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Reunited
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 • Volume 117, Issue 80
Best friends Katz, Fury back together on the diamond
ADMINISTRATION
Jenkins: raising money key for LSU McKenzie Womack Staff Writer
RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille
LSU junior pitcher Nate Fury (left) and senior outfielder Mason Katz (right) lean on the railing Tuesday at Alex Box Stadium. The two players grew up together in Jefferson Parish.
Chandler Rome
E
Sports Writer
very June, tradition necessitated that Nate Fury would make the short walk down the street to Mason Katz’s home in Harahan, where the duo would sit mesmerized in front of the television to watch the College
World Series. Several winding roads later, the pair of best friends since age 3 share the same diamond once again – just in time for Katz’s final shot at Omaha. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Katz said. “Having that opportunity to do it together would really be a dream come true.”
Growing up together in the small Jefferson Parish suburb, Katz and Fury became “like brothers,” playing on the same teams as they tore through little leagues and made their way to high school. That’s where the pair would split, as Katz went to 5A powerhouse Jesuit and Fury to archrival Archbishop Rummel, creating some
memorable matchups between the right-handed Fury on the mound and the power-hitting Katz. “It got kind of fun,” Fury said. “It was sort of us competing against each other in a way. It was a fun little friendly competition.” Even when Fury moved in BEST FRIENDS, see page 15
FACULTY
LSU dean renowned for cimbalom playing Kaptain combines creativity, higher ed. Luke Jones Contributing Writer
He leans over a box, using two rubber mallets to tap on a score of steel strings few would recognize. He says Yo-Yo Ma is fun to work with. He is one-half Hungarian, but he speaks fluent Spanish. Laurence Kaptain is a teacher, composer, administrator, lecturer, musician, author and scholar, but he is also one of about 10 professional cimbalom players in the world. Born to a Hungarian native
and raised in a Hungarian enclave of Chicago called Elgin, Ill., Kaptain was exposed to the cimbalom at an early age and has been playing it for more than 30 years. Kaptain was awarded a grant to study the cimbalom in Budapest, Hungary in 1981. Since then, he has performed with major North American, Mexican and European symphonic ensembles for more than two decades. Most recently Kaptain has appeared with the New York Philharmonic in a recording that has been issued on iTunes and included actor Alec Baldwin. He has performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and even multiple times with pop artist and KAPTAIN, see page 6
Interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins said “fundraising is more important now than ever before,” following the LSU Foundation’s plan to double fundraising and endowment. The foundation, as a private entity, raises money from donors for the University. Its “Road to 2016” plan is meant to double fundraising from $30 million per year to $60 million and to grow the foundation’s endowment from $330 million to $430 million by 2016. In the longer term, the plan aims to raise the endowment to $680 million by 2022. “Endowments support faculty work and students’ financial access,” Jenkins said. “Fundraising invests critical funding in LSU’s infrastructure that keeps LSU resources nationally competitive.” Endowed money is invested money, said Sara Crow, director of Communications and Donor Relations for the LSU Foundation. The money generates earnings – like interest in a savings account – and the earnings are the money that is used, Crow said. “For LSU’s long-term financial viability, the endowment is particularly helpful because it’s a source of perpetual funding,” Crow said. Director of External Affairs Jason Droddy said the endowment is used for specific scholarship or fellowship programs or capital projects. Endowed scholarships or fellowships are funds paid to the University for students, which means the endowment is used to fund student tuition instead of the University’s general budget, Droddy said. A majority of the endowment is tied to endowed chairs and professorships, so it supports faculty and their research, Droddy said. “And endowment is an indicator of alumni support and represents a stable funding source used to support faculty and students,” he said.
CONNOR TARTER / The Daily Reveille
Dean of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts Laurence Kaptain is one of about 10 professional cimbalom (above) players in the world.
Contact McKenzie Womack at mwomack@lsureveille.com