Legacy Spring 2012 - Issue 4 by Reveille

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

LEGACY SPRING 2012

ISSUE 4

WHAT IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY? ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

Getting a Ph.D. without a high school degree Water, water, everywhere, but our supply is running out 80,000 Tumblr followers and growing Does justice have a time limit?

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

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LEGACY • SPRING 2012

S P R I NG 2 012 . I S S U E 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS 06

INFOGRAPHIC: 10 World Water Day Find out what’s really going on with the world’s water supply.

THE DISH: 18 Fad Diets Students share stories of their experiences with some popular and not-so-popular diets.

OPINION: Southern Reality What do Louisiana-based reality shows say about you?

MY MIX TAPE: 12 Anthony Ryan Auld From LSU to Project Runway, Anthony Ryan Auld shares his favorite dance tracks.

ON THE RECORD: 36 Young the Giant Legacy finds out how Young the Giant is celebrating their new-found fame.

PHOTO ESSAY: Strike a Pose Explore what happens behind the scenes at NOLA Fashion Week.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

STAFF EDITOR Emily Slack MANAGING EDITOR Jake Clapp ART DIRECTOR Meghan Parson COPY EDITOR Caroline Gerdes DESIGNERS Claire Estopinal Faith Phillips Kadie Tardo JR. DESIGNER Christina Li WRITERS Sydni Dunn Emily Herrington Katie Macdonald Keyshae Robinson Kevin Thibodeaux Xerxes Wilson

PHOTOGRAPHERS Jesse Guillory Benjamin Oliver Hicks Mariah Postlethwaite Dionne Rockwell SALES Annabel Mellon COMPUTER MANAGER Chris Allain ADVISOR Robert Ritter PUBLISHER Office of Student Media

40 FEATURES 14

SCHOOL’S OUT

A Ph.D. without a high school degree — how LSU professor Laurie Chancey is doing just that. 20

AWAKE IN THE DREAM Learn how to turn sleep time into fun time in the playground of your subconscious.

SUMMER FESTIVAL GUIDE

LEGACY highlights the pros and cons of popular summer music festivals across the south. 28

FORWARD PROGRESS

REBLOG Find out how one student is taking blogging to a whole new level.

Double the love. How this Katrina survivor has two cheering sections on and off the field.

LEGACY is a quarterly student-produced magazine that explores the diverse community of Louisiana State University students through in-depth features, profiles and photography. Legacy focuses on student entertainment, leisure and academics, and it strives to be informative, provocative and dynamic.

IN COLD BLOOD What really happened in the unsolved murder cases of Frank Morris and Wharlest Jackson? Follow us on Twitter: lsulegacy Become a fan on Facebook! LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Infographic

CLEAN WATER AVAILABLE FOR CONSUMPTION FRESH WATER 2.5% 30% fresh water underground

SALT WATER 97.5 %

1% than available

less

WATER SAFETY

for human consumption

population

by region

WORLD WATER DAY

1.2 billion

100%

Latin America/Carribbean

582.6 million

86%

South Asia

1.58 billion

85%

East Asia/Pacific

1.96 billion

76%

Middle East/North Africa

381 million

87%

Sub-Saharan Africa

853 million

57%

Source: World Health Organization/World Bank via google public data

2.6 billion

900 million

without access to improved sanitation facilities.

don’t receive drinking water from improved water sources

every 15

“Water, water everywhere...”

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

safety

Industrialized countries

WORDS BY katie macdonald

It’s no secret that we use water like it’s going out of style, but what happens when there is no more to use? On March 22, International World Water day honored and highlighted the importance of freshwater while simultaneously focusing on sustainable management of the world’s water supply. In celebration, Legacy compiled a list of interesting water-related facts that shed some light on water scarcity and ways you might reduce your water consumption.

70% fresh water in polar ice caps

seconds

a child dies from a water-borne illness

1 IN 6 PEOPLE DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER

Source: cleanwaterfortheworld.org

water-related diseases include Water-borne diseases due to micro-organisms and chemicals in drinking water. Schistosomiasis, which have part of their lifecycle in water.

88% of diarrhea is caused by unsanitary water

Malaria and water-related vectors. Legionellosis, which is carried by aerosols containing certain microorganisms.

children under

90%

5 comprise

of deaths from

diarrhea-related diseases

WHERE DRINKING WATER COMES FROM

HOW TO REDUCE WATER CONSUMPTION

Source: EPA

SAFE WATER DRINKING ACT OF 1974

100

LAW THAT KEEPS U.S. DRINKING WATER SAFE

Authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce health standards for contaminants in drinking water Requires public notification of water systems violations and annual reports to customers

DRINKING WATER COMES FROM EITHER

GROUND WATER OR SURFACE WATER

Source: Good.com/EPA

120

amount of water the average person uses

60 40

105.7 Gallons

52.8 Gallons

per day

North America

Europe

20 gallons per person

1.3 Gallons per day

0 Developing Countries

A family of four needs only three gallons of water a day, but actually uses 400 gallons. Bathroom facilities claim more than 50 percent of the water used. Toilets use nearly 27 percent of bathroom water, showers 17 percent, faucets about eight percent and baths two percent.

problem

solution

The majority of Louisiana gets its water from ground water.

3.5 gallons per flush

Install a newer, low-flush model and use fewer than 2 gallons

Ground water requires less treatment than surface water.

200 gallons leaked by constantly-running toilets per day

Make sure to clean calcium deposits

10 gallons dishwasher

for

Energy efficient models use 5 gallons per load

20 gallons wasted per half a load for washers

Wait until you have a full load until you run the washer

240 gallons wasted per month while brushing your teeth

Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth

Faucets leak 2,700 gallons per year

Fix leaky faucets and clear up pipers regularly

As of 2000, groundwater withdrawals averaged 1,600 million gallons per day (MGD). More than half of Louisiana’s population relies on ground water as a source of drinking water.

per

load

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

My Mix Tape

Jacob Tilley plays guitar at the Young the Giant performance at the House of Blues on March 20.

YOUNG GIANT THE

WORDS BY kevin thibodeaux

PHOTOS BY benjamin oliver hicks

Up-and-coming rock band Young the Giant is still riding the success of its 2011 self-titled album, which introduced the group to a new audience. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia took time out of the band’s tour with GROUPLOVE before its show at the House of Blues in New Orleans to speak with Legacy about the “crunch” of Los Angeles, the MTV VMAs and the band’s work on a followup album. How’s the tour going? What’s it like to be playing alongside GROUPLOVE, who’s also become fairly popular? We’re actually good friends with them and we’ve been playing with them [for] a long time. A few years ago, we had a residency in Los Angeles at a venue called the Troubadour and by the second week, they were opening for us, and it was selling so poorly that we had to cancel the residency. So we all met up that night and partied and whatnot. Two years later, we toured with them to open for them in Australia. Just recently, they’re opening for us. So, it’s been a little back and forth. I think they’re an amazing band with incredible energy and I’m really happy that they’ve been able to enjoy the recent success. They deserve it. It’s good because we’re all friends. [It’s] cool that we’re all kind of in the same boat.

The band has been around since 2004, but has only recently found mainstream success. What kept Young the Giant going over the years?

Honestly, we’re all so young and we’ve been doing this for so long that we’ve kind of been giving it our all. We’ve toured with bands that haven’t achieved the level of success that we have, so we’re really just humbled by the fact that we can be doing this at such a young age to such a large audience with all the support behind us. It’s really an awesome opportunity … we’re all very fortunate about it.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

You were selected to play at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. How was it to get that much support from your fans? It’s crazy, man. It was ridiculous. That weekend happened so quickly and then immediately after that night, we flew to Ohio to start the tour with Incubus.

Were you nervous about the VMAs at all? How did you deal with it? I think we were just on a confidence high if anything. I don’t think we were really nervous because we had our friends and fans from our hometown right there with us. [The support] made it really nice, a lot less nerve-racking.

How did you decide on the name Young the Giant? Does it have any meaning? Young the Giant really doesn’t mean anything. It was just a moniker that we felt was new, different. There really isn’t a backstory to it. It’s just something we felt comfortable with. Immediately after [we created the name] we went upstairs and started writing songs under that guise, the new name, and it just worked, so we stuck with it.

How would you describe the band’s sound? It’s kind of a hard question to answer because we have so many different songs. We have songs like “St. Walker” and “Islands” and “My Body,” and they’re kind of different genres if you will … I guess eclectic rock would be a good answer.

What can people expect from your live shows? High energy. Cool lights. We have a few light shows, so that’ll be fun. Yeah, I definitely think we’re a pretty high-energy band. We don’t use any back tracks or anything, so what you see on stage is what you hear. We try to keep it as honest possible.

Lead singer Sameer Gadhia (left) and guitarist Eric Cannata (right) of Young the Giant perform at House of Blues on March 20.

Are there any plans for a second album yet? Yeah, we’re going to be recording at the end of year.

