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NEWS SG presidential candidates debate issues on eve of election, page 3.
WIN OR GO HOME Lady Tigers make push for seventh straight Sweet 16 tonight, page 7.
THE DAILY REVEILLE WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Volume 113, Issue 115
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Legal Excuse
U.S. Senate reviewing a bill which would relieve full-time students from jury duty Bethany Hawkins is an avid it’s federal court, I couldn’t be “Law and Order” fan, but she excused. This was even after never thought she’d step onto explaining to them I’m paying the scene and be for college and a part of a real didn’t want to miss By Leslie Presnall jury. class.” Staff Writer The U.S But the U.S. District Court division in Baton Senate is reviewing a bill that Rouge summoned Hawkins to would exempt college students jury duty in April 2007, forcing from jury duty. The House of her to miss four days of classes. Representatives already passed “I didn’t get out of it,” said the bill. Hawkins, mass communication senior. “But I was told since JURY DUTY, see page 18
illustration by STEPHANIE CLARK / The Daily Reveille
FACULTY
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Prof. delivers ‘Last Lecture’ SG elections today on
PAWS, at polling stations
Outland: Americans buying happiness
2009 season shorter, more crowded
By Leslie Presnall Staff Writer
History professor Robert Outland stepped to the podium in Dodson Auditorium to deliver his last lecture to about 40 students Monday night — hypothetically. The Students Activities Board is sponsoring the three-part “Last Lecture” series, asking popular faculty,
By Adam Duvernay Staff Writer
LECTURE, see page 17
lsureveille.com
Opinion ................... 20 Classifieds ............... 22
7:20 a.m. 8:20 a.m. Noon 3:20 p.m. 4:20 p.m. 5:20 p.m.
Weather
Sports ...................... 7
JARED P. L. NORMAND/ The Daily Reveille
History professor Robert Outland delivers a lecture Monday in Dodson Auditorium on the social lifestyles before and after the Great Depression compared to today’s.
Broadcasts
Index
Log on to see highlights from Outland’s lecture.
After three weeks of intense campaigning, the candidates of each Student Government ticket will make one final push for student support as the clock winds down on election day. Election day officially begins today at 7 a.m. and will continue until the polls close at 9:59 p.m. Students will be able to vote for their candidate through the student services link on their PAWS account. Online voting will continue throughout the day. Three separate polling lo-
cations manned by the election board are also available across campus. During the day, students can vote outside Patrick F. Taylor Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and inside the Middleton Library lobby from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A separate polling station will be set up inside the University Student Recreational Complex from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The three final selections for how to spend $5,000 of student fees are also included on tomorrow’s ballot. The options include more recycling bins on campus and increased recycling awareness, an online wait list system for Middleton Library that will show which computers are available and more ELECTION, see page 18
TODAY THUNDERSTORMS
WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
Nation & World
PAGE 2
WORLD NEWS
on the web
LSUREVEILLE.COM
Lance Armstrong breaks collarbone in crash
MONDAY’S POLL RESULTS Did you attend Groovin’ on the Grounds on Saturday?
NATO: Taliban commander one of 10 people killed in strike 104 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THE POLL.
TODAY’S QUESTION:
Have you ever been summoned to jury duty?
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009
KABUL (AP) — NATO troops killed a senior Taliban commander and nine other militants in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, striking a blow in the group’s heartland where the U.S. plans to send thousands of additional troops to stem the growing violence. Over a dozen Afghan and coalition forces have been killed in the south in recent days, including eight Afghan police who were killed by Taliban fighters Monday in the Kandahar province.
GO TO LSUREVEILLE.COM TO CAST YOUR VOTE
BALTANAS, Spain (AP) — Lance Armstrong will have surgery after breaking his collarbone Monday during a race in Spain. “I‘m alive!“ the seven-time Tour de France champion wrote on his Twitter feed. “Broken clavicle (right). Hurts like hell for now. Surgery in a couple of days. Thanks for all the well wishes.” The 37-year-old American cyclist was knocked off his bike during a pileup in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon race. The injury has jeopardized his participation in upcoming races. Armstrong was scheduled to compete in the Giro d‘Italia from May 9 to May 31 and the Tour from July 4 to July 26.
NATION, STATE AND CITY BRIEFS
Astronauts take third and final spacewalk
TODAY
tuesday, march 24, 2009 bcm dinner & tnt worship Every Thursday night. Dinner (free) at 7:15pm. TNT Worship Service at 8:00pm. The BCM is at the corner of Highland & Chimes. All LSU students invited! lsubcm.org campus housing contract renewal-residence halls Current residents can reserve their same room in their residence halls. get noticed forever in the 2008-2009 gumbo! March 27th is the deadline to reserve your place in LSU history by getting into the Gumbo yearbook. Your organization has a story to tell. Share it by calling Andrew or Melissa at 578.6090 and getting the details you need to get noticed & leave a legacy.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two astronauts, who were teaching math and science to middle school students just five years ago, went on a spacewalk together Monday, their path cleared of dangerous orbiting junk that had threatened the space station and shuttle. On Sunday, the linked shuttle-station complex had to move out of the way of a 4-inch piece of debris that had been projected to come perilously close during the spacewalk. Astronauts Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold II had no luck trying to free up a jammed equipment storage shelf at the international space station, one of their main tasks. Using a hammer, they managed to loosen a pin that Acaba and another astronaut accidentally inserted upside down on the platform during Saturday’s spacewalk.
photo courtesy of NASA TV / The Associated Press
Astronauts Joseph Acaba (bottom) and Richard Arnold II (top) make a spacewalk Monday at the international space station.
