The Daily Reveille - September 15, 2009

Question of the Week Log on to see what students’ favorite and most hated classes are.

STATUS UPDATES Murphy out for season with injury, page 7.

THE DAILY REVEILLE Fashionable Fans WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM

Volume 114, Issue 16

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

CRIME

Tiger Stadium atmosphere inspires students to dress in crazy costumes

By Mary Walker Baus Staff Writer

Just as true Tiger fans claim purple and gold pulses through their veins, the colors run rampant on the backs of LSU students, faculty, staff and die-hard fans when the Bayou Bengals take the field in Death Valley.

Game day at Tiger Stadium brings more than 92,000 people to the University area to show off their purple and gold in a variety of fashions. From dresses and button-downs to body paint and outlandish costumes, Ti-

lsureveille.com

ger tailgating proves a hodge podge of football fashion.

Jessica Pattison, apparel design doctoral student and instructor, said gameday wear varies between the different groups of fans.

“It all matters to the person and what type of social group they’re in,” Pattison said.

Pattison said fans who dress up for the football games keep the traditions of southern belles and beaus alive.

Mimi Faucett, interior design sophomore, said she and her Delta Gamma sisters usu-

Log on to see tailgaters’ trends Saturday.

Game day brings 13 MIPS

By Adam Duvernay Senior Staff Writer

Everyone wants to have a good time tailgating before Tiger football games, but not everyone can enjoy the experience in the same way.

While snatching kegs and confiscating cases of beer, campus police issued 13 summons for minors in possession of alcohol before and during Saturday’s game, according to Maj. Helen Haire, LSU Police Department spokesman.

Though Haire said the number of summons issued Saturday was not an outrageous number for a home game, it caused a stir among students returning to the spirit of tailgating.

“We’re always concerned with underage drinking because of the risks associated with it, and we’re going to continue to enforce it,” Haire said.

Haire said at least one keg was confiscated from tailgaters during the game. She said at least one or two are taken away from underage drinkers every game.

Some tailgating students said they noticed an increased police presence on campus.

“I don’t know if it’s because I never looked for them, but I never realized how many police there were,” said Michael Pizzolato, psychology freshman.

John Browing, general studies

FANS, see page 15

photos by GRANT GUTIERREZ and BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

DRINKING, see page 15

TRAFFIC

Car accident injures four students

By Adam Duvernay Senior Staff Writer

A car accident on South Stadium Drive left four students injured and an Easy Streets booth damaged Monday at approximately 4:30 p.m.

The accident occurred when engineering sophomore Dat Tran and three passengers were approaching the Easy Streets booth on South Stadium Drive near Tiger Stadium.

Ashley Sylestine, communication

disorders sophomore, said she was walking toward Nicholson Drive when she saw Tran’s Toyota Camry struck on the rear driver’s side by a black Nissan Xterra.

Tran said he was looking straight forward and didn’t notice the Nissan coming from the West Stadium parking lot until it was too late.

Tran said he tried to brake, but couldn’t, before swerving into a concrete pylon and wrecking part of the small brick wall surrounding the booth.

Sylestine said she immediately called

911.

LSU Police Department and the EMS arrived within minutes because the wreck was close to the Public Safety Building.

Though all four students wore seat belts and both airbags deployed, all moderately were injured. Most had bloodied noses and swollen faces.

“It happened so fast,” Tran said. “It was like getting hit with a pillow, a hard pillow. A hard pillow with bricks in it.”

WRECK, see page 15

BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille

A paramedic checks on Phuong Nguyen, computer engineering sophomore, who was involed in a two car wreck early Monday evening on South Stadium Drive.

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

Nation & World

INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

Gay Chinese stand up to police sweep of hangout

Murder, violent crime dropped in 2008

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) — When the police descend on People’s Park and shoo away the gay men gathered there, the men usually scatter to avoid trouble. But recently, about 50 or so confronted five officers who began a sweep and finally forced a police retreat after a heated but nonviolent standoff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Murder and manslaughter dropped almost 4 percent last year, as reported crime overall fell around the country, according to new data released Monday by the FBI. The 3.9 percent decline in killings reported to police was part of a nationwide drop in violent crime of 1.9 percent from 2007 to 2008. Rapes declined 1.6 percent, to the lowest national number in 20 years — about 89,000. The statistics are based on crimes reported to police, who then forward the information to the FBI. Embassy guard photos evoke Abu Ghraib comparison

France seeks to combat workplace suicides PARIS (AP) — France Telecom SA was mobilizing all 20,000 of its managers Monday in an effort to respond to a string of 23 employee suicides that unions blame partly on layoffs and restructuring at the telecommunications giant.

The latest suicide, and the one to spark top-level concern, was that of a 32-year-old woman who threw herself out a fourth-floor window of her office building in northwest Paris on Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Photos showing private security guards in various stages of nudity at drunken parties may be as damaging to U.S. interests in Afghanistan as images of detainee mistreatment at Abu Ghraib were in Iraq, members of an independent panel

investigating wartime spending said Monday. The photos widely circulating on the Internet show guards hired by ArmorGroup North America to protect the U.S. Embassy in Kabul engaging in lewd behavior and sexual misconduct, giving Muslims in Afghanistan a negative image of the United States and making the jobs of American officials there all the more difficult, they said.

Obama extends embargo for one year WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has extended the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba for one year, the White House said in a statement released on Monday. The extension was expected and has been the practice of all U.S. presidents dating to the 1970s under a section of the socalled “Trading With the Enemy Act.” Obama extended the embargo even though he has made reaching out to old U.S. foes a key plank in his foreign policy.

STATE/LOCAL

Warden: boy, 8, aided in capture of La. escapee ANGOLA, La. (AP) — A convicted murderer who escaped from Louisiana’s top-security prison was captured on Monday partly because of a tip from an 8-year-old boy who spotted the man outside his school, the prison warden said. The boy, Hunter Gaines, spotted escaped convict Henry Smith “run across the basketball court” at his elementary school in nearby Tunica on Thursday, the day Smith ran off from nearby Louisiana State Penitentiary, warden Burl Cain said.

The tip helped, even though the child waited until Saturday to report the sighting, Cain said.

1st trial over FEMA trailer fumes open in La. NEW ORLEANS (AP) — For the first time since Hurricane Katrina left tens of thousands of families liv-

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ing in FEMA trailers, a federal jury heard allegations Monday that the government-issued shelters exposed Gulf Coast storm victims to hazardous formaldehyde fumes.

Louisiana fares poorly in children’s health survey (AP) — A new report card gives Louisiana a “D’’ in children’s health, saying too many kids are overweight and too few get enough physical activity, spending more time parked in front of a TV set than children in other states. In fact, Louisiana has the highest percentage of high school students with TVs in their bedrooms in the nation, and studies show children with bedroom TVs are more likely to be overweight, said Peter Katzmarzyk, with LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, which released the report card Monday. Louisiana received the same grade as it did a year earlier, when the annual report card was started by Pennington.

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CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

In the September 14 article “Two students bring diversity to fraternity life,” The Daily Reveille incorrectly affiliated Fred Jones, theater performance senior, with Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Though Jones says he was a member of a the organization, president Tyler Abadie says Jones is not a current member of the fraternity.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TRANSPORTATION

Construction begins on Brightside Green Light Plan to add third lane

By Lindsey Meaux Senior Staff Writer

Recently commenced construction on Brightside Lane, marking the halfway point of the Green Light Plan, will add a turning lane along with walkways and bike paths on either side of the street.

