The Daily Reveille — February 10, 2009

SNAPSHOT

lsureveille com Log on to see photos of car rims on campus.

NEWS Professor teaches class about sociology of terrorism, page 3.

NOW AND THEN New Tigers are compared to former five-star recruits, page 7.

THE DAILY REVEILLE WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM

Volume 113, Issue 88

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

LSU SYSTEM

Martin: Worst-case budget cuts unlikely

Crawling Behind

Contributing Writer

photos by JARED P.L. NORMAND / The Daily Reveille

[Top] Vernon Pfister, research associate, and Jay Stander, farm manager, harvest what little crawfish they can find Friday morning from the Aquaculture Research Station crawfish ponds. [Bottom] Pfister checks the traps for crawfish.

A dry summer, two hurricanes and a chilly winter is forcing Louisianians to wait a bit longer to eat the claws and suck the heads of a big batch of boiled crawfish.

Crawfish season started slowly this year across Louisiana, as early harvest numbers are down 50 percent from a year ago. Louisiana crawfish farmers are playing catch-up to meet demand this season.

Chief Staff Writer

“The start of [the season] so far is ranging from zero production to the best production of 50 percent,” said Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association President David Savoy.

“I honestly don’t look for us to have any type of production to meet demand until March.”

Aquaculture Research Station professor Greg Lutz gave a similar assessment of the start of the crawfish season.

“At this point in the season, we’re down

The budget cuts the LSU System is facing next year may not be as doom-and-gloom as first projected.

Gov. Bobby Jindal told The News-Star in Monroe on Sunday that cuts in higher education will likely not be at the worst-case scenario level.

In late January, the Governor’s Office warned of cuts in higher education between $212 million and $382 million for the 2009-10 fiscal year beginning July 1.

The Governor’s Office asked higher education officials to submit plans for a worst-case scenario cut of 30 percent. The cut could mean a budget reduction of about $71.9 million at LSU’s main campus in Baton Rouge, according to a budget reduction exercise System officials released Wednesday.

About 2,000 System employees could lose their jobs if the cuts went into effect. Course offerings could also decrease and larger class

CRAWFISH, see page 6

SYSTEM, see page 5

Crawfish production down 50 percent to start 2009

By Matthew Barnidge

By Kyle Bove

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Phase one of class project complete Old football practice field grass used in lot Staff Writer

Opinion ................... 12 Classifieds ............... 14

Broadcasts

Index

Less than a month ago, the landscape behind Dodson Auditorium was upturned dirt and cement trucks. The area is now soft grass surrounded by an inlaid stone walkway.

Significant headway has already

7:20 a.m.

8:20 a.m.

Noon 3:20 p.m.

4:20 p.m.

5:20 p.m.

Weather

lsureveille.com

By Adam Duvernay

Sports ...................... 7

been made on the 2009 Class Gift Proj- its future green floor early last week. ect less than two months after construc“We mobilized quickly to cut the sod tion began. The grass has from the field and movie already been laid, and the it over here,” said Dennis brick pavers set down. All Mitchell, campus landthat remains is an extenscape architect. “We’re sive landscaping phase to Log on to see an very happy with the way transform a once-dingy lot update of the it came out.” into a University sanctu- class gift project.

To protect the conary. crete space where the By recycling sod from brick pavers engraved one of the University’s practice football with the names of graduating seniors will fields, Facility Services was able to cover BRICKS, see page 5 the interior circle of the Dodson lot with

TODAY SHOWERS

78

62

JASON BORDELON / The Daily Reveille

A sprinkler waters the newly laid grass Monday afternoon in the lot behind Dodson Auditorium.

WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS

THURSDAY MOSTLY CLOUDY

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THE DAILY REVEILLE

Nation & World

PAGE 2

WORLD NEWS

on the web

LSUREVEILLE.COM

Deaths in Australian wildfires exceed 170

FRIDAY’S POLL RESULTS

How many different types of jobs have you had?

4% 5%

16% 75%

Four US soldiers killed in suicide car bomb attack in Iraq Three or more Two None One

76 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THE POLL.

TODAY’S QUESTION:

Have you eaten crawfish yet this season?

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009

BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber struck a U.S. patrol in northern Iraq on Monday, killing four American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter in the deadliest single attack against U.S. forces in nine months. The blast occurred as U.S. vehicles were passing near an Iraqi police checkpoint in Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city and the last major urban battleground in the war against al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents. American casualties have fallen to some of their lowest levels of the war since thousands of Sunnis abandoned the insurgency.

GO TO LSUREVEILLE.COM TO CAST YOUR VOTE

WHITTLESEA, Australia (AP) — Disaster teams found charred bodies on roadsides and in crashed cars — grim signs of the futile attempt to flee raging wildfires fed by 60 mph winds, record heat and drought that caught even fire-savvy Australians by surprise. As the death toll rose Tuesday to 173 in Australia’s worst wildfire disaster, suspicions that some of the 400 blazes were caused by arson led police to declare crime scenes in some of the incinerated towns, Victoria police said. The fires near Melbourne in southeastern Australia destroyed more than 750 homes, left 5,000 people homeless, and burned 1,100 square miles of land.

NATION, STATE AND CITY BRIEFS

Stimulus bill narrowly survives Senate vote

TODAY

tuesday, february 10, 2009 bcm dinner & tnt worship Every Thursday night. Dinner (free) at 7:15pm.

TNT Worship Service at 8:00pm. The BCM is at the corner of Highland & Chimes. All LSU students invited! lsubcm.org send a valentine’s shout-out The Daily Reveille is printing Valentine messages on Friday Feb. 13 log on to www.lsureveille.com and click on the link to print your form. Deadline to place you shout-out is Feb. 11 at noon. Prices start at $5.

LSU in paris Do you have summer plans yet? Information meeting Tuesday 4:30pm Vieux Carre Room Student Union. sab presents speed dating iv Tues. Fed. 10, 2009 6pm & 7:30 pm @ the Magnolia Room Looking for a last minute Valentine’s Date?

Come out & make a love connection!

For more info: 578.5118 or www.lsu.edu/sab invisible children schools for schools Rough-cut screening Dodson Auditorium @ 6:00.

upcoming events

sankofa poetry night LSU Student Union Magnolia Room 6:30pm, February 12

2009 springfest team leader applications Due Wednesday, February 18th Pick up an application in 326A Student Union or www.lsu.edu/oma For more info call 578.4339 scholarship opportunities for university college students Apply online @ uc.lsu.edu or pick up an application in 150 Allen Hall Application deadline: February 27th

WASHINGTON (AP) — An $838 billion economic stimulus bill backed by the White House narrowly advanced in the Senate on Monday over strong Republican opposition, and Democratic leaders vowed to deliver the emergency legislation for President Barack Obama’s signature within a few days. The vote was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed to move the measure toward Senate passage Tuesday. That in turn, will set the stage for possibly contentious negotiations with the House on a final compromise on legislation the president says is desperately needed to tackle the worst economic crisis in more than a generation. The Senate vote occurred as the Obama administration moved ahead on another key component of its economic recovery plan.

SUSAN WALSH / The Associated Press

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks Monday during a news conference on the stimulus legislation.

Judges tentatively order Reports: Police officials Calif. inmates released say Rihanna was victim SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A special panel of federal judges has tentatively ruled that California must release tens of thousands of inmates to relieve overcrowding. The judges say no other solution will improve conditions so poor that inmates die regularly of suicides or lack of proper care. They say the state can cut the population of its 33 adult prisons through changes in parole and other policies without endangering public safety. The three judges said a final population figure would be set later.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

In the Feb. 9 article entitled “Students, athletes encourage early college planning,” The Daily Reveille incorrectly identified Maj. Michael Hicks as University’s Army ROTC alchemist from Albemarle.

In the Feb. 9 article entitled “Actors, musicians try new genres,” The Daily Reveille incorrectly stated Lil Wayne won a Grammy for Album of the Year.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free.

To purchase additional copies for 25 cents, please contact the Office of Student Media in B-16 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and semiweekly during the summer semester, except during holidays and final exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual mail subscriptions are $115. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-16 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Brown’s ad campaign with Wrigley was suspended Monday until his criminal case is resolved, and reports surfaced that pop star Rihanna, his longtime girlfriend and a fellow no-show at the Grammy Awards, was the woman who accused him of assault. The Los Angeles Times, citing law enforcement officials familiar with the case and other sources it did not name, reported that Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, was the woman who told police Brown had hurt her the night before the Grammy Awards.

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tuesday, february 10, 2009

PAGE 3

CONSTRUCTION

AgCenter Laboratory being built near Tureaud Hall First phase to be completed in June

By Lindsey Meaux Staff Writer

The banging of hammers, wood scraps and a giant hole fill the area between Tureaud Hall and the Food Science Building.

The construction — projected to end in June — is in preparation for a new AgCenter laboratory building, and the holes that span about six feet deep are a means of relocating 24-inch chilled water lines for the lab, according to Roger Husser, director AgCenter Facility Planning.

“We’re developing the [ground] and relocating utilities for a future laboratory building to be built at that location,” Husser said of the construction site. “It will be a two-story laboratory building. It’s serving the departments of

animal sciences, food science and veterinary science.”

Utilities — like sewage and water — are being rerouted around the frame of where the building will be located, Husser said.

He said the laboratory will replace a smaller laboratory and two greenhouses currently located between Tureaud and the Food Science Building. The live oak tree located in the area will be unharmed.

The budget for the current construction phase is $1.6 million and is being funded through Capital Outlay, Husser said.

