Today is the last day of classes, which means we can now look back on the semester and evaluate it.
In short: Budget cuts, and students’ reactions to their effects, have defined the University this fall.
It’s been fiscal madness from day one, with each week bringing newer and greater figures from Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office to cripple our campus.
And aside from a handful of student protests, University administration has faced little resistance as it carried out the will of its benefactor — the state government.
In a nutshell, that is the cause of budget cuts.
The University relies on a little less than 50 percent of its operating expenses to come from the state. As state finances dwindle, so too will the operating budget of LSU.
It would be far too easy and unproductive to continue to lambast state government officials, so I have decided to answer a question posed by Chancellor Michael Martin to me in a Sept. 23 meeting.
The question from Martin: “What would you do [about budget cuts]? Where would you cut from?”
At the time, I retorted with a bashful, “I don’t know, but there’s got to be a better solution than slashing language programs.”
But now, as the semester comes to a close, I have something to add to my response.
Walking around campus, it seems all is well and prosperous. We have a brand new Business College Complex under construction, the 150-year anniversary of LSU was a success, and classroom doors will open back up for the wintersession term and spring semester.
What has been forgotten, as these signs of prosperity cloud our judgment, is that we are still facing financial ruin.
And while we’ve lost 14 foreign language instructors as well as four language programs, University administration isn’t hurting — at least not financially.
Administration is responsible for the managerial oversight of this institution. And while the shortfall of state funding may have been unpredictable, the blame for this crisis falls on their heads.
So, to Martin, who is paid $400,000; Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton, who is paid $280,000; University CFO Eric Monday, who is paid $150,487 and LSU System President John Lombardi, who is paid $601,000 annually: Have you successfully done your jobs — or do your king-sized salaries further the illusion that all is well?
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]