What can fans expect from it? Is it going to be the same diversity as the first album? I think as we get older our sound is getting more mature as well. We’re playing some new material [at the House of Blues], we’re going to be playing three new songs that night. They’re all totally different. One’s really long and slow. Another one’s [short] and poppy. And the other one’s more of like an edgy alternativerock song. So they’re all different. What inspires your music? We’ve all been living together for the last four years in various places in southern California. The beach is definitely very inspirational, a very carefree environment. And then we moved to Hollywood. It was noisy and you know, a little more crunch and whatever off the street. All of these different things and then traveling as well have been very inspirational. That’s why I’m excited for the next record because we have such a better understanding of music, the world, each other, our instruments. I really think the next record will be much more powerful.

www.

lsulegacymag .com Visit us online to read an interview with GROUPLOVE

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

The Dish

The Dish: Fad Diets WORDS BY emily herrington

PHOTOS BY dionne rockwell

Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution, Spring Break or no occasion at all, students are often eager to shed some pounds to look and feel better. It’s no surprise that fad diets promising quick and easy results are constantly emerging and being tested by students. Julie Hupperich, associate director of the Student Health Center, recommends eating consistently throughout the day, consuming a variety of foods and practicing portion control in conjunction with a normal fitness routine. “People who yo-yo with their weight go from one diet to the next,” Hupperich said. “They’ll lose weight, then get off the diet and gain the weight back. But when they gain the weight back, they blame themselves and it affects their self-esteem, which pushes them back even more.” While some trendy diets are successful at keeping off the pounds, Legacy explores some options currently dominating the fad diet market. Included in the full-time student fee is the utilization of the health center’s dietitian. Students can make appointments with the dietitian who can determine the appropriate caloric intake for their height and weight for no additional charge. Check with your doctor or dietician before making a diet change.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Paleolithic diet, aka Caveman diet the dieter:

Keenan Robert, geography and anthropology graduate student. the rules: Eat only what humans would’ve eaten before agriculture. Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and meat. Excludes grains, processed oils, beans and potatoes. the experience: “I’ve always had a sleeping problem — since I was 14, and I’m 27 now. I started sleeping naturally without any medication in December [one month into the diet]. I was on medicine for acid reflux and I don’t take that anymore. I don’t have to take my allergy medicine everyday anymore.” the result: Lost 10 pounds of fat and gained five pounds of muscle since November 2011.

Juice diet the dieter:

Ben Von Colln, ISDS senior. the rules: Consume nothing but raw fruits and vegetables in juice form for 30 days. the experience: “It’s surprisingly very easy after the fourth or fifth day. I felt amazing. I had more energy and I could feel myself thinking more clearly.” the result: Lost 12 pounds and kept it off.

MediFast diet the dieter:

Anne Marie Thibodeaux, chemistry freshman. Order food and snacks from MediFast and eat only those foods. MediFast is a portion-controlling program accessible online at medifast1.com. Eat five MediFast food items throughout the day — five snacks (called MediFast meals) and one meal (called the “lean and green meal”). Snacks are usually meal replacement bars and pretzels, and the meal is a lean meat and vegetable. the experience: “The first few days I was hungry because my body wasn’t used to not eating meals, but it gets better everyday… I feel so much better. I’m energized and I feel like my body isn’t being weighed down… My hair and nails are growing like crazy.” the result: Lost eight pounds two weeks into the diet. the rules:

Weight Watchers the dieter:

Kasey Brock, psychology sophomore. Foods are assigned point values, and dieters must reach a specific daily point total that’s dependent on height, weight, age and gender. Weight Watchers offers online tools as well as in-person support groups, at weightwatchers.com. the experience: “It was more of a lifestyle change than a diet... It’s a lot more focused on replacements — like drinking skim milk instead of whole milk, light margarine instead of whole margarine, and with a sandwich I’ll eat grapes instead of chips.” the result: Lost 74 pounds in one year. the rules:

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

On The Record

What’s on

Auld’s iPod?

WORDS BY keyshae robinson

PHOTOS BY jesse guillory

Anthony Ryan Auld, a 2009 LSU graduate, competed on the ninth season of reality show “Project Runway.” Although Auld didn’t win (he came in seventh place), he is using the experience to bring recognition to Baton Rouge and New Orleans’ growing fashion scene. The 29-year-old, who majored in apparel design, applied for the competitive reality show during the summer of his senior year. “The application was 60 pages,” Auld said, laughing. “So yeah, the process to get in the show was intense to say the least.” The reality TV star quickly gained local and national attention with his ability to design beautiful pieces while suffering from colorblindness. However, Auld continues to prove that being colorblind has hardly affected his designs. After viewing his collection, The New York Times predicted he would win the Project Runway competition. Auld said he is inspired by fabrics and materials and tries to focus on how he can manipulate the patterns he uses. Describing his designs as “a few steps above Urban Outfitters,” Auld incorporates atypical materials such as sunflower seeds and clock gears

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

into his designs — his notable bird seed dress won over judges during his appearance on “Project Runway.” Like his fashion inspirations, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen, Auld takes an unconventional approach to fashion design. “Jacob’s designs are fairly simple and McQueen’s are a lot more avant-garde,” Auld said. “I try to look for a happy medium between the two when it comes to my own designs.” While designing, Auld listens to music to keep him entertained and focused. His music choices perfectly reflect his fun and energetic personality. “I like music that you can dance and go out to,” Auld said. “No country fan here!” Some of his favorite artists include Adele, Janet Jackson, Jesse J and Rihanna. Lady Gaga may be the young designer’s favorite, as he “used to listen to Poker Face and Bad Romance all the time when I was at LSU.” Some may roll eyes at the designer’s choice of typical, top 20 musicians, Auld prefers to listen to upbeat music when sketching

his newest collections. “It’s all about having fun,” he said. “Mainstream music is what I prefer and I see no problem with it.” Auld has big plans for the future. He is already in the process of planning a fashion show that will be held in Baton Rouge. The event will feature past “Project Runway” designers and will allow students of the human ecology department to volunteer to gain experience. “If you are interested in working in fashion, you need to get your hands on anything and everything you can,” the designer said. “Working retail is even great if you are interested in the field. I worked for Buckle for years and it improved my personal communications skills and gave me experience working in visual merchandising.” While Louisiana may not be a fashion capitol of the world, Auld said he believes there is still many opportunities that Baton Rouge and New Orleans can offer to fashion industry hopefuls, especially with the movie industry quickly moving south. “In the next five years, Louisiana will be a force to reckoned with as far as talent so don’t be afraid to follow your dreams just because you live in the South,” Auld said. With a resume that would anyone jealous, the designer wants to make the most of the recognition that “Project Runway” has given him. “I can see myself opening my own boutique or even a partnership with a major department store like Nordstrom’s,” Auld said. “The possibilities are endless.” To people who are hopeful to get a big break in the lucrative fashion industry, Auld issues one warning. “It’s a mean industry,” the designer said. “Success is not going to fall into your lap, so be prepared to get dirty and do some work.”

current playlist Lady Gaga – Heavy Metal Lover

Whitney Houston – I Look To You Amy Winehouse – Back To Black Sade – By Your Side Prince – Little Red Corvette Adele – Rolling in the Deep LMFAO – Sorry For Party Rockin’ Lady Gaga – Telephone Nicki Minaj – Super Bass Katy Perry – Firework LEGACY • SPRING 2012

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Feature

school’s out WORDS BY emily herrington

PHOTOS BY mariah postlethwaite

wo hundred pairs of eyes in are fixed on Laurie Chancey. She’s teaching Introduction to Sociology to a room full of students who hold a degree she doesn’t. Chancey, a 31-year-old sociology instructor, is working on her dissertation and hopes to obtain a doctorate degree this year. But she doesn’t have a high school diploma, GED or any other equivalent. Growing up, Chancey received her education without structure and without teachers. No curriculum, no grades, no homework. She was never told what to do or how to spend her time. She learned only what she wanted to learn. The concept is called unschooling, or child-led learning. Chancey said the philosophy behind unschooling is that children are natural learners and they will do so without being forced. Unschoolers believe that children learn best by simply following their interests. Chancey said her background is what led her to develop a love for sociology. She defines sociology as observing social life from a detached perspective, which is how she felt growing up — looking through the window as friends and peers experienced the institution. “Every single thing I did has led me to this point. And that was the theory behind unschooling,” she said. Chancey said teaching is her passion and she plans on spending the rest of her life as a sociology professor. She says her background makes her a good college instructor, and it helps her teach in a way that resonates with her students. “I was doe-eyed and fascinated by everything in college, and I try to recreate that in the classroom,” Chancey said. With her iPad in hand, she shows music videos and pop culture examples, and works to make her class continuously fun. She tries to prove to her students why specific information is valuable. She doesn’t feel the need to be an authority figure. During her childhood, Chancey never had a typical school day in her Lake Charles, La. home. She didn’t have a bedtime or a specific time to wake up. Often, she’d bid her mother good night at the same time her mother would wake up. Some days Chancey immersed herself in research, and other days she just played video games. “I’d go months at a time without doing anything productive, but it was always my mom’s philosophy that ‘whatever Laurie’s focused on, whatever she’s interested in, she must be getting something out of it, so let’s leave her alone and let her do it,’” Chancey said casually as she leaned back in her office chair. Chancey’s mother, Valerie Fitzenreiter, said she decided on unschooling after reading the book “Summerhill School” dur-

