52 days since oil spill began.
BASEBALL
NATIONAL
Seven Tigers selected in MLB draft, page 7.
Stephen Colbert announces plan to help oil spill recovery, page 3.
The Daily Reveille
Volume 114, Issue 144 – Thursday, June 10, 2010
Summer Edition – see www.lsureveille.com for more
Out of Africa
Increased exposure brings 2010 FIFA World Cup to fans, expatriates in the USA David Helman Editor-in-Chief
The party is finally starting. At various hours on Friday, televisions around the globe will tune in to see host-country South Africa kick off the 2010 World Cup — the first-ever World Cup on African soil. Yet while the world celebrates the return of the world’s biggest soccer tournament, soccer-crazed expatriates at the University might be missing out. “It’s tough. When I first knew that there would be World Cup soccer in South Africa, I planned that I’d cancel my summer classes, don’t teach in the summer at all and go there to watch it,” said Harry Mokeba, political science professor. “Of course you grow up and realize ‘It’s just a soccer engagement. I
don’t have to do that.’” Mokeba is a native of Cameroon, one of just six African nations to qualify for the 32-team tournament. Cameroon is located more than 2,000 miles away from South Africa, but Mokeba said the World Cup is seminal for the entire African continent. “It’s a showcase for Africa. You know what Africa is — in people’s minds it’s not a place to look up to and expect much of it. It’s the least developed continent in th e world,” Mokeba said. “For the World Cup to go there, which is the biggest spectacle of all time — bigger than the Olympics, you could argue — it means a lot.” Kenny Farrell, the Irish head coach of the New Orleans Jesters soccer club, WORLD CUP, see page 11
Legislature addresses education House bills
Catherine Threlkeld Staff Writer
The future of higher education and the University is playing out in the hands of the state Legislature in several bills this summer. Louisiana is the only state that requires two-thirds legislative approval to increase tuition, and several bills are addressing that law.
KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / The Associated Press
Fans cheer ahead of England’s training match against Platinum Stars at Moruleng Stadium on Monday in Lesetlheng, South Africa. England is preparing for the upcoming World Cup.
USA SCHEDULE FOR FIFA WORLD CUP: June 12 • against England • 1:30 p.m. June 18 • against Slovenia • 9 a.m. June 23 • against Algeria • 9 a.m.
HOUSE BILL 1171 The most well known of the bills is the LA Grad Act, which would grant universities the flexibility to raise tuition by up to 10 percent annually for six years beginning in 2012 after meeting 15 performance criteria. The Grad Act, or House Bill 1171, will be heard by the Senate Education Committee today. Several other bills affecting universities’ ability to raise tuition have not passed the House Education Committee yet, including House bills 270, 1012, 1071, 767, 1333 and Senate bills 345 and 347. HB 401, which would allow the University to raise tuition without legislative approval, failed in committee. LEGISLATION, see page 11
OIL SPILL
Students gain petroleum engineering experience Platforms allow for well-control research Nicholas Persac Staff Writer
A group of four students work together on a project, discussing options and taking action. But instead of in a classroom, these students work in a room of industrial controls and monitors. They wear hard hats, check pressure readings and open choke valves causing a wild flame to burn atop an oil rig relief tower. These students, all petroleum engineering majors, study and work at the Petroleum
Engineering Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory, tucked behind Alex Box Stadium on Gourrier Lane. The facility, which opened in 1981 with funds provided by the U.S. Minerals Management Service, gives the University a place to train students and workers in the field and allows researches to explore well-control methods. It is the only one of its kind operated by a university in North America. “In University education, we’re trying to build fundamentals to help when students encounter any challenge,” said John Smith, an associate professor in the Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering who teaches at the facility. “There’s no question
what we’re doing now is real.” Smith guided four students through an exercise in proper well control this past week during a media demonstration to show how students at the University prepare for real-world problems, like the ones resulting in the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. “Shut down the pumps and do a flow check,” senior David Matthews told his peers after the team detected a “kick” of gas pressure coming through the well. Senior Hassan Ramzi then led sophomores Candice Miller and John Cleveland to relieve the pressure by controlling the choke, RESEARCH, see page 11
KRISTEN M’LISSA ROWLETT / The Daily Reveille
(Left to right) Petroleum engineering sophomore John Cleveland, sophomore Candice Miller and senior Hassan Ramzi work on a demonstration June 4 at the Petroleum Engineering Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory.