re: LSU in Financial Problems??????

2 real factors here imo: One, the university may ask the athletic department and TAF to allocate a bigger % of its funds to the reali university, in order to cover projected budget deficits. Two, athletic department coffers will dry up as people pinch pennies on their TAF donations.

What I've heard through the grapevine does not bode well for LSU. Cuts at every department, severely reduced hiring for the coming academic year. And Louisiana is in comparatively good shape. I can only imagine how bad it is in states where they are really hurting.

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I do for one. And I'd venture to say just about every alum.

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If that is true then I think every alumni who donates to TAF should switch their donation to LSU, to help them in this crisis, but once the university gets through this then switch back to TAF. But right now LSU needs all the money it can get their hands on to help out this GREAT SCHOOL!!

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There are heavier cuts in higher education and health care because they are two areas that are not protected by the state constitution.

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I'm well aware of this. But that doesn't change the fact that things that if things are grim at LSU, they must be exceedingly grim at, say, Central Michigan.

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The economy may have a negative effect on the usual flow of money to TAF, and it's counterpart in most universities. If so, LSU athletics, too, will suffer.

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True but don't you agree with me if one has to suffer more that it SHOULD be the athletic department and not ACADEMIA!!!! Like right now the University is in a shite load of more trouble than TAF

Cutting of scholarships!!!! which is usually a last resort

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The plan, at last I read was for LSU Athletics to hit up the SEC for any financial needs, based on when their new ESPN deal kicks in

In short LSU Athletics will be fine; they will be effected, to some degree, by the state budget cuts and TAF support likely being the same or slightly low, due to the economy; BUT they can just ask the SEC for some help.

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While revenue from the SEC will increase due to things like the ESPN deal, the revenue is what it is, no more, nor less. LSU cannot just ask the SEC for additional monies.

I think the $50 million cut is a worst-case scenario floated out there as a scare tactic. It would torpedo the entire flagship agenda like nothing else and the legislature won't let it come to that.
I'm not saying there won't be budget cuts; I just doubt they'll be as apocalyptic as that projection suggests.

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There are heavier cuts in higher education and health care because they are two areas that are not protected by the state constitution.

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Is this why Jindal wants to ammend the state constitution? If so, I'm all for it. I understand that budget cuts are sometimes necessary, but higher education is one area that needs every penny it can get.

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who on here actually cares about the academics of LSU

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Many of us. One of the problems with a dumbed down population is that they are easier to control. Many of the old line politicians knew this a long time ago and took advantage of it. An educated population is going to be more productive overall as well as more progressive. The LSU athletic program has generally been the only program of any of the state university athletic programs to be self-supporting. I love and live for ball games myself. However, they are a past-time and not a life sustaining necessity. We get down to nut crunching, we have hard choices to make. At the survival level, I would choose academics over athletics any day. The state has more than its share of uneducated bubbas running around and propagating as it is. However, that said, it is unfortunate that we got hit with this financial crisis. If this doomsday scenario plays out anywhere in the ball park of what it is forecasted to be, a lot of things are going to suffer in the immediate future.

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Notre Dame allows people access to tickets by making a donation to ANY PART of the school to count, instead of the 100 dollar TAF requirement which only goes to TAF not the school, that is in SERIOUS TROUBLE!!

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LSU DOES do this, but in a limited fashion. Any gift to LSU academics through the LSU Foundation will count toward your TAF points, but at 1/4 the rate of a normal gift to TAF.

There actually aren't very many universities that do this... and it's a nice extension of a benefit on TAF's behalf.

Athletics may be okay for now, but LSU could always reach in and raid the athletic budget to shore up the university. They have every right to do so.

The bottom line is that these massive cuts to LSU WILL affect every area of campus, and you WILL feel it when you visit LSU. Ask anybody who attended LSU between 1989 - 1995. Ask them what is was like when LSU was cut to the bone. It's depressing. Nothing gets built, nothing gets repaired, there are no hires, there's demoralized faculty (what will be left of them won't be any good anyhow) and students feel negelected. Anyone care to look up the football team's record in that period? Yes... it even spreads to them.

Losing begets more losing. When you lose in one area of a university, the other areas will, too. Win, and you all win... lose and you all lose.

The cuts are an impending disaster to LSU that will set us back a decade. We all need to do everything we can to prevent this from happening, or to mitigate the damage to LSU.