Four weeks.
That’s all the time that’s passed since spring semester finals ended, and it most certainly wasn’t enough of a break.
But in that seemingly short period, a lot has happened.
The University lost another top-level administrator in Herb Vincent, who serves both the athletic department as an associate athletic director and University Relations as associate vice chancellor. He’s taking a similar position with the Southeastern Conference.
That makes 16 — yes, you read correctly — administrators to leave since former LSU System President John Lombardi started the trend in April 2012.
Louisiana’s 2013 Legislative Session ended June 6, and with it, the feeble hope that our school’s financial situation would improve. The higher education budget is still flimsy in our state, and in order to compensate, the University can now charge its students a “building use” fee, charging tuition for distance education programs.
But at least the baseball team made it to Omaha, right?
It’s actually kind of nice that our athletics continue to dominate nationwide despite the dire situation of the school it’s attached to. At least we’ll have something to watch while professors continue not to get pay raises and the University struggles to get a passing mention in a national conversation about academics.
And that’s just since the last semester ended. There’s an entire summer ahead of us.
LSU President F. King Alexander officially takes his position in the coming weeks after a secretive search committee named him in March.
Every move he makes will be scrutinized, and his first weeks as the University’s leader are almost as important as the remainder of his tenure.
There’s also the apparently apocalyptic hurricane season happening this year, so even if things get worse, we’ll be underwater anyway.
Couple that with intense heat, suffocating humidity and the stress brought on by classes, one would think this summer won’t be anything to look forward to.
It is, though.
Sure, the budget situation won’t get fixed in two months. All the administrative vacancies won’t be filled, either. The baseball team might get swept out of the College World Series.
But summer is about relaxation, even with school and other responsibilities. Two whole months almost entirely dedicated to recovering from a grueling regular semester.
And The Daily Reveille will help with that, keeping you informed with award-winning news, sports and entertainment coverage twice a week in print and 24/7 online.
There’s a reason we won Best College Newspaper from the Society of Professional Journalists — we’re good at what we do, and we love doing it.
Our online presence has grown over the past few semesters, so keep an eye out for photo galleries, videos, interactive graphics and in-depth coverage of big events like the College World Series.
But we aren’t perfect. If there’s anything you don’t like, let us know. Comment on our website, submit a letter to the editor, just talk to us any way you can. We’re your voice.
And more importantly, savor this summer — we college students don’t have many left.
Taylor Balkom is a 21-year-old mass communications senior from Baton Rouge.
