Check Inside For:
DANCE OFF
GOING PR0
an interview with local cover See a database of former Tigers who have played professionally in multiple sports at band The Tricky Dickies, lsureveille.com. page 6.
Prospective Tiger Girls can attend audition clinic, page 10.
THE DAILY REVEILLE Volume 114, Issue 124
WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
SG
Professional athletes in Men’s Pro Tennis Classic are
Serving Up Service Tournament benefits local cancer research By Grace Montgomery
MELANIE SCOTT / The Daily Reveille
Professional tennis player Tim Smyczek participates in the tennis tournament held Tuesday at the Paula G. Manship YMCA. The tournament was put on by LSU grad students to raise money for cancer research.
Trial Court rules in favor of appealers
Staff Writer
By Catherine Threlkeld
Top-ranked men’s professional tennis players from around the world are battling for rankings in Baton Rouge with the help of University graduate students. A class of graduate students spent this semester helping organize the Baton Rouge Pro Tennis Classic from April 10 to 18, which benefits Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge at the Paula G. Manship YMCA. The tournament is one of 22 United States Tennis Association Men’s Pro Circuit Challenger events in the country, according to graduate student and media group member Timothy Rodrigue. “Challenger events are one step below Grand Slam events like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open,” Rodrigue said. The Baton Rouge Pro Tennis Classic is the only tournament working with a university, Rodrigue said. University graduate students were assigned to public relations for the tournament as part of mass communication professor Danny Shipka’s public relations class. “I’ve always been a fan of service learning,” Shipka said, “We can teach a lot of things at LSU, but the best way is through hands-on experience.” The class divided into groups to manage fundraising, media relations, event planning and
Student Government Trial Court Judge Daniel Marsh ruled in favor of the StudentsFIRST ticket in all three cases concerning Election Code violations Monday and Tuesday. Marsh said he couldn’t hear much of the evidence because it was publicly available more than two days before the complaint was filed, which violates election code. “It was not an easy decision to come to,” Marsh said. “I have tried to step back from this as much as possible. This was a very difficult decision to make because a lot about it seems unfair.” Leading the Way candidates Brooksie Bonvillain and Chris Sellers filed a complaint Monday against StudentsFIRST candidates J Hudson and Dani Borel for breaches of the election code. The complaint accused StudentsFIRST candidates of breaching rules prohibiting candidates from being cross-listed on multiple tickets and operating on an unrecognized ticket.
FUNDRAISER, see page 15
COMPLAINT, see page 15
Staff Writer
COMPETITION
Cheerleading captain wins FOX Sports contest Senior earns most votes ever in tournament By Joanna Zimmerman Contributing Writer
LSU cheerleader Jessica Spitale was named Cheerleader of the Year by FOX Sports’ “The College Experiment” on April 7. Spitale, a communication studies senior and cheerleading captain, won the finals with an overwhelming majority against Mackenzie Weeks from Florida State. She also defeated Brooke Robertson from the University of Texas and Katelynn Johnson from the University of Oregon in
the Semifinals. The eight contestants for the semifinals were chosen by the contestant officials, but the winner was chosen by online votes. At the beginning of the tournament, each contestant filmed an interview, which was posted on the tournament’s Web site. Spitale said she had support from friends from grammar school, old teachers, LSU alumni, members of the military and fans of other SEC schools. “I got a hundred e-mails from people congratulating me,” Spitale said. “I’ve had so much support from friends and people I don’t know.” Spitale said her boyfriend started a Facebook group called “Vote LSU’s JESSICA for Cheerleader of the Year.”
It had more than 1,800 members by the end of the contest. Spitale said the contest officials said no contestant had ever had as many votes as she did. She said the spokesperson for Cheerleader of the Year told her LSU must have a really great fan base. Spitale said she was on spring break at the beach with about 20 other LSU cheerleaders when she found out she won. But, she said she knew when the polls closed because they showed her ahead by about 30 percent. Other contestants were from the University of Southern California, the University of Florida, Arizona State University and Oregon State. CONTEST, see page 15
photo courtesy of JESSICA SPITALE
Jessica Spitale, communication studies senior, was voted Cheerleader of the Year by FOX Sports on April 7.