ing her pregnancy. The book followed the titular English private school run like a democracy. The story of Summerhill, along with her experience of being “bored to death” in a traditional school environment, convinced Fitzenreiter that unschooling was the only way for her child to learn. Laurie’s father, Arthur Chancey, supported Fitzenreiter’s ideology and often worked overtime so the family could afford for Fitzenreiter to stay home during the day. Fitzenreiter said it was important for Chancey to be in charge of her own life. She believed unschooling was the avenue for raising an independent, individualized child, free of conformity. “It’s just not fair to make a child go to school. To me, it was unschool or nothing,” Fitzenreiter said. “I didn’t want her to fit into society strictly because that’s how it’s supposed to be.” Since Chancey mainly learned through practical experience, she says there are several gaps in her knowledge base. She learned math from cooking and balancing her parents’ checkbook, but she doesn’t know the multiplication table and she can’t do long division. She never learned how to write in cursive, she hasn’t read classic literature and she struggles in history and geography. Chancey and Fitzenreiter often had to cope with strangers and other parents who didn’t understand Chancey’s schooling situation. They often lied and said she was home-schooled. Fitzenreiter’s sister, a first grade teacher, thought Fitzenreiter was ruining Chancey’s life by not enrolling her in school. “I respect what [my sister] does ... but our theories on childrearing are pretty much going off in different directions,” Fitzenreiter said. A Sonic carhop once asked Fitzenreiter, “Aren’t you scared she’s gonna grow up to be stupid?” after Fitzenreiter explained Chancey was home-schooled when the carhop questioned why she wasn’t at school. The incident at Sonic wasn’t the only one of its kind. Chancey grew up batting away strangers’ questions and fending off their judgmental looks. When Chancey was about six years old, her parents received a letter from the school board declaring her truant, or unauthorized to be absent from school, since she wasn’t in school or formally home-schooled. Chancey’s family feared she would be taken away. “I had a place to go where if it came down to it … I would have taken her and gone there, and as far as I know no one could find me,” Fitzenreiter said. “I would’ve done what I had to because it was very important for me to raise her in freedom.” LEGACY • SPRING 2012

“Every single thing I did has led me to this point. And that was the theory behind unschooling.” For a few years, the family legally registered as a home school, but became disenchanted by the mandatory annual paperwork and found a new solution. Fitzenreiter learned that at the time, if she registered with the state as a private school, the state would have no say in the school’s curriculum. So when Chancey was 12 years old, she began attending Holt-Neil High School. She was registered as the student, her mother the teacher and her father the principal. After working a minimum-wage job at a video store when she turned 18, and fearing she would get stuck in a simple job for the rest of her life, Chancey shocked her parents and decided she needed to go to college. “That was going to be my avenue into the world.” Chancey enrolled in McNeese University at 18 years old. She was accepted into the Lake Charles school solely based on her ACT score. Her composite score was a 25 — five points above Louisiana’s average. She had a 30 in English and a 16 in math. According to McNeese’s freshman admission requirements, home-schooled students may be admitted if they have a

minimum 2.35 high school GPA and minimum ACT score of 23. Chancey said she told the McNeese counselors she was home-schooled and had a 4.0 GPA, and even though she didn’t have a diploma or transcript, she was accepted into the university. Though Chancey bristles at the thought of authority, she thrived in college. She still felt independent since she could choose the classes she wanted to take. And because she hadn’t spent 12 years of her youth in an educational institution, she said she wasn’t burnt out by the time she started college. Chancey got her first B in her graduating semester, but otherwise maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout her time at McNeese. But Chancey said her radical unschooling lifestyle brought about some long-term socialization issues. As an only child, Chancey spent most of her time with her mother. She had friends from her neighborhood and cousins she played with, but for the most part, Chancey grew up without a peer group. She matter-of-factly said she exudes a level of social awkwardness and hasn’t figured out the mechanics of meeting people and maintaining relationships.

Sociology professor Laurie Chancey grew up without any formal education before college.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Fitzenreiter said ensuring Chancey received adequate socialization was her greatest shortfall and regretted it throughout the unschooling process. Hanna Smith, a photography senior in one of Chancey’s classes, struggled to find the right way to describe her teaching style, but affirmed it’s noticeably different from other instructors she’s had. “She’s much more free-spirited,” Smith said. Paris LaMotte, a sociology sophomore, was enrolled in Chancey’s introduction to sociology class in fall 2010, and said Chancey is still his favorite instructor. “Since I’ve been in college, no other class has caught my attention like hers did,” LaMotte said. LaMotte said Chancey’s teaching style is unique and she keeps her class interesting by demonstrating lessons through a variety of media outlets — even a “South Park” episode can be a relevant educational example.

Chancey’s accomplishments are enough evidence to prove that unschooling was effective for her. But she says she wouldn’t do things the same way if she has children. “My parents let me do what I wanted, but I think kids don’t always know what’s best for them … Some decisions need to be made in the best interests of the kid.” She said she would still select an alternative schooling method with a childled focus, but she said more structure and social interaction are needed. “I’m grateful for who I am now, so I wouldn’t say that I regret their decision at all. It was a cool, interesting way to grow up and left me with a lot of freedom,” she said. “But I don’t think I would do it the same way.”

Chancey’s unconventional education lends to her unique teaching style.

un schooling

home-schooling

Both are home-based education alternatives. But what’s the difference?

Unschooling Home-schooling No school-like setting Child-led learning Unstructured, no lesson plans Parent serves as guide

Re-creation of classroom setting at home Parent/teacher-led learning Structured lesson plans Parent serves as teacher

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Opinion

WORDS BY sydni dunn

PHOTO BY mariah postlethwaite

A sweaty, broad-shouldered man clad in camouflage wades in an algae and moss-covered marsh, propping one foot on top of a cypress knee. He stares down the camera as a narrator announces in an exaggerated southern drawl he is a “man of the bayou.” The scene changes to show men casting nets out from an air boat, a gator being pulled from the water against its will, a scragglybearded man hunched over a shotgun. This is what the average Louisiana resident sees when they look out their window. At least, that’s what the media would tell you. In reality, this is the promotional trailer for “Swamp People” – and nothing more. “Swamp People,” if you haven’t heard by now, is a popular History Channel show depicting the life of gator hunters in Louisiana, and just one example of the entertainment industry’s poor interpretation of Louisiana and its culture. Sure, nothing screams ratings like broadcasting a show about a bunch of crazy Cajuns trapping aggressive reptiles, but it’s not an accurate reflection of the whole state, or even real alligator trapping, for that matter. It’s a mere caricature, both dramatic and laughable. But “Swamp People” isn’t the only production guilty of banishing all residents to the bayou. The Pelican State has been thrust into the spotlight for decades by motion pictures, novels and television series set in the South. Each has its own plot — from promiscuous HBO vampires and forbidden Creole love to local rifle sales and voodoo murders — but they all have one thing in common. And well, sha, dat be da Louisiana stereotypes. Mass Communication professor Danny Shipka has researched these stereotypes for a future book highlighting the portrayal of Louisiana in movies. The book, to be titled “Swamps, Snakes and Storms: The Portrait of Louisiana,” is scheduled to be released sometime in 2013, he said.

The top Louisiana stereotypes, according to Shipka’s observations, include white male dominance, poverty, stupidity, exaggerated accents, sex and violence. Another common thread among Louisiana-themed films is that most plots are centered on an outsider visiting Louisiana. That visitor must learn to survive the culture — not change it — or leave. “They aren’t positive representations at all,” he says. “Many people form their ideas of culture based on movies. The person sitting in their easy chair in Idaho sees Louisiana as all swamps, Cajuns and white men in power. That’s very bad.” This slanted view of Louisiana isn’t a new development, though. From 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” to 1998’s “The Waterboy,” the state’s reputation has suffered on screen. So, how do we, as residents, react? Some embrace the mockery, hailing local reality TV stars as gods (admit it, you have Troy Landry’s autograph). They glue themselves to episodes of “Cajun Pawn Stars,” “Sons of Guns” and “True Blood” because it has an ounce of “home” injected into it. Others snicker at the silly plots and roll eyes at the ridiculous characters and exaggerated details. Then there are the people who hate it and avoid every instance of it. These are the same people who A) claim they are from a different state or B) move immediately after college, if they stayed around that long. The real issue is that of these reactions, none help reverse the stereotypes. We don’t deny these distorted images, let alone try to debunk them. And that is, perhaps, an even bigger problem than a spoiled reputation. “Louisiana has a poor image of itself,“ Shipka says, noting the numbers in education and health mirror that sentiment. “The only thing we pride ourselves on is being better than Mississippi.” Think about what you tell your friends from out-of-state to convince them to visit. “Oh, man, you should come down for

1. MTV True Life: The Riot in the Bayou (TV) April Theriot, the middle child in a Port Allen family, narrates the story of her “crazy ass family.” A few highlights include barn wrestling, shooting guns for a first date and heavy underage drinking.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

2. The Skeleton Key (Movie) Southern charm turns southern harm when sweet Kate Hudson, a home health nurse, begins to take care of a patient in an old New Orleans home. Voodoo – oh, I’m sorry ‘hoodoo’ – gets involved, so it turns violent. Welcome to the classic Louisiana horror.

