However, perhaps someone can explain to me why numerous projects with hefty price tags are being funded while at the same time when I attempt to visit the Edith Garland Dupré library after 7 p.m. the doors are locked and the building darkened. Or why the campus virtually ceases to function after 12:30 p.m. on Fridays in an effort to save money on the electricity bill (talk about pinching pennies). Or how when flipping through the university bulletin the phrase "only offered in the spring of even-numbered years" follows a course description all too frequently.
I understand that some of these planned construction projects have had money long set aside or are being funded directly by the students in the form of tuition hikes, but the perceived dramatic increase in developments both in the immediate and distant future has given me pause lately. Surely no one will dispute that growth and improvement to our beautiful campus is a bad thing, but such improvement at the cost of our education is a tragedy. Where is the improvement in courses offered, greater access to resources on campus? Surely that is a far more worthwhile discussion to have than endlessly debating the ridiculous university name change.
It is greatly disheartening to me as a student to feel that my education is being compromised due to budget sacrifices while the university merrily expands. Of course we want a large and prosperous campus with which to lure prospective students, but the most important aspect of this University of Louisiana at Lafayette should always, first and foremost, be its function as a provider of excellent education to its current students. With the flurry of attention surrounding the land swap and the new construction projects, it is remarkable to me that no one has stopped to ask how the shrinking budget yet expanding campus has affected the quality of education at UL.
MAY 20 This post by blogger CB Forgotston draws parallels between Gov. Bobby Jindal and two individuals he probably doesn't want to be aligned with: President Obama and former governor Edwin Edwards. CB says Jindal's trying to jack up the debt ceiling (an Obama play, according to CB) and buy votes from GOP leges who normally wouldn't go for that (an Edwards play, CB says).
MAY 20 Here's a post in the Baptist Message from an alumnus of Louisiana College. The author, Larry Burgess, calls on the leadership of the private school to take care of some pressing problems. Physical plant issues are critical and unaddressed, some faculty make so little they need government health care, and there is an atmosphere that does not encourage honest discussion, he writes. It's time to get things back in order, he says.
MAY 20 This post in Gambit tells of a benefit concert scheduled to raise money for the 19 people shot during a Mother's Day second line on Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Among them was Gambit blogger Deb Cotton, who spoke frequently about violence in the city and reported on the city's second line culture. Gambit's foundation, along with other NOLA non-profits, also is selling t-shirts to raise money for the victims.
MAY 20 Blogger Robert Mann is critical of the personal interest some legislators take in their work here, sharing the comments one NOLA solon made in explaining his decision to vote against a bill that would require people to stop discriminating against female workers. His wife might lose some salary, so he was going to have to vote against the equal pay bill, Conrad Appel said. Appel and everyone who heard him should have been ashamed, but they weren't, and that's what is wrong in that building, Mann argues.
MAY 20 American Press columnist Jim Beam writes about the budget again here, urging kudos for the House and its efforts to try to fix the budget as opposed to passing on a flawed and messy rubber-stamped document as it usually does. The Senate already is poo-pooing the effort, but instead Senators should be trying to find a way to improve it as well, Beam argues. He also has some predictions in here from LABI and CABL.
MAY 20 Here's a link to the photo gallery from Tulane's graduation this past weekend. Dr. John and Allen Toussaint played together and received honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama was so entranced by their performance he got up from his seat and walked across the stage to stand next to them. He even participated in a second line with his own personal, saffron-colored umbrella. To the graduates, he urged them to think about creating a peaceful, hopeful life and society.
MAY 20 This Picayune story questions the rhetoric of NOLA officials who say the city, aside from having a "murder problem," is safe. The talking points generally are that the criminals are killing each other, but everything else is OK. The police chief there says that even Lafayette is more dangerous than NOLA. But crime experts interviewed here say that NOLA's numbers indicate one of two things: either people are so used to violence they don't report it, or somebody's "fudging the numbers."
MAY 20 The Advocate's Mark Ballard writes about some of the background maneuvering that took place during the development of budget alternatives in the Legislature. From Rep. Joel Robideaux being called a "tax and spend liberal" to robo-call influence, Ballard lets us in on some of the work that happens behind the scenes but usually doesn't make it into the Advocate's daily coverage of the session.
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