Work began Thursday and is anticipated to last approximately nine months.

The post-production costs of the project — the 18th of 36 projects planned for East Baton Rouge

Parish — are predicted to be $7.1 million, according to Green Light Plan representatives. Brightside Lane is viewed by the Green Light Project as a vital road for both the University and area residents.

“The Brightside Lane project is the first of several important projects for this area specifically designed to alleviate traffic congestion, reduce the potential for traffic accidents and improve the quality of life,” Project Greenlight Director Michael Songy said in statement to The Daily Reveille.

Jeremy Baumgartner, mechanical engineering sophomore, said he rides his bicycle to campus each day to avoid morning traffic.

He said riding his bike saves him an

additional 15 minutes each morning.

Baumgartner said he would likely drive to campus more often — if he were certain he would make it in time for his 9:00 a.m. class.

“Nine o’clock traffic is heinous,” Baumgartner said. “You can’t leave for 8:30 [a.m.] and then get to campus for 9:10.”

While construction began several days ago, residents will not experience any traffic delays until the utility lines running along Brightside are relocated.

Katie Kampen, psychology freshman, said the lack of turning lanes causes traffic to back up on Brightside during peak traffic hours.

“Sometimes, you’ll be sitting there forever waiting for one person to turn so everybody else can go,” Kampen said.

Following the project on Brightside Lane, construction will begin on Nicholson Drive at Brightside to improve traffic at the intersection and, eventually, the construction of additional travel lanes on Nicholson from Ben Hur Road to Gourrier Lane.

The Green Light Traffic Plan was created by East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden in May 2005, It was voted and passed Oct. 15, 2005.

Bidding began on the Brightside Lane Project in May 2009.

BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille

Traffic stalls on Brightside Lane while a car waits to turn left Monday. The Green Light Project plans to add a third lane to the street, as well as walkways and bike paths.

Contact Lindsey Meaux at lmeaux@lsureveille.com

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Future of W policy uncertain Deadweek policy to be enforced

By Xerxes A. Wilson Staff Writer

The status of the new W policy is unclear to Student Government members and University Provost Astrid Merget.

Merget told SG members Monday she did not know the exact position of the new W policy, said Jonathan Walker, SG director of academics.

The Faculty Senate approved a revised version of the W policy last semester, said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope.

Meghan Hanna, former chairwoman of the SG Athletics, Academics and Administration Committee, presented the plan to the Faculty Senate during the spring semester. Hanna said she was approached by various members of the Office of Academic Affairs who expressed their approval of the plan.

The new policy will change the number of W’s allotted to each year classification from the current policy based on hour classification, Hanna said.

SG Vice President Martina

Scheuermann said Merget told SG members she knew the bill had passed through the Faculty Senate Committee on Admissions, Standards and Honors, but didn’t know the current status of the bill.

The new plan went to Academic Affairs for approval after receiving the Faculty Senate’s endorsement, Hanna and Cope said.

Cope said the senate approved the plan with significant lead time because of challenges with implementation and University officials needed to have the changes printed in the University’s general catalog.

Cope said he supposes it will be approved by Academic Affairs and be implemented sometime in 2010.

“It’s going to happen,” Hanna said. “It’s just a matter of time until it is implemented.”

The University’s current W policy was implemented in 2006.

It permits three W’s for students’ first 29 hours and one W for each hour tier beyond that. The second hour tier ends at 59 hours, the third ends at 91 hours and the fourth ends at 119 hours. Anything above 119 hours is considered the fifth tier.

The new policy is designed to give students more flexibility with their W’s while keeping students

from abusing the policy, Hanna said.

The plan would allow students to have three W’s to use during their freshman and sophomore years. Students would then have two W’s during their junior and senior years and then receive one additional W for each extra year they need to graduate.

SG Assistant Director Krista Allen also spoke with Merget regarding the University’s deadweek policy.

Allen said deadweek policy has been a problem in past semesters because everyone is not completely informed of the policy.

“The problem is we have a policy in effect, but it is not being enforced,” said SG President Stuart Watkins.

Allen said Merget will send an e-mail in the future to the individual University departments to inform everyone of what assignments professors can assign and the restrictions involved with deadweek.

Watkins also announced SG is working on a system for students to appeal what they see as violations of the deadweek policy.

Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at xwilson@lsureveille.com

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THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

RESEARCH

University chair of chemistry receives $3.6 million grant Money to investigate hazardous waste

By Kristen M’lissa Rowlett Contributing Writer

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences recently awarded University professor and Patrick F. Taylor chair of chemistry Barry Dellinger a $3.6 million grant to support research on hazardous waste disposal and its impact on public health.

The grant will help support a Superfund Research Center at the University, the LSU’s Health Science Centers in New Orleans and in Shreveport, Dellinger said.

The $3.6 million awarded to the program came from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was part of the national stimulus package.

The program sponsors interdisciplinary research where chemists and engineers can work with biomedical researchers. There are 16 other research centers in the nation, Dellinger said.

The Superfund Research Center studies by-products from burning hazardous waste and the environmental and health impacts, like tumors and birth defects.

Toxic combustion by-products have been determined to be responsible for 50,000 deaths each year, according to the chemistry department’s Web site. Dellinger previously assisted with the development of the Environmental Protection Agency’s toxic waste disposal guidelines.

William Gehling, chemistry graduate student, studies particles

CRIME

Inside job suspected in killing

By The Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Clues increasingly pointed to an inside job Monday in the slaying of a Yale graduate student whose body was found stuffed inside a wall five days after she vanished from a heavily secured lab building accessible only to university employees.

Police on Monday sought to calm fears on the Ivy League campus, saying the death of 24-year-old Annie Le was a targeted act. But they declined to name a suspect or say why anyone would want to kill the young woman just days before she was to be married.

“We’re not believing it’s a random act,” said officer Joe Avery, a police spokesman. No one else is in danger, he said, though he would not provide details and denied broadcast reports that police had a suspect in custody.

Yale officials said the building where Le worked would reopen under increased security. Still, some students worried about their safety.

“I’m not walking at nights by myself anymore,” said student Natoya Peart, 21, of Jamaica. “It could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.”

Michael Vishnevetsky, 21, of New York, said he did not feel safe when he made a late trip to his lab Sunday in a different building. “It felt very different than how I usually felt,” he said.

Twenty-year-old Muneeb Sultan said he’s shocked that a killing could take place in a secure Yale building.

“It’s a frightening idea that there’s a murderer walking around on campus,” said Sultan, a chemistry student.

Police found Le’s body about 5 p.m. Sunday, the day she was to marry Columbia University graduate student Jonathan Widawsky, lovingly referred to on her Facebook page as “my best friend.” The couple met as undergraduates at the University of Rochester and were eagerly awaiting their planned wedding on Long Island.

Police have said Widawsky is not a suspect and helped detectives in their investigation.

The building where the body was found is part of the university medical school complex about a mile from Yale’s main campus. It

is accessible to Yale personnel with identification cards. Some 75 video surveillance cameras monitor all doorways.

The body was found in the wall chase — a deep recess where utilities and cables run between floors.

An autopsy on Monday confirmed that the remains were those of Le, and authorities formally declared her death a homicide.

Le’s laboratory was in the basement of the five-story building. Her office was on the third floor, where authorities found her wallet, keys, money and purse.

