No Tigers without LSU

One thing Louisiana doesn’t have a shortage of is LSU fans.  Their exuberance for LSU athletics is stupendous; even among those who never attended the university.  Ask them a question about LSU athletic stats and you surely will receive a knowledgeable answer.  But, ask them a question about the current financial situation facing the university, and sadly, most of these same fans will simply respond with blank stares.  They have little or no knowledge of the dire financial consequences that are currently brewing with the rest of LSU.  

LSU is running out of money to operate as the premier research university in this state, and even the LSU students seem blasé about the seriousness of this situation.

The funding cuts currently proposed to stem the $1.6 billion deficit, which the Jindal administration along with our esteemed legislators have created, would reduce the  state funding for LSU next year from around $3,500 per undergraduate student to $660 per undergraduate student.

 

In response to this, LSU is considering filing for “financial exigency” or academic bankruptcy, something Southern University was recently forced to do. This status makes it easier for public colleges to shut down programs and lay off tenured faculty.  However, it also impacts a school's reputation, making it harder to recruit high quality faculty and students.   Yes, and that includes athletes.  No one wants to play for a school that has a bottom rung academic reputation.

Don’t take the attitude that all this bankruptcy talk is just grand standing and that our legislators would never let this happen.  Jindal has made it perfectly clear that he will veto any kind of revenue raising plan that is not what he has termed ‘revenue neutral’ and your legislators have no previous history of ever overriding any of Jindal’s vetoes.  If you don’t think Jindal will sacrifice even LSU for a presidential nod you are foolish.  Just look it all the other sacrificial lambs he has already served up on his quest.

If you like your LSU sports, you better get off your duffs and do something, because you can’t have a premier athletic program without a premier university. 

Women are not second class citizens

The Louisiana Republican gentlemen’s club has spoken-women are not equal to men in job worthiness.  Republicans on the House Labor Panel recently killed both bills aimed at providing equal pay to men and women with similar skills, performing similar jobs.

All nine Republicans on the committee voted against the measures.  I wonder if they’re man enough to tell their spouses about their discriminatory vote which perpetuates Louisiana’s  male/female pay gap rank as dead last nationally, another star ranking Louisiana can be proud of.

Doesn’t matter who you are, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, African-American, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, or Hawaiian, as long as you’re female you will make only 66 cents for every dollar earned by a male in the same job in this state.

For the past several years, the national Republican Party has worked very hard trying to shed its previous image as a party of ‘old white men’ to one that embraces all members of our society equally.

 

However, it looks as though Louisiana Republican males still haven’t gotten that message.  Many on the committee responded to criticism of their action by stating that such bills weren’t necessary because there are already laws on the books forbidding discrimination.   Yet they were still unwilling to legally solidify this when it comes to equal pay.

While Louisiana Republican males actively pursue the support of conservative women for their issues on “right to life”, “traditional marriage”, and “religious freedom”, sadly, deep down inside, beyond the superficial rhetoric, many continue to perceive all women as second class citizens regarding equal pay.  This is something all women need to carefully consider when they go to the polls at election time.

Once again it’s a sad day for the women of Louisiana.