By Megan Brewer — 

U of L has a fair share of ups and downs, and they’re just about every other week. So what’s the brew for the Cardinals this week? 

We’re getting a president

U of L is finally getting a permanent president. Well, let me correct myself, the application deadline was Feb. 15 and at that point 47 candidates were being considered.

But no worries, on March 8 that pool will be cut down to eight to 10 candidates.

After interviews, it’ll be down to three or four candidates. These last few will then be invited to meet the community in public forums or they can opt out and just meet with faculty and student representatives.

We’re getting a president, though, right?

We may not know who it is until the individual is selected, but at least we’ll have one.

The hope for an open search is dead — it’s not going to happen. But don’t we all wish we could at least know who the finalists are?

We can all wish for pigs to fly, too.

At least we’ll have a permanent president. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get a good one.

Tuition might what?

What do students dread? Paying their college debt. What do students dread even more? Tuition increase to make their debt even larger.

Interim President Greg Postel said there could be a tuition increase up to three percent. It’s going to suck if an increase happens, and students don’t want it. There’s no other way to put it.

“We are winning in terms of keeping the student’s tuition down,” Postel said at the SGA Senate meeting Feb. 13. “But we are losing the war in terms of our ability to grow.”

Right now, it costs on-campus and commuting Kentucky and Indiana Residents $44,272 to attend U of L for four years. A tuition increase would add $1,328 to that total cost.

Out of state students and international students pay $104,360 for four years, and a tuition increase of three percent would add $3,128 to that.

This doesn’t seem like a lot, but this is money students could be using elsewhere or saving themselves in the future.

“I hope that when the question of tuition increase is addressed, it will be addressed keeping in mind the hope for some of us that there will be no tuition increase,” Board of Trustees Chair David Grissom said at the Jan. 18 BOT meeting.

With U of L’s current financial situation, a tuition increase is bound to happen, but most students would be just fine and dandy if it didn’t.

Goodbye National Title

It’s gone, but are we really that shocked?

Probably not, but it’s still a shot to the heart.

I remember watching that game with my dad. I remember I loved that team, one of the last teams I ever got to enjoy before adulthood made me too busy to pay that same amount of attention.

It was a sex scandal, and we’re all past the point of denying it happened.

It was a deserved punishment, but only if you don’t spend time comparing this NCAA decision to other NCAA decisions, of course.

This says more about the NCAA’s credibility than anything, but we won’t go into that.

The games were still played, though, and Louisville still won. Banners can be taken, games can be technically forfeited, but we all know who won those games.

I think it’s safe to say, we’re all going to be claiming that championship forever, with or without the banner. Having the banner back up and being able to claim the wins will always be something Cardinal fans want back.

Looking up during games and no longer seeing the 2013 banner will be nothing less than heartbreaking.

Graphic by Mitchell Howes / The Louisville Cardinal