Another summer has come and gone — at least, for those of us at The Daily Reveille.Mercifully, the actual season of summer still has a few weeks left, and we who have been taking classes or working on campus have a short break before the long grind of the fall semester begins.Between the oppressively hot days, the constant surprise showers and the depressing thought of taking classes during vacation months, summer can be a bit of a grind itself. The thought of some cooler weather, football games and departed friends returning to Baton Rouge is a welcome thought, at least to us.
But while you gear up for one last hurrah before the start of fall, don’t forget about the issues brought to light this summer.The LSU System is set to cut $133 million from its budget, with $46 million to come from the Baton Rouge campus — our Alma Mater, our degrees and our ways of life.While nothing is finalized, the implications of this crisis are already starting to rear their heads.Earlier this summer Chancellor Michael Martin announced plans to cut degree programs in German, Latin and Library and Information Sciences. Also on the chopping block are vital parts of the University community such as the Louisiana Geological Survey and the LSU Writing Center.Even the University’s iconic oak trees are at risk, as proposed cuts call for the elimination of the arborist crew that oversees LSU’s more than 12,000 oak trees.”As a 40-year veteran of higher education, it will be a devastating blow that will not be recovered from in my lifetime or in the lifetimes of our grandchildren,” Martin said of the cuts.In addition, the Louisiana state legislature recently passed the LA GRAD Act, giving the University the ability to increase tuition by 5 percent this year, with other legislation allowing for increases of up to 10 percent, and to keep increasing it in the future if it meets certain requirements.On a broader scale, the state was bombarded with problems created by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and resulting spill. The University has played its own role in stopping the spill, with various departments around campus obtaining grants to research different facets of the problem even during a time when some LSU research facilities are being considered for closure. The leak was recently capped after an 87-day fiasco, but that is merely a starting point for recovery, not a resolution.
These issues are important to the campus community, and they will affect us for generations to come.It’s necessary to take a much-needed break from school, but we can’t forget our roles in this process.What is the University doing to restore the Gulf coast? What other budget cuts could lie in wait in the future? How is Student Government voicing the concerns of students in such a trying time? Is The Daily Reveille doing enough to properly inform its readers of such weighty issues?You owe it to yourself to ask all these questions, and we hope you do — even in the dead days of summer.–
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