Campus officials said the security network recorded Le entering the building by swiping her ID card about 10 a.m. Tuesday. She was never seen leaving.

Yale closed the building Monday so police could complete their

investigation, according to a message sent to Yale students and staff.

Scientists are being allowed in only to conduct essential research projects, and only under the supervision of a police officer.

Police activity continued at the crime scene early Monday evening, as uniformed officers with police dogs and workers wearing white suits to protect them from hazardous materials went in and out of the building.

When the building reopens, there will be extra security both inside and outside, said Yale Secretary and Vice President Linda Lorimer.

Police are analyzing what they call “a large amount” of physical evidence.

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

found in cigarette smoke, which can stay in the atmosphere over time.

The grant will help advance his research, he said.

“It’s a little bit more beyond the scope of the University but more for human health,” Gehling said.

Dellinger is concerned with the cutbacks to the research infrastructure from University budget cuts and said the grant will provide funds the University cannot.

Although the grant mainly affects chemistry graduate students, graduate and undergraduate students in agronomy and

environmental studies will also see the benefits with equipment the grant will provide, he said.

Eric Vejerana, chemistry graduate student, said the grant will help progress research because of the high prices and complexity of supplies.

“It’s such a specialty field that there’s only a few companies making it, and the chemicals themselves are really expensive,” Gehling said.

Contact Kristen M’lissa Rowlett at krowlett@lsureveille.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 5

AGRICULTURE

Students grow own vegetables Organic produce farmed on campus

By Emily Holden

Mellow Mushroom

Contributing Writer

Laura Dicks loves cooking with organic produce, but she’s sick of paying high costs at grocery stores.

“It tastes better, but I can’t really afford it,” Dicks said.

This semester the history senior, along with 25 other community members, rented an organic plot at the Hill Farm Community Garden.

The garden, located between East Campus Apartments and the Lod Cook Alumni Center, is a 1/4-acre plot within the 5-acre Hill Farm. It consists of individual and community plots, a section designated for an organic gardening class and a small orchard tended by an agriculture professor.

The Hill Farm has existed since the 1920s, but the garden began about 10 years ago, said faculty adviser Carl Motsenbocker.

Hill Farm Community Garden President Kenneth Kuchita said few students have seen the garden.

“It’s kind of a well kept secret,” Kuchita said.

Motsenbocker said the garden’s popularity has grown during the last few years, and Kuchita said a few gardeners might be turned away this semester.

Community members pay $10 per semester to rent a 9-by-5foot plot, Kuchita said. Gardeners grow everything from tomatoes and eggplants to watermelons and sunflowers. Kuchita said one gardener grew exotic loofah plants last semester.

Kuchita said gardeners do not use pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or plastic twine. He said the garden layers newspaper to retain moisture and guard against weeds and hay to reflect sunlight.

Kuchita said the most active gardeners spend up to 20 hours per week in the garden. But some gardeners, like Azure Bevington, reap benefits working as few as one to two hours per week.

Bevington, research associate for the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, lives in an apartment where she cannot grow her own food.

“It’s just nice to have fresh vegetables and not have to pay for them and know that they’re organic and local and clean,” she said.

Bevington said she plans meals based on the produce she’s grown. Dicks said she harvested 30 pounds of potatoes one year and cooked a lot of beef stew.

“We’re basically trying to demonstrate that students can grow food on campus,” Motsenbocker said. He said the garden is not licensed to sell produce, but he hopes to develop a class for students to grow food to sell at farmers’ markets.

Pint Night...Free Glass with Draft.

10 Till. $2 Jager. $2 SoCo. $4 Bombs.

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Plucker’s Wing Bar

Monday: $14.99 All you can eat wings and $3 Plucker’s Lemonades Tuesday: $2.50 Mexican Beers and Margaritas Wednesday: Trivia at 8PM. $4 Mother Plucker Mugs Thursday: $15.99 All you can eat wings. $4 Mother Plucker Mugs. $3 Margaritas and Plucker’s Lemonades

Fred’s Bar

Tonight: $1 Bud Light Hand Grenades $2.00 Shots 12-2 Wednesday: $2.50 Imports & $3 Doubles $1.50 Shots All Night

9:00- 10:00 AM

JASON BORDELON / The Daily Reveille

Ashley Braquet, community member (left), and Meghan Alvendia, biological sciences sophomore (right), help clean up the Hill Farm Community Garden on Monday.

The garden harvests crops planted by an organic gardening class to donate to the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Room.

Alaric Haag, five-year member and Earth Scan Laboratory systems administrator, said the

garden donated about five or six truck beds full of greens and other vegetables last semester.

Contact Emily Holden at eholden@lsureveille.com

12:00-2:00 PM 3:00-3:30 PM 4:00- 4:30PM 7:00- 9:00 PM 10:00-10:30 PM 10:30- 11:00 PM 11:00-1:00 AM

Duplicity

17 Again News Beat Live Sports Showtime I Love You Man News Beat Repeat Sports Showtime Repeat Obsessed

PAGE 6

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Sports

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

PAGE 7

BREAKING FREE

Senior scores two TDs, becomes team’s leading rusher

By Rachel Whittaker Chief Sports Writer

WILLIAMS, see page 11

Injury likely ends Murphy’s season

By Rachel Whittaker Chief Sports Writer

LSU junior running back Richard Murphy is likely done for the season.

Murphy left Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt in the second half with an apparent right knee injury.

LSU coach Les Miles said Murphy will likely be sidelined until spring 2010.

“We certainly hope there is some news that would allow [Murphy] to return, but we don’t expect it,” Miles said. “He’ll be ready for the spring, and we’ll look forward to that. He’s a very talented guy.”

Miles said senior running backs Keiland Williams, Charles Scott and Log on to Trindon Holliday see a will shoulder the video of load in the running coach game.

Miles’ “The three press guys who will carry conference. the ball a lot for us as we go forward will be [Williams, Scott and Holliday] and not in that order,” Miles said. “Charles Scott wants to be on the field, and he has a want to play a little at fullback for this team.”

Miles said senior wide receiver R.J. Jackson will also be more involved in the offense in future games. Jackson led all receivers with six receptions for 55 yards on Saturday against Vanderbilt after catching just one pass for a loss of 1 yard in his career.

“R.J. Jackson had a career night but also blocked well and is really coming into his own,” Miles said.

“He went up for a ball that was con-

lsureveille.com

lsureveille.com

Senior running back Keiland Williams has been the team’s secondleading rusher in each of his previous three seasons at LSU. But Williams exploded with two rushing touchdowns against Vanderbilt on Saturday, making him LSU’s leading rusher through two games.

Williams finished with 10 carries for 72 yards Saturday, running his total to 123 yards this season, ahead of senior Charles Scott’s 101.

But Scott said he and Williams have a great relationship on and off Log on the field, and they to see a have the same slideshow goals for each of the other, no matter LSU-Vanderbilt who’s getting the game Saturday. majority of the carries.

“He runs like a hungry man, like somebody who’s been wanting it,” Scott said. “Everybody knew he could do it, and it was no surprise to me when he came out and tore it up both games. With us on the field, we’re almost unstoppable, and I’d put us up against any running game in the country.”