Ken Courtade, Facility Development manager, said Capital Outlay projects must be approved at each level of the University and by the LSU System, the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Regents. The projects are re-prioritized at each level.

The projects are then voted on by the Louisiana House of

Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate before being approved by the governor.

“Once it’s signed [by the governor], it goes to the bonding commission and bonds are sold,” Courtade said. “Funding actually becomes available to start the planning of the project.”

Once approved, projects can be on the list of Capital Outlay projects for several years before construction can begin, Courtade said. For example, the Music and Dramatic Arts building is nearing the end of construction, and it was submitted for Capital Outlay funding more than 20 years ago. Husser said the AgCenter project was submitted for Capital Outlay funding about 20 years ago.

The new state-of-the-art lab — which will be a different phase of construction — is projected to cost $17 million.

Forestry Lane, the road that runs alongside Tureaud, has been

JASON BORDELON / The Daily Reveille

Construction around Tureaud Hall has blocked off Forestry Lane because of large holes being dug in the streets. Students can still pass in certain areas adjacent to the site.

temporarily closed for construction. Gary Graham, director of Parking, Traffic and Transportation, said the road will remain closed for a “couple more weeks” and have only caused a minor inconvenience.

“We’ve had to reroute one bus route around it,” Graham said. “It was pretty easy to detour around it.”

Contact Lindsey Meaux at lmeaux@lsureveille.com

ACADEMICS

Terrorism expert brings experience to sociology class

By Elizabeth Miller Special to The Daily Reveille

He has jumped from airplanes, conducted counterterrorism operations during the Cold War and trained as one of the first U.S. sky marshals.

Ron Wells is not the average sociology professor.

Wells is one of the leading terrorism experts in the state, and he shares his knowledge with University students every Thursday night in his class, the “Sociology of Terrorism.”

In his crisp, white, buttondown shirt and worn, camelbrown leather jacket, he radiates confidence, but he didn’t become a terrorism expert lecturing in front of a blackboard.

The Gonzales native currently is the Director of Research & Development with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Department and the head of its counterintelligence unit. He is also the director of Training and Development for the Southern Anti-terrorist Regional Training Academy in Carville, La. Wells was drafted into the army in 1968, shortly after receiving his engineering degree from LSU. He had no stance on the Vietnam War, he said, and his days of drinking and having fun in Baton Rogue were ending.

Wells was caught off guard when he received his draft card.

He decided to sign up “to avoid infantry or a bullet.” He soon was receiving counterintelligence training, though he never pursued it. “It’s not one of those things you join for. They come and find you.”

Wells trained for 20 months across the country, including at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg. He attended the Defense Language Institute in California and gained survival training in Panama. By 1970, he was in Germany conduct-

Ron Wells teaches his “Sociology of Terrorism” class Jan. 29th.

Wells is one of the leading terrorism experts in the state, and shares his knowledge with University students.

ing counterterrorism operations.

He was brought back to United States to learn about a new type of terrorism: airplane hijacking.

To counteract the hijackings of U.S. air carriers, the military acted as the first sky marshals on transcontinental and inter-continental flights in Europe.

“About 10 to 15 of us were pulled out of Berlin and pulled into Quantico Virginia for six months,” he said. Fortunately, Wells never had to act on his new training on a flight.

Once enough civilians were trained, Wells began counterintelligence operations based in Berlin.

“When you’re running covert operations, your job is trying to find these people and locate where they’re at,” Wells said, without specifics. “You’re working networks and trying to find out who they’re working with.”

Wells and his fellow intelligence officers began focusing on the Black September organization, the Palestinian militant group responsible for the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer during the 1972 Olympic Summer Games.

He first heard about the attacks through his communica-

photo courtesy of ELIZABETH MILLER

tions radio while investigating cargo suspected of containing weapons at the Munich airport. His first reaction wasn’t pleasant.

“We’re in that business, so the first reaction is somebody slipped through, somebody went through,” Wells said. “But we weren’t the only country doing what we were doing. We didn’t take full responsibility, and it wasn’t our country to start off with.”

Wells said his team immediately started communicating with the Israelis and the Germans.

“Some teams went out, and ultimately there was a conflict out at the airport and one at the stadium, where most of the terrorists got killed,” he said. “Some were killed at the stadium and some at the airport. I was at the airport.”

Wells finished his military service in Europe, but in 1974 he re-

turned to Baton Rouge. He started an engineering company specializing in products for military and law enforcement. After 16 years, he sold his business and entered the world of academia and local law enforcement.

He earned his Ph.D in sociology and currently splits his time lecturing at the University at night, working with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and the training institute in Carville.

“His passion is contagious,” said Stacy Wise, mass communications senior. “He is extremely educated on any material he presents to the class, not necessarily

just on terrorism. He is well versed on anything that he talks about, actually.”

Because of his intense career, Wells said he enjoys the interaction with his students more than ever.

“I hope I bring that same passion I have out in the field I bring it into the classroom. Enticing people to do something interesting with their lives, that’s just fun, and it gets more rewarding as I get older.”

Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 4

HEALTH

tuesday, february 10, 2009

Study indicates coffee decreases risk of dementia Christine Matherne said the mere thought of making coffee lures her out of bed each morning before class.

The English senior said she drinks at least a cup of coffee each morning — sometimes more.

“I get a headache,” Matherne said of the prospect of skipping her morning intake.

A recent Swedish study released in January indicates middle-aged coffee drinking can decrease the risk of dementia later in life. According to the study, moderate coffee drinkers at midlife had a 65 percent decreased risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.

Heli Roy, human ecology professor, said the antioxidants found in coffee have a “protective” effect on the body, while the caffeine found in it helps people’s mental activities, physical activities and reduces body

weight. “[Coffee] actually helps to remove oxidated products in the body and actually prevents degeneration, aging [and] oxidated kind of effects,” Roy said. “In terms of heart disease, it does actually seem to have — because of the antioxidants — a protective effect.”

According to Roy, moderate caffeine consumption has been found to cause many long-term positive effects.

“It reduces body weight, particularly body fat because it reduces fat deposition,” Roy said. “[And] it actually reduces caloric intake in laboratory animals.”

Caffeine can work to delay the development of diabetes, Roy said.

The standard dosage for many studies and to achieve health benefits is about 350 milligrams per day, which Roy said translates to between two or three cups. And Roy said the effects of coffee are almost instantaneous.

“Within a few minutes, individuals who are sensitive to caffeine can feel the difference,” Roy said. “You have increased heart rate, you have

SCIENCE

BUSINESS

Professor points to other advantages

By Lindsey Meaux Staff Writer

increased alertness [and] you have increased energy.”

Heather McKay, animal sciences junior, said she generally drinks coffee about twice a month whenever her schedule gets hectic.

“I got some today because I was falling asleep,” McKay said. “Generally when I get it, it’s just a meal between classes. It’s just something to fill me up.”

According to Beth Reames, human ecology professor, research indicates coffee is safe for rehydrating.

“It used to be said that you shouldn’t drink coffee or caffeinated beverages to rehydrate yourself,” Reames said. ‘If you’re hot and thirsty, you don’t have to drink water ... The caffeinated beverage would be OK.” Caffeine is no longer thought to cause pregnancy complications, increase chances of developing osteoporosis or increase blood pressure, Reames said.

Reames recommended students who experience test-taking anxiety avoid caffeinated beverages.

“In very large amounts, it is a

MAGGIE BOWLES / The Daily Reveille

David Lichin, architecture senior, pays for a cup of coffee Friday at the Atrium Café Starbucks in the Design Building.

stimulant,” Reames said. “Anyone that’s already feeling high anxiety levels or jittery, [it’s] only going to increase those feelings.”

While people can develop a tolerance to caffeine over time, Roy said those with caffeine sensitivity might experience negative shortterm effects.

“If you have too much caffeine in your system, it does interfere with your ability to have deep sleep,” Roy said. ‘If you need to be able to read or pay attention or read complex

problems, you’re not going to be able to do that.”

Excessive caffeine could cause fatigue and diarrhea over time, Roy said.

When coupled with sugar and cream, Roy cautioned the calories could negate the positive side effects of coffee. Still, she recommended exercising caution with sugar rather than substituting artificial sweetener.

Contact Lindsey Meaux at lmeaux@lsureveille.com

Fortune top-100 companies have local offices AIDSfighting gel seems promising

By Nichole Oden Staff Writer

By The Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — An experimental vaginal gel has shown some promise in preventing infection from the AIDS virus, scientists announced Monday at a medical conference.

Scientists have been trying to develop gels and other microbicides for women to use as protection in parts of the world where their partners may refuse to use condoms.

About 3,100 women participated in the study, which was designed mainly to test whether it was safe. The women were divided into four groups. One-quarter of them used the Indevus gel, which is supposed to block the AIDS virus from attaching to certain white blood cells.

Another quarter were put on a gel made by Baltimore-based ReProtect Inc. The rest were given a placebo gel, or no gel at all.

Researchers found that women who used the Indevus-made gel had a 30 percent lower rate of HIV infection than the other women in the study. But the difference was not statistically significant, meaning the results could have occurred by chance.

Health officials say larger studies are needed to better assess effectiveness.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com

Out of the top 100 companies rated by Fortune magazine nationwide, three of them have offices in Baton Rouge, including the No. 2 company on the list.

Fortune magazine annually releases a list of the top 100 companies to work for, and the 2009 winners are now out.

The companies that have offices in Baton Rouge are Edward Jones Investments, ranked No. 2, Aflac Insurance, ranked No. 26 and Paychex, ranked No. 39.

Courtney Medet, Aflac representative, said the Baton Rouge office hires about 30 college graduates annually to work in sales.

