FOOTBALL: Alabama remains LSU’s top competition despite historic rivals, p.5
FASHION: Colored pants take over fall style, p.9
Reveille The Daily
www.lsureveille.com
OBITUARY
University mourns loss of student
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 • Volume 117, Issue 47
BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille
Entomology associate professor Linda Hooper-Bui researches the effects of Hurricane Isaac on ant populations in Louisiana.
Danielle Kelley
CRIME
SWAT called to E. State Street Chris Grillot
Contributing Writer
Miles Andrew Liner, biological engineering junior, was killed in a car accident last week. His vehicle was hit by a drunk driver in a head-on collision Thursday, according to the Morgan City Daily Review. Liner served the Alpha Gamma chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha as external vice president, and other members said he stood for all of the fraternity’s values. “He was a man I wanted to be,” said Liner’s pledge brother Dakota Meyer. “You can’t say anybody’s perfect, but he was damn good.” Pledge brother Zach Jongema said Liner lived out Pi Kappa Alpha’s virtues “100 percent.” “He was an outgoing guy, friendly, honest, kind — pretty much your ideal person,” Jongema said. The Pi Kappa Alpha men last saw Liner on Wednesday night as they celebrated the initiation of their first fall 2012 pledge class. Meyer said the chapter members are supporting one another, and that is a great example to the new LINER, see page 15
Staff Writer
Isaac’s hidden Ben Wallace
Ants essentially ‘gone’ near some wetlands
Senior Contributing Writer
By book-ending hurricane and tropical storm landfalls with research trips to the Louisiana coast, entomology associate professor Linda Hooper-Bui and her research team have made groundbreaking discoveries in the world of ants.
Because the status of ant populations can serve as an environmental health indicator for the area as a whole, Bui has been able to see just how devastating both natural disasters and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have been to Louisiana’s ecosystem. Before and after Hurricane Isaac, Bui and her team traveled to
the wetlands of Breton Sound, just south of St. Bernard Parish and east of what’s left of the Mississippi River that far south. What they found meant two things: Isaac was more devastating than most people originally thought, and it could take several months STING, see page 15
The Baton Rouge Police Department deployed its SWAT Team on Saturday night after Michael Eichler, 44, allegedly attempted to stab a person on Tula Street, then barricaded himself into his apartment at 140 E. State Street, according to BRPD spokesman Cpl. Tommy Stubbs. Around 11 p.m., BRPD officers responded to a call from a victim who said Eichler attempted to force his way into the victim’s apartment at 3306 Tula Street. The SWAT Team was deployed to Eichler’s home, entered and arrested him. He was charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, disturbing the peace and resisting an officer. Political science junior Derek Reed walked past the commotion Saturday night and said the street was blocked with police cars. He said one officer was mounting a gun on top of a SWAT vehicle parked on the street. Contact Chris Grillot at cgrillot@lsureveille.com
WEATHER
Students’ families prepare for superstorm Sandy Shannon Roberts Contributing Writer
As Superstorm Sandy hits the Northeast of the United States, some University students are keeping up with family members who are in the midst of the storm. Sandy is a hybrid storm, which is a combination of a tropical cyclone and a cyclone formed outside the tropics, said Barry Keim, geography and anthropology professor and state climatologist. Sandy will develop the worst characteristics of both types of storms, including a storm surge along the East Coast of 10 to 12 feet. Keim said the surge will range from central New Jersey to southern
New England. Because it is has components of an extra-tropical storm, Sandy will cover some areas of the nation with snowfall. In the mountains of West Virginia, he said there could be snowfall of two to three feet in some places. Some of Louisiana’s recent cold weather is linked to the storm, Keim said. Another characteristic that makes Sandy different from other storms is its track. He said Sandy’s path and size differentiates it from the 160-year record of hurricanes. This means that there is greater uncertainty as to her impact. Sandy’s track is unique to the region, Keim said.
Hybrid storms often occur during the latter part of October because the sea waters are still warm enough to produce strong storms. As the waters cool off, storms are less likely to form, he said. Keim said Sandy will only last for a couple of days, but it will “rough up” the eastern coast of the nation. Families in the Northeast stocked up on food and water in preparation for Sandy and bunkered down in their homes. Communication disorders senior Jessica Griffin is from Haworth, N.J., and said her family loaded up on food and water because it was SANDY, see page 15
JASON DECROW / The Associated Press
People wade and paddle down a flooded street as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday in Lindenhurst, N.Y.