Is popular media giving the South a bad reputation?

Mardi Gras ... Yeah, I’m serious, you can drive through the daiquiri shack …” I’m guilty of it too. These things are, indeed, a rarity. But at what point will we start selling the state as a place to do something valuable? Even the tourism industry doesn’t promote Louisiana well. You’ll never see the state advertised as a place to raise a child, earn a quality education or secure a high-paying, respectable job. We instead tag ourselves as the place people flock to “laissez les bon temps rouler,” and to … um … pet a baby alligator on the side of the interstate. Until we start to tweak our public relations plan or develop a progressive identity, it’s not going to change. “Louisiana has a very original, historic culture,” Shipka

says. “Our politics and our history is so dramatic. It’s like no other place in the world, so it’s easy to stereotype, it’s easy to make fun of.” And, as we have seen first-hand, it’s easy to become complacent and accept it. I love Louisiana. The landscape is breathtaking, the food is delicious, the southern hospitality is infectious. I attended a great public high school and am enrolled in an even better university. I have a middle class home, a full set of teeth and, believe it or not, I don’t speak Cajun French. I want to see the state portrayed as the place I grew up in, not the place I watch in movies. As a respectable Louisiana resident, you should too.

3. Princess and the Frog (Movie)

4. Party Down South (TV)

5. Steel Magnolias (Movie)

I enjoyed this film very much. I did not, however, enjoy Disney rehashing all the stereotypes in animated format. Again, more typecasting of the people of Louisiana as toothless, jazz loving, food-eating Cajuns who like to play with voodoo. And the first black Disney princess had to be from New Orleans? Come on, Walt.

Though the reality show hasn’t aired yet, the audition tapes will surely satisfy. If you like uneducated alcoholics, confederate flag-print tube tops and cowboy boots paired with daisy dukes, this will be a must-see. For now, go to YouTube.

This classic is hard to put in any type of negative list, but it’s got some cringe-worthy southern accents and is dominated by white people, as it follows a close-knit circle of girlfriends in 1989 Louisiana. Cut yourself a piece of Armadillo red velvet cake and enjoy.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Feature

awake in the

Dream

WORDS BY xerxes wilson

PHOTOS BY benjamin oliver hicks

s I looked across the coziness of my grandmother’s house, something struck me as shockingly familiar. My grandmother was hard at work in the kitchen while my grandfather sat in his old recliner watching the news. They had been actors in this scene for the better part of my life, but there was something unreal. Sensing an unnatural familiarity, I walked down the steps leading to the living room, where I sat down beside granddaddy and we talked like countless times before. It was a conversation between old friends. My grandfather has been dead for seven years. He exists now only in memories, his conversation is the projection of a dream hijacked by fleeting logic as I sleep through a lucid dream. As our neurological understanding of sleep increases, scientists learn more about our innate ability to influence our dreamscapes for recreational and potentially therapeutic purposes. Lucid dreaming is the in-dream realization that you are dreaming, according to Lourdes Del Rosso, a sleep scientist at LSU’s Sleep Science Center in Shreveport. Scientists theorize this realization comes primarily through practice but can also be triggered by focusing on something otherworldly in a dream — like seeing a grandfather in his usual routine years after he died. At its zaniest, this realization allows dreamers to influence their dream, dictating actions and sometimes surroundings like a subconscious video game. Your actions are limited only by imagination and skill. “You can go anywhere and do anything. It just takes a lot of imagination,” said mass communication senior Helen Headlee, describing one of her favorite lucid dreams where she summoned fireworks over LSU’s West Campus Apartments. Scientists began studying lucid dreaming at the turn of the 20th century, but evidence of this phenomenon was mostly restricted to anecdotal testimony. Scientifically measuring the content of dreams is difficult, Del Rosso said. That was until the ‘70s, when Stephen LeBerge and other sleep scientists at Stanford University were cleverly able to communicate with the waking world using eye movements, according to the Lucidity Institute, a for-profit organization which LeBerge

founded to spread awareness and support research into the phenomenon. Survey data of college students suggest about 10 to 20 percent of students lucidly dream once a month, said Robert Waggoner, author of “Lucid Dreaming, Gateway to the Inner Self ” and co-editor of the online Lucid Dream Exchange. Waggoner said most people have likely experienced some sort of lucid dream whether or not they remember it. Possibly because of differing sleep habits, dreamers have mixed capabilities of remembering dreams, but bolstering the dreamers capacity to remember could be a simple as chronicling your dreams in a journal immediately after waking, Del Rosso suggested. The Lucidity Institute has developed — and sells — advanced techniques for inducing, participating in and controlling the dream. They also sell equipment like the Novadreamer, a mask which uses a small laser beam that helps the sleeper realize they are dreaming without waking them. But there are more simple ways to induce lucidity. These typically involve using some waking time for training the mind to realize when it is dreaming.

“You can go anywhere and do anything. It just takes a lot of imagination.” Waggoner, who estimates to have had more than 1,000 lucid dreams since he first began exploring lucid dreaming techniques in the ‘70s, said the dreamer needs to train his mind to realize when they are in a dream. This can be as simple as the dreamer looking at his hands before sleep and repeating to himself that in his dreams, he will see his hands and then know he is dreaming, Waggoner said. Waggoner said the goal of such exercises is to create an associational or Pavlovian link that will spark realization through the trance of the dream. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Lucid dreaming is the experience in which one is aware that he/she is dreaming and may be able to make decisions within the dream. Costumes by Chad Trahan.

This was the first technique that allowed Waggoner to go lucid as he dreamed of walking through his old high school. “A moment before, I had accepted all of [my dream] as being real, and as soon as I saw my hands, I realized that everything around me was a creation of my dreaming mind. It was an incredible sensation,” Waggoner said. He added that most people report slipping out of the dream due to the emotion of the realization. “Most people get way too excited,” Waggoner said. “Modulating your emotion is key. Look at your hands, look at the floor or just tell yourself to be calm.” While it is easy to get overly excited, the dreamer must also maintain sharp focus lest they slip back into the trance of a normal

— even if that something is walking through a wall, seeing a dead relative or flying through the sky. “Beliefs, expectations, focus, intent and will are very strong in a lucid dream,” Waggoner said. “That is why it takes experience and skill to be able to operate within this mental environment.” What neurologically happens when sleepers have normal dreams is still shrouded in some mystery, Del Rosso said. “When we are awake we can process thoughts, memory and reality,” Del Rosso said. “When we are asleep our brain does it a different way.” Del Rosso said recent research shows in a typical dream, brainwaves emanating from the brain stem make their way to the areas of our brains that associate specifically with memory and

“The only lucid dreamer that falls in a dream is the lucid

dreamer that still believes in gravity…if you stop believing you will fall from the sky, you will just hang there.” dream, Waggoner said while suggesting dreamers try to remind themselves continuously they are dreaming. “Once you are experienced enough to do that, you get to a place where the lucid dream is stable enough to experiment, and that is the really exciting part of lucid dreaming,” Waggoner said. Though lucidity allows for influence, Waggoner said even the most practiced lucid dreamers don’t have full control of their dreams, as nobody can control how long a dream lasts or every detail. Waggoner said in his experience, the ability to influence a lucid dream correlates with the dreamer’s attachment with the traditional laws of reality. These hallmarks of reality, like gravity, only exist in a dream because the dreamer believes in gravity. “The only lucid dreamer that falls in a dream is the lucid dreamer that still believes in gravity,” Waggoner said. “If you stop believing you will fall from the sky, you will just hang there.” He said the key to having powerful influence over a dream is both willing something to happen and expecting it to happen

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

emotion. Meanwhile more cortical areas tied to language, logic and reasoning are left dormant. “The brain activates these areas of memory and emotion and puts them on random because it doesn’t have the cortical areas to associate them to reality,” Del Rosso said. “This is why in dreams, sometimes we are doing one thing and the next moment, we are doing something totally different or there is some element of bizarreness in the dream.” When lucid dreaming, cortical areas dealing with reason and association become more active, allowing the dreamer to see a mishmash of emotion and memory. They then try to discern it from reality, and go lucid, Del Rosso said. If the dreamer is practiced enough, the resulting cat and mouse game of fleeting logic chasing streaming emotions and memory gives the dreamer the ability roam about their dream world doing as he or she pleases. But lucid nightmares are also possible, Del Rosso said, describing a lucid dream where she is walking into an unwelcoming house.

