It seems as though our bayou’s tranquil waters have been disturbed by the wake makers to the south.

ULL and LSU columnists have taken to throwing punches at our little university.

They called us apathetic. They said we could never instill the same pride in our town as Duck Dynasty. And they even trashed us for simply being in Monroe.

While I admittedly had never heard of “The Vermillion,” I still had a hard time believing that any publication would print that garbage. There is a difference in being witty and just bitter. Ask “The Hawkeye.” We have the awards to prove it.

And though I admire “The Reveille’s” staff for putting out a daily paper while taking classes, I find that they are often stretched for material and will apparently let anyone fill their pages.

Granted these schools have some better programs to boast over us, but so do we: pharmacy, atmospheric science and no school is better at having its budget slashed than us.

And yes, while LSU may inspire dreams of higher ACT scores, ULM enables dreams of higher education.

Our university gives thousands of students from poor, rural north Louisiana the chance at earning a college degree.

“The Reveille” calls us a redneck-filled community college. And while many here may subscribe to that lifestyle, our university is a microcosm just like any other.

But look at me going on and on about LSU, I’ve completely forgotten about the school that started it all, ULL.

Yes friends, apparently, ULM has just found itself in the middle of feud from the south that’s been going on for many years between LSU and ULL.

Now ULL, bitter and misguided because they will NEVER be a flagship school, felt the need to lash out at us because they have to share our system.

But all of this nonsense aside, there is seriously no need to be so petty with each other.

We are all great Louisiana schools. We all serve a function and neither of us would do well at serving each other’s.

I think we are missing the big picture. We should all be working together to make this state the best that it can be. Because we all know that the politicians are doing their best to make universities as ineffective as possible.

We should be working to build a better Louisiana. ULL, all we ask is that you follow the law. Okay, we’re sorry you don’t like it, but we weren’t that crazy about changing our name from NLU. LSU, all we ask is that you don’t lose to Alabama again.

This little drama has already distracted enough columnists. It’s time we put this absurdity to rest once in for all.

Let’s bury the hatchet and move on with our lives. Besides, don’t we all have better things to be doing anyway?

ULM may be a little behind the curve compared to some other schools, but we don’t care what the critics say.

We are striving to make our university better. The mountains we have climbed in the last decade alone is worthy of more columnage than this spectacle.

Nonetheless, I’m reminded of a Cajun poet, Jean Arceneaux. He wrote a poem called “The New Saturday Night Waltz” about the Cajun people and how they’ve lost their culture.

He mentions that today’s Ragin’ Cajuns spend their money on an entry ticket to a football game and that they retain just enough tradition to fill the pages of a tourist brochure.

But what Arceneaux says at the very end can apply to all of us. “The Buddha of Basile was right: the good times are killing us all.”

So keep your knickers in a twist if you want, ULL. Because frankly we just don’t care.