Well, as someone said, it ain't just LSU. My alum, US Naval Academy, let a football player stay who, a) failed a drug test (did not know there was MJ in the cigar he was smoking and b) committed an honor offense. Back in the day, both were unceremonious and instantaneous dismissals. Once you beat Notre Dame, things get crazy, I guess!!!
I didn't intend to single out LSU, but when lists like this get made, it's just another example that American society, myself included, cares more about athletics than education.
LSU football is one of my favorite things in life and it brings a great many people joy. I am also proud that LSU is making strides at bettering itself; it is now a Tier I university according to US News & World Report - 128th in the nation. The entire nation is struggling, Louisiana is actually doing relatively well.
Me too. It's probably my favorite thing other than my girlfriend and my dog. While that sounds nice, if I recall they expanded the size of the first tier, basically assimilating tier II into tier I. So they lowered their standards rather than LSU raising its performance.
You really don't mind being a wet blanket or you would not have posted. That's OK, just don't try to whitewash it. I think it is great that some of our facilities are being recognized. If you want to talk about of being "out of wack" how about schools like Tulane, University of Memphis, and many others that actually have to dip into the regular school budget to pay for many, if not all, team sports. ldskule:
good discussions going on here and i really don't want to butt-in, but a very wise professor (who is ironically out of a job) told me once that it was people who educated people and not money. i'd give my left nut (and/or right nut) to attend LSU. while it may be 2nd tier, it is still head-and-shoulders above lots of other schools -- including mine. i have had to change majors THREE times because the podunk-ass school that i attend keeps dropping programs. i had to stay close to home at nicholls due to health concerns, but now that i am in remission and about to graduate i figure that i'll just go to LSU for grad school -- if i can stand any more school after the nightmare that NSU has put me through. it pisses me off when i see all of the kids that i went to high school with that went to LSU after graduating in the quad at nicholls -- apparently they all partied and flunked out of LSU. had i had the chance they had, i could have three degrees by now. LSU athletics is self-sufficient. if you want to bitch about athletics taking away from academics, write a nasty email to nicholls state. they spend tons upon tons of academic money on athletics. pitiful athletics at that. also, i'm sure that a lot of it is YOUR tax dollars. doesn't make me too happy either. /diatribe. :redface:
I would say a good majority of Louisianans’ take pride in other things than athletics, but I have always viewed our athletics department as a business in its self. No different than any other entertainment businesses out there except the fact that we can call it our own as we stand among the best in the nation. Still, back to an earlier post, I do not see how recognizing a list like this means we care more about sports than education. A degree is simply a piece of paper saying you went to school for x amount of years. It in no way defines who you are or how well you work. I would venture to say that we here in Louisiana are some of the toughest, most resilient workers in the country. We just take state pride to a whole to level...
On paper, that my be true. In the real world, the value of your degree depends heavily on where your alma mater ends up in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. For as long as I remember LSU officials have simultaneously shrugged off those rankings as meaningless while doing everything in their power to rise up the list. And the vast majority of criteria on that list have almost everything to do with money. It's true that the name on the degree isn't everything, but it does open doors that would otherwise be much harder to pry apart. I don't have an issue with budget cuts in bad economic times. Nobody ever wants their ox to get gored. My problem is that when it's time for everyone in Louisiana to get in line for a bite of the s**t sandwich, higher ed goes for seconds. A lot of that has to do with the laws affecting budget cuts. A lot of it also has to do with mid-year (read: unplanned) budget cuts, which are horrendous. That is money already allocated to higher ed during the fiscal year, that is already appropriated by LSU and other schools. Mid-year cuts means having the rug pulled out from under you b/c the state is unable to hold up its end of the bargain. It would be like you getting a nice-paying job, buying a car, and getting laid off two weeks later and stuck with the note. There isn't a whole lot people can do about mid-year cuts, but they can demand that the budget protections not enjoyed by higher ed be modified or removed. IMO it's about the priorities of people in this state, and higher ed simply isn't up there. Louisiana remains a poor state in significant part b/c we refuse to move from an oil/gas/petrochemical economy to a tech and information-based one like Texas. The state offers very few incentives to keep people with advanced degrees here, and those few jobs keep moving out of Louisiana all the time. As long as I've paid attention to the news I've heard La. politicians bemoan the "brain drain" from Louisiana while not doing anything significant to prevent it (TOPS being the notable exception). Higher ed just isn't a priority for people here.
I agree with that 110% but still, if you know your sh!t, you know your ****. If you bust your ass at "Lesser-known University" and graduate, should your diploma appear inferior to someone who graduated at "Popular University" by slacking and barely making it by? I don't think it should, but it does happen. But, the cream usually rises to the top. I know if I ran a business, I'd put the most stock into how the person works and communicates with others and how easily they adapt and learn on the fly. louisiana may not have the most cutting edge economy with positions open for highly-educated people, but a lot of people who i know personally just leave the state without even trying to find a job here. after spending a long time trying to figure out what i could do career-wise so that i could stay in louisiana, i chose agriculture. i planned on a double-major with chemistry or biology because we're in a precarious position right now with regards to oil and alternative energy. i was hoping that louisiana would be able to divert some of its agricultural expertise to jump-start new industry researching biofuels and biochemicals. we already have petrochemical and agricultural industries that thrive, why not combine them? alas, nicholls dropped agriculture and i'm stuck with the only other thing that i felt i was good at -- communications. :redface: wow, sorry for bringing that so far off topic.
