Senate meeting when two prominent local leaders — Chancellor Michael Martin and Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge — took to the microphone like ventriloquist dummies with god-knows-whose hands up their asses as they dished out the same political rhetoric we’ve grown all too weary of.
University administration has said repeatedly to look to state government officials for answers.
News flash: Our government leaders don’t care about us, and their failure to act thus far only solidifies fears of their apathy toward higher education.
The Governor’s Office advised Monday that budget cuts should come from “administrative overhead, not teaching and research,” according to a statement from Plotkin.
If our administration knew of this advice in past months, this would amount to the exact opposite of what they have done thus far.
With so many instructors now potentially on the chopping block, “administrative overhead” sounds like code for “attack all programs and eliminate all employees you can without cutting back on administrative expenses” — if Plotkin’s statement is indeed accurate.
This would be actually be in line with LSU System President John Lombardi’s answer to UNO freshman Paul Greagoff’s question, “Would you be willing to take a pay cut to save professors?”
The answer from the $600,000 drain on the University’s budget: You guessed it — more political prancing around the question without actually answering anything.
Students have grown weary of the run-around game.
Incompetent politicians: The gloves are off.
Weary students: Unite or die.
Andrew Robertson is a 23-year-old English writing and culture senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Arobertson.
 
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Contact Andrew Robertson at [email protected].