Headlee has also seen a darker side of her subconscious when she dreamed that recently passed family member was standing alive in front of her. “But when I reached out to touch her, she turned into this frightening purple thing with eyes. It was inhuman and strange and terribly frightening.” Headlee said. “I was lucid, so I was able to say this is enough.” Imagine night after night a dreamer finds themself in the midst of a bloody firefight or at the scene of a horrific accident. Though the dreamer has perhaps seen this in their dreams dozens of times before, the dream has them entranced into believing they are living the horror once again. With that comes the paralyzing fear or terror until the dreamer finally awakens, shaken by the emotion and frustrated by the inability to find a good night’s rest. This is a common story for many who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the recurring nightmares associated with it and it is also an area that shows great promise for the power of lucid dreaming, Waggoner said. By training people who suffer from PTSD to recognize their dream and either abort or conquer it, lucid dreaming can, at the very least, allow people to rest without trauma, Waggoner said. Beyond therapeutic applications, he said there is much to explore within the mind as a lucid dreamer. Waggoner has taken lucid dreaming beyond dream sex and defying gravity. He asks questions of his own subconscious and dead relatives. Sometimes the results are gibberish but sometimes profound. He believes lucid dreams have the ability to show the dreamer creativity beyond that accessible in waking life though much mystery remains. “When you get that creativity in a lucid dream, where does it come from?” Waggoner asks. “Do we have the ability to tap the source of creativity? Can we access new solutions, new ideas?”

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Legacy’s Summer Festival Guide LEGACY gathers all the need-to-know information about the hottest summer music festivals. WORDS BY kevin thibodeaux

PHOTOS courtesy art

ummer can be an exhilarating few months of freedom from school, giving students the chance to work on their tan, catch up on much-needed sleep or, in many cases, go to that dream music festival that always seems to snag the best headliners and offers the most unique experience. The selection process can be difficult. Festival-goers must consider the cost of lodging, tickets, travel to and from the festival and a plethora of other factors that go into the process before deciding on which festival to attend. Legacy breaks down the festivals, giving you a go-to source for everything summer festivals.

Secret Stages

Place: Birmingham, Ala. Dates: May 11-12 Price: $20 for a weekend pass via secretstages.net The two-day festival promises to showcases artists in both music and stand-up comedy. In only its second year, the festival boasts acts from “the nation, the region and our own backyard.” Headliners: Lambchop, Black Tusk, Citis Aviv, Dead Fingers, Justin Peake, The Urns, Jason Roche, Jermaine “Funny Maine” Johnson and Tanner Inman. Pros: The opportunity is present to be exposed to a number of new bands from around the country, and take in some rising comic stars. Cons: The bands are largely unheard of.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Bonnaroo Festival

Bonnaroo

Place: Manchester, Tenn. Dates: June 7-10 Tickets: $259.50 via bonnaroo.com Each year, Bonnaroo is widely revered for having one of the top music festival lineups and offers a unique experience to all festival goers. Attendees camp out in tents for the three days, braving the heat and dirt while fighting crowds to listen to some of the biggest names in music. Headliners: Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, The Beach Boys, Bon Iver and Foster the People. Pros: Nursing freshman Caroline Cassedy said Bonnaroo is like a different world. “You can’t leave,” Cassedy said. Cons: Cassedy said she enjoyed the musicians that play the festival, but hates the heat that comes with a Tennessee Summer. “As a girl, being dirty for three days wasn’t my thing,” Cassedy said about camping on the festival grounds. She said she would do it differently having attended Bonnaroo before. “I’d do it again now that I know what not do, and what to bring,” Cassedy said.

Feature

Wakarusa

Place: Ozark, Ark. Dates: May 31- June 3 Price: $164 for a full event pass, $139 for a three-day ticket, $99 for a two-day pass via wakarusa.com Featuring electronic and folk rock artists alike, Wakarusa offers a diverse musical experience on Mulberry mountain in Ozark, Ark. Festival goers can relax in the beautiful scenery that accompanies the melodies of the different acts. Headliners: Pretty Lights, The Avett Brothers, Slightly Stoopid and Fitz & the Tantrums. Pros: Kinesiology senior Brad Penny, who’s been to both Bonnaroo and Free Press Summer Fest, said Wakarusa offered an unreal experience. “It’s definitely not the real world we live in,” Penny said. “Compared to Bonnaroo, it’s a little more close-knit, a little smaller.” Penny said he noticed less amenities from big name sponsors at the festival than he had at other music fests. He liked this independence and noted the sponsors at other festivals take fans out of the experience and bring them back to real life.

Free Press Summer Fest

Place: Houston, Texas Dates: June 2-3 Price: $55 via freepresssummerfest.com Free Press Summer Fest offers a quality festival experience for a comparatively small price. With more than 80 acts ranging from rock to country to hip-hop, this festival gives more than just a bang for your buck. Headliners: The Avett Brothers, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, The Flaming Lips, Primus, Major Lazer and AfroJack. Pros: Music performances senior Zach Smotherman attended the festival last year and enjoyed the caliber of musicians the event offered despite its low budget. “I’ve been to two Bonnaroos, two Voodoos and Free Press,” Smotherman said. “Free Press is definitely the cheapest around at that scale.” Cons: He said because of the smaller budget, the festival sometimes has to “take what it can get” in terms of performers.

Cons: “It was something special, but I couldn’t say it was any better than anything else,” Penny said.

Beale Street Music Festival Place: Memphis, Tenn. Dates: May 4-6 Price: $75 via Ticketmaster

Billed as the “Mardi Gras of the Mid-South,” Beale Street Music Festival offers visitors the chance to come and go as they please, giving them the opportunity to return to their hotel rooms or join in the party of the nearby bar scene on Beale Street. Headliners: Three 6 Mafia, Lupe Fiasco, Al Green, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Evanescence.

Free Press Summer Fest

Pros: Surrounded by the party of the nearby Beale Street, this festival gives participants the opportunity to come and go. Partaking in the party outside of the festival as well as the music in it is a plus. Cons: The raucous party atmosphere that surrounds the festival may not be for everyone. There are quieter festivals for those fans looking to solely enjoy the sounds and atmosphere that music festivals have to offer. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Festival International de Louisiane Place: Lafayette, La. Dates: April 25-29 Tickets: Free

This free music festival in Lafayette, La., gives students the chance to whet their international music appetites. Offering bands from a huge array of countries, this annual festival provides something for everyone. Headliners: Ceux Qui Marchent Debout, Senegal artist Cheikh Lô and Ethiopian groove band Debo Band. Pros: “Probably the biggest difference [from other festivals] is that Festival is really centered more on the culture than the music,” said Kirstie Watkins, biology sophomore. She said the festival offers more than just music and features venues for foreign clothes and food that couldn’t normally be purchased in the country. Cons: However, Watkins said the smaller nature of the festival has its drawbacks. “I think most people, when they think of festivals, they think of big names and headliners,” Watkins said. “Definitely you go [to Festival International] and you don’t know who’s playing.”

Hangout Festival

Hangout Music Festival Place: Gulf Shores, Ala. Dates: May 18-20 Price: $330 via Stubhub

The idea of summer conjures images of basking on the sands of the beach and splashing through waves. Hangout Music Festival adds music to the equation, offering a unique three-day festival experience on the beach. Headliners: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band, Jack White, Wilco, Skrillex and Dispatch. Pros: Mass communication sophomore Sally McPherson, who’s been to Austin City Limits and Jazz Fest, said the atmosphere is truly unique and more relaxed than other festivals. “It’s just a really cool experience because you’re out there and you’re on the beach and the ocean’s next to you,” McPherson said. “The sun’s beaming down on you and people are in swimsuits ... It just has a lot of things that other festivals don’t offer.” Cons: McPherson only had minor complaints about the festival. She said the entrance into the festival on the first day was a little chaotic while people swarmed to get wristbands for the festival. Neon Desert Fest

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Sunfest

Place: West Palm Beach, Fla. Dates: May 2-6 Price: $67 for a full pass via sunfest.com While this relatively inexpensive festival is perfect for festival-goers on a budget, it offers one of the music scene’s strangest schedule of performers. Past and present if blended together in a line-up that scales the last three decades of music. Headliners: Counting Crows, The Fray, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Passion Pit, Paul Rodgers, Foreigner, Third Eye Blind, Matisyahu, All American Rejects and Girl Talk Pros: At a low price, spectators can attend a festival in Florida that is not only on the beautiful coastline, but boasts an impressive mix of artists for any festival. Cons: The line-up is oddly eclectic and features ‘90s hit bands like Creed alongside modern artist like Pitbull.