Williams said he prepared himself mentally for the number of carries he’s involved in. He has 17 rushes this season with an average of 7.2

FOOTBALL

photos by BILL HABER / The Associated Press

[Top left] LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson (9) congratulates LSU running back Keiland Williams (5) after Williams scored a touchdown against Vanderbilt on Saturday. [Above] Williams steps into the endzone to score a touchdown against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Williams scored both touchdowns in LSU’s win.

MILES, see page 10

FOOTBALL

Out-of-state recruiting popular Offers extended to 22 prospects

By Michael Lambert Sports Contributor

Prospects from the Pelican State have headlined LSU’s recruiting classes for the last few years.

But LSU coach Les Miles has also been known to reach for recruits across the nation, landing outof-state players like senior tight end

Richard Dickson, sophomore cornerback Patrick Peterson and freshman quarterback Russell Shepard.

Miles and the rest of the coaching staff have already begun extending written and verbal offers to recruits for the 2011 class. LSU has extended offers to 22 out-of-state recruits, and 15 of them were named to the Scout.com 100 for the class of 2011. Nine in-state players have also received offers, according to Scout.

“It’s hard to evaluate these guys at this point,” said Scout recruiting analyst Sonny Shipp. “You can only

know so much about a recruit before they play out their junior season.”

Shipp said offers for players outside of Louisiana are often handed out quickly, while in-state offers take more evaluation.

Certain criteria must be met by the players for LSU to hold their offers closer to National Signing Day. Shipp said grades, progression on the field and other benchmarks determine if the offer with be kept.

Some recruits land offers after RECRUITS, see page 11

photo courtesy of VANCE VALENTINE

Cedric Reed (88), Cleveland High School senior and out-of-state recruit who received an offer from LSU, takes down a Rockdale High School ball carrier.

PAGE 8

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

BABBLING BROOKS

Student section’s problems emerge during game

Tiger Stadium is one of the premier venues to watch college football in the country.

The stadium was ranked the No. 4 student section in the country by ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit in his ninth annual “Herbie Awards,” and he’s a man who’s been to his fair share of big-time stadiums both as a player and an analyst.

But even with such high praise and reverence from the college football world, the student section still has its problems, and here are my top five.

1.

THE “OH-WEE-OH” CHANT What’s the big deal here?

It’s a silly chant and dance and also a complete mystery to me how it even became popular.

When people do it, they look like morons rocking to and fro like a gaggle of purple-and-gold Weeble Wobbles droning on in repetitive tones.

What’s even lamer than the chant is the ever-present battle between the “You Suck”-ers and those who yell “Tigers.”

This just brings a new element into the fracas because Tiger Band threatens to discontinue it on a seemingly biweekly basis — as if it matters.

People are going to yell both either way, and they’re probably going to do the dance with or without Tiger Band, too.

So Tiger Band — do it or don’t, but you’re not going to control the majority of the student section.

2. PERVASIVE VULGARITY I use profanity probably as much as the next guy, but seriously, the student section can make anything offensive if it tries hard enough — which it usually does.

It’s funny the first few times, but it gets old in a hurry.

Even the beloved “Neck” got vulgarized Saturday night, so by my count that’s at least four band-accompanied songs people are making profane.

The cursing generally isn’t even the issue. It’s the grade school-level intellect associated with the cursing.

When one says, “Kick their ass and beat the shit out of them,” it’s pretty redundant considering if someone is kicking ass, it’s almost a guarantee they’re also beating the shit out their opponent.

3. BOOING THE TEAM FOR STUPID REASONS Booing is an inevitable occurrence at sporting events because somewhere during the course of the game, something’s going to happen that can evoke no other reasonable response.

Be it a pick six, bad call or poor clock management, the boos will come.

But student section denizens and Tiger Stadium Johanathan at large should Brooks pick and Sports Columnist choose their spots because sometimes they sound downright stupid.

Not going for it on fourth and short in the third quarter when your team is up by less than a touchdown is not boo-worthy.

There’s a difference between having a gutsy coach and a dumb coach, and kicking a field goal and getting three points is a lot smarter than risking a stop and ruining a lengthy drive.

4. BEACH BALL ACTION Football games aren’t just sporting events — they’re parties.

And no party is a party without games.

Beach balls fill this void in Tiger Stadium and give fans something to do in the low points of action during the game.

But once again, it’s about picking your spots.

The first beach ball of the season went up Saturday night during the third quarter and the jubilation was apparent, all while an injured player was laying on the field.

Vanderbilt sophomore tackle James Williams had broken his ankle on the previous play and

was down on the field with his football season finished while hearing cheers and boos from a sizable portion of the north endzone’s fans.

I know they weren’t cheering for the injury, but it was still an odd scene and a sign of poor etiquette.

5. “LIVING ON A PRAYER” If you’ll allow me to appropriate a rhyme from rapper Kanye West, Bon Jovi is bad — real bad, Michael Jackson. “Living on a Prayer” makes me mad — real mad, Joe Jackson.

Aside from the fact the song is older than most LSU students, it’s perhaps one of the most inappropriate football songs imaginable.

The lyrics go, “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not. We’ve got each other and that’s a lot. For love, we’ll give it a shot.”

It does make a difference if “we” make it or not. You play to win the game, according to former NFL coach Herm Edwards.

If it didn’t matter, then no one would care to play or watch the game. Playing “Living on a Prayer” just doesn’t make any sense.

Maybe I’m over-thinking all of this, and these things aren’t even a big deal.

I guess it’s just nice to have something to think about besides wondering when the next pick six or blown coverage is going to happen.

It looks like those problems have been at least temporarily fixed.

Johanathan Brooks is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Powder Springs, Georgia. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_jbrooks.

Contact Johanathan Brooks at jbrooks@lsureveille.com

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

The LSU student section joins in on the “Oh-wee-oh” chant during the game versus Vandebilt in Tiger Stadium on Saturday.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 9

NFL

McNabb status uncertain for Sunday’s Saints game Third-year pro Kolb may fill in

By The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Donovan McNabb once played four quarters on a broken ankle. A cracked rib can’t keep him out.

Can it?

“He’s pretty sore,” coach Andy Reid said Monday. “He’s going to try and battle through it. He’ll struggle to practice. He’s going to do everything he possibly can to try to play.

We’ll see how that goes. He’s staying optimistic about that.”

McNabb is not ruling himself out for the Eagles’ game against New Orleans next Sunday.

“Not necessarily, anything can happen. It’s just Monday right now, but if Friday and Saturday come along and I’m feeling a lot better, you just never know,” he said. “It’s a slow process of just meeting with our trainers, doing two-a-days with treatment, going through the process of just like I’m playing in the game, and seeing how I feel at the end (of

RICK HAVNER / The Associated Press

Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb (5) grimaces after being injured in the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers during a game in Charlotte on Sunday.

the week).”

Third-year pro Kevin Kolb filled in for McNabb during Philadelphia’s 38-10 victory over Carolina in the season opener. He would start against the Saints if McNabb can’t play.

Michael Vick is not eligible because he was suspended for the first two regular-season games as the last part of the NFL’s penalty for his role in a dogfighting ring. Vick probably wouldn’t start even if he could play because he’s still rusty and Reid has maintained all along that Kolb is the

backup.

Kolb hasn’t moved the offense much in the few opportunities he’s had, though he’s never worked with the starters during a practice week.

The Eagles could find themselves in a shootout against Drew Brees and the rest of New Orleans’ high-octane offense, so they can’t afford a slow start.

