Education: Legislators reject plan to cap TOPS tuition payments, p. 7
Football: Spring Game has blossomed in last 20 years, p. 10
Reveille The Daily
www.lsureveille.com
ADMINISTRATION
Music: Get a rundown of upcoming festivals, p. 15 Thursday, March 29, 2012 • Volume 116, Issue 120
LSU System official draws six-figure salary from Law Center despite not teaching for seven years Lamonica received $10,000 raise in ’08 Xerxes A. Wilson Special to The Daily Reveille
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center has been required to foot more than $130,000 in faculty salary and benefits for LSU System Office General Counsel Ray Lamonica, even though he hasn’t taught a class since 2005. Lamonica’s situation partially illustrates how System President
John Lombardi has expanded the bureaucracy of the LSU System Office — which employed 38 people in 2002 and swelled to nearly 60 employees by 2012 — in spite of decreases in state funding. The growing number of positions, including 19 executives making six-figure salaries, has been accommodated through administrative assessment fees to the 12 campuses currently overseen by the LSU System and by “other self-generated income” and “direct-cost reimbursement.” Lamonica says that following
Hurricane Katrina he was “needed full-time in the LSU System Office to address the extraordinary legal issues, therefore I discontinued teaching at the Law Center.” He continues to be listed as a tenured faculty member on the law school’s website, but all involved acknowledge he has not taught a class since leaving for his current position seven years ago. Lamonica’s faculty salary has not only remained on the books, but it increased by $10,000 in 2008 — part of a general salary increase for law school personnel — under
‘Your LSU’
27% ‘Be Heard’
36% ‘Renew LSU’ ‘R.E.A.L. Campaign’
20%
17%
photos by BRIANNA PACIORKA, MARIAH POSTLETHWAITE, ALYSSA SIRISOPHON and CATHERINE THRELKELD; graphic by KIRSTEN ROMAGUERA / The Daily Reveille
orders from the System Office, Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss acknowledged. Currently, 37 percent of Lamonica’s $275,000 annual LSU System salary comes from the law school’s payroll. The law school also pays approximately $30,000 of his $72,000 annual benefits package. Lamonica indicated his Law Center salary is taken into account when the LSU System assesses the law school for administrative services. Public financial records do not support that. The law school
currently pays $22,000 to the System annually, according to public records. That’s some $4,000 less than the assessment based on 200405 revenues, the last academic year Lamonica taught at the Law Center. LSU campuses currently are assessed .0011 percent of their revenues, except for the Law Center, which is saddled with a rate of .0077 percent when Lamonica’s salary and benefits package is included — many times that of other LSU System entities. LAMONICA, see page 8
Your LSU, Be Heard enter runoff Renew LSU supports Be Heard
Students are one step closer to The election drew 6,529 voters, electing their next Student Govern- about 22.5 percent of the total stument president and vice president dents on campus. That accounts for after Wednesday’s runoff announce- more voters than the 5,098 who parments. ticipated in the 2011 election, though Be Heard’s Taylor Cox and the number of voters from each year Carrie Hebert and equate nearly the Danielle Kelley Your LSU’s Landon same percentage of Hester and Kristina the student body. Staff Writer Lagasse will face The R.E.A.L. off in next week’s runoff election, Campaign’s Joshua and Joseph as none of the four candidates won Hollins received 1,272 votes, or more than 50 percent of the general 19.48 percent of the vote. Renew election vote. LSU’s Bat Brunner and Madeleine Be Heard received 2,352 votes, Davis received 1,123 votes, or or 36.02 percent of the vote, while 17.2 percent. Your LSU received 1,782 votes, or 27.29 percent. SG ELECTION, see page 8
Watch a video of the election result reactions at lsureveille.com/multimedia. Tune in to 91.1 KLSU at 8:20 a.m. and noon for a recap of the announcements.