It’s interesting how far a little light can go. When news of heavy budget cuts hit campus last semester, the impossible occurred: the “eternal” flame ceased to burn.
Adding insult to injury, the bayou-side fountain ran dry, informing the citizens of Thibodaux that all was not well at Nicholls.
According to the University, shutting off the flame and fountain could have saved Nicholls nearly $20,000 a year, but at what cost?
We feel the eternal flame and fountain represent more than just a flashy display that spends extra University funds. Hundreds of students walk past the flame each day and even more drivers pass by the fountain. One cannot put a price on the symbol of school pride and spirit these two seemingly insigificant decorations provide for our University.
Cutting programs, losing faculty and reducing printing are more serious threats to students, but shutting off the flame and fountain was a very noticeable and hasty reaction to the proposed budget cuts.
While administration prepared its worst-case scenarios, students and faculty were left waiting and worrying, wondering if their program would be eliminated. All the while, the lifeless memorial in the Quad told students to expect the worst.
The controversy and worry surrounding the budget cuts have abated, and even though a possibility of more cuts may present itself in the future, students and faculty can still relax in the meantime. Consequently, the flame and fountain have been recently reactivated.
Although a few programs have been dropped, the majority of which were two-year, and the University is still conserving here and there, we feel Nicholls is slowly getting back to normal, more or less. That is not to say the University is perfect, but we have more trivial matters to occupy our time now.
Does the new mascot look like a Nazi? Maybe. Is there a parking problem on campus? Depends. Are textbooks too expensive? Definitely. Is the eternal flame back on? Sure is.
No matter how passionate we get about the problems found at Nicholls, we usually shrug them off before long, but the looming shadow of budget cuts only grew longer without the eternal flame.
Now that it is back on, it serves as a signal that we can get back to our normal college lives, complaining about the same old thing while breathing easy, knowing our programs will probably still be there when we return from vacation.
Nothing is ever set in stone, and budget cuts can always return to rear its ugly head. But our futures look a little bit brighter when the eternal flame is eternal once more.