Neon Desert Fest

Place: El Paso, Texas Date: May 26 Price: $65 via neonmusicfestival.com This one-day festival showcases DJs and other dance bands that will have listeners raving along with the music. Headliners: Moby, Sparta, Ghostland Observatory, Belanova, Babasonicos, and YACHT Pros: Neon Desert Fest offers a different atmosphere than most festivals, with a lineup that is just as packed with big name musicians, only from a more unfamiliar genre.

Sunfest

Cons: Music fans may not want to brave the long drive across Texas to El Paso for the short one day music festival.

For the Adventurer The 2012 Sasquatch! music festival from May 25-28

in Washington state features noted musicians Jack White, Beck, Bon Iver, The Shins and Beirut among many others. Tickets are $315 for a four day pass.

The Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury, Mi.,

features a mix of electronic and jam bands like The String Cheese Incident, Bassnectar, Girl Talk, Santigold and Ghostland Observatory. Tickets for the June 28-July festival can be purchased for $242.50 for a four-day pass.

The Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Ill.,

sponsored by the online music publication will be held this year from July 13-15 and include bands like Vampire Weekend, Feist, A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. Tickets are $110 for a threeday pass and $45 for a single day ticket.

The Bunbury Music Festival in Cinncinnati, Ohio

runs from July 13-15 and will feature bands like Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie and The Airborne Toxic Event. Tickets can be purchased for $93 for a three-day pass and $46 for a single day. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

forward

Cover Story

progress WORDS BY katie macdonald

PHOTOS BY zach breaux

As a sophomore in high school, current LSU wide receiver Armand Williams had only two choices: remain with his mother as they faced a second eviction notice, or enter the home of relative strangers. Armand chose the latter. For the computer engineering sophomore, the notice was only the latest in a string of difficult experiences. While football acted as a temporary relief from the stresses of school and home, Armand found complete security in the Braud family. Armand describes his childhood in New Orleans East as fairly independent. His mother, Minnette Williams, provided for the family of four by working 15-hour shifts as the Hyatt Hotel’s banquet manager. Her long hours often left Armand alone to care for himself. “I could handle myself,” Armand said. “She gave me that trust because she knew that I understood her hard work was for my benefit.” However, after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home in August 2005, the Williams’ finally settled in Slidell following an evacuation stint in Nashville, Tenn. After moving into an apartment of their own, Armand said he and his mother struggled financially. Within months they received their first eviction notice. “At first I thought, ‘Oh, my mom’s got this.’ She’d always come through before,” Armand said. “But as time went on, I knew I had to step up my game [and contribute].” Even with his mother working long hours and Armand himself working three jobs, the second eviction notice was the breaking point. Armand found a confidant in the form of his chemistry teacher, Theresa Braud, who recognized his need and responded. A mother of ten, Theresa’s caring nature prompted her to make consistent efforts to connect to Armand, despite his initial reluctance, he explained. “Mrs. Braud would ask me how my day was every day. It was

definitely more her reaching out to me because I didn’t feel like my teacher had to know what I was doing back home,” he said. However, at home, money was so tight, he said, there was often no food to eat. Armand tried to make do by eating breakfast and two lunches at school, but intensive calorie-burning workouts made it difficult. “I felt so bad,” he said as he slowed his fidgeting hands. “I felt like I was a burden, that I was [holding my mom] back.” Theresa responded to Armand’s crisis by including him in her family dinners, which Armand described as immensely comforting. “Mrs. Braud didn’t want to force me there, but it was just a warm and loving environment. It was safe and not stressful,” he said. As time progressed, Armand gradually spent more and more time at the Braud household. “Armand was always over,” his foster sister, pre-pharmacy sophomore Rachel Braud said. “Mom didn’t let us know the full story, but it all began with the dinners. Eventually he was spending the night at our house, driving to and from school with me, and doing everything with our family. One day we just decided to make the transition permanent. He was no longer just a guest.” For Armand, the decision was a little more difficult. “I didn’t want to leave my mom,” he explained. “But after thinking about it, I realized that if I was to leave, maybe she could focus on herself. She wouldn’t have to worry about me too.” Throughout Armand’s struggles at home, football not only continued to offer a steady sanctuary, but also proved to be ticket to a better future. Armand discovered football at the age of four while playing for a local park league called the Gretty Saints. “That was when I fell in love [with football,]” he said as he vividly described the peewee-style games. He played with the Gretty Saints for almost ten years, but

“Mrs. Braud didn’t want to force me there, but it was just a warm and loving environment. It was safe and not stressful.”

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

in his last season in the league he found himself in the midst of the storm that transfixed the nation. While waiting for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to settle, Armand and his mother relocated to the suburban town of Hermitage, Tenn. where he enrolled in a local middle school. The school community warmly welcomed Armand as both a victim of the storm, but also as an athlete. There, Armand realized the shortcomings of New Orleans public schools. “In the school system I was in before, I was set up to fail. The teachers couldn’t teach and parents were in and out. Up [in Tennessee] I saw what kind of education I could have.” When Armand transferred to Slidell

Despite the stresses of home, as early as his freshman year Armand started receiving letters expressing interest in his football career from colleges across the nation. He savors the memory of hearing from his first college: Tulane. “At first, I thought it was an academic scholarship,” he said with a grin, “but then I realized that my playing football could get me into college. I have [had] never even thought about college before. I’m the first in my entire family to go to college. Period.” As more colleges began to show up at practices and games, Armand developed a three-part list of what he wanted out of a school: first, a good academic environment; second, the potential to win a championship, and third, a location that wasn’t too

“I was still struck by what we lost in Katrina. When I put on my pads, the worries melted away. I didn’t have to think about the real world.” High School the summer before his freshman year, he immediately threw himself into football. These football games and practices acted as stress relievers, Armand said. “I was still struck by what we lost in Katrina,” Armand said. “When I put on my pads, the worries melted away. I didn’t have to think about the real world.” But the real world did not go away. In addition to school and practice, Armand worked three jobs to help with the rent. “I would go to school from 7 a.m. until 8 or 9 p.m., and then head to Rouses [grocery store] for a three hour night shift,” he said. “I felt like if I didn’t help, no one else would. I just thought I could put a hold on the eviction.” Even with this combined income, Armand constantly worried if he’d have a place to live or where he would play football, he said. When approached by his teachers, coaches and principal, Armand would shrug off their questions with reassurances of “I’m doing fine.” “The Armand we knew was the ‘I’m fine’ Armand. We had no idea that he was struggling at home,” Rachel explained.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

far from home. LSU fit all three. But even after committing to LSU, Armand expressed worries about college. “I had second thoughts all the time. I looked at my family history and wondered if I could pull off college. But I also saw an opportunity to rise above that history. I got greedy and ran with my opportunity,” he said. “Armand is the most persistent, most determined person I’ve ever met,” Rachel said in a pride-filled voice. “I think that’s why he’s so successful and made it this far.” Today, football remains an escape from the stress of school or hiccups in life. “It’s my therapy. I have fun doing it,” he said while describing his expectations of starting next season. The Braud family also continues to be a source of comfort and community for Armand, who agrees that his “home” is with the Brauds. “It’s a different relationship [from my biological family],” he said. Contrary to his independent childhood, Armand became a part of every aspect of the Braud family’s life. By living with the Brauds, Armand was able to enjoy a variety of new experiences.

“I would go with them to the store, movies and church,” Armand said. “In fact, the first time I ever went Christmas tree shopping was with their family. It was the first time I had ever bought a Christmas tree. I felt like a kid.” Despite Armand permanently residing with the Brauds, he continued to visit his mother’s apartment, which was only two blocks away from the Braud’s home, every day. Armand explained that although his mother wanted more control of the situation, Minette accepted the fact that her busy work schedule didn’t allow it. Meanwhile, the Braud family tried their best to accommodate Armand’s unconventional family situation. “We understand he has his [biological] family and we don’t want to take that away from him,” Rachel said. “He can still be a part of our family without officially leaving his own.” As his time between the two families

Wide receiver Armand Williams at work in an English class.

overlapped, he began to see the Brauds as his own family, referring to Rachel and two of her siblings, Amy and Michael, as his brother and sisters. “Armand is a brother to me,” Rachel said emphatically. “Anything I would do with my family would include Armand. I have 10 brothers and sisters, not nine.” Armand traced his love for the Braud family back to a deep connection to Theresa. “Mrs. Braud opened up to me. I found out she had been adopted. It made me think ‘She was almost someone like me,’ and it felt like we shared something in common,” he said. When describing Theresa, Armand struggled to express himself. “I wish I could come up with a word beside caring. Caring seems less than the word she is. That’s how important she is to me. She’s so much more.”

Armand Williams with the Braud family. Courtesy of Armand Williams.

timeline

Aug. 5 1991: Born in New Orleans, La.