Though promotion opportunities are available, starting salary is around $50,000. To apply for a job at Aflac, Medet said students should call and make an interview appointment and submit a resume.

Tracy Kather, Paychex representative, said employees start as payroll specialists before moving up in the business. Kather said new employees are able to take classes and receive training to help them advance in the company. Paychex also offers 21 courses certified by the American Council of Education for college credit.

Sara Crow, University Career Services assistant director of communications, said a graduate should look at several different factors when looking for a career

— salary, location and job type being the most important factors.

“Narrow your search,” Crow said. “It will make it easier to evaluate each opportunity that becomes available.”

Crow said it is also important to balance work with life at home. A person usually spends 40 or more hours at work, so students need to enjoy the job they’re in, she said.

“Most people give 110 percent when they’re on the clock, but they want to be able to leave work in the office,” Crow said.

Crow said each year Universom, a company which conducts surveys for business research, does a survey similar to Fortune’s list. Universom sends out surveys

to different colleges to see which companies students are interested in working for. Google and Microsoft ranked highly on both lists, and both have offices in Texas, one of the states many University graduates are drawn to, she said.

The starting salary, Crow said, varies depending on the field of work but usually graduates start somewhere around $40,000 a year.

For students just looking for a part-time job, Whole Food Markets, Starbucks and Build-a-Bear made the list, and all have stores located in Baton Rouge.

Contact Nichole Oden at noden@lsureveille.com

tuesday, february 10, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 5

ECONOMY

Obama pitches stimulus plan on prime-time TV

By Jennifer Loven The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pushed for his emergency economic stimulus with an urgent one-two punch Monday, addressing the nation in the first prime-time news conference of his presidency after taking his campaign directly to recession victims in hard-hit Indiana.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Obama warned during a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind., where unemployment has passed 15 percent.

Speedy passage of legislation to pump federal money into the crippled economy, once seemingly assured with bipartisan support, has become a much heavier lift and a major test of Obama’s young presidency.

On the day that an $838 billion version of the legislation cleared a crucial test vote in the Senate, Obama warned darkly of the consequences he contended would result from inaction. By a 61-36 margin, the package was advanced toward a vote on final Senate pas-

SYSTEM, from page 1

sizes could result.

System President John Lombardi said he looks forward to continuing work with Jindal, his staff and the Legislature to find solutions for Louisiana’s challenges in higher education and health care — two areas in the state’s budget left most vulnerable to cuts.

Lombardi met with Commissioner of Administration Angèle Davis, along with other university system presidents, to present budget reduction exercises Monday.

“The budget exercise requested by the Division of Administration has clearly focused all of our attention on the importance of finding solutions that do not require the kind of major reductions outlined in that exercise,” Lombardi said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. “Most people we’ve spoken with are very clear about the damage that would be done to the state if its higher education institutions at all levels found it necessary to implement reductions of this magnitude.”

System spokesman Charles Zewe said Davis told the presidents

BRICKS, from page 1

go, a mulch ring was placed around the sanctuary’s pathway.

“Instead of pulling the bricks up and putting them down again, we decided to put mulch down so we wouldn’t have that extra cost,” said Student Government President Colorado Robertson.

All the mulch for the sanctuary will be recycled from the debris collected after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav, one of the innovations the University has come up with to trim precious funds from the project’s budget.

“It is a type of recycling,” Mitchell said. “Instead of buying new sod and mulch, we got to use

sage Tuesday — with all but three Republican senators opposing it.

“Our nation will sink into a crisis that at some point we may be unable to reverse,” he said. Officials have frequently suggested the current recession, which has catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent and erased 3.6 million jobs, is the worst U.S. economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But no one has been suggesting the economic downturn could be permanent.

The Midwest community where Obama traveled Monday has been hammered by job losses in its mainstay industry of recreational vehicle makers. The unemployment rate soared to 15.3 percent in one northern Indiana county in December, up 10.6 percentage points from a year earlier. White House planners wanted Obama surrounded by everyday Americans already reeling from the effects of the nation’s economic woes, with the clear implication that many more towns across the nation could end up the same if nothing is done.

The president then was capping the day with his first formal,

extended news conference, where he was fielding queries from the White House press corps amid the grandeur of the East Room — less than a mile from the ongoing debate on Capitol Hill. Most important: he was doing so at the prime TV-watching hour, to be piped into millions of living rooms across the country.

It’s a time-honored presidential strategy: Sometimes it takes talking directly to voters for lawmakers to really hear.

“I’ve got to go back to Washington and convince everybody to get moving on this package,” Obama told his Indiana audience of about 1,700 as he wrapped up his question-and-answer session there.

Originally, aides had insisted that Obama’s time would be better spent remaining in Washington to shepherd the stimulus bill and meet with lawmakers, rather than traveling around the country to build grass-roots support that would then build pressure on Capitol Hill.

But as difficulties with the legislation grew, aides scheduled the Monday trip, as well as others to

to expect a proposed state budget by mid-March.

“It’s still very early in the budget process,” Jindal told The NewsStar. “These numbers are likely to change. There are many more steps in the process.”

Jindal reportedly said there will be significant “belt-tightening, but people shouldn’t panic when they see these early plans.”

“These are worst-case scenarios,” Jindal said. “Look what happened this year. We did make adjustments, but even after the cuts higher education was funded with more dollars this year than last.”

Jindal originally projected a mid-year cut in higher education of about $109 million, but the number was eventually decreased to $55 million.

C.B. Forgotston, attorney and political pundit who worked for the Louisiana Legislature for more than 13 years, said the budget cut projections and reductions are a “game.” “[Higher eduction] is unprotected and will remain unprotected,” Forgotston said.

Forgotston said Davis acts

as the bad cop who delivers bleak news about worst-case scenario budget cuts, while Gov. Jindal is the good cop, saving the day by lessening the amount of the budget cuts in the end. It’s all for political gain, Forgotston said, but in the name of protecting higher education.

Forgotston said this exercise is the equivalent of threatening to shoot somebody but cutting their finger instead. Either way, they get hurt.

“If education was number one, we would have long ago changed the constitution to protect health care and education,” Forgotston said. “It’s a matter of priorities.”

Chancellor Michael Martin said the pattern of projecting higher budget cuts and actually cutting less is common in the political world.

Martin said he has witnessed the same pattern in several states in which he has worked.

“We look forward to continuing good news,” Martin said. “I believe the governor and his staff recognize the importance of LSU to this state.”

Martin said while he, like Jindal, sees the worst-case scenario

something we already had.”

SG is hoping to have 400 of the named bricks sold by Feb. 25 to facilitate the first laying of bricks

by April 15.

The funds generated from the tax-deductible bricks will be put to use for the class of 2010.

“We’ll be doing that and some marketing and promotional materials to senior organizations, as well as the student body as a whole, to get them to want to leave their footprint and adopt a sense of pride in developing this space for future classes of LSU,” Robertson said.

Because some of the grass patches are still a dull green-brown, Mitchell said the area needs to be constantly watered over the next

few days.

For the next few weeks, the lot will remain fallow while the sod is allowed to dig its root system into the ground. Facility Services is currently finishing up a list of plants to be included in the area and to schedule a day for students who want to participate in the landscaping.

“This is a project that’s the first of its kind,” Mitchell said. “You’re starting to see now how it will take shape, but when you see students really start to use it you’ll really start to appreciate it.”

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@lsureveille.com

CHARLES DHARAPAK / The Associated Press

President Barack Obama holds a town hall style meeting Monday about the economic stimulus package at Concord Community High School in Elkhart, Ind.

hard-luck communities. Obama is traveling on Tuesday to Fort Myers, Fla., and on Thursday to Peoria, Ill. The Senate was expected to give its version of the stimulus final approval on Tuesday.

It remained to be seen, howev-

er, how much Republican support it would draw, as rare congressional debate over the weekend failed to gather meaningful GOP backing.

cuts as unlikely, it is important to plan.

“If I really thought the worstcase scenario was going to happen, I would look worse than I do because I wouldn’t be sleeping,” Martin said.

Martin said he worries about the psychological effects on University employees and students who read about worst-case scenario budget cuts, but that it is important

to realize any cuts will certainly have an adverse effect on the University.

Martin said his goals during the pending budget cuts are to save jobs while maintaining the University’s academic core and standing.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com

Contact Kyle Bove at kbove@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 6

MAGGIE BOWLES / The Daily Reveille

Jay Stander, pond manager at the LSU Aquaculture Research Station, shows the bait used to lure crawfish into the traps set by farmers.

maybe a third to a half of what we were this time last year,” Lutz said.

Lutz said the season could pick up when the late-hatching crawfish reach full size.

“The fact that it has been a slow season up to this point doesn’t necessarily mean that the remainder of the season is going to be bad,” he said. “In a lot of areas, there will probably be fewer crawfish than in a normal year.”

The current farm-to-market price for a pound of unboiled crawfish ranges from $2.25 to $3.00.

Tony’s Seafood Market and Deli in Baton Rouge charges $3.99 per pound.

Tony’s manager Charles Dupius said supply is “not even close right now” to meeting demand. He said the price could drop to around $1.99 per pound later in the season, noting, “It’s hard to say this early.”

But Louisiana crawfish farmers may be down too much to make up this year.

“To a certain extent, we won’t catch up,” Lutz said. “But if we have good survival of these late-hatching crawfish, over the next few months they’ll reach a nice size.”

Savoy agreed, saying Louisiana crawfish farmers will have a difficult year.

“From the farmer’s perspective, we’ll still struggle to make that up, even if production picks up,” he said.

Perhaps the bleakest assessment of the season came from former Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association president Stephen Minvielle, who called it a “very bad year.”

