Cause For Alarm (1946 Financial constraints)
Lafayette Progress
September 12,1946
CAUSE FOR ALARM
The provision of the Fiscal Code of the State of Louisiana which requires Southwestern Louisiana Institute to return all receipts to the State Treasury is an obstacle to the normal development of that fine educational institution.
Three hundred thousand dollars earned by the participation in Naval V-12 and V-5 programs was lost to the college in this manner. Over half a million dollars yearly will be earned by the college in the Veteran's Training program, every cent of which must go into the General Fund of the State.
Building such as Old Science and Martin Hall are in a disreputable state of repair, if not actually dangerous to their occupants, and not one cent of this money can be used for their repair. Dormitories are overcrowded and boys and girls from Southwestern Louisiana are being turned away from the college because there is no place to house them. Laboratories are overcrowded, classrooms filled to overflowing and faculty members are seeking positions in other states and still this money must be turned in to be reappropriated to other purposes.
Southwestern's athletic program is also shackled under this same provision. Regardless of how hard the athletic staff strives or how good the games or how large the crowd, all income must go into the state treasury and Southwestern's staff must operate on the same budget that is assigned to the smallest college in the state, where there is no interest in athletics and only a handful of people come out to the games. The Bulldog boxing team, which has always attracted national attention and which has always drawn large crowds and taken in maximum gate receipts, has now been sacrificed upon the alter of the obnoxious regulation.
The governor vetoed all appropriations for improvements at Southwestern this year, yet the same Legislature created two new institutions at its last session, which the Governor signed and to which were devoted more than enough money to have placed the established Institutions in position to have properly taken care of the education of hundreds of veterans who are seeking admission to their doors.
Louisiana ranks at the very bottom of all the states in education, and every effort should be made to correct this disgraceful condition. This cannot be done, however, by neglecting the established institutions and placing little mushroom colleges of no standing at every crossroad. The colleges already functioning should be provided with facilities which would allow them to meet the best standards of any American college and providing sufficient dormitories to meet the needs of all Louisiana children who seek admission there.
The present trend is toward strangulation of Southwestern and her sister colleges and does not indicate and improvement for the overall picture of education in the state. This condition is one for alarm not only of the alumni of Southwestern, the citizens of Lafayette and Southwestern Louisiana, but also for all person who are interested in the educational advancement for the state as a whole. It is time for action now, and the Progress calls upon all citizens of the state, either as individuals or as civic groups to demand immediate repeal of this unsound provision of the State Fiscal Code and to put a stop to the multiplication of new educational institutions, at least until the established institutions are properly maintained.
The Progress has favored the Reform Legislation of recent years. The Fiscal Code as a whole contains much good, but this is all the more reason for wanting to repeal bad sections of this act, before resentment sufficient to repeal the whole system is endangered. Let us demand ACTION NOW!
Quote