1996: Played first football game for the Gretty Saints. Aug. 25, 2005: Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans. Aug. 2006: Armand enrolled in Slidell High school. June 2007: Armand received his first recruitment letter. 2008 Armand moved into the Braud household Feb. 2010: Armand committed to LSU. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

reblog. WORDS BY sydni dunn

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

PHOTOS BY dionne rockwell

Feature

ndrew Harlow’s Tumblr site is characterized by a stark white background offset by a stream of artistic images framed in a vertical column — elegant black and white photography, fashion forward designs, colorful sculptures. At least that’s what appears today. Tomorrow will be different, as 18-year-old Harlow’s taste is ever-changing, and so is the interest of his nearly 80,000 online followers. The art history freshman has become an Internet sensation, attracting a solid Tumblr fan base as well as the attention of the site’s administration, which recently asked him to become a Community Editor for the popular “art” tag. Tumblr is a 5-year-old blogging website that enables its roughly 46 million users to “effortlessly stream anything they want to,” according to the site’s home page. It can be completely customized and allows the posting of everything from quotes and links to photos and music. The site boasts the slogan: “The easiest way to blog.” But Harlow will humbly tell you Tumblr is more than a social media site or his part-time job — it’s a forum to express himself, a match-maker and a gateway for future endeavors.

logging in It started when Harlow was a junior in high school at Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches. He created the page, at the suggestion of a friend, to display photographs he was taking in an entry-level film photography course. He never intended for the personal log to go viral, he said. “About four or five months went by, and I didn’t really use it much. I uploaded some of my own photographs, like one every two weeks,” he said. “But then I started putting other photos, and it began to be a way for me to showcase other artists.” The following summer he began receiving recognition from large websites, an influx of people subscribed to his account, and soon, his personal blog became a favorite page on toolbars around the world. “I try to pinpoint when it got as big as it did,” he said. “I don’t even know. It kind of blows my mind sometimes.” Harlow pauses, explaining he gets surprised when students around campus recognize him or he attracts a new follower. The shaggy-haired, thin fraternity pledge remains modest, frequently saying, “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal … but it’s pretty cool.” With so many followers to please, Harlow began to change the way he ran the operation. He said he started to consciously think about not only what he liked, but whether the viewer would enjoy it. Soon the photography posts evolved into fashion highlights, and Harlow began to spotlight a variety of artists and their respective genres. “It became not just an image bank,” he said. “It has a personal touch with different collections, artists.” Harlow said he began interviewing these subjects and posting reviews and Q&A excerpts along with the images. The blog is now centered on this fusion of reporting and imagery rather than personal collections. With approximately 7,000 posts under his belt in two years, he laughed as he said only about fewer than one percent of the displayed art is his own. “I like to promote artists who deserve to be out there,” he said. “There’s more to art than what you see in galleries — there’s another culture online.”

Harlow excitedly described his recent interviews, saying the people he once idolized he now considers friends. One of his most memorable interviews, Harlow said, was with oil painter Andrew Salgado. “It sticks out in my mind because that was one post that went, for lack of a better word, ‘viral,’” Harlow said. “It was the post that went everywhere and was all over art blogs.” An upcoming interview, Harlow noted, will be with photographer Billy Kidd, who has also established an online following with his photography blog “i was shot by billy kidd.” But Harlow hasn’t just secured connections with big-name artists, he said. He’s also scored his first love and his first online job.

stable connection Harlow met his girlfriend, Aoife Leonard, through Tumblr. He said he began exploring more fashion-oriented websites as he became interested in fashion photography and stumbled upon Leonard’s Tumblr page. “About six months ago, I started looking at designers that I knew of. [Aoife] runs a blog that is specifically about fashion. We started talking and became friends. Last October, I bought a plane

LSU freshman Andrew Harlow’s Tumblr following is 80,000 strong— and growing. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Freshman Andrew Harlow is now an editor for the Tumblr community.

ticket and went up and saw her, and now, she lives here.” Leonard, philosophy and political science freshman, said she never thought she would secure a relationship through Tumblr. She laughed, saying her family still doesn’t understand it. “I didn’t know who he was at first,” she said. “I just knew he was really popular on Tumblr.” Leonard said she was attracted to both Harlow’s personality and his interest in art. She remains impressed with the connections he has made and with the amount of time he dedicates to it. “We spend a lot of time together — sometimes we’ll blog at the same time,” she said. “I’ll show him something he might want for his blog, we’ll share photographs, [and] opinions.” Leonard said the two collaborate on Tumblr projects frequently. “She is the single best thing to come out of this Tumblr blog,” Harlow said, as a smile expands across his face. “So, if nothing else, Tumblr did find love for me.”

welcome to tumblr Another perk has been his voluntary job as a Tumblr “art” tag Community Editor, a position he was asked to fill in spring 2011. The Community Art editors, which include a group of about eight bloggers, are responsible for finding and broadcasting art-specific blogs on Tumblr’s home page.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

“Tumblr wanted to create a way [it] could expose [its] bloggers better,” he said. Harlow said he now spends about an hour a day sifting through blogs that have been deemed “art” through the site’s tagging capability. When he finds something he thinks is worthy of promotion, he will help publicly display it. When asked if he seeks out any specific art forms or styles, he said, “Art encompasses so many different things — I just look for things that appeal to me.” Harlow said the eight different community editors have different tastes, which add variety to the selection. “Obviously, there’s some subjectivity that goes into it, and that’s some of the appeal of it,” Harlow said. “People want to know what I like.” Appearing on the home page helps bloggers receive subscribers and recognition, he said. When his name first appeared on the main site as an editor, he gained roughly 6,000 new followers overnight. “I just thought, ‘Wow, my name is going to be on the front page,’” Harlow said, noting his initial reaction to the job offer. “It was a big step. Ever since then I’ve had tons of artists and designers asking for collaborations.” One such collaboration is a Tumblr-linked online store Harlow is hoping to launch this semester. Leonard is also helping with the shop.

“There are a few small designers from California that want to sell their stuff,” he said. “It’s mostly clothing. What I’d like to do, and what I’m in the process of doing, is to expand it and make it a store for prints and reach out to my favorite artists.”

refresh page Harlow said the store is just the beginning of what he plans to do in the future. Harlow is currently focused on the up-keep of “Recordis,” a bi-annual art magazine he co-created with a fellow blogger eight months ago. Harlow said one issue has been printed so far and the second is set to come out in early April. The 80-page spread is content-only, he said. “The name, it’s Latin, and it means ‘returning to the heart,’” he said. “And that’s the idea. Ninety percent of the artists featured have never been in a gallery or never been published. It’s average people like you and I with incredible work.” Harlow said they have even opened the floor to submissions for the magazine from artists of any level. He has received about 200 for the next edition. In addition to highlighting underground artists, Harlow hopes to dive in and explore the Baton Rouge community and college art scene. Eventually, however, Harlow would like to move beyond Baton Rouge — literally. He said he would like create a mobile, rotating Tumblr art gallery that would visit a string of cities across the nation, setting up new artist displays at each site. Until then, Harlow said he is staying put, as he has obligations to his education, his girlfriend, his fraternity and his personal blog. “In the end, one thing you have to realize is it’s something for yourself,” he said. “You can’t let the numbers get to your head. The real satisfying part is posting something you love and getting recognition for that.”

Harlow plans to open a Tumblr-linked online store this semester.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Photo Essay

Pose S T RI K E A

PHOTOS BY jesse guillory

LEGACY takes a backstage look at what it’s like to put on a fashion show through the eyes of local Baton Rouge fashion label Jolie and Elizabeth.

Right: Hair stylist David Jinx prepares a model backstage for Ashlie Ming’s fashion show. Bottom: A makeup artist applies eye shadow to model Nasheeka Nedsreal.

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Above: A model shows off her dress as she struts across the stage at the NOLA Fashion Week 2012.

LEGACY â&#x20AC;˘ SPRING 2012

Right: A model finishes her presentation at NOLA Fashion Week 2012. Below: The designers of Baton Rouge fashion label Jolie and Elizabeth walk out to applause.

Above: Local Band Royal Teeth performs for guests as the Jolie and Elizabeth collection is presented to the audience.