“I have full confidence in him,”

Reid said of Kolb. “I don’t worry about his accuracy or knowledge of the offense right now. It’s just a matter of getting caught up with the game speed of the regular season.”

The Eagles signed Jeff Garcia to back up Kolb if McNabb can’t play. The team considered A.J. Feeley, who was released on Sept. 6, but Reid said Feeley is expected to sign with Carolina.

In 2006, Garcia — a four-time Pro Bowl pick — led the Eagles to a 5-1 record and a division title in six regular-season starts. He also guided them to a playoff victory over the New York Giants before losing the following week to Brees and the Saints.

McNabb got hurt when he took a hard shot on a 3-yard TD run in the third quarter. He spun away from a defender at the goal line, but was nailed by Panthers nose tackle Damione Lewis on the ground in the end zone.

McNabb played an injuryfree season last year for the first time since leading the Eagles to the

Super Bowl in 2004. He’s missed 24 games, including playoffs, due to injuries during his first 10 seasons in the NFL. The Eagles are 14-10 in those contests.

Reid said McNabb doesn’t have to practice to play this week.

“We’ve seen him do that before and play some pretty good games,” Reid said. “We’ll take it day by day. We just want to get him back healthy.”

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

PAGE 10

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

SWIMMING AND DIVING

First ever top-15 signing class expected to make impact Team excited about nine new freshmen

By Katherine Terrell Sports Contributor

A team that plays together stays together.

That’s the philosophy of the LSU women’s swimming team, which lost 12 seniors after this past season.

Last season’s team had 12 seniors and three freshmen. This season is drastically different, with only two seniors compared to nine freshmen.

With such a serious change, maintaining team chemistry is crucial, said Lauren Grandy, one of the team’s only seniors.

Grandy said this year’s team dynamic is different, but not in a bad way.

“I lost pretty much all my

friends,” Grandy said of the graduated seniors. “But I got a whole new group.”

This year’s group of freshmen comes from six different states and one foreign country.

Together they make up LSU’s first ever top-15 women’s recruiting class for swimming.

“This is the fastest class we’ve had come in,” Grandy said. “Having all these new people come in has taken our team to the next level.”

Grandy emphasized the importance of making the freshmen feel welcome, especially because it is a new place for all of them.

Freshman Sara Haley, a fivestar recruit and participant in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, said LSU felt like home from the beginning.

“I was so excited to come,” Haley said. “The moment I got here, I just knew I was home.”

‘‘

‘Deep down, we all know we have it in us to have a good season. It’s just a matter of training well and coming up on top.’

Amanda Kendall

LSU freshman swimmer Haley said she already feels close to her teammates in the few weeks she’s been here.

“I’ve only been here for three weeks, but we’re pretty tight,” Haley said. “All of us freshmen get along and hang out, and our team hangs out as a whole all the time together on weekends.”

The entire swim team

MILES, from page 7

tested, made a great catch and put us in position to make that late field goal at the end of the half.”

Freshman quarterback Russell Shepard made his regular-season debut for LSU in the first half against Vanderbilt. Shepard lined up at both quarterback and receiver and had three carries for 27 yards, but he also fumbled after an 8-yard reception — his only reception of the game.

“He needs to also mature a little bit and make sure he takes care of that ball,” Miles said. “It’s a goal of ours to get him more touches as we go forward in the season.”

Miles said he was impressed with the performances of the defensive linemen, including veterans like senior Charles Alexander and young players like Chancey Aghayere and Lavar Edwards.

“It looked like a defensive line that I’m used to seeing here,” Miles said. “Charles Alexander is lighter and more athletic than he’s been and is becoming tough to block inside. It was nice to see [Edwards] get a sack and cause a fumble; hopefully he’ll get used to doing it.”

Aghayere and Edwards filled in for junior Lazarius Levingston, who missed the game after being injured against Washington.

Miles said Levingston is “ahead of schedule” and should return in two weeks when the Tigers take on Mississippi State.

Senior defensive end Rahim Alem earned Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday, and Miles said he sees “a veteran feel and passion” in Alem.

“He’s going to be very difficult to line up against week after week,” Miles said. “Instead of just coming off the football, he’s recognizing backfield sets, what the opponent is doing and how it will affect his technique.”

The SEC also announced LSU’s matchup against Mississippi State on Sept. 26 will kickoff at 11:21 a.m. on the SEC Network.

Contact Rachel Whittaker at rwhittaker@lsureveille.com

RACHEL WHITTAKER / The Daily Reveille

LSU football coach Les Miles states during a press conference Monday running back Richard Murphy will be out for the rest of the season with an injury sustained during the Tigers’ win over Vanderbilt.

attended the LSU-Vanderbilt football game together Saturday, Haley said. The team also tailgated together and sat together at the game.

Freshman Amanda Kendall, one of CollegeSwimming.com’s top 100 recruits, said the upperclassmen have been particularly kind to the younger girls.

“They’re all so nice and so welcoming,” said Kendall. “They help us with anything we need or anything we don’t understand.”

Kendall said the team’s upperclassmen help ease the transition for the younger swimmers.

“Each of us has like an older sister on the team who is helping us out,” Kendall said.

While the seniors have taken the freshmen under their wings, Grandy expects them to contribute when the season begins.

“The freshmen definitely work hard in practice,” Grandy

said, “They’re all really good girls. They’re all really quick.”

Grandy said the freshmen’s intensity has inspired the older girls to work even harder.

“It kind of lights a little fire under us,” Grandy said with a laugh. “We need to move quicker or the freshmen will pass us up.”

Competition and the new roster has both the veteran and new LSU swimmers ready for the season-opening meet Sept. 28.

“Deep down, we all know we have it in us to have a good season,” Kendall said. “It’s just a matter of training well and coming up on top.”

Contact Katherine Terrell at kterrell@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 WILLIAMS, from page 7 yards per carry.

“I put myself in that position in fall camp, so the touches I’m getting, I’m kind of expecting,” Williams said. “[LSU] coach [Les] Miles told me the things I needed to work on to keep me on the field, and those things are showing now. It’s good because the defenses have more to worry about — they can’t just worry about Charles carrying the ball. They have to account for me as well.”

Williams and Scott were roommates for half of their sophomore year and their entire junior year, and both players joke they are each other’s “evil half.”

“Charles and I mess with each other and say we’re the worst things that happened to each other,” Williams said. “[Running backs coach Larry] Porter separated us in the meeting room. He had said it for the longest [time] and never did it, but this year he finally put Charles in the front of the room, and I sit by coach Porter, but Charles still manages to turn around and talk to me.”

Sophomore offensive guard Josh Dworaczyk said he also sees the fun-loving friendship Williams and Scott share as teammates.

“If you ever watch them on the sideline when one of them scores a touchdown, they’re all grouped together celebrating,” Dworaczyk said. “At one point they were doing a celebration dance. We all smile about it, and they’re humble about the situation.”

LSU senior offensive tackle Ciron Black said players look to Williams for his leadership and versatility beyond just running the football.

“Keiland is one of the guys you look at when you want to ... model yourself after somebody,” Black said. “It’s not just this game or this year. He made tremendous blocks, hitting 300-pound linemen in the mouth. That’s just what he does.”

Senior wide receiver R.J. Jackson described Williams as “fun to be around” in addition to his toughness on the field.

“Keiland was running with his eyes — that’s the biggest thing for a running back,” Jackson said. “He made some spectacular cuts too. One of the stretches he scored on, he just made it happen.”