“It’s best now to reserve them,” Minvielle said. “The lack of supply will drive the price up.”

Gary Marino, manager of Baton Rouge restaurant Mike Anderson’s Seafood, said the crawfish season hasn’t really started for them. He said the crawfish simply weren’t big enough yet.

He said they hope for bigger crawfish “by the end of February.”

Lutz cited several causes for the low harvest production in the early part of the season.

First, the dry summer caused

the deaths of many burrowing crawfish because they need to remain damp to breathe through their gills.

“When we get really dry conditions in the summertime in a local area, that can really impact the survival of those animals down in the burrows because they have to stay damp,” Lutz said.

A second factor in the low production this year is the effect of two hurricanes, especially Hurricane Gustav.

Aquaculture Research Station professor Robert Romaire Log on to see said the floodcrawfi sh water forced being crawfish in many areas out harvested and their of their burrows availability prematurely. this “ G u s t a v season. made crawfish ponds flood a little earlier than we wanted them to,” he said. “When the water evaporated, those crawfish perished.”

Lutz said the floodwaters were low in oxygen and nutrients.

“You can drown a crawfish,” he said. “If there’s no oxygen in the water, they will die.”

A third factor was the relatively cold weather this winter, which caused the cold-blooded crawfish to remain small.

“They need to be a certain size to be large enough to stay in the traps,” Lutz said. “Every year, there are literally millions of pounds of small crawfish that are left in the ponds that we just don’t have a market for.”

Romaire said the combined effects of these three factors caused the low production early this season. But Lutz insisted crawfish will be available for people to eat this year.

“If people want crawfish, they’ll still be able to find crawfish,” he said. “You may drink one fewer beer to make up the difference in the cost of crawfish, but there will still be plenty for everyone to enjoy.”

lsureveille.com

CRAWFISH, from page 1

Contact Matthew Barnidge at mbarnidge@lsureveille.com

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009 Defensive Tackle Chris Davenport

Former defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey

Quarterback Russell Shepard

Safety Chad Jones

PAGE 7

THE 6th MAN

JULIE JACOBSON / The Associated Press

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez glances back at fans while warming up during spring training 2008 in Fla.

Alex Rodriguez broke my heart

Five-star Forecast

Experts think gems in ‘09 recruiting class compare favorably with past players

By Michael Lambert Sports Contributor

The 2009 recruiting class is full of potential. It’s highlighted by five Scout.com five-star recruits. And it contains the most five-star players in LSU coach Les Miles’ career.

But the class will only be

judged by the number of wins — and championships — it captures.

The five-stars in the class will have different roles as Tigers.

Some will immediately jump into the starting lineup, while others will take a few years to develop.

Lee Brecheen, owner and president of Louisiana Football

Magazine and Louisianafootball. com, said defensive tackle Chris Davenport has more talent than former defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, but Davenport needs to shed a few pounds. “[Davenport’s] got to show up in shape,” Brecheen said. “If RECRUITS, see page 11

[Top left] PATRIC SNIEDER / 1960 Sun [Top right] Daily Reveille file photo [Bottom left]

Mansfield Enterprise [Bottom right] JARED P.L. NORMAND / The

Daily Reveille

I remember the exact moment when I lost my faith.

It was Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, at 10:01 CST when I got the text message that would forever change my perception about America’s pastime.

“U hear bout arod?” it said.

“No,” I sent back. It was early, and I hadn’t turned on a television.

“Tested positive for steroids in 2003,” a friend from back home in Atlanta typed.

And in an instant, everything I knew about steroids in baseball was turned on its head – Alex Rodriguez and probably hundreds of other guys we never suspected Johanathan Brooks were dirty.

Sports Columnist “This couldn’t be true,” I thought. “Clearly my friend is lying.”

My friend is a joker, and it wouldn’t be the first time he’s tricked me into believing something false about an athlete.

There was no way this three-time Most Valuable Player, 12-time All Star, 10-time Silver Slugger award winner and four-time Hank Aaron Award A-ROD, see page 11

AROUND THE SEC

Basketball leaves Johnson restless

Coach snoozing just ‘two or three hours’

By David Helman Sports Writer

Trent Johnson doesn’t sleep — he waits.

The first-year LSU coach said he doesn’t “know or really even count” how much he sleeps in a given night. His best guess was “maybe two or three hours.”

Between preparing LSU (19-4, 7-1) for its next game and feeding his basketball addiction, Johnson said he simply doesn’t have time to sleep. The former Nevada and Stanford coach said

he often stays awake late into the night to watch Pac-10 and Mountain West Conference games.

“I want to say 75 percent is preparing for the next opponent or the next game,” Johnson said.

“But I’ll roll over and [think] ‘My goodness, it’s 11 o’clock here, and Stanford is playing Washington State on Fox,’ so obviously I’m going to watch all of that.

[My wife] Jackie will wander in and say ‘Are you going to bed?’ and I’ll say ‘I’ll be in in a little bit.’ Next thing you know it’s morning.”

When he’s not doing that, there is the fate of the Tigers’ men’s basketball program to worry about.

“Coaches in general, we don’t sleep — we just alligator roll,” Johnson said. “You roll over, then you worry about the next play, and you roll over. It’s pretty appropriate for Louisiana isn’t it?”

Johnson will have plenty to fret over this week. The Tigers face Mississippi State (16-7, 6-2) for a chance to take a two-game lead in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.

Despite the long hours, Johnson said the Tigers’ upcoming schedule provides all the energy he needs.

“How do I get energy?

JOHNSON, see page 10

BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille

LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson talks to freshman guard Chris Bass on Jan. 14 during LSU’s 85-65 win over South Carolina.

PAGE 8

THE DAILY REVEILLE

tuesday, february 10, 2009

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Lady Tigers rank near bottom in offensive categories LSU averages only 60 points per game

By Casey Gisclair Chief Sports Writer

Most Southeastern Conference women’s basketball coaches have a firm grasp on what to expect from their teams prior to each game.

But with five regular season games remaining, LSU coach Van Chancellor has learned to expect the unexpected.

“We have had a lot of trouble getting our team to carry things from the practice court into the big arena,” Chancellor said last week.

“And we just can’t do what I’d want us to do on offense because of it.”

LSU averages 60 points per game this season, enough for No. 11 in the SEC.

One reason the Lady Tigers have had offensive deficiencies is an inability to shoot the basketball from the free-throw and 3-point lines.

The Lady Tigers have made just 29 percent of their long distance shots this season, No. 9 in the SEC. And LSU has made just 48 3s this season, which is last in the conference. The next closest teams — Georgia and Auburn — have made 89 3-pointers.

The numbers are uglier if you take away junior guard Andrea Kelly’s 26-for-70 on the season. The rest of the Lady Tigers shoot just 24 percent from behind the arc.

But free-throw shooting has also been poor. LSU shoots an SEC-worst 65 percent from the charity stripe for the season, a stat that baffles senior forward Kristen Morris.

“It’s got to be our focus because we knock them down day after day at practice,” Morris said.

“When we get into games, we need to block everything else out and just knock them down.”

But what has many in the Lady Tigers’ locker room puzzled is the team’s offensive inconsistency.

There have been high points this season, including Thursday’s 68-53 win against Arkansas, when the Lady Tigers shot 50 percent from the field for the game.

LSU also scored 42 points in the final half of Sunday’s loss to Mississippi State, sparked by 23 second-half points from Kelly.

But the bad times have been equally as abundant, including the opening half of Sunday’s loss where the Lady Tigers mustered only 13 points and 23 percent shooting.

LSU had similar problems in the second half of its first meeting with Mississippi State — They scored just 14 points while hitting only four field goals. The team’s NCAA tournament hopes depend on a strong finish to the season, and sophomore guard Katherine Graham said it’s up to each individual in the locker room if the team wants to fix its struggling offense.

“I think we just have to come in on our own and start working on shots,” she said. “We need to start putting the burden on ourself to do extra.”

But for Chancellor, the answers aren’t as obvious, as the majority of his players were recruited with the

ERIN ARLEDGE / The Daily Reveille

Freshman forward LaSondra Barrett dunks the ball Feb. 1 during LSU’s game against Auburn. The Lady Tigers are near the bottom of most conference statistical categories.

assumption that they could shoot the basketball.

“I told them at the beginning of the year that they had the ability to score the ball better than a lot of the players on this team last year,” Chancellor said following the team’s 61-30 win against Texas Southern earlier in the season. “They just have to have the confidence to step up and knock it down.”

Contact Casey Gisclair at cgisclair@lsureveille.com

MLB

A-Rod admits to using performance enhancers

By Ronald Blum The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Already the highest-paid player, Alex Rodriguez wanted to prove himself one of the greatest. Instead, he wound up atop another list: the highestprofile player to confess to cheating in baseball’s steroids era.

The All-Star third baseman, responding to a weekend Sports Illustrated report that he flunked a drug test, told ESPN on Monday he used banned substances while playing with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03 to justify his 10year, $252 million contract.

“Back then it was a different culture,” Rodriguez said. “It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive, and I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, you know — and being one of the greatest players of all time.”

He said he didn’t do it before that and quit during spring training in 2003, before the first of three AL MVP seasons, because “I’ve proved to myself and to everyone that I don’t need any of that.” He was traded to the New York Yankees before the 2004 season, and said he hasn’t used since.

The admission came two days after Sports Illustrated reported on

its Web site that Rodriguez was among 104 names on a list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball. The results weren’t subject to discipline and were supposed to remain anonymous.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez said.

“And I did take a banned substance and, you know, for that I’m very sorry and deeply regretful.