Connecticut legislators Administration moves against bad bank assets consider slavery apology WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration aimed squarely at the crisis clogging the nation’s credit system Monday with a plan to take over up to $1 trillion in sour mortgage securities with the help of private investors. For once, Wall Street cheered. The announcement, closely stage-managed throughout the day, filled in crucial blanks in the administration’s financial rescue package and formed what President Obama called “one more critical element in our recovery.”
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified please contact the editor at (225) 5784811 or e-mail editor@lsureveille.com.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free. To purchase additional copies for 25 cents, please contact the Office of Student Media in B-16 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and semiweekly during the summer semester, except during holidays and final exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual mail subscriptions are $115. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-16 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut legislators are considering making their state the first in New England to apologize for slavery and other racist policies of old. A legislative committee heard testimony Monday on a resolution that would issue a formal, general apology and express the General Assembly’s “profound contrition” for the official acts that sanctioned and perpetuated slavery. The state’s African-American Affairs Commission, a liaison between black communities and the government, is urging legislators to pass the resolution.
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PAGE 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SG presidential candidates debate on eve of election Nearly 100 students provide questions By Lindsey Meaux Staff Writer
The five pairs of Student Government presidential and vice presidential-candidates gathered in the TigerTV Studio on the eve of the SG elections for their final debate. Supporting their preferred candidates and providing audience questions, nearly 100 students gathered to view the final debate, which promised to answer students’ final questions before voting opens on PAWS today. The debate will be reaired on TigerTV, campus channel 75, at various times throughout the day. Moderator Amy Vitrano, TigerTV station manager, asked each pair of candidates questions about transparency and sustainability after they introduced themselves via a previously taped segment. The candidates were then given the opportunity to answer students’ questions submitted through TigerTV’s e-mail
account. The initial question concerned the $45 million in budget cuts the University is facing. Subsequent questions discussed the ways the losing candidates would work with the future SG president and vice president, how the candidates plan to promote athletics and what differentiates them from candidates in past years. The Make it Reign ticket, composed of mass communication students Jeffrey Noel and Ryan Ginn, pushed three major proponents of their campaign throughout the debate — the efficient and effective use of money, communication and their lack of a push card. “We’re not going to set important issues now,” Noel said of his ticket’s approach. “We’re going to do the small stuff.” The More ’09 ticket, led by human resource leadership development junior Stuart Watkins and mass communication junior Martina Scheuermann, is a ticket running on a green premise. Issues they pushed during the debate included the goal of cutting “frivolous spending,” their previous student leadership positions and the quality of
other candidates running on their ticket. “Get us elected ... and we’re ready to fulfill our duties,” Stuart said, adding the candidates backing him are “people that are going to think and act responsibly throughout the year.” The One Voice ticket is fronted by College of Business Sen. Greg Upton and SG Executive Director Laura Boggs. Boggs was not present for the first half of the debate. The pair pushed the viability of the options on their push card and their economic prowess. “As an economics major, I’ve been working with economists here at LSU,” Upton said. “The most important issue facing LSU this year is the budget crisis ... Our campaign is the only campaign that has actually come up with a solution.” The Next Level campaign, led by University Center for Advising and Counseling Sen. Andy Palermo and Phoebe Hathorn, SG assistant director of finance, pushed their extensive experience in SG, plans to cut “frivolous spending” and their intent to reform dead week. “With this current economic
GRANT GUTIERREZ / The Daily Reveille
TigerTV station manager and mass communication junior Amy Vitrano hosts the TigerTV debate Monday night with the presidential candidates for today’s SG elections.
climate, we need to be the solution and not the problem,” Palermo said. “We need someone that has the experience ... We need somebody that’s going to represent SG to the best of its ability.” Unity ’09 is led by Ari Krupkin, political science senior, and Melanie Oubre, mass communication sophomore. They pushed their leadership experience in organizations outside of SG and
their intent to unify the campus. “We are working to make sure that you are informed,” Krupkin said. “[We want to] make sure that everyone on this campus can come together in the best ways possible ... That’s what we’re about.”
