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Our View: Flagship fee shouldn’t be misleading to student body

Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 23:10

The University needs money.

Instead of LSU Cribs-style pools and state-of-the-art video services found in athletic buildings, average students are greeted with old classrooms, broken desks, faulty ventilation, old video equipment and crumbling buildings.

It isn't pretty, but it is the state of the University.

Enter the Flagship Agenda.

The University introduced the Flagship Agenda in fall 2002 to implement new strategies for LSU to "improve its research and educational enterprise to make it more nationally competitive," according to the Flagship Web site.

Being ranked No. 9 in football is great, but LSU is an institution of higher education first.

In the face of looming budget cuts, Chancellor Michael Martin recently proposed a $30 million fund to help the University's long-term goals of the Flagship Agenda. This fund brings an increase in fees, possibly charging students an additional "Flagship Fee" of $500 per semester to attend the University despite students already paying an Academic Excellence Fee — the purpose of which is stated only in the General Catalog as "to promote academic excellence by enhancing instructional programs."

This new Flagship Fee would not be covered by TOPS and other scolarships, though Chancellor Michael Martin said the University would plan to assist students in financial hardship, mainly those students qualifying for a full Pell Grant.

The Daily Reveille  hopes any new fees will be clearly communicated to the student body, and we hope students will be involved with this situation — cutting funds means either raising tuition and fees or cutting programs.

Students should be aware of the University's budgetary problems, and we should lobby the state government to more fully fund higher education, an invaluable resource to Louisiana, to avoid both cutting programs and increasing our costs.

LSU students are smart enough to realize the Flagship Agenda is an overall great thing for the University.

We just don't want to be shortchanged in the details.



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Contact the Editorial Board at editor@lsureveille.com
 

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3 comments

Fee sucks
Tue Nov 3 2009 21:52
Don't forget the asbestos!!!
Concerned Student
Wed Oct 28 2009 12:06
My question is this: Our buildings have been crumbling and we've been having issues long before now. Why is it that the university has waited until NOW, when we're in a budget crisis, to start implementing projects? For instance, the University is implementing all sorts of "green measures" that also cut costs. Why wasn't this started years ago? The fact is, the university didn't think about saving the money because they didn't NEED to. Now, they need to save money and it's very difficult because of budget cuts. The solution shouldn't be, as it always is, to say "Well, students, you need to pay us a ridiculous sum of money to come here because now that we are facing budget cuts, we don't have money to throw away any more, and to save money and be more efficient it costs more." No, this is NOT the way to a solution. Also, I find it offensive that LSU has the nerve to ask for more money when our own administrators say things like, "I don't think students should complain, there are a lot of nice cars in the parking lot." Yes, there may be, but that certainly doesn't mean that every student and every parent is Bill Gates. I happen to see a lot of nice cars in the staff lots too, but I certainly wouldn't tell them to take a pay cut, and I'm sure LSU's administrators wouldn't either. I understand that LSU needs money, and I understand raising tuition to a degree. But immediately jumping it $1,000 is a little much. People like myself that are here on TOPS and whose parents DON'T make truckloads of cash are the ones that will suffer. Some of us may even have to sit out for a while to come up with the money, and that is absolutely unfair. Many things could be done and many things could have been done long ago to avoid a situation like we are in now. As usual though, LSU doesn't look for alternatives, it's immediately: "Go to the students." Gotta love how that works.
Concerned Student
Wed Oct 28 2009 11:29
My question is this: Our buildings have been crumbling and we've been having issues long before now. Why is it that the university has waited until NOW, when we're in a budget crisis, to start implementing projects? For instance, the University is implementing all sorts of "green measures" that also cut costs. Why wasn't this started years ago? The fact is, the university didn't think about saving the money because they didn't NEED to. Now, they need to save money and it's very difficult because of budget cuts. The solution shouldn't be, as it always is, to say "Well, students, you need to pay us a ridiculous sum of money to come here because now that we are facing budget cuts, we don't have money to throw away any more, and to save money and be more efficient it costs more." No, this is NOT the way to a solution. Also, I find it offensive that LSU has the nerve to ask for more money when our own administrators say things like, "I don't think students should complain, there are a lot of nice cars in the parking lot." Yes, there may be, but that certainly doesn't mean that every student and every parent is Bill Gates. I happen to see a lot of nice cars in the staff lots too, but I certainly wouldn't tell them to take a pay cut, and I'm sure LSU's administrators wouldn't either. I understand that LSU needs money, and I understand raising tuition to a degree. But immediately jumping it $1,000 is a little much. People like myself that are here on TOPS and whose parents DON'T make truckloads of cash are the ones that will suffer. Some of us may even have to sit out for a while to come up with the money, and that is absolutely unfair. Many things could be done and many things could have been done long ago to avoid a situation like we are in now. As usual though, LSU doesn't look for alternatives, it's immediately: "Go to the students." Gotta love how that works.






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