And although it was the culture back then and Major League Baseball overall was very — I just feel that — You know, I’m just sorry.

I’m sorry for that time. I’m sorry to fans. I’m sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn’t until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind.”

Rodriguez said part of the reason he started using drugs was the heat in Texas.

“Can I have an edge just to get out there and play every day?” he said to himself. “You basically end up trusting the wrong people. You end up, you know, not being very careful about what you’re ingesting.”

Though Rodriguez said he experimented with a number of substances, he never provided details.

“It was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things.

I’m guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions,” Rodriguez said. “And to be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

SI reported Rodriguez tested positive for Primobolan and testosterone.

He said he stopped using during spring training 2003, when he sustained a neck injury. It was just as baseball started its drug-testing survey.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks said the admission caught him by surprise.

“I feel personally betrayed.

I feel deceived by Alex,” Hicks said in a conference call. “He assured me that he had far too much respect for his own body to ever do that to himself. ... I certainly don’t believe that if he’s now admitting that he started using when he came to the Texas Rangers, why should I believe that it didn’t start before he came to the Texas Rangers?”

During those three seasons, Rodriguez averaged 161.7 games, 52 homers, 131.7 RBIs and a .615 slugging percentage. In the other

10 full seasons of his career, he averaged 149.2 games, 39.2 homers, 119 RBIs, and a .574 slugging percentage, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

STEROIDS, see page 10

tuesday, february 10, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 9

NBA

Grizzlies hand Hornets fifth loss in seven games

By The Associated Press MEMPHIS –– The Memphis Grizzlies took advantage of the shorthanded New Orleans Hornets with another strong rebounding performance.

O.J. Mayo had 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while Mike Conley scored 18 and handed out eight assists to lead the Grizzlies to an 85-80 victory Monday night.

The win capped the best twogame stretch of holding opponents under 30 percent shooting since 1959.

“We are playing defense much better, helping each other, and rebounding great,” Memphis center Darko Milicic said. “We’re finishing the game, and that’s what’s important.”

Hakim Warrick had 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, while Marc Gasol added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which has won two straight and four of its last five.

Peja Stojakovic scored 23 points to lead the Hornets, who were without their top three players in Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and David West. Paul and Chandler were out with injuries, while West was suspended for the game after his flagrant foul against Minnesota’s Mike Miller on Sunday.

Antonio Daniels and James Posey each scored 11 points as New Orleans struggled from the field,

connecting on only 29.5 percent of its shots. The Grizzlies also held the Toronto Raptors to 29.5 percent in 78-70 win Saturday.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time in more than 49 years that a team has held consecutive opponents under 30 percent shooting from the field.

The last time was Dec. 19-20, 1959, when the then-St. Louis Hawks held Philadelphia to 26.9 percent and Detroit to 29.9 the next night.

Memphis also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Hornets 64-38, including 20 off the offensive glass contributing to 23-8 advantage in second-chance points.

“Anytime you give a team 20 offensive rebounds in a game, you’re going to be at a disadvantage,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “We just did a terrible job on the defensive boards, and they just killed us.”

The Hornets weren’t the only ones short-handed, though. Memphis was missing second-leading scorer Rudy Gay with a left hip flexor, along with starting rookie forward Darrell Arthur (family reasons) and reserve point guard Kyle Lowry (ankle sprain).

The Grizzlies, who led by 12 in the second half, still held an 11-point lead late in the third. But the Hornets put together a 13-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull even at 66 on Rasual Butler’s 3-pointer.

But Conley and Mayo combined for the next 10 Memphis points allowing the Grizzlies to take the lead it never relinquished.

“We’ve got to try and limit teams to tough contested shots, and then no rebounds, so we can get out and run,” Mayo said.

The Grizzlies opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take its first double-digit lead at 51-41, as the Hornets’ shooting dropped under 30 percent.

Stojakovic was doing everything he could to keep the Hornets in the game early in the second half, scoring New Orleans’ first seven points in the third period.

“We had to be aggressive. I think we showed the aggressiveness, but we just didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Stojakovic, who was 7-of-22 from the field. “Another thing is, we allowed a lot of points in the paint.”

The play was sloppy at times in the first half and neither team led by more than six points as there were three lead changes and eight ties.

Stojakovic’s three free throws with 1.6 seconds left in the half gave him 13 points through two periods, and cut the Grizzlies’ halftime lead to 40-39.

The Grizzlies shot 36 percent in the half, while the Hornets were held to 32 percent. Memphis had a 29-18 advantage on the boards, but that was offset by 10 turnovers, leading to 12 points for New Orleans.

MEN’S TENNIS

Duo finds new doubles partners Coach made move to spread experience

By Jarred LeBlanc Sports Contributor

Seniors Michael Venus and James Cluskey have parted ways.

Neither Tiger has left the LSU men’s tennis team, but the pair, who have been doubles partners since their February 6, 2008, match against LouisianaLafayette, have found new counterparts.

The duo finished the 2008 season ranked No. 14 in the nation and had 16 doubles wins, including 10-0 at home during the season. Venus and Cluskey also earned a bid in the 2008 NCAA Doubles Tournament, where they fell to the No. 11 Illinois duo of Billy Heiser and Ryan Rowe.

But freshman Neal Skupski moved into the Cluskey’s spot on LSU’s No. 1 doubles team beginning with the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in January. Cluskey has since played with sophomore Julien Gauthier and freshman Mark Bowtell in the No. 2 spot.

Venus and Skupski (3-0) have started the spring season with victories against the No. 7-ranked doubles team in the na-

tion, Texas Tech’s Christian Rojmar and Raony Carvalho; the No. 4 ranked doubles team of Tulsa’s Arnau Brugues and Philip Stephens and, most recently, Rice’s Tobias Scheil and Christoph Muller.

“Neal Skupski is good enough to play with Venus at a really high level,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “Neal and Mike will probably be ranked top 5 when the new rankings come out.”

Brown said the reason for the switch is to spread out the veteran experience both seniors possess.

“It allows [Cluskey] to play at No. 2 and lend some experience to whomever he plays with,” Brown said. “We just had so much experience at the top when [Michael Venus] and James were together.”

Cluskey, who recently won Ireland’s RSA National Indoors doubles championship, said after the SEC Indoor Championships he agreed the switch would be beneficial for the team.

“They put Mike and Neal together, and they made the [SEC Indoor Championship] finals,” Cluskey said. “Me and Julien played together, and we won the consolation. So I think it’s going to be good for the doubles points during the year. We should have strong doubles.”

Despite being ranked No.

12 in the latest ITA Southeast Regional Rankings with Cluskey, Venus thinks Skupski has enough potential to make the new duo successful.

“Neal is probably the best doubles player on the team,” Venus said.

Skupski said he’s confident playing in the No. 1 spot, despite being a freshman.

“There’s a lot of pressure playing No. 1 and being a freshman, but Michael settles me down,” Skupski said. “I’ve played a lot of doubles back in England.

I have a lot of confidence in playing doubles for LSU.” Skupski said he has experience playing doubles with his older brother and former doubles teammate of Cluskey, Ken Skupski.

“I prefer to play doubles than singles,” Neal Skupski said. “I’ve played a lot of doubles back in England. I’ve had a few tournaments with my brother.”

Cluskey and Ken Skupski finished the 2007 season ranked No. 24 nationally in doubles.

Contact Jarred LeBlanc at jleblanc@lsureveille.com

MARK WEBER / The Associated Press

Grizzlies forward Hakim Warrick [left] has his shot blocked by New Orleans Hornets forward Ryan Bowen [right] during the first quarter of the teams’ matchup Monday night in Memphis.

“Yes, this was an ugly game,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.

“It is always beautiful when you execute and win these games. Both teams were a little bit depleted with

the offensive people, so we were able to hang on.”

Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com

PAGE 10

THE DAILY REVEILLE

tuesday, february 10, 2009

RUGBY

Team dominates, continues quest for conference title Tigers host Texas this Saturday

By Rob Landry Sports Contributor

The No. 8 LSU rugby team took a giant step forward in its pursuit of a conference championship this weekend.

The Tigers (2-0) defeated previously unbeaten Sam Houston State (2-1), 68-13, Saturday at the University Recreation Sport and Adventure Complex on River Road.

LSU has now beaten both Sam Houston State and Texas A&M, the two preseason front runners in the Texas Rugby Union.

Junior inside center Bobby

STEROIDS, from page 8

“This is three years I’m not proud of,” Rodriguez said.

The 33-year-old Rodriguez ranks 12th on the career list with 553 homers, including 52, 57 and 47 in his three seasons with the Rangers. He is 209 behind Barry Bonds’ record 762.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who sits on the House committee that brought Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and other baseball players to Capitol Hill in recent years, favored a congressional hearing with Rodriguez.

“It would be good perhaps for

JOHNSON, from page 7

Losing,” Johnson said. “Honestly, the thought of not being prepared. There’s plenty enough time to rest for me when it’s all said and done. It’s not like my rest is a concern for me and my health.”

TIP-OFF REMINDER Auburn’s upset of Tennessee (14-8, 5-3) on Saturday shoves tonight’s Florida-Kentucky showdown into a slightly brighter light. The Volunteers now have three conference losses, rendering their tie-breaker win against Florida moot for the moment.

The Gators (19-4, 6-2) can claim second place in the SEC for themselves if they can escape Rupp Arena with a win.

Kentucky (16-7, 5-3) is in shambles, dropping three straight SEC games after a 5-0 conference start. A win at home against Florida would force a three-way tie between Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina atop the SEC East.

