LSU basketball defeats Ole Miss Rebels 90-81, page 3 Columnists go head to head over DJ Khaled’s contributions to pop culture, page 8 lsureveille.com/daily
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
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Volume 121 · No. 2
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WALK THIS WAY Nicholas Martino / The Daily Reveille
Construction to improve pedestrian safety, bus congestion BY TRENT PARKER @trentparker_TDR The area between Lockett Hall and the Journalism Building often floods with both vehicles and pedestrians as students flock to bus stops — many without using crosswalks. “It’s a scary area. When the buses get out and the classes change there’s a lot of pedestrians [in the road],” Assistant Director of the Physical Plant and Facility Services Dennis Mitchell said.
A lack of clearly marked lanes for buses to queue upon often forced them to park in the nearby traffic circle, blocking other drivers. In response, LSU Parking and Transportation Services funded the remodeling of Fieldhouse Drive with Facility Services and J&W Contractors to increase pedestrian safety and ease the flow of the campus bus service. A landscaped median will separate lanes of traffic, a new crosswalk will be installed in front of Lockett Hall and a
dedicated bus lane will be marked with stripes of paint. “It’s about campus safety,” Mitchell said. “Our goal is to separate the buses from the pedestrians from the vehicles.” The median’s purpose is to create a traffic calming effect — as was observed after the construction of islands on Dalrymple Drive — and channel pedestrians toward using the designated crossings to protect them from passing vehicles. Louisiana has one of the
highest pedestrian fatality rates in the United States, with 2.56 deaths per 100,000 people compared to a national average of 1.51, according to the 2014 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Fact Sheets. Sidewalks have also been broadened in key areas of heavy foot traffic at LSU to make walking safer for students. “Our goal is to have the students walk to the crosswalks,
see BUSSES, page 11
Democratic win boosts party morale
BY SAM KARLIN @samkarlin_TDR Wayne Parent, a political science professor who teaches courses on Louisiana politics, said over the 32 years he’s been teaching, his classes have become more liberal. “A lot, actually,” he said. “It’s not that they’re that liberal, it’s that they used to be incredibly conservative,” he added. Parent began teaching during the Reagan years. He attributes the change in students’ ideology mostly to technology changes, where students now can live in a deeply conservative area like Louisiana, but connect to like-minded people all over the country. But his class trends haven’t mirrored the political shifts in Louisiana, where the Republican “takeover,” seems complete. Staring across a partisan aisle that had grown wider, and shifted further to the right, during his time as a state
see EDWARDS, page 2
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SG president outlines ongoing, proposed student initiatives BY BETH CARTER @beth_carter97
Student Government president Andrew Mahtook wants to make sure his administration stays active proposing new legislation and building on last semester’s momentum in the upcoming SG election season. Spring plans for SG include finalizing the Student Bill of
Rights and putting ideas from last semester into action on campus. “All [students] see of Student Government this semester is spring elections, so we’re hoping to not slow down whatsoever and really make sure we’re making a positive change,” Mahtook said. The initiatives Mahtook hopes to implement this semester include making cell phone
chargers available to rent from the LSU Student Union and planting satsuma trees on campus, resolutions passed by the LSU Student Senate. He also hopes to start a program that will provide bus shuttles to and from commuter lots. SG plans to continue efforts with campus organizations to promote minority diversity at LSU, Mahtook said. Last semester, SG began efforts to make
campus more accommodating for minority students, including passing SG Resolution No. 15, which provided gender neutral bathrooms for transgender students. “The issues and needs of the community fluctuate so much,” Mahtook said. “The biggest thing that we’re focusing is the right to not have your standing in a class be influenced by who you are or what you look like.
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Students deserve to be protected.” He added SG will continue to team up with organizations such as LSU Campus Life and the Office of Diversity to address student concerns and promote initiatives started by other campus groups. The Student Bill of Rights, which will be finalized in the
see MAHTOOK, page 11
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