Miles said Williams’ standout performance against Vanderbilt is one he hopes will continue throughout the season.

“Keiland Williams ran extremely well with the touches he got,” Miles said. “He was named the Offensive MVP with two rushing touchdowns and running the way that he’s capable.”

Williams said he and Scott often switch roles in practice, with one playing running back and the other blocking at fullback. Ultimately, Williams said they are working together on the team.

“Charles doesn’t determine whether I get on the field or not,” he said. “If I’m successful in practice, I’ll see playing time. The ultimate goal is to see each other play on Sundays. Charles is definitely somebody who you could gravitate to ...

I couldn’t see my life here without him.”

Contact Rachel Whittaker at rwhittaker@lsureveille.com

RECRUITS, from page 7

a high school teammate commits to a school. Shipp said after Skyline (Dallas) wide receiver Mike Davis committed to LSU for 2010, the coaches took a harder look at his teammate — middle linebacker Anthony Wallace — who received an offer for the 2011 class.

A pair of Texas players have attended camps at LSU in the summer.

North Shore High School offensive tackle Sedrick Flowers came to Baton Rouge in June, and Cleveland

High School defensive end Cedric Reed camped in July.

Reed, a Scout four-star recruit, recorded 75 tackles and nine sacks his sophomore season. The 6-foot-5inch, 243-pound lineman has a slew of offers such as Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

Tight end Chris Barnett is the third Lone Star State native with a 2011 offer.

LSU has offered four South Carolina prospects — quarterback Justin Worley, wide receiver Hakeem Flowers, offensive tackle Brandon

Offers by state for LSU class of 2011, according to Scout.com •South Carolina — DE Jadeveon Clowney, OT Brandon Shell, QB Justin Worley, WR Hakeem Flowers •Florida — QB Teddy Bridgewater, RB Mike Bellamy, CB Keelin Smith •Texas — TE Chris Barnett, MLB Anthony Wallace, DE Cedric Reed •Georgia — RB Isaiah Crowell, QB C.J. Uzomah, DT Gabe Wright •Alabama — WR Darryl Collins, CB Erique Florence •North Carolina — QB Marquise Williams, WR Nigel King •Tennessee — CB Jabriel Washington •Arizona — OT Christian Westerman •Washington — WR Kasen Williams •Nevada — DE Jalen Grimble •Ohio — QB Braxton Miller

Shell and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Shell and Clowney are both high-profile linemen. Shell, a 6-foot7-inch, 310-pound recruit from Goose Creek High School, has LSU, Clemson, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia in his top five, according to Scout.

Shell gets guidance from his uncle, former Oakland Raiders coach Art Shell.

“He helps me any time he can,” Brandon Shell said. “He came up to Goose Creek from Monroe [Ga.] to help us out at practice not long ago.

He has really helped me with my technique.”

Three Florida natives received LSU offers — quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Mike Bellamy and cornerback Keelin Smith.

Bridgewater recently attended a Nike 7-on-7 tournament in Oregon and met a former LSU elite quarterback.

“It was really cool to see JaMarcus Russell out there helping us out,” Bridgewater told Scout. “I watched him when he was at LSU,

PAGE 11 and he is kind of the reason why they have my attention.”

Three Georgia natives are also on LSU’s 2011 offer list — running back Isaiah Crowell, quarterback C.J. Uzomah and defensive tackle Gabe Wright.

Crowell has several offers, but the 6-foot, 204-pound Georgia native is highly considering the Tigers.

“LSU is a school that I want to be in the mix for me,” Crowell told Scout. “I don’t know really anything other than what I have seen on television, so I need to get to learn more about the program first.”

Two recruits from Alabama and North Carolina received offers.

One recruit from each of Tennessee, Washington, Arizona, Ohio and Nevada have also gotten offers.

Las Vegas native Jalen Grimble plans to visit Baton Rouge and see his cousin, freshman LSU linebacker Barkevious Mingo.

Contact Michael Lambert at mlambert@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Opinion

PAGE 12

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

JUXTAPOSED NOTIONS

Vector Marketing’s chalkboard advertisments misleading If you’ve ever seen an advertisement on campus for a student job boasting $15 per hour and you thought it was too good to be true, then you were right.

These advertisements, which are often scribbled in the corners of LSU chalkboards, are a teaser for Vector Marketing.

Jaded students will tell you it’s a scam. To be fair, “scam” is a harsh word to use, and technically speaking, it isn’t true.

My own experience with Vector is different from most. I didn’t initiate contact with them – they found me.

I received a call from them on my cell phone, during which a receptionist informed me a fellow LSU student had referred me for a job with Vector. Without giving me further information about the job, other than saying I would learn “people skills,” she then asked me

to schedule an interview.

But I declined because I didn’t recognize the company nor the name of the student who was supposedly passing around my resume on the sly.

When I finally managed to contact the student who had allegedly referred me, he confirmed he was an LSU student but denied passing around my résumé or knowing who I was.

That was the first red flag.

I called the main number back and asked the secretary for a more detailed job description. The only reply I got was a muttered, “I’m not supposed to do this,” then a grumpy rattling of a list of “business ethics” I would learn while working for the company.

When I pressed them further, they insisted I would “learn about it at the interview.”

And here we arrive at the

main gripe many have with the company – Vector’s hesitancy to provide potential employees with information and answer questions prior to the interview.

They are continually disingenuous and perpetually vague when dealing with potential employees. As a result, many Linnie Leavines college kids Columnist arrive at the interview uninformed and expect a huge payoff, only to become embittered when they discover Vector isn’t quite the cash cow they thought it was.

I want to save your time, so allow me to disillusion you by telling you what I’ve managed to find out through my conversation with

the LSU student who “referred” me to Vector. Let me give you the information they won’t.

Foremost, Vector is a company that sells Cutco knives door to door. Additionally, the chalkboard ads are misleading – you don’t make $15 per hour. That’s just the base pay for every appointment you make.

Finally, beginner salesmen are instructed to peddle the knives to friends and family.

Depending on whether your family and friends choose to divulge follow-up contacts, you are either devoid of resources and can no longer make money (the company does not provide leads), or you can continue and direct market in the homes of strangers.

See how easy that was?

Strange that Vector seems incapable of divulging such information upfront, though I can only

suppose it’s because they desire to maintain their “get rich quick” persona by means of omission.

That said, you may end up enjoying working for them anyway.

It’s not a typical job, and certainly not for everyone. In all fairness, for all those who dislike Vector, there are plenty who are able to find great opportunities within the company.

But if you decide to work there, please ask them how they appropriated my cell number. I’m still trying to figure that one out.

depositing sediment, which is our best land-building resource. Right now, precious sediment from the Mississippi is being dumped into the Gulf of Mexico; we are wasting it when it could be used to create a natural barrier against future storms, which is exactly what our existing marshes provide.

As Dr. Reed said, if money were pouring into the Gulf, “we’d be doing something about it.”

Another problem is that a lot of what is left appears deceptively vibrant, when it is actually not in good shape; consequently, scientists like Gagliano and Reed have trouble getting people to understand that this is a major problem.

This land loss has been observed since the 1970s, yet people are still not aware of what is happening or what must be done.

All of the restoration scientists I listened to said the exact same thing: we need to stop wasting billions on planting grass and other “quick-fix” projects, such as mitigation banks, that do not match the scale of the problem.