If Tennessee rebounds to beat winless Georgia (9-14, 0-8) on Wednesday night, that tie could become a logjam with four teams all posting 6-3 conference records.

SCOUTING THE OTHER TIGERS By now LSU has played every team in the SEC West but one.

Johns said the win was great for the team, but there’s still work left to do. “[The win] definitely feels pretty nice,” Johns said. “But we’re trying for a bigger goal. So every time we do something well, there’s always something that can be done better.”

The Tigers compete in the Texas Rugby Union and are attempting to secure a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. The TRU is composed of five teams from Texas (Rice, Sam Houston State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech) and LSU. Since the TRU is only allotted one spot in the playoffs, winning the conference is a must for the Tigers’ goal of advancing to the Final Four and having an opportunity to win a

national title.

LSU senior prop Jimmy Rehkopf said winning the games against Texas A&M and Sam Houston State

us to sit down and talk to him,” Cummings said in a telephone interview. “I would think that he would want to cooperate with us so that the Congress would have the information it may need.”

Rodriguez’s admission was in stark contrast to the denials of Bonds and of Clemens, Rodriguez’s former Yankees teammate.

Bonds, a seven-time MVP, is scheduled for trial next month on charges that he lied when he told a federal grand jury in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Another federal grand jury is considering whether to indict seven-time AL

Cy Young Award winner Clemens on charges he lied when he told a congressional committee last year that he never used steroids or human growth hormone.

Rather than hold a news conference, as Giambi and Pettitte did for their confessionals, Rodriguez chose the controlled setting of an interview with ESPN, one of Major League Baseball’s television partners.

The interview left open many questions: — From whom did Rodriguez obtain drugs?

— How did he pay for them?

— Did anyone help him to

Auburn (14-9, 3-5) ended the first half of conference play on a high note, knocking off preseason favorite Tennessee at home. Auburn has a chance at its first winning streak since Jan. 3 on Wednesday against Arkansas.

Auburn posted its best win of SEC play, 73-51, at Arkansas on Jan. 24.

“They came in here and shot very well,” said Arkansas coach

John Pelphrey. “[Auburn] Coach [Jeff] Lebo has done a good job.

We’re going to put ourselves in the best position we can to give us a chance to win. If we have a good attitude and play within the framework of the team, we can overachieve.”

lsureveille.com Log on to see the slideshow of Saturday’s rugby match.

indicates the Tigers have a great shot at winning the conference.

“Beside us, they are the powerhouses in the conference, so winning there is a pretty good indicator as to who is going to playoffs,” Rehkopf said.

The LSU rugby club’s success

Contact David Helman at dhelman@lsureveille.com

started soon after its inception.

The club was formed in 1970

by Rob Haswell and Hal Rose, and during the 1971 season — the team’s second — the Tigers won 17 consecutive matches.

The club’s longest win streak was achieved during the 1997 season, when it won 22 straight. That season also marked the Tigers’ first TRU championship.

Haswell, a South African native, also introduced the team to a saying that would become its battle cry.

As LSU prepares for every match, the players gather in a huddle and chant the word “Bulawayo” in unison. “Bulawayo” is a Swahili word that translates to “field of slaughter.”

The name comes from a village

in Zimbabwe that was ambushed in 1896. “Bulawayo” was given to the village following the ambush because it was considered a field of slaughter.

The team will next chant “Bulawayo” on Feb. 14 when it hosts Texas.

Junior center Adam Ducoing said the team feels they should win the match, but it won’t be an easy task.

“We’re expected to win the match,” Ducoing said. “They’re going to be a strong team that’s physical, but we bring that physicality to every match.”

obtain them?

“You have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers.

That’s the right question today: Where did you get it? We’re in the era of BALCO,” Rodriguez said. “There’s many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there’s things

that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test.”

Contact Rob Landry at rlandry@lsureveille.com

Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com

Pluckers wing bar $2.50 Mexican beers and Margaritas.

If you don’t like our wings, we’ll give you the bird.

Mellow Mushroom pizza Bakers Open Mic Night $2 Jager, $2 Soco, $10 Buckets, $3.50 Doubles

9-10:30pm Diary of the Dead 12:00-1:30pm Shaun of the Dead 3-3:30pm Newsbeat Live 4:30-5pm Sports Showtime Taped 7-8:30pm Dead Alive

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009 A-ROD, from page 7

winner could have been playing dirty.

But as I logged onto ESPN. com minutes later, it was there, plain as day on the homepage.

A link to a Sports Illustrated report said the slugger tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an anabolic steroid, in 2003 — his first MVP season.

That sealed it.

No one can believe in baseball anymore.

We’ve heard the stories of Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and other guys who have ballooned into caricatures of their younger selves

RECRUITS, from page 7

he’s out of shape, he’s going to be trying to catch up the whole year.”

Davenport has to prove he can work as hard as Dorsey, Brecheen said.

“That’s what made Dorsey special — his motor ran every play,” Brecheen said. “He’s going to have to prove to everybody that he wants it as much as Dorsey did.”

Dorsey and Davenport have slightly different styles of play, said Rene Nadeau, color analyst for ESPN and Tigervision.

“Dorsey played with a lot of speed,” Nadeau said. “Davenport uses more bulk and strength.”

THE DAILY REVEILLE

with bulging biceps and gigantic heads. But Rodriguez was never mentioned in any of this talk.

He was considered by many to be the last hope for clean players doing great things in an era marred by suspicion of steroids.

We were all wrong.

My haste to condemn Bonds and McGwire may have blinded me from the possibility that Rodriguez was a cheater.

He’s always been a consistent guy — a lifetime .306 batting average with 2,404 hits and 553 home runs in 13 full seasons.

Rodriguez has also always had pretty good power numbers with a slugging percentage of .578 for his career.

But I just never saw it com-

PAGE 11

He told “60 Minutes” in 2007 he had never used performance enhancers or even thought about doing them.

And I believed him, because I thought he was the guy who was going to pass Barry Bonds and do it clean.

And I liked that about him.

Even with steroids running rampant in baseball, a guy was putting up epic numbers and doing it without the help of steroids.

With the latest report that not only he, but 103 other major leaguers tested positive for steroids in 2003, it begs the

question: Who else?

Can I believe that Manny Ramirez has hit his 527 home runs without the help of performance enhancers, or that Randy Johnson’s fastball regularly reached 100 miles an hour by the forces of nature alone?

I don’t know if I can anymore.

So Rodriguez was right when he told ESPN on Monday afternoon he was “stupid” to take the steroids.

I don’t know which achievements were done the old-fashioned way — through hard work and perseverance — and which ones were attained by cheating and taking shortcuts.

It’s a terrible reality we must live in.

Now, everyone who has done anything remarkable in baseball since I’ve been alive falls under the cloud of suspicion.

Those great Braves’ teams I rooted for, the Yankees in the late ‘90s and every all-star from the past two decades could have been tainted.

The guys we trusted and admired the most ruined America’s national pastime.

The sport has no more legitimacy.

Brecheen said quarterback on this team is going to probably Russell Shepard may see time as far exceed what he does on the a wide receiver field,” Nadeau his freshman seasaid. son.

S h e p a r d ’s “[Shepard] coach at Cywill come in as press Ridge High a wide receiver School, Gary sometimes when Thiebaud, said the he’s not playfive-star quartering quarterback,” back will mature Brecheen said. into an important “He can run afplayer for the Titer the catch, sort gers.

Rene Nadeau of like a Skyler “As he grows, color analyst for ESPN, Green.” he’s going to be Nadeau said an impact player Tigervision Shepard will add at LSU,” Thieleadership to the baud said. “RusTigers in his first year. sell is going to compete and work “His contribution as a leader hard and find a way to help LSU

win a national championship.”

Wide receiver Rueben Randle will have to develop a few years before becoming the No. 1 receiver.

“Randle is going to play some receiver even though Brandon LaFell will still be the No. 1 guy starting off,” Brecheen said.

“The No. 2 guy will be [rising junior wide receiver Terrance] Toliver. Randle will start off as the third receiver game one.”

But Randle will have the opportunity to improve and adjust to the college game as the 2009 season progresses.

“By the end of the year, I predict he will be one of the top go-to guys as the year goes on,” Brecheen said.

Running back Michael Ford will also have to wait his turn to be the top player at his position. Senior running back Charles Scott had a firm grasp on that position.

“Michael will be the first guy off the bench,” Brecheen said.

Meanwhile, Brecheen compares safety Craig Loston to a former Tiger who was a top-10 NFL draft pick.

“Craig Loston has a chance to be like [former LSU safety] LaRon Landry,” Brecheen said.

“He’s got a chance to start day one.”

‘‘

ing.

‘Dorsey played with a lot of speed.

Davenport uses more bulk and strength .’

Contact Johanathan Brooks at jbrooks@lsureveille.com

Contact Michael Lambert at mlambert@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Opinion

PAGE 12

Tuesday, february 10, 2009

FREEMAN OF SPEECH

Hitting the bong was far from Phelps’ worst offense Olympic champion Michael Phelps got caught smoking from a bong at a party at the University of South Carolina. A picture of his alleged illegality was sold to a British newspaper, and immediately sent shockwaves across the world.

The terms “double standard” and “free ride” have been strewn about so flippantly — certain truths must be made clear.

First, Phelps didn’t win more gold medals than anyone else because of pot.

Second, Mary Jane is not a performance-enhancing drug.

Third, this isn’t the worst thing Phelps has done to his image.

Flashback to 2004, when Phelps, fresh off eight medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was arrested and charged with drunk driving after speeding through a stop sign. When pressed by the trooper to admit his drunkenness, “The defendant replied, ‘I know.

