As another week passes and we move a week closer to finding out the fate of the state’s budget and any potential cuts to higher education, the one burning question that never seems to be answered or mentioned is students’ thoughts on what’s going on in the state legislature.

With some 237,000 students in Louisiana public universities, it would be easy to say that students represent a portion of voters that can’t be ignored. However, if you were to take into account voter apathy – which is high among college-aged people – and regional density of those students, the argument could be made that legislators focus on larger demographics of voters in bids to keep their seats.

Of course, students and others in higher education banding together in a bid to stop the state’s policy of finding more ways to keep Louisiana as uneducated as possible would undoubtedly send a strong message, but that message must originate with the students.

Students stand the most to lose in the coming months. Sure, some of us may dodge the bullet this year by graduating or the state legislature coming up with a budget that doesn’t involve gorging itself on the higher education coffers, but for the majority of students, reduced state funding will be a problem for the remainder of their college careers.

It’s easy to say that we can’t do anything about it and let the chips fall where they may, but freshmen and sophomores especially need to start thinking realistically about the future of higher education in the state of Louisiana.

It’s time for college students to stop allowing decisions to be made regarding our future without being included in the conversation. We are no longer children. We can form opinions and make judgments based on the facts given to us, but it’s a matter of getting the facts that we feel we need.

As the student newspaper of Nicholls, the Nicholls Worth serves as the voice of the students. Ran entirely by students, we have some idea of what the Nicholls community would like to know about on a weekly basis, but we need to hear from the rest of you to know exactly what you want us to find out for you.

For whatever reason, we know students are apprehensive about talking to us. However, the paper can provide the catalyst for you to get your story out and to have your voice heard.

The situation surrounding the state’s funding to higher education directly affects you and your future. You deserve to be heard. You need to be heard. We are here to make sure that happens.