I know the story is Germans but thought it's still newsworthy when national paper picks it up.

LINK

Also, an actual positive LSU story from Guillbeau.

PENSACOLA, Fla. — LSU football coach Les Miles said he would be fine with a campus-wide furlough – temporary leave without pay – to offset the proposed $34 million in budget cuts his school is facing, but he will continue to work.

"I can understand taking a furlough, but I can tell you this, I work every day," Miles said before addressing hundreds of fans at a downtown banquet hall here Thursday night. "And that's not going to change, period."

LSU Chancellor Mike Martin has been considering mandatory furloughs for all LSU employees – contracted coaches, tenured professors, everyone – since Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed higher education cuts throughout Louisiana in light of the national economic crisis.

MORE ON TIGERS: Kentucky team notes

"Absolutely, it's still on the table," said Martin, who spoke with Senate President Joel Chaisson, Senate Finance chairman Mike Michot and House Apropriations Chairman Jim Fannin on Thursday before joining Miles in Pensacola.

LSU general counsel Ray Lamonica has been preparing for furloughs should it come to that.

"We've been gathering data in light of the possibility," he said.

The Legislative Session ends next month.

"If we do not get relief from the Senate when our appropriation comes up (today), almost certainly, we will have to do a furlough not only to cut the budget, but to transition to deeper cuts," Martin said. "We cannot eliminate as many positions or close down as many programs in the short run, and the only way to handle it is through a furlough."

If Miles took a week-long furlough out of his total salary of $3.75 million, it would cost him $62,500. The football coaching staff as a whole would lose $108,391 in salary out of its total salary of $5,636,000.

"I certainly understand the nature of the extraordinary times that we're in right now," said Miles, who holds a degree in economics from Michigan. "And I certainly am a part of this community. I hope it certainly doesn't get to that."

Other major colleges such as Arizona State, Clemson, Maryland and Utah State have experienced campus-wide furloughs that included coaches. Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson lost $20,800 in salary from his base of $450,000 on a two-week furlough, while men's basketball coach Herb Sendek's two-week furlough cost him $13,600 from his $292,000 base. Both continued to work during the furlough as did most other coaches. The school saved approximately $24 million.

A contract lawyer in Baton Rouge warned, however, that if many high earning college coaches do have to take furloughs, there could be lawsuits against a university for a furlough because there are not "provisions for furloughs" in normal coaching contracts.

"There is not such a provision in coach Miles' contract that I know of," LSU associate athletic director for business Mark Ewing said Friday.

"It's possible there could be lawsuits," Martin said. "There is no language about a furlough in my contract, but I believe that if the Board of Supervisors is willing to mandate it, then that would trump the contract language. And I think that's appropriate, I really do."

Miles did not sound ready to challenge a furlough with legalese.

"I understand what the university may have to go through," he said. "We're all a part of the university."

Arizona State coaches were not confrontational at all, Arizona State associate athletic director Mark Brand said Friday.

"The university wanted to have everyone take furloughs, so we took them," Brand said. "If this is what we have to do to make things better, we'll do it. Everyone took a furlough based on their classification – professors, librarians, the custodian in the engineering building, the assistant soccer coach and the sports information director. There was no discussion against the furloughs. Everyone was a team player on that across the board. We're a team. That's what we do."

Martin, who makes $500,000 a year, said he recently took a team approach in a meeting with LSU janitorial and other "ground" staff.

"I told the staff that if we have to take a furlough, whatever the percentage of the salary ends up being, I'll take one and a half times that amount myself," he said. "I would take more days and a bigger share of my salary."

Martin said he has not felt a lot of discord toward possible furloughs from university employees, which totals approximately 6,200.

"I do believe the vast majority of employees of all kinds would prefer a furlough to massive layoffs," he said. "That is the alternative we're contemplating, but I'm still hoping the Legislature comes through."