LEGACY â&#x20AC;˘ SPRING 2012

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LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Feature

IN COLD

BLOOD WORDS BY xerxes wilson

As a black man persevering in the sweltering racial oppression of deep south, 1960s Louisiana, Wharlest Jackson was moving up in the world by most measures. A veteran of the Korean War, he was the father of five children, loved a caring wife and he’d just been promoted to chemical mixer, a position never held by a black man at the Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company in Natchez. His wife, Exerlena, begged Wharlest not to take the job, though the accompanying raise of 17 cents per hour would allow her to quit work and focus on family matters. Exerlena had heard the stories of black men killed, beaten and maimed by angry white people and even law enforcement in Natchez and Vidalia, La., just across the river. Years earlier, they nursed their friend, and Wharlest’s co-worker, back to health after he was nearly killed by a bomb likely planted by the Klu Klux Klan, who terrorized the black community constantly at the time. As racial reforms began spreading across the nation in the 1960s, Natchez, Vidalia and nearby Ferriday, La., remained unyielding bastions of oppression. Exerlena feared the price would never be worth any pay raise. But, Wharlest took the job and only days later as he was driving home from work, the weight of his hand fell on his old truck’s turn signal. Seven blocks away, the windows rattled in the house where Exerlena was resting and she immediately knew. She would later tell the Concordia Sentinel newspaper, upon hearing the explosion she shouted: “Oh, Lord, that’s Jackson. That’s Jackson!” A bomb placed under the driver side of Jackson’s truck mangled the vehicle and Wharlest’s body. He was killed instantly. The murder drew the nation’s attention and notice of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who have jurisdiction when an explosive is used in a crime. The FBI probed, but the case grew cold. The spotlight

PHOTOS courtesy art

dimmed and eventually faded. Outrage simmered into acceptance. The years passed, Jackson was remembered, but nobody was ever brought to trial in his murder. Such were the times in the deep South. The question of justice remains unanswered, and for many years unasked. But now, new efforts championed by both local journalists and federal agents aim to put closure to this racially motivated murder and many like it. It’s a question all too common in Louisiana with six racially motivated cases now being reexamined through the FBI’s Cold Case Initiative. Federal investigators launched the initiative following the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007. Named after a young black teenager from Chicago killed while visiting family in Mississippi in 1955. Since then, the FBI has reopened 111 cases totalling 124 victims. All but two of these victims are black. At least two dozen of these murders occurred in Louisiana and Mississippi mostly during the ‘60s. Prosecutors have closed 79 cases thus far, with one federal prosecution. Three of these cases come from Louisiana and are closed because contemporary federal investigators find the “subjects” of the previous FBI investigation have passed away or there is insufficient evidence to continue. “We do care, but I have to stress there are limitations we face,” said Heith Janke, supervisory special agent for the FBI. “People continue to die, but until they are all dead, there’s a chance.” Time is an unrelenting obstacle in these investigations, causing investigators to nix 47 percent of their cold case inquiries because all the original suspects are deceased. Even when people are still living, Janke said, it is extremely difficult to obtain any information that can withstand judicial scrutiny. Now the FBI is racing against the passing days to complete or close about 30 remaining investigations, Janke said. LEGACY • SPRING 2012

Top left: Stanley Nelson (right) interviews Arthur Spencer about Frank Morris’ death. Photo Courtesy of the Manship School Cold Case Project. Top right: A photo of Joseph Edwards taken a year before he was murdered in Vidalia, La. His case is one of several cold case murders that are currently being investigated by the FBI. Photo courtesy of the Concordia Sentinal. Bottom left: A community letter from the black citizens of Concordia Parish to then FBI director Herbert Hoover, begging for his assistance in solving the death of Frank Morris. Photo courtesy of the Manship School Cold Case Project. Bottom right: Frank Morris, center wearing apron and cap, stands in front of his shop just months before he died in 1964. Photo courtesy of The Concordia Sentinel.

Though there isn’t a bounty of hope for solving these aging murders, there has been some progress in the Ferriday area, championed primarily through the Concordia Sentinel editor Stanley Nelson. Nelson, whose coverage made him a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in local reporting, isn’t the first person one would expect to out-investigate the FBI. He’s as soft-spoken, polite and unassuming as the small, weekly newspaper he runs in Ferriday. While he may lack the resources of federal investigators, he makes up for it with tenacity and has devoted the past four years to shedding light on the murder of another Concordia parish-area black man. “I don’t know if I have anything more [than the FBI],” Nelson said. “But what I do have is a huge desire to try, to give up whatever it takes, to go down any road to get. It’s a matter of how important it is to you.” Frank Morris played a special role in 1960s Ferriday as a

LEGACY • SPRING 2012

successful business owner and black man. He owned a small shoe shop, where for a quarter of a century, he ran an honest trade repairing and selling shoes. His success would unfortunately lead to his downfall. In 1964, as Morris was sleeping in his shop, he heard a ruckus outside. When he approached the door, a man with a shotgun prevented him leaving, while another poured liquid across the front of his shop. They set his shop ablaze and retreated into the night. The shop exploded into a fireball, sending debris into the street and setting Morris on fire. He was able to make it out, but not before the fire had taken its toll. Once at the hospital, witnesses say every inch of his body was charred aside from the bottoms of his feet. He persisted in agony for nearly a week before he died. He never told his trusted friends or police who he saw in front of his shop that night. Federal investigators again probed, but, like Jackson’s case,

ultimately failed to find Morris’ assassins. Nelson often tells people he thinks he would have liked Morris, and the motivation for years of digging on a 47-year-old murder is simply empathy. “One thing is just the general human question of how can a human do this to another,” Nelson said. “Frank Morris was a good, hardworking man, he contributed to his community, he was honest, he worked very hard for what he had and probably had to work a lot harder to get what he had because he was black.” With the help of investigative reports from the FBI’s initial investigations, Nelson has pieced together a narrative and in the process uncovered much about Ferriday’s dark past. Like many southern towns in the south, Ferriday was an unwelcoming place for blacks in the ‘60s. There was nowhere to turn for the black population as even law enforcement was brimming with evil. Nelson is also working to shed light on other cases from the area while continuing his normal duties as the paper’s editor.

“I don’t know if I have anything more [than the FBI]. But what I do have is a huge desire to try, to give up whatever it takes, to go down any road to get. ” Much of Nelson’s work on the Morris murder has illuminated the racial oppressiveness of law enforcement with no character personifying this better than Concordia Parish Sheriff ’s Deputy Frank DeLaughter. Legend of DeLaughter’s merciless brutality and racial hatred grew as tall as the 6 foot, 4 inch deputy and in the black community, paralyzing fear of “Big Frank” carried infinitely more weight than his 250 pound frame. Nelson’s investigations have linked DeLaughter to Morris’ murder and shed light on how criminals intimidated the city of Ferriday from positions of authority. “What really surprised me a lot is this criminal element that was in control was really quite powerful and intimidating to [the people of Ferriday],” Nelson said. Nelson’s investigations have also led him to Author Leonard Spencer, a Rayville man in his 70s, who admits being in the Klan in the 1970s, but told the Sentinel he had never heard of Frank Morris. Spencer has been implicated in the murder by family and ex-family members who say Spencer has, on multiple occasions, confessed to the crime. In January 2011, for the first time in 47 years, a suspect was named in the Morris murder and it was on the front page of the Concordia Sentinel. Now, and not necessarily tied to Nelson’s investigations, a Concordia Parish Grand Jury has been summoned to probe into the murder. “If nothing else this will at least provide a historical record of all we could do,” Nelson said. “It records fact, of who he was, what a terrible thing happened to him and what theories are out there for how the murder occurred.”

There are 12 unsolved murder cases in Louisiana and Mississippi that remain on the FBI’s active investigation list. All involve the Ku Klux Klan or Klan sympathizers. Louis Allen

Shot to death outside his home in Amite County, Miss., on Jan. 31, 1964.

Benjamin Brown

Shot to death by “stray gunshots from police who fired into the crowd” during a Jackson State College student protest on May 11, 1967.

Carrie Brumfield

Resident of Franklinton, La. Found shot to death in his car on Sept. 12, 1967.

Joseph Edwards

A resident of Clayton, La., Edwards was a porter at the Shamrock Motel in Vidalia, La. He disappeared in July 1964. Edwards was last seen in his green and white Buick being pulled over by two white men in a sedan on the morning of July 12.

Isaiah Henry

A resident of Greensburg, La. Savagely beaten on July 28, 1954, he suffered permanent brain damage and died five years later.

Wharlest Jackson

A resident of Natchez, Miss. A bomb exploded in his truck on Feb. 27, 1967. He died instantly.

O’Neal Moore

A resident of Varnado, La. A black sheriff deputy in Washington Parish, Moore and his partner, Creed Rogers, were shot on June 2, 1965. Moore was killed, Rogers was wounded and lost the sight of one eye.

Frank Morris

A shoe shop owner in Ferriday, La., Morris died after the arson of his business in December, 1964.

Mack Charles Parker

A resident of Poplarville, Miss. Abducted by a white mob from his jail cell on May 4, 1959. He was being held for allegedly raping a white woman. The mob took him across the Louisiana border, beat him and fatally shot him. The judge for the original case encouraged the grand jury to return no indictments against the known killers.

Johnny Queen

A resident of Fayette, Miss. Shot on Aug. 8, 1965. A white, offduty constable was named in the murder, but the shooting was not connected to any arrest.

Marshall Scott, Jr.

Put into solitary confinement in an Orleans Parish jail, where he died in January 1965. He never received medical care.

Clifton Walker

A resident of Natchez, Miss. Ambushed by a group of men who fired shotguns into his car while on his way home from work on Feb. 28, 1964.

Editor’s note: Reporting from Concordia Sentinel contributed to this article. Read more about Nelson’s investigations at www.concordiasentinel.com LEGACY • SPRING 2012

LEGACY • SPRING 2012