I’m sorry. I was just scared because I have a lot to lose.’”

The fact that his DUI is seen as the second worst thing the Olympian has ever done is

mind-boggling.

In 2006, nearly one-third of all traffic-related fatalities — a total of 13,470 deaths — were because of drunk driving, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. And we’re mad Phelps got high at a party, away from the road and children?

In his apology — the role model, not Phelps — for drunk driving, he said, “I recognize the seriousness of this mistake. I’ve learned from this mistake and will continue learning from this mistake for the rest of my life.”

In his apology — again, the role model, not Phelps — for hitting the ganja, he said, “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old, and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

I’m calling shenanigans.

Phelps is not sorry he hit a bong at a party.

He’s sorry he got caught and

is now forced to feign an apology for the world and the millions of future swimmers he continues to inspire.

But this raises a question about the era of the role model in our 21st century world, where Eric Freeman Jr. any escapade can be caught, Columnist filmed and distributed to anyone with an Internet connection within seconds.

We should not expect Phelps to “learn from his mistake,” especially considering the puerile criticism of Phelps more closely resembling the Salem witch trials than a criminal investigation.

When seemingly every major sporting event is sponsored

by Budweiser, when Diddy can endorse Ciroc premium vodka, when everyone has a photo function on their phones, can we really expect every public figure to be held to the same inane standards in public now that their private lives can be displayed on the web quicker than Rosetta Stone

can teach Chinese?

Phelps’ mistake was not hitting the peace pipe but being a world-famous athlete with an inherent responsibility to millions of children to act a certain way.

But even then, this doesn’t set aside the fact that Phelps was doing what more than 97 million Americans have tried, according to a 2007 National Institute of Health study.

The list of people who have tried marijuana include President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, although not successfully — it only works if you inhale. According to Obama, “that was the point.”

No shortage of statistics exist on the fallibility of our marijuana laws, but citing these sources over and over again won’t change the disastrous results of our archaic drug war.

With law enforcement spending billions per year trying to fight this disastrous war, the pot industry itself — although illegal — still generates billions per year, with many wishing money could be taxed and given to the federal government.

Marijuana smokers could provide the single biggest stimulus this economy has ever seen.

Pot is only illegal because of the billions upon billions given to the pharmaceutical industry for less effective, still fatal drugs.

Those drugs are getting weirder as well.

The FDA approved use of milk from genetically engineered goats to produce a drug to be marketed and sold in the hopes of preventing the spread of blood clots, according to The New York Times.

The next time you see a commercial for a prescription drug in which the narrator says, “A few studies, some fatal, have been reported with the use of this drug,” think about Phelps, President Obama and the rest of the 97 million of us prevented from using pot responsibly.

Would you rather illegally smoke an herb or legally take a drug made out of goat pleasure?

Contact Eric Freeman Jr. at efreeman@lsureveille.com

JUXTAPOSED NATIONS

FDA wrongly permits embryonic stem-cell research The FDA recently permitted Geron Corp., a biotech company in California, to test embryonic stem cells in human patients for the first time.

Apparently deciding to forego the numerous ethical and safety concerns associated with this practice, the FDA gave Geron the green light the same week President Barack Obama was inaugurated. This is undoubtedly a sample of the “change” we have been promised.

Geron should abandon the limelight in favor of patient safety. Possible tumor formations and the need to place their patients on anti-rejection drugs are both dangerous risks that are not worth the modest results the tests will yield.

But it seems the only risk Geron is concerned with is the possibility that embryonic stem cells may be merely equal, or perhaps lesser, than their

scientific progress. counterparts — adult stem cells.

Most of the leverage proAdult stem cells are often overlooked as an alternative to ponents of embryonic stem cell research have embryonic stem

By Linnie Leavins gained is based on cells. the argument that The two are Columnist many embryos left similar in function, but adult stem cells are taken over from in vitro fertilization — from areas including the wisdom a form of artificial insemination teeth, brain, bone marrow and — are slated by their parents to liver and can only re-grow tissue be destroyed anyway.

To sidestep this argument, in the area they were taken from.

This means adult stem cells something must be done to recan be harvested as needed, as- duce the amount of leftover emsuming they are accessible. Con- bryos.

The obvious answer is to imtrary to embryonic cells, adult cells do not require anti-rejection pose IVF regulations. Not only drugs because they are usually would this lower health risks for taken from the patient’s own the patients, it would help them avoid grappling with morally ambody.

Given that Geron Corp. has biguous questions and nasty cusabandoned the moral alternative tody battles that sometimes occur adult stem cells offer in favor of when couples separate, leaving the ethically obscure and largely frozen embryos in limbo.

New technology has untested, one can’t help but wonder if they were simply motivat- streamlined the IVF process, ed by patent money rather than making regulation possible.

THE DAILY REVEILLE Editorial Board

KYLE WHITFIELD TYLER BATISTE GERRI SAX DANIEL LUMETTA MATTHEW ALBRIGHT TRAVIS ANDREWS ERIC FREEMAN JR.

Editor Managing Editor, Content Managing Editor, External Media Opinion Editor Columnist Columnist Columnist

Researchers at Stanford University of Medicine conducted a study last July and discovered by looking at several different factors in their patients such as age, hormone levels, egg quality and embryonic characteristics, they could predict a pregnancy with a 70 percent accuracy rate.

After an initial test cycle, doctors used this information as a reference point to adjust the amount of embryos created in the process according to the patient’s fertility, thereby reducing extra embryos every cycle.

A study conducted five years ago at Sahlgrenska, a Swedish academy, discovered another reduction method.

The findings reveal the success rate of multiple implants doesn’t significantly exceed that of a single implant, thus eliminating any need for extra embryos — or excuses to create them.

These methods can reduce

EDITORIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author.

Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired every semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

the chances of having high-risk pregnancies, save patients money by predicting pregnancy rates, improve health and eliminate the stress of answering the question above Obama’s pay grade.

Quite frankly, no one has the authority to answer that question to satisfaction — the FDA included. Perhaps they should have remembered that, before considering themselves the authority on what constitutes the exact moment of commencement of life.

Though this moment may never be determined beyond doubt, human life is not something to gamble with.

It should always be given the benefit of the doubt, not exploited for scientific advances that are uncertain at best.

Contact Linnie Leavins at lleavins@lsureveille.com

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Love is the answer, but while you are waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.”

Woody Allen American director, screenwriter and actor Dec. 1, 1935 ­— present

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Tuesday, february 10, 2009

PERFECT DYSTOPIA

Opinion

PAGE 13

University should instate ‘sex time’ as new ‘nap time’ The University should allot time for sex.

One of the more likable aspects of kindergarten — besides the halfdays, finger painting and the silly putty — is nap time.

Regrettably, the tradition of allowing children to sleep at school is not implemented in higher education. Math, science, English and history become more complicated and difficult as children age. Simple addition turns to algebra to calculus to proving calculus like Newton. Rudimentary sentences, like “He ran.” are transformed into paragraphs with complex syntax.

Like all aspects of school are geared toward the individual ages, nap time should not be eliminated from the curriculum but reformed to fit the biological needs of the person.

At younger ages, children need sleep. At older ages, people need sex.

Colleges and universities should start a new tradition of sex time.

Japanese companies have already started a similar practice. They now urge workers to go home early twice a week so they can have sex, which will hopefully lead to babies,

according to a Jan. 26 CNN article.

The companies adopted the policy to stimulate the rapidly shrinking population. Japan has a birthrate of 1.34, and experts say a rate of at least 2.0 is required to maintain the current population size.

The reason for this low birthrate is not because the Japanese are not sexually active, but because they are too tired after 12-hour work days. The plan not only helps rebuild the dwindling population but also inevitably helps the diminishing economy.

The employees working fewer hours no longer have to be paid overtime. Further, with more time off from work, employees can relax and come back to work more revitalized and efficient. In addition to the low birthrate, Japan is aging faster than any other major economy. And it won’t be long before one third of the population is older than 65, according to Feb. 25, 2004, article in The World Today. Experts suspect the population could total just 500 by the year 3000 if this rate of aging remains stagnant.

Among countless other factors, stress levels, increased workloads and lack of sufficient sleep are all

causes of premature aging. To increase worker efficiency, prevent decline in population, and boost overall happiness of the citizens, sex time is a necessity. The companies express their patriotism at least twice a week by executDini Parayitam ing this stimulus package.

Columnist The University should indubitably do the same as the Japanese companies and add extracurricular sex time classes.

Individuals with religious, moral or personal convictions should not be coerced to participate — only students that believe they need to enroll should be welcomed. The question about why universities and not companies should act may flutter about rapidly in one’s mind.

Secondary schools are not options where such a plan could be implemented because parents and guardians may conventionally object and not sign the permission slip. In college, adults can make mature and informed decisions without parental

consent.

Sex and designated sex time have many underappreciated benefits — ranging from physical to emotional to academic perks.

Compared to other countries, America has a large overweight population. More than 66 percent of the American population 20 years or older is overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Starting advanced exercise habits at the collegiate level could have long-term physical benefits for the individual. Reportedly, most sexual intercourse sessions burn approximately 200 calories. “This is like running 15 minutes on the treadmill,” according to an Oct. 4, 2007, article in Softpedia.

In an attempt to make a little mac for oneself, one can have sex twice a day to burn away a Big Mac. No longer shall the “Freshmen 15” be the thought of our already thought-tormented age.

Sex also emotionally increases one’s self-esteem. Self-confidence, which is highly tested during college tenures, improves during sex.

The release of the neurotransmitter

dopamine relieves stress, dissatisfaction and anxiety, writes author Marnia Robinson in her book “Pulling Away (after Sex).”

