WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
Results of survey on who students plan to vote for in presidential election
Page 2 Page 2
Meg Denny News Editor Newly elected governor John Bel Edwards released a statement on Feb. 11, warning Louisianans about the budget deficit of 950 million dollars facing the state. Starting on Feb. 14, the state legislature is meeting for three weeks to work out a plan to solve the deficit. Educational funds have been highly threatened in recent days, including TOPS. Students are looking everywhere for answers to the questions of education in Louisiana brought up by the sudden possibility of closures.
What led to this crisis? Why now? “This has been building over the last several years,” Dr. Jim Henderson stated. The major deficit the state faces this term is caused by a number of issues. Ineffective taxation plans are one cause discussed by the Legislature during this time. “We have a net negative corporative franchise collection so far for this year,” Henderson said. This means the state has paid more money to corporations than what those organizations have paid back to the state. “The reason we have all of these behaviors is because we have created a system designed to make these behaviors happen,” he said. Additionally, the drop in oil prices over the past few years added a quarter of a billion dollars to our deficit. Henderson explained that this situation is not new whatsoever. In fact, the academic year of 2008-2009 was the last year that education was fully funded by the state under the higher education funding formula. Therefore, over the past seven years, colleges and universities in Louisiana have lost more and more funding. While many claim Governor Edwards’s campaign deceived the voters by not informing them on the budget issues beforehand, the chief legislative fiscal officer, Greg Albrecht, claims that he could not calculate clearly the severity of the deficit until after the previous administration had left office.
VOLUME: 101 ISSUE: 17
Super Bowl 50 covered from game to halftime to resulting controversies Page 5
“I think we can all agree that we’re in a pretty bad situation currently, and maybe the past administration didn’t help this whole scenario one bit,” SGA president Matthew Whitaker commented.
How will this affect financial aid? No students will be affected this academic year by LAFSA’s possible inability to complete the 20 percent of payments left for TOPS. However, universities might have to absorb this cost if the Legislature does not approve their requests for the final funding. Next year, TOPS is only funded 25 percent, and, unless the legislature acts to change that, students will be affected. First, the cutting process will eliminate students who have not filled out FASFA or who have turned it in late. Secondly, Whitaker said that students with minimum ACT requirement scores will “probably get cut,” if TOPS is not completely funded next year. Then students functioning on higher incomes will be cut. “The middle class, decent students in high school, will be most likely to get TOPS,” Whitaker said. Henderson is confident that NSU’s scholarships will not be cut, and that the office of advancement will make the maintaining of scholarships a priority.
What is the worst case scenario? While NSU has the slight possibility of shutting down, both Whitaker and Henderson are not concerned with this situation. “In the short run, I think there’s a lot of angst because of all of the messaging coming out of Baton Rouge,” Henderson said. If the Legislature drastically defunds education, students will see it affect their campus in the long term; the services and resources offered to them on campus will begin to fade, due to the decrease in money intake. Overall, the school’s growth rate will decline. Additionally, if absolutely necessary, staff might face furloughs. “We’ll index it. We’ll ensure that the lowest
New barbies highlight long-time concerns over impact on image Pages 8-9
paid among our staff are exposed the least to furloughs,” Henderson said. He expressed his adamant reluctance to this action. Additionally, students may see less staff as people reach retirement—less hires will be made.
What is expected? “We are not going to let students bare the brunt of this dysfunction in Baton Rouge—no way, no shape, no form,” Henderson affirmed. In fact, NSU is technically more student-controlled than state-controlled. Seventy percent of funding for NSU comes from student tuition and fees, alumni donations, and business and industry donations. The state only funds 30 percent of the school’s revenue. “We are becoming more privatized. We actually generate a lot of our own money,” Whitaker said. “I see us only getting better.” While students will see a reduction in school spending, much should remain the same, according to Whitaker. Enrollment for Spring 2016 is higher than ever, as well as the predicted numbers for Fall 2016 enrollment. “If we get at least a thousand freshmen, it will offset the budget issues and get us in the safe zone,” he said.
What can students do to help? SGA is sponsoring a bus trip to Baton Rouge on Feb. 24 to speak with the Legislature about the student concerns. Information to sign up will soon be released. Also, Henderson encourages students to contact the local legislatures to let their voices be heard. Two local legislatures are Kenny Cox and Gerald Long. The university president encourages all students to continue diligently with their work at NSU. “If you start with the concept that we’re not going to let this negatively affect our students regardless of what happens in Baton Rouge, then it allows you to remove the panic and fear and it allows you to move forward in a progressive and even more rapid way because of the crisis,” Henderson concluded.