Protest budget cuts with SG officials and other University students Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Capitol. Read more in the Letter to the Editor on page 8.
Help break a Guinness World Record on Saturday during the LSU Tweetup event. For more info, visit www.tweetvite.com/event/lsu
THE DAILY REVEILLE WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
VolumeÊ 114,Ê IssueÊ 117
Friday,Ê MarchÊ 26,Ê 2010
LSUPD officer files lawsuit over gender discrimination By Ryan Buxton Senior Staff Writer
An LSU Police Department officer filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging she was denied promotion because of gender discrimination. Maj. Martha Helen Haire, who has worked with LSUPD for 21 years, claims in the suit she was passed over for LSU chief of police despite her sufficient qualifications because she is a woman. Haire applied in 2008 for chief of police — a position which specifically required a college degree — but the job went to Maj. Lawrence Rabalais, who didn’t have a degree, instead of Haire, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees, according to the suit. Both Haire and Rabalais were unavailable for comment by press time. The suit also makes allegations against Gary Durham, public safety director, who was named interim chief before Rabalais assumed the position. Haire claims Durham openly stated problems are “what happens when you have a bunch of women in charge,” and Durham told Haire during a performance review she was “using too much leave because she is a mother and has children.” LSUPD spokesman Blake Tabor declined to comment, as did Kristine Calongne, associate vice chancellor of Public Affairs. Commenting on impending litigation is against University policy, Calongne said. Haire approached LSU Human Resources to complain “to no avail” about the denial of a promotion, according to the suit. She then filed a charge of discrimination in September 2009 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, the suit said. Haire claims Rabalais issued her the “lowest performance evaluation she had ever received” in her years at LSUPD in January, criticizing her “job knowledge and technical skills” on the position she held for several years. The suit claims Haire’s damages include “lost wages and benefits, loss of promotion and promotional opportunities, loss of earning capacity, severe and extreme emotional distress and mental anguish, humiliation and embarrassment, loss of reputation and standing in the community and all such other damages as will be more fully shown at trial.” Calongne said Haire still holds her position of major at LSUPD, and she had no knowledge of any changes to her employment.
Spring Awakening
Tigers conclude practice with spring game at 3 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium By Sean Isabella Sports Contributor
It’s no secret where the LSU football team wants to be for the 2010 season. LSU coach Les Miles has preached a sense of physicality to players and coaches alike during the last four weeks of spring practice. Now it’s time for the rest of the country to judge for themselves. The Tigers will partake in live action in front of a crowd for the first time
since the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day, a 19-17 loss to Penn State, as they take part in the annual National L Club Spring Game on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. “I’ve talked to a lot of players in the past like [former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey] to Charles Scott to everybody, and they all say this is the most physical spring in LSU history,” sophomore wide receiver Russell Shepard said of the team’s intense practices. “And that’s the big thing — when you talk about a big-time program and for this to
be the most physical spring they’ve ever seen, that’s a huge step for us.” The game will serve as a Tweetup, an event in which a group of people who communicate on Twitter meet in person. LSU is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for largest Tweetup. Ford Motor Company holds the record with a 1,149-person event in December 2009. And while the lights from Tiger Stadium won’t shine on the field because GAME, see page 11 photos by J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille
Contact Ryan Buxton at rbuxton@lsureveille.com
[Top left] LSU senior wide receiver Terrence Toliver tackles a Penn State cornerback Jan. 1 at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. [Top right] LSU junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson, right, hands the ball off to senior fullback Stevan Ridley (34). [Bottom] LSU freshman wide receiver Rueben Randle bobbles the ball.