It may seem unnecessary to assign a specific time for sexual intercourse because most college students learn to effectively manage their social lives around their schedules already.

But there are also many students who suffer because they are unable to do so. Many students who work more than one job, take the maximum amount of hours and volunteer may find it difficult to handle.

We live in a world that stresses work before play. People no longer have the time to practice even instinctual behavior — resorting to allotting time to be humans and reproduce.

People need to realize they have their whole lives to learn and work.

Having no time should not be an excuse for not having a good time.

Contact Dini Parayitam at dparayitam@lsureveille.com

METAIRIE’S FINEST

Oscars only serve to make the invalid feel validated

The Oscars are a lot like most political arguments.

Everyone talks about them during the relevant month, but no one really cares what the outcome is.

Hell, like those arguments, most people involved don’t even know when the actual decision is made.

No one is going to lose sleep over “Frost/Nixon” beating “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and no one is going to be on the edge of his or her seat when Heath Ledger is announced the winner for Best Supporting Actor.

No one really cares, but everyone thinks they should.

And the reason no one cares is the same reason people don’t care much about eating cabbage and blacked-eyed peas on Jan. 1.

The idea is a great one — luck and health for a year — but the reality is

terrible because those foods pretty much taste like dirt.

The Oscars cannot help but disappoint because they merely mirror what was fun in the first place: seeing the selected films.

And it’s fun trying to catch up on all the movies that are nominated for various categories. It’s a blast trying to guess what will win because — when that guessing is in progress — everyone else is guessing as well.

It becomes a game of sorts, but a game that doesn’t rely on the end result.

Because in the end, no one cares who wins what. All the films remain good, and sometimes it’s even nice when a good director loses just to see what that director will do in his or her next attempt at the little golden statue.

No, the Oscars are nothing more than validation for everyone involved.

The normal folks — the rest of us — get validated in our choice of film when the movies we like get nominated. We Travis Andrews get to chamColumnist pion our good taste around when a movie we liked gets a nod for Best Fill in the Blank Here.

“See, I totally loved the stylish hipness of ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ and now I got hundreds of film-educated people agreeing with me.”

Or whatever.

The folks involved in actually making films get validated

in the most obvious way. They get accolades for the work they’ve done (more accolades, at least, than the high pay and constant fame).

The folks in the Academy get validated when they are given the power to decide what is the definitive “best movie of the year” every single year, regardless of how many people call them self-serving, pretentious idiots.

And, finally, Hugh Jackman gets validated by actually being asked to host one of the least important nights of television, which is far more than anything the poor guy has ever done in his career.

All around, everyone wins to some degree.

And by the time the show finally airs on Feb. 22, everyone will be tired of all the validation and just give up caring.

All of this is fine, save for one little catch. We only get most of the “Oscar-worthy” films in the final month or so before the show. Then we get another 11 months of easy, money-making crap. Then another month of good film.

This won’t change, but it sure is a shame. In the past month, I’ve had one of the best movie-watching sprees I’ve ever had.

Soon, theatres will be filled with more “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Hotel for Dogs,” the Oscar fervor lost in the dust of February.

And, frankly, that’s just too bad.

“Decoration Day” in the aftermath of the War Between the States, this so-called memorial day has memorialized nothing but the betrayal of the founding principles of this federal republic through naked aggression.

The War for Southern Independence, the proximate origin of Memorial Day, can best be characterized on the Union’s part in the words used by its own Ulysses S. Grant to describe the Mexican war: “one of the most unjust [wars] ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of

European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.”

There are those who would raise hue and cry over the issue of slavery.

As a cause of the Second American Revolution, though, this is just a red herring — every other country to end the practice of chattel slavery in the 19th century did so peacefully.

An independent Confederacy would soon have been an international pariah and would have been forced to change its ways.

In fact, the War Between the States did more to foster racial

injustice than any other event in American history. To the sainted Abraham Lincoln, this war represented nothing more than a chance to nationalize a previously federal government through the imposition of tariffs that favored the North and strangled the South, to wit. Only through forced union could the Republicans enforce their punitive economic agenda on the South.

As for remembering the military tradition of LSU, were it that we could forget it. Lest we forget, William Tecumseh Sherman, one of the most egregious war criminals

loosed upon this earth, was once superintendent of this institution.

Sherman’s criminal “March to the Sea” is nothing to be memorialized.

No member of the armed forces has died to preserve the freedoms of U.S. citizens since 1815, so a holiday established in 1866 hardly memorialized that. Better we should forget Memorial Day and, instead, return Veterans Day to its original name of Armistice Day and its original focus — a celebration of peace, not war.

Jon Frosch library and informational sciences graduate student

Contact Travis Andrews at tandrews@lsureveille.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We should forget Memorial Day The significance of Memorial Day is indeed underestimated, but not in the way the editorial board of The Daily Reveille seems to think.

This board would have us think it’s a celebration of those who have died preserving freedom in the armed forces of these United States — balderdash.

From its roots as

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009 ******************************** ******************** Jane St. Amant - 225.937.6430 Keller Williams Red Stick Partners CHERRY BED WITH MATTRESS SET Both NEW in boxes with warranty $395 225.924.5336 QUEEN PILLOWTOP MATTRESS Brand name queen pillowtop mattress set new in plastic $150. 225-924-5336

FOR RENT FOR RENT !!!! L A K E B E A U P R E LAKE BEAU PRE TOWNHOMES 2 BEDROOMS $1250.00 TO VIEW ALL RENTALS GO TO WWW. KEYFINDERSBR. COM 225.293.3000 DOWNTOWN RIVERVIEW CONDOS Renovated 2 BR/2BA, granite counters, cypress cabinets. Fresh paint. $1200/mo.

Plus deposit. Call Don 368-3240 OAKBROOK S TUDIO $720 Gated community, fully furnished kitchen, W/ D, walk-in closet, cable, phone, and FAST internet all included 504-289-7316 SUMMER GROVE CONDOS Reserve your unit now for Summer/Fall ’09.

2bed/2 bath - $1,200 2bed/2.5 bath - $1,300 3bed/3.5 bath - $1,650 See our website for more details! www.deanflores.com Dean Flores Real Estate 9191 Siegen Lane Ste 4-B Baton Rouge, LA 70810 225.767.2227 L SU: TIGERL AND 1 & 2 BR. FLAT & TH WOOD FLOORS, POOL, LAUNDRY, QUIET $525-$725 225.766.7224 TOWNHOME SOUTH G ATES LSU 2br / 1.5 ba, w/d, alarm, fans, patio, water pd, no pets $1000 rent $500 dep 225-766-6555 TIGER MANOR CONDOMINIUMS. UNIT S R E A D Y F O R S P R I N G & F ALL 2009! Brand new 1, 2, & 3 bedrooms available. Reserve y o u r u n i t t o d a y ! Wa l k t o c l a s s ! 3 0 0 0 J u l y St. 225-346-5055. www.tigermanor.com 3BR/2BA CONDO Like New. Free Cable.

Community Pool. Extra Parking. Great Location at LSU. $1500/mo.

225.202.1148 ACADIAN AT CAPITAL Hgt, 1br, 1ba house, w/ d conn, dw, $500 Month $300 dep 225-766-6555

ROOMMATES $400 ALL UTILITIES INCLUDED ROOMMATE-WANTED TO SHARE HUGE-3BR-3BATHHOUSE WITH MALE. EXCLUSIVE AREA-CONGRESS-PERKINS. HIGHSPEED-NET-CABLEALARM-WASHER-DRYER-LARGE-YARD-GATED. GREAT FOR ENTERTAINMENTLSU.225.772.2506 ROOM IN GOOD house. W&D, alarm, etc.

No lease needed. $260 + shared utilities. $250 dep. 225.921.1209 $700 SIGNING BONUS Universtiy Cressent on Burbank, 3bed/ bath. Furnished $505/ month 228.424.0730 2 ROOMMATES NEEDED - $300 March 1st, 4Br1Ba House on Aster. Utilities included $300/month. cgelis1@gmail.com 985.285.0939

PERSONALS LET’S MEET! Single, outgoing, very attractive, brown LSU Senior gal seeking to date interracially/ Internationally a mature, nice looking male student, Grad/ or non student (26-38) for coffee, museum dates, music, enjoyment of the Arts. If interested email me Selena_M1212@yahoo.com.

NICE GUYS FINISH FIRS T Tall, independent, blonde senior looking for smart, cute, sensible guy. I love reading, walks, and family. Email if interested: sun-

setbridge281@gmail.com LF1M Quietly confident and fun male tired of gaming alone. Looking for shy guy to play with, hang out, and maybe date. Let’s take a chance. Hope you are out there! lsugaymer@gmail.com I WANT TO BE YOUR DERIVATIVE so I can lie tangent to your curves. Nerdy ndn chick seeking an intelligent and attractive conversationalist. Ladies only, please—I’m tired of natural logs approaching the asymptote. sheenyinabottle@hotmail.com LOOKING FOR MY SOULMATE I am a Business Major here at LSU. I am also

AAmerican with shoulder length red hair, and full figured. Looking for guys ages 4560. Who enjoy full figured ladies. If you are interested send me an email. c.mumford@yahoo.com SEARCHING 4 SOULMATE 20yo Asian guy seeking masculine guy 18-23 to date.

Races open. I’m a sweetheart! tigerboy1988@gmail.com

SEEKING TICKETS FREE EVENT -$1 0 P A R K I N G Thrilling day of motorcycle drag races, 2/15. only 1 Student Id required per vehicle.

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THE DAILY REVEILLE

tuesday, february 10, 2009