87
days since oil spill began.
Read the latest oil spill briefs, page 2.
BUDGET CUTS
University anticipates 23 percent budget reduction, page 3.
FOOTBALL
Young players could vie for playing time, page 5.
The Daily Reveille
Volume 114, Issue 154 – Thursday, July 15, 2010
Incoming freshman dies in car accident
Summer Edition – see www.lsureveille.com for more
Skimming the Surface
Injured student home from Africa
Katherine Terrell
Nicholas Persac Staff Writer
Contributing Writer
An 18-year-old incoming freshman who was in Baton Rouge for orientation died Monday night after her car was broadsided by a pickup truck on South Acadian Thruway. Morgan Elizabeth Thompson, of Fairhope, Ala., was driving a Nissan Versa around 5:30 p.m. Monday in the 2300 block of South Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly said in a news release. She apparently left a private driveway into the path of 22-yearold Kevin Kearney, of Baton Rouge, who was driving northbound in a Ford F-150 pickup truck, which Ò broadsided the Nissan on the driverÕ s side.Ó Her mother, Mary Thompson, was also in the car and is now in Ò stable condition with moderate injuriesÓ at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. Kearney was treated for minor injuries at the scene. Jennifer Sinclair, a senior guidance counselor at Fairhope
and Agricultural Engineering, spent the next several hours attaching tubes and pipes to pumps and barrels. When Theegala finished the prototype, he immediately called AgCenter officials to Ò let them know it worked.Ó TheegalaÕ s project, a cost- and energy-efficient oil skimmer, first worked at an intake rate of 1 gallon per minute of oil-water mixture. The skimmer uses a special pump, density differences and the moving waterÕ s
LSU sophomore Brian Murphy has returned home after being struck by a car in South Africa during a family trip to the World Cup. A drunk driver struck Brian and his sisters Nicole and Kellie while they were walking on the sidewalk. Kellie, an LSU junior, received a minor concussion while Nicole died instantly. Brian has been transported to a hospital in Lafayette. He canÕ t speak yet, but has shown signs of improvement by moving his fingers. Lindsey Dupuis, a family friend, said she gets updates from family friend Jana Godshall, both of whom live in Los Angeles at the moment. Godshall and Dupuis got a group together to plan one of the most recent benefits for the family, held at Crown Bar in Los Angeles. Ò One of our friendsÕ boyfriend owns the bar, which is a place we always go to,Ó Dupuis said. Ò They donated the place for the night.Ó Dupuis, who is in the fashion business, said the benefit charged money at the door to get in the
SKIMMER, see page 7
MURPHY, see page 7
THOMPSON, see page 7
photos by GRANT GUTIERREZ / The Daily Reveille
[Top] Oil flows from the skimmer to the oil storage as a demonstration of its abilities Wednesday. [Bottom] Chandra Theegala, associate professor, demonstrates how the skimmer design works on a small working scale model.
University professor develops new oil skimmer Nicholas Persac Staff Writer
Chandra Theegala finished grading his students’ final exams for the spring semester on a Sunday afternoon. But instead of kicking back to enjoy the start of summer break, Theegala went to The Home Depot with $120 and a plan to help save the Gulf of Mexico. Theegala, an associate professor in the Department of Biological
BOARD OF SUPS
Budget cut proposals to be discussed at July meeting Tuition increase to be considered Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
The LSU System Board of Supervisors will hear proposals on how institutions will reduce their budgets to prepare for a potential $133 million cut to the SystemÕ s budget at the BoardÕ s July meeting tomorrow. System institutions will present their budget reduction recommendations to the Board at a 9:30 a.m. informational session, but no Board action is expected on the plans until sometime this fall,
according to an LSU System news release. Institution officials began creating budget reduction plans after System President John Lombardi sent a letter June 24 to the chancellors, detailing what types of cuts may have to be made if the $133 million funding reduction is solidified in the 2011-12 fiscal year. If the cuts do come to fruition, each institution in the System will have 23.28 percent less money for its general fund in 2011-12 than in 2010-11, according to documents included with LombardiÕ s letter. Ò The scale of reductions anticipated will almost certainly require the elimination of vital programs, the dismissal of employees including faculty and significant
disruption of student academic careers,Ó Lombardi wrote. The cuts for the 2011-12 fiscal year would come after nearly $150 million in budget cuts for the LSU System in the past two years, according to the news release. In addition to the presentation of budget reduction plans, the Board will also discuss a resolution to increase tuition and fees at LSU System institutions. Ò Louisiana colleges and universities, in return for agreeing to provisions of the newly passed Louisiana GRAD Act, got limited autonomy to raise tuition and fees in return for promising to boost graduation rates,Ó the news BOARD OF SUPS, see page 7
CATHERINE THRELKELD / The Daily Reveille
John Lombardi, president of the LSU System, discusses the fiscal year 2011-12 higher education operating budget funding model June 5 at a Board of Sups meeting.