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coverage of National Signing Day, page 7.
NEWS Cajun groundhog predicts long spring, page 3.
Who Dat Skipping Class? Should LSU cancel class the day after the Super Bowl? Read Our View, page 12.
THE DAILY REVEILLE Volume 114, Issue 83
WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Hitting below the barre Future of dance minor uncertain as program is among those on chopping block
ACADEMICS
Faculty cuts may change scheduling options By Ryan Buxton Senior Staff Writer
By Catherine Threlkeld Contributing Writer
Concerned faces were among the pliés and pirouettes of the LSU Dance Ensemble on Monday afternoon. Students dancing in the new Music and Dramatic Arts studio recently discovered the Theatre Department dance minor has the potential to be cut entirely in January 2011. All three dance instructors received non-renewal notices Jan. 21 along with about 400 other University faculty, giving the University the option to let them go in a year. “It wasn’t a surprise to us,” said dance instructor Molly Buchmann. “We have been told for a while that if the Theatre Department DANCE, see page 15 NICOLE KARAMICHAEL / The Daily Reveille
Dance instructor Susan Perlis leads the beginning ballet class in exercises at the barre. The dance minor may be cut entirely in January 2011.
As concrete signs of budget cuts at the University solidify and the loss of faculty becomes more likely, students will find fewer options when scheduling classes. Course offerings are determined by each academic department based on the demand for courses and the faculty on hand, said University Registrar Robert Doolos. But when faculty is reduced, courses will be offered less often and to larger classes. “It all depends on the faculty availability, which determines what sections they’ll offer and how many sections they’ll offer,” Doolos said. “That decision is made at the departmental level and is driven by the faculty resources they have on hand.” The combination of fewer available faculty members and an increasing number of students will make course offerings difficult to determine, said Stacia Haynie, vice provost of Academic Affairs. “If you have declining faculty COURSES, see page 15
EDUCATION
Teaching hospital to move to Our Lady of the Lake
Earl K. Long Center to close by 2014 By Grace Montgomery Staff Writer
Plans are complete for an agreement to move the University’s graduate medical education program and in-patient hospital services from Earl K. Long Medical Center to Our Lady of the Lake hospital. The public-private partnership was approved Friday by the University’s Board of Supervisors, said Marvin McGraw, LSU Medical Health Care Services Director of Media Relations.
“We hope to answer facility problems and form a platform to encourage medical growth in Baton Rouge,” McGraw said. Earl K. Long’s dilapidated state has long been a hindrance to the University’s medical program, and the facility had trouble gaining accreditation in the past, McGraw said. The state has already funded $24 million on the collaboration and plans to invest an additional $14 million in the project, said Our Lady of the Lake spokeswoman Catherine Herrell. The agreement will require construction on OLOL. The hospital will build a Level One Trauma Center and a medical education building to be donated to the
University, McGraw said. Two Level One Trauma Centers already exist in Louisiana, both run by the University. One is located at Interim Hospital in New Orleans and the other is at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. OLOL will also add 60 beds to handle the anticipated patient increase, about a 10 percent increase, Herrell said. In addition to the merger, the University plans to build a 24hour urgent care clinic in north Baton Rouge near where the Earl K. Long Center currently stands. Outpatient procedures will continue at the Perkins Road HOSPITALS, see page 15
SARA SICONA / The Daily Reveille
Hospital workers leave Earl K. Long Medical Center on Tuesday. The University’s graduate medical education program and in-patient hospital will move from Earl K. Long to Our Lady of the Lake hospital. The Board of Supervisors approved the switch Friday.