GULF OIL SPILL
Oil leak capped after 87 days. Read the latest on the spill, page 2.
HEALTH
New study shows Louisiana is the laziest state, page 4.
NFL
Drew Brees signs books at B.R. Borders, page 5.
The Daily Reveille
Wishing & hoping
Summer Edition – see www.lsureveille.com for more
Volume 114, Issue 157 – Tuesday, July 27, 2010
UNIVERSITY
Professor to testify on drilling ban impact Nicholas Persac Staff Writer
Miles, players express anticipation, optimism at SEC Media Days Michael Lambert Contributing Writer
LSU coach Les Miles took the podium Friday at Southeastern Conference Media Days wearing a purple tie, an LSU lapel pin on his jacket and a noticeable ring on his left hand. The 2007 National Championship ring and a 51-15 overall record has made Miles the longest tenured LSU football coach since Charles McClendon’s time with the Tigers from 1962-79. This season Miles faces the challenge of putting another ring on his hand to satisfy the appetites of a demanding fan base in his sixth year in Baton Rouge. “I can tell you this,” Miles said. “It will only be a championship season, and that’s the only point and direction of this program. That’s where we’re headed.” Miles was joined by junior cornerback Patrick Peterson, junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson and
senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard to speak to the 873 media members at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala.— the second-highest attendance in the conference’s history. The Tigers were voted to finish fourth in the SEC West, the lowest since 2000, when LSU was picked to finish sixth. The media chose Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn, respectively, ahead of LSU in the SEC West. “It seems like no one respects us right now,” Peterson said. “It just gives us a little more fight, a little more desire to go out there and win games.” The media has only picked the conference champion correctly four times since 1992. “It’s more on the motivational side,” Sheppard said. “It’s the preseason rankings though, and hopefully, toward the end of the year we’re at the top of the list.” The Tigers will have to overcome SEC West favorites Alabama,
Kickoff Game in Atlanta. “Every week is going to be tough for us, and that’s what we like,” Peterson said. “That’s one of the reasons why a lot of guys come to LSU — to play the best.” Miles talked about the evolution of Jefferson in his second full season under center after leading the Tigers to an 8-4 record as a starter with 2,166 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. “He’s starting to realize that it’s more than a position,” Miles said. “It’s not just call the play and throw the ball. It’s a responsibility to
University finance professor Joseph Mason will testify today before a U.S. Senate committee to “relay the negative economic impact” of the federal government’s offshore deepwater drilling moratorium. Mason will testify during the first witness panel in “The Deepwater Drilling Moratorium: A Second Economic Disaster for Small Businesses?” hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, according to the committee’s website. Mason recently completed a study, “The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on the Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region,” and will tell the committee how this moratorium hurts the Gulf Coast states while warning “against tax polices currently being considered in Washington that will only worsen the impact,” according to a University news release. The Obama administration first enacted a moratorium on offshore deepwater drilling on May 30 — just more than month after
FUTURE, see page 11
MORATORIUM, see page 11
Daily Reveille file photo
LSU football coach Les Miles and the Tigers wait to run out on the field Nov. 7 during the Tigers’ 24-15 loss against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
fresh off a national championship, and Florida, the team picked to win the SEC East. “I understand that there are very many talented teams in this league,” Miles said. “I think we got talented guys on my team. I’m going to spend my time instructing them and look forward to the opportunity to compete against the very best.” Miles appeared positive about his team’s chances to return to the upper echelon of the SEC. The road to ending the season in the Georgia Dome for the SEC Championship begins in the same building Sept. 4 when the Tigers take on North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A
EXHIBIT
Hill Memorial Library hosting botanical works Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
Immaculately painted and scientifically precise watercolors of native Louisiana plants are covering the halls of Hill Memorial Library. The plant portraits are part of the library’s latest exhibit, “A Beneficial Harvest,” which features the work of world-renowned botanical artist Margaret Stones. Pieces for the exhibition were chosen from Stones’ vast catalog of works for the University, which she began creating when she was commissioned for six watercolors in celebration of America’s bicentennial in 1976. Once people saw Stones’ first six works, they were such a hit that
the project was extended and Stones continued to work on it for 20 years, said Elaine Smyth, head of special collections for LSU Libraries. Stones completed more than 200 works for the project, and Smyth said the entire collection is a jewel for the University. “I don’t think another state has a collection of works from someone as talented and really gifted with botanical art as Margaret Stones in existence,” Smyth said. Each of Stones’ works is scientifically accurate and created with a masterful hand, said exhibitions coordinator Leah Wood Jewett. The vast size of Hill Memorial’s collection of Stones’ work made it necessary to choose a specific theme of works to include in the exhibition,
Jewett said. “A Beneficial Harvest” contains paintings of medicinal or edible plants native to Louisiana. Also included in the exhibition are several historical books from as far back as 1597 that include scientific research and illustrations of medicinal plants. “There are historical works from American botany and older works as well to put them in context and show this is a centuries-old practice of using plants for medicinal purposes,” Smyth said. “It’s really the basis of modern medicine.” One of the historical books Jewett said is most interesting to her is by Jacob Bigelow, a doctor who studied botany. BOTANY, see page 11
NICHOLAS ORTA / The Daily Reveille
Hill Memorial Library exhibitions coordinator Leah Wood Jewett studies the artwork of acclaimed botanical artist Margaret Stones. The exhibit will run until Oct. 23.