These essentially do nothing.

We need to push our government for a plan that will divert part of the Mississippi (and also be compatible with navigation), such as the proposed Coast 2050 plan; for more information on this proposal, visit www.coast2050. gov.

Either we spend the money

to fix it now, or we lose billions of dollars when our ecosystem finally collapses.

curriculum is much harder!

Mr. Albright, I challenge you to find five students that dropped out of a humanities major and switched to engineering solely based on the toughness of the coursework, because I guarantee you I can find hundreds of students that have fallen short in even the basic math and science courses and have immediately switched to a liberal arts or humanities major.

In fact, were I arrogant enough to attempt to argue, say, an

engineering major such as myself were somehow superior to, say, a mass communication major, I could easily say that rewording a “logical response” someone else has already compiled is far easier than solving and explaining complex problems while having to apply every math and science course you have ever taken.

But I’m not that arrogant.

Linnie Leavines is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Central City. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_lleavines.

Contact Linnie Leavines at lleavines@lsureveille.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Coastal erosion needs immediate new solutions I’m ashamed to admit that before I read Mike Tidwell’s book on the subject, Bayou Farewell, I was not aware of the extent of the problem of coastal erosion, nor was I aware that the government has not implemented plans necessary to truly attain a sustainable future for Louisiana.

After reading Farewell and attending lectures here at LSU

by Tidwell and two of the scientists mentioned in his book, Dr. Woody Gagliano and Dr. Denise Reed, I feel the urgent need to spread the word.

Our coast continues to vanish at an alarming rate — 1,600 square miles annually.

There are many contributing factors, but much of the damage inflicted is the result of human technology — mainly the canals dredged by the oil companies and the leveeing of the Mississippi River.

The government keeps insisting that a better levee system will prevent another disaster like Hurricane Katrina, but levees are a main reason land is disappearing.

They prevent the river from

THE DAILY REVEILLE Editorial Board NICHOLAS PERSAC JERIT ROSER MATTHEW ALBRIGHT ELLEN ZIELINSKI

Editor Managing Editor, Content Opinion Editor Production Editor

ERIC FREEMAN JR.

Columnist

MARK MACMURDO

Columnist

Elizabeth Clausen English freshman

Engineering majors are superior For being such an “open-minded person,” Matthew Albright’s column last Thursday was a pretty biased and ignorant opinion. Maybe next time, he should research a topic before he makes such a harsh remark about it.

Statistics show engineering and science majors make an average $65,000 starting salary, while humanities and liberal arts majors make an average $35,000 starting salary.

Now, I understand that everyone is not in it for the money, and I encourage these people.

They are the future teachers, lawyers and politicians, and without them, society and government would crumble.

But we need to get real. The majority of students — and even humanity — desire one thing, money!

And if humanity and engineering majors were so “compatible,” why do more students drop out of engineering majors and switch to a humanity, but not the other way around?

The answer is simple — the

Jonathan Alexander electrical engineering junior

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

EDITORIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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.

“You have to show violence the way it is. If you don’t show it realistically, then that’s immoral and harmful. If you don’t upset people, then that’s obscenity”

Roman Polanski Polish-French film director August 18, 1933 — present

THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

FREEMAN OF SPEECH

Opinion

PAGE 13

Landrieu worse for Dems than Vitter for GOP Two people represent Louisiana in the United States Senate.

One is a lying backstabber who sacrifices constituents’ best interests by caring more about money than the voices of the people.

The other cheated on his wife with a prostitute.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Louisiana, today’s critical debate over health care reform involves trying to please two camps. One group is the reluctant Republicans, who are stopping at nothing to poison a legitimate debate about the need for reform, lying about aspects of the bill that aren’t even there.

The other is the much smaller, consisting of conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, under heat from their purplish-red constituencies for supporting anything President Obama proposes.

David Vitter and Mary Landrieu belong to these two camps, respectively.

But it’s Senator Landrieu, not Vitter, who is the bigger disgrace to her party.

On ABC’s “This Week” last Sunday, Landrieu explained the point

of health reform was to cut costs. She also said she was against a public insurance option.

These two statements don’t go together.

Republicans are afraid a public insurance option would lead to a “government takeover of health care,” as private insurance companies wouldn’t be able to compete with a public alternative. More liberal Democrats are hoping the public option will act as a backdoor to a single-payer, “Medicare for All” system where everyone, regardless of race, creed or illness, would be covered if they get sick.

If the health care industry were as concerned with getting the staggering number of uninsured off the rolls than they are with obtaining a profit, there wouldn’t be private insurance “companies,” only health insurance providers, which they pretend to be now.

They cease to be “providers” when they throw people off the rolls when they get sick. The public option would be in place for people to go if they couldn’t afford the alreadytoo-high cost of health care, forcing

insurance companies to lower their costs and, God forbid, lower their profit margins.

This summer, we’ve seen the very worst of America. To get this straight early, protesting the actions of the federal government is not only expected, it’s patriotic.

But there’s a thin line between voicing your concerns Eric Freeman jr. and nearly inciting a riot.

Columnist There’s nothing patriotic about bringing a gun to a town hall. There’s nothing patriotic about equating our democratically-elected president’s health care reform efforts with those of a certain Nazi führer.

You may not like Obama, but he’s not about to kill six million people because of where or how they were born.

That said, the Republicans are trying to pretend the outrage at his presidency is legitimate. Whenever GOP congressmen or senators say

their supporters have a legitimate point in questioning where Obama was born, they’re elevating hatred and, in many cases, outright racism to national prominence.

When Joe Wilson screamed, “You lie!” at the president while America watched Republicans act like fifth-graders, it didn’t seem shocking.

Honestly, it seemed commonplace. As disgusting as it was, I was almost waiting for it.

The actions of the Republican Party have made David Vitter irrelevant to the standing of his party.

Whether it was his endeavors with a certain D.C. madam service or his ridiculous mailer he sent out trying to gauge outrage at Obama’s policies, he proved himself to be a pompous hypocrite.

But our pompous hypocrite is just one in a party made up increasingly of pompous hypocrites.

Landrieu, on the other hand, was elected as a Democrat, the party responsible for passing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the fighting force behind today’s health reform.

This isn’t to say she represents only the Democrats or President Obama. This also doesn’t shield Democrats from legitimate criticism, like their timidity in acquiescing to Bush’s war in Iraq or his trillions in tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans.

Landrieu represents the state of Louisiana. As such, considering more than 20 percent of our state doesn’t have health insurance—largely since Louisiana is the second poorest state in the nation—she should be acting for those who can’t.

She should support a public option and give Louisianans an honest choice.

Otherwise, we should choose someone else.

Eric Freeman, Jr. is a 22-year-old political science senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter at TDR_efreeman.

Contact Eric Freeman Jr. at efreeman@lsureveille.com

ANALOG AVENGER

Today’s big name videogames mile wide, inch deep I already had an impressive resume by age 10.

I’d won at least six NBA championships with as many teams. I could fly four different kinds of starships across the cosmic abyss. I knocked out Mike Tyson.

I had three girlfriends in three different dimensions. I was a sucker for troubled women. I saved one from a giant gorilla by jumping over no less than 286 barrels.

The second fell in with the wrong crowd, the giant pig-type.

Zelda – it’s a stupid name anyway. I became a surgeon with the bow and arrow, and all I got was a golden triangle.

