The August 28 Digest

Page 1

SPORTS

NEWS

Barker left mark

VIEWPOINTS

White speaks his mind

Jags prepare of ‘09 season

SU alum passes away. PG. 3

Also: Hoops schedules released. PG. 5

Also: Norwood speaks out. PG. 7

estABLished in 1928

WWW.SOUTHERNDIGEST.COM

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009

VOL. 54, ISSUE 2

Lomotey, SU on alert

Tucker Commission, upcoming SACS visit could impact SU’s future BY NORMAN J. DOTSON JR. DIGEST INTERIM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

From the Tucker Commission to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools review, this upcoming year is full of many obstacles and challenges here at Southern University. Chancellor Kofi Lomotey feels that by proper planning and by staying positive SU will overcome these obstacles without any problems. “My thoughts on these issues are to wait and see. I am hopeful that there are no preconceived agendas by anyone in terms of what is going to happen with higher education.” Lomotey stated. The Tucker Commission, with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s recommendations, is in charge of finding ways to align Louisiana’s job needs with college training, cutting those programs that have a poor performance rating and to establish LSU as a flagship

FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN J. DOTSON JR./DIGEST

Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey, shown here speaking to students during the spring, said proper planning will be key in helping the university during the upcoming SACS review and rumblings from state officials to consolidate higher education.

university. Louisiana House Speaker Jim Tucker discussed the state having more four-year institutions than community colleges where in other states it’s the exact opposite.

“Southern needs to watch this process carefully.” - Kofi Lomotey SU Chancellor

“In most states, young people coming out of high school go to community college, finish their basics, and then go to a four-year school. We don’t do it that way and consequently, our system is far more expensive.” Tucker said during a radio interview with a New Orleansbased station. The commission— originally

called the Postsecondary Education Review Commission—was proposed by Tucker concerning graduation rates and looking for ways for higher education to get more accomplished using less money. Many speculate that this commission is a way to justify closing down many fouryear institutions. “There are many of those who believe that we have too many institutions and too many boards. To have three boards for a four-year institution is somewhat unusual; for example, Georgia has one board for all of their four-year institutions including its three HBCUs,” Lomotey said. “So by reducing the number of boards, this could have an impact on Southern University. I mentioned also the interest in reducing the number of institutions and if this has See ALERT page 3

Students feel pinch from cuts Fall elections near BY MARY DAVIS DIGEST STAFF WRITER

One thing that’s noted about the relationship between students and teachers is their different views on various topics. However, the students and professors of the university share the same outlook when it comes to the lack of classes and the over enrollment of others. As the effects of budget cuts weigh in, students are witnessing a decrease in classes offered, and professors the loss of their jobs or co-workers. These budget cuts have had a tremendous effect on classes available to students at the university. LaKeith Lewis, a senior

psychology major, stated he felt the effects of budget cuts when two of the classes he’d preregistered for were cancelled. “I was angered by it because I took my time to pre-register for classes during the spring and the constant cancellations of classes is making the entire preregistration period a waste.” Students got a glimpse of the effect of budget cuts when they prepared to pre-register for the fall. During the pre-registration period at the end of the spring semester, student’s struggled to find enough courses to qualify them as full-time students or to bring them closer to graduation. With the shortage of classes already affecting student’s opportunity of graduating on

time, students are extremely enraged to return to school to discover that some of their classes had been cancelled, pushing their graduation date further away. While cancelled classes postpone graduation for most, it leaves others in overcrowded classrooms. “Overcrowded classrooms are uncomfortable, and prevent students from learning as much as they can, (there is) heat, noise, lack of chairs and room, and the inability to see boards and hear discussions.” ShaunTaLana Gray, senior secondary education/English major said.

Former SGA prez, VP in race for Senate seats BY WIL NORWOOD DIGEST PHOTO EDITOR

The Student Government Association will begin the Fall 2009 student elections on Monday, but most positions will already be filled. Only 10 elected positions were filled prior to the fall election period. “We look to have a good year,” said Jonas Vanderbilt, coordinator of student programs. “We have students eager to work.”

See PINCH page 3

See ELECTION page 3

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