73
days since oil spill began. Read the latest oil spill briefs, page 2.
SPORTS
Chad Jones transported to New York hospital, page 5.
RESTAURANTS
Taco Bell to replace Arby’s on Burbank Drive, page 3.
The Daily Reveille
Volume 114, Issue 150 – Thursday, July 1, 2010
Summer Edition – see www.lsureveille.com for more
Adults use phones in cars more than teens
Fantastic Fourth Staff Writer
photos by NICHOLAS PERSAC / The Daily Reveille
[Above] Fireworks explode across the sky during the 2007 Fourth of July celebration downtown. [Right] A young girl rushes down an inflatable slide as part of an activity at the 2007 Fourth of July celebration.
One year after signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams witnessed the first Fourth of July celebration Ñ a last-minute event in Philadelphia planned only two days earlier. Adams wrote about the nationÕ s first anniversary to his daughter, Abigail, in letters kept by The Library of Congress. He describes an impromptu parade with horses, artillery and Ò about a thousand infantry.Ó Adams, then a member of the Second Continental Congress, boarded the Delaware frigate with President George Washington, where they received multiple 13-gun salutes and rounds of artillery fire as signs of respect and celebration from the galleons and vessels in the area. Now, on the United StatesÕ 234th birthday, the celebration Adams saw has
Staff Writer
STAR SPANGLED CELEBRATION The biggest celebration in Baton Rouge for nearly the past 25 years takes place downtown on the riverfront, where live music and an air show are tradition. Ò ItÕ s something thatÕ s a staple of the
Fresh off the passage of a new Louisiana law banning texting while driving, a study has found adults text behind the wheel more frequently than teenagers. The June study, published by the Pew Research Center, found 47 percent of all adults who use text messaging have texted while driving, compared to the 34 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds who said they texted while driving. The danger of texting while driving has prompted a Louisiana law prohibiting the practice. The law, which will take effect Aug. 15, makes texting while driving a primary offense for which a driver may be stopped by law enforcement. Previous laws had designated texting while driving as a secondary offense for which a driver could only be ticketed if he or she were stopped for another violation. The new law also makes it illegal for drivers aged 17 or younger to talk on a cell phone
FOURTH OF JULY, see page 7
CELL PHONES, see page 7
Baton Rouge prepares for America’s 234th birthday Nicholas Persac
Ryan Buxton
become part of mainstream Americana, and the Baton Rouge area has plenty of options for students looking to party like patriots. Ò John Adams, who was one of the founders and one of the architects of the Declaration, felt it was a day and an act that should be heralded and remembered with celebrations,Ó said Paul Paskoff, a University professor who teaches an early American history course. Ò We come by this celebration because itÕ s in our national DNA.Ó
OIL SPILL
Pensacola tourism industry impacted heavily by disaster 75 percent of summer reservations cancelled Katherine Terrell Contributing Writer
The iconic sign welcoming visitors to Pensacola, Fla., has become an ironic sign during the past few weeks. For years, the giant swordfish has advertised the area as the Ò worldÕ s whitest beaches.Ó Recently, the pristine sand has been drenched in brown and orange shades of oil, which has begun to seep onto large stretches of the 28mile beach. The oil has been slowly
flowing onto the beaches in stronger and stronger doses. Just two weeks ago, Baton Rouge resident Lolly Martin stayed in her condo in Perdido and saw few effects besides small tar balls here and there. Ò IÕ ve never seen the water as beautiful and clean as clear as it was,Ó Martin said. But with the failure to cap the spill and strong winds from Hurricane Alex, the oil has continued to wash on the beaches as fast as the 24-hour-a-day crew can clean it up. The effect has been quick and devastating on an economy that relies heavily on tourism. ItÕ s a tough blow for an industry that has finally bounced back from Hurricane Ivan, which hit the area in 2004. Ò We were set for the best year
in tourism weÕ ve ever had,Ó said Ed Schroeder, director of VisitPensacola, Escambia CountyÕ s convention and visitorÕ s bureau. Ò We had a 15-percent increase both with groups and reservations.Ó As more oil has spilled, fewer people have been willing to spend their summers at the beach. Cancellations came in waves. One hundred cancellations were made around the second week of the spill, according to Schroeder. June 10 — the day the first tar balls hit the beaches Ñ saw 1,000 more cancellations. In addition, the phones have stayed ominously silent as new reservations have dried up. ItÕ s been PENSACOLA, see page 7
DAVE MARTIN / The Associated Press
Oil cleanup workers hired by BP shovel oily sand June 24 while beachgoers gather near the surf in Pensacola Beach, Fla. Officials closed the public beaches to swimmers.