The last girl really did it to me, though – I never thought I’d find the right castle. I accidentally tripped on mushrooms to save her from a firebreathing turtle, but she wasn’t even home.

Of course the above only happened in a video game, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Today, many games have traded originality for almost mindless shock value.

Thirteen years have gone by since I was 10, and the games have changed. The textures are sharper but more unforgiving. The skies aren’t so blue anymore, but the flames are crisper.

Yesterday, I played “Fallout 3,” widely called “the best game of 2008.” I walked into a bombed-out home, going upstairs to the kids’ room. Their skeletons were still tucked safely in bed. Model airplanes were strewn across the floor.

They looked like the ones I used to

pilot.

Of course I didn’t notice any of this at first. I just quickly grabbed the rifle ammo off the nightstand, jumped out the window and went on my way. It wasn’t until five minutes later it hit Jack Johnson me: What in the hell did I just Columnist see?

This sort of sight would have scarred me back then. What changed, and why? When did I go from a fat, bouncy, romantic plumber to a “COME GET SOME” space marine?

There’s no denying the high production values of games like “Gears of War,” “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Call of Duty 4,” some of the Xbox 360’s highest selling games. That is, one can really see the attention to detail in the viscera: That’s exactly how I would expect brains and gunsmoke to look!

Video games are no longer as gimmicky. They have an enormous stake in the entertainment industry.

And so, the audience has broadened.

More “average Americans” have picked up the joystick.

This is why the most anticipated games are “Halo 3,” “Gears of War 2” and the like. For all their beautiful artwork and sweeping scores, the average Joe just wants a bigger, badder plasma rifle. They want a new kind of grenade, an alien with more detachable limbs.

The Wii sells plenty of units.

Nintendo’s light shines on, appeasing the kid in us all. But these games with Hollywood budgets – artists – remain the elephant in the room.

What gives with the unadulterated violence? Some say it gives them a chance to “do or be something they couldn’t in the real world.” Still, why must we default to linear bloodspilling? Where’s the originality?

Pac-Man wasn’t exactly a realworld premise, either. Here we had a half-eaten pizza creature chomping on anti-anxiety pills while he fled the clutches of Technicolor specters.

I’m guilty of desensitization, too, but any gaming fan should not forget from where he or she came.

Remember the games that gave you a good vocabulary – that taught you about time travel.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to the old me. I haven’t taken a full-court shot in I don’t know how long – I predict an airball. Iron Mike could probably knock me out today. The flight controls are covered in dust – I’d likely crash out of the hangar.

And the girls? I hope they remember me. I’d jump over a million

barrels if they’d just give me another chance.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll trade the Widowmaker 9000 for the old trusty hickory bow.

Hope it still works. I’ve got some pigs to see.

Jack Johnson is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from Fort Worth, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_jjohnson.

Contact Jack Johnson at jjohnson@lsureveille.com

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 14

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THE DAILY REVEILLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 WRECK, from page 1

The Nissan had only minor front-end damage, and the female driver did not need immediate medical attention from the EMS. The driver refused to comment on the accident or provide her name.

Phuong Nguyen, computer engineering sophomore, was sitting in the back seat on the passenger side. He was bleeding from his nose after the wreck but said he didn’t feel much pain.

David Huynh, electrical engineering sophomore, was unavailable for comment because he was inside an ambulance with a neck brace, Nguyen said.

Kevin Truong, electrical engineering sophomore, eventually limped out of the ambulance on a

hurt leg.

Truong said he and his friends were on their way to Highland Dining Hall when they were hit.

“We were just four happygo-lucky guys looking forward to some blackened chicken pasta, and then a car just came out of nowhere,” Truong said. “It all blacks out from there.”

LSUPD was unable to comment on the wreck while at the scene and said the information would have to be processed before they could provide a statement.

The University was unavailable to comment on the extent of the damage caused by the wreck by press time.

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@lsureveille.com

DRINKING, from page 1

freshman, said he didn’t notice an increased police presence. He said he saw some LSUPD officers, but he didn’t see them bothering anyone.

LSUPD patrolled alongside other local agencies such as the Baton Rouge Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, state police and Juvenile Underage Drinking Enforcement.

These agencies combined issued the 13 summons. Haire said issuing 13 summons is a moderately high amount of MIPs for a single game. She compared the number to

FANS, from page 1

ally wear dresses on game days, but the fashion is not required by their sorority.

Harrison Breaud, business administration freshman and Sigma Nu pledge, said it’s tradition for new fraternity members to wear buttondown collared shirts, ties and khaki pants to the home football games.

But to Jeff Noel, mass communication junior, dressing up does not

PAGE 15

only two MIPs issued during the first home game against Appalachian State last season.

“There is really no way to predict how many MIPs we’ll issue on any given day,” Haire said.

Haire said 19 MIPs were issued during a single game last year, and another game had none, though she was unsure of which games.

Haire said there may have been more MIPs Saturday than the start of last season because of the timing of the different games.

“The Appalachian State game was a very early kickoff,” Haire said. “That probably had something to do with it because people were

out there longer on Saturday.”

More mobile LSUPD bike patrols were out in force Saturday, though the number of patrol officers was not increased.

Haire said LSUPD also received several calls from other tailgaters alerting them to underage drinkers.

Haire said the process of handing out MIPs is as simple as a patrol officer walking up to tailgaters and asking for identification.

mean dressing in office attire “I do body paint for a lot of the games,” Noel said. “For the national championship, I had a purple mohawk with gold on the sides [of my head] because the helmets are gold with a purple line down the middle.”

Noel said the atmosphere in Tiger Stadium inspires him to dress up in body paint, a purple-and-gold afro and his gold lucky gym shorts for each game.

Pattinson said dressing in costume allows fans to feel more freespirited. “[In costume] you have a different identity, but you’re sharing the same identity with everyone else,” she said.

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@lsureveille.com

OTHER SEC SCHOOLS Whether it’s jorts at Florida or cow bells at Mississippi State, every SEC school has its gameday traditions.

Caroline Lee, lifestyle editor of The Daily Mississippian at Ole Miss, said all the girls at Ole Miss tailgate in heels and wear nicer dresses in the Grove.

Lee said male students at Ole Miss often wear coats and ties, and she’s never seen anyone paint their chest in Rebel colors.

Jimmy Carter, assistant sports editor for The Arkansas Traveler, said the gameday wear at Arkansas is more laid-back than at Alabama or Ole Miss.

In an effort to make sure every student has a blue and white T-shirt on game day, Kentucky has a “Tradition Tee” program letting students submit T-shirt designs for the University’s first gameday shirt, said Ben Jones, The Kentucky Kernel sports editor. Jones said freshmen get T-shirts for free, and other students can buy them at the bookstore.

GAMEDAY TRADITIONS The Pajama Game started when the University was an all-male military school. Male freshmen had to attend the first home football game of the season in their pajamas and leave their shoes in a pile outside the stadium, according to the LSU media relations Web page.

But the economy and weather caused a decline in Saturday’s Pajama Game participation among students.

“I did not see the turnout I would have liked to see [for the Pajama Game],” said Martina Scheuermann, SG vice president. “The weather was a factor in that. We really did everything we could to remind students that this is a LSU tradition.”

The gold game, another University tradition, will be Oct. 10 against Florida. Fans are simply encouraged to wear gold clothing.

Contact Mary Walker Baus at mwbaus@lsureveille.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

THE DAILY REVEILLE

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