A student demonstration at the University of New Orleans turned rowdy today when protesters scuffled with campus police, who arrested two of them and led them away in handcuffs in a police cruiser. One of the students was sprayed by police with mace.At least no one was tazed. Longtime readers will note that I am no fan of attention-whoring protest events. But, in this case, I will at least give the students credit for storming offices and injuring ankles and stuff. They could have just painted themselves blue, recited some poetry and called it a day. This, I think, at least shows some commitment. Plus UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan is kind of a tool anyway. I hope they broke some of his shit.
In all seriousness, though, these kids should head of to Baton Rouge where they could perhaps find their way into the Governor's office. After all, it's Jindal's budget cuts that are bringing all this trauma about in the first place.
UNO students and personnel are irate because about $14.5 million in state money already has been sliced from the school's budget since January 2009 and because more cuts may combine academic departments and eliminate majors in fields such as management, marketing, English, science, mathematics and social studies. There would be a sharp reduction in the number of part-time teachers, faculty teaching loads would increase, and class sizes would be larger.
Participants in the Rising Tide 5 Politics Panel pulled no punches with Jindal. Jacques Morial and Clancy Dubos repeatedly referred to the Governor as a "hypocrite". Even Jeff Crouere confessed himself "disappointed" and said he suspects the Governor's ambitions and priorities lie outside of the state. Dubos chastised Jindal for his hostility towards higher education and social services in New Orleans in particular referring to the decision to close the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital as "the modern equivalent of 'let them eat cake'". DuBos flatly described Jindal's budget approach as shallow Presidential campaign strategy. Here's a slice from Mark LaFleur's live-blogging account to give you a taste of the conversation.
Dubos says he will cut the budget to the bone and then go around the country to Iowa or Florida and talk about how he cut the budget. He doesn’t care about the people of Louisiana; he cares about how his actions look on his resume. Jindal refuses to sign any revenue increase, so cuts will get worse. Stephanie Grace says that what happens to the state’s universities in the next couple of years will send a message to the rest of the nation of what Jindal stands for.
Maybe the rest of the nation will get the message. It certainly has taken some time sinking in in Louisiana. Fewer things have been sadder to watch in post Katrina New Orleans than what's been done to UNO. Universities are major employers, not only of professional staff but also support and facilities workers. These cuts hurt. Often in ways that don't seem obvious at first.
Donna and her husband, Charlie Sims, opened Donna’s because of their love for local music. Charlie cooked for crowds of people who loved his red beans and rice and barbecue, and in recent years Charlie ran the club. Donna has been teaching for several years since Katrina, full-time, at schools in Florida, and commuted to and from New Orleans. She told OffBeat in June that while the club took its usual summer hiatus, she was returning home for good because she’d managed to get a teaching position at the University of New Orleans. “I was on my way to New Orleans to sign the contract, and that’s when the [teaching] cuts were made by our ‘wonderful’ governor,” she said. Charlie, who’s now 75, experienced some serious health problems earlier this year.
Robust economy begets a robust culture. Not even New Orleans is immune to that.
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