Contact Lindsey Meaux at lmeaux@lsureveille.com
LIBRARY
Map exhibition opens in Hill Memorial Library Exhibit relates art, history, literature By Mary Walker Baus Contributing Writer
A treasure hides behind Middleton Library. If one wanders into the courtyard to the left of Middleton Library, one will find that X marks the spot on the “Mariners, Meridians and Monsters: Exploring the History of Maps in Fact and Fiction” exhibition, which opened Monday in the second floor gallery of Hill Memorial Library. The exhibit, which is sponsored by LSU Libraries’ Special Collections, features a collection
of about 50 maps of the world, the Baton Rouge area and theUniversity’s campus. One of the maps entitled “Early Map of Louisiana” by Louis Hennepin — circa 16261705 — is the first map to refer to the Mississippi Valley as Louisiana. “A lot of people enjoy seeing old maps,” said Michael Taylor, assistant curator of books. “We usually have four main exhibitions a year to advertise what we have. We are most known for our Louisiana collection. I like to show people collections they may not know much about.” The exhibition is organized by different themes, like propaganda maps, maps of Louisiana and fictional and mythological maps.
KIM FOSTER / The Daily Reveille
A new exhibition opened Monday on the second floor of the Hill Memorial Library. The exhibit features a 1597 atlas as well as other historic maps.
Geologist Dave Morgan, a map collector, investigated the exhibit as soon as he heard about it. Morgan said his interests in maps developed while working on his geology thesis about the historic changes of the Mississippi River Delta. “I did a lot of research with copies of historical maps, and I decided I wanted the real thing,” Morgan said. “The theme is interesting. I’m anxious to see how it all fits together.” Taylor curated the exhibition, choosing the maps and writing the information on the labels next to each map. “I wanted to pick a subject for people in different disciplines,” Taylor said. “I want to show how maps are related to art, history and literature.” The exhibition has a wide range of maps from old road maps that extend on a scroll to a map of Middle Earth from “The Hobbit” to maps of Louisiana and Baton Rouge from the Civil War. A map of the University from 1935 by Ben Earl Looney is also featured and includes traditional University symbols like a crawfish, bike riding, a fleur de lis and a tiger. “[The exhibits] are successful because it’s our way of letting people know the range of materials we have in the collections,” said Leah Wood Jewett, exhibitions coordinator and Civil War Manuscript Archivist. “The great thing about having exhibitions in our library is that once the exhibition is over, people can still see the materials in our reading room. This is our
way to really showcase the materials we have in our collections that people may not realize we have.” The map exhibition will remain in the second floor gallery of
Hill Memorial Library until August 15. Contact Mary Walker Baus at mwbaus@lsureveille.com
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
tuesday, march 24, 2009
STATE
Foundation urges governments to protect higher ed. with the government to accomplish that goal. The foundation’s big goal, “A Stronger Nation through Higher Education,” is to increase the By Joy Lukachick number of Americans with college Staff Writer degrees to 60 percent by 2025. About 39 percent of American Education is a major driver adults hold a two- or four-year de- for the economy, said Dewayne gree, and a shortMatthews, Lumiage of 16 million na foundation vice Level of education for president of policy adults is predicted in the workforce Louisiana Residents 25-64 and strategy. by 2025 — prob“States need years old: lems the Lumina to think in terms • Less than ninth grade: 5.4 % Foundation is adof their human dressing state-by- •Ninth to 12th grade, no diploma: resources,” Mat15.4% state. thews said. He The Lumina •High school graduates: 33.2% defined human reFoundation, an •Some college, no degree: 21.9% sources as the eduIndianpolis-based •Associate’s degree: 4.0% cated work force. private founda- •Bachelor’s degree: 13.3% The Lumina tion, is advocating •Graduate or professional degree: Foundation is for state and fed- 6.8 % looking for eferal government ficient ways for to protect higher states to avoid education and is offering to work cutting higher education budgets,
Workforce shortage predicted by 2025
Matthews said. While states are facing more pressure to cut budgets, it’s essential for higher education to be accessible to people, he said. In Louisiana, 24 percent of the state’s 2.3 million workingage adults hold at least a two-year degree, according to the Census 2000 data. In East Baton Rouge parish, 38.4 percent hold a two- or four-year degree. The foundation is advocating three major areas where states can help reach the goal of increasing the level of graduates, Matthews said. Preparing people before they go to college, ensuring students are financially prepared to succeed and making sure the hiring system is efficient will help accomplish the goal, he said. The organization wrote a report giving specific recommendations to states on how to protect higher education, Matthews said. “Protect [a state’s] financial
ENVIRONMENT
Council to recycle electronics Students can donate old gadgets By Leslie Presnall Staff Writer
The U.S. generated 2.9 million tons of electronic waste in 2006, and nearly 90 percent was trashed in landfills. But the Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council will give students the chance to drop off their obsolete personal IT equipment from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday on Tower Drive to reduce their carbon footprints. “It’s important to eliminate as much electronic waste as you can,” said Shannon Fish, CACRC director of resources. “Bring us anything you have sitting in closets or under your bed. It’s not serving any purpose, but we can do something good with it.” CACRC is a nonprofit organization that promotes waste reduction and the use of recycled goods, according to its Web site. Electronic waste — or Ewaste — is any type of electronic device no longer needed by someone, Fish said. But CACRC is trying to keep electronics out of the garbage cans. Electronics contain materials including lead, mercury and cadmium that can contaminate water and soil and harm human and animal health. “A ton of bad stuff is inside these electronics, and we’re trying to find another life for it,” Fish said. Students can recycle gadgets like computer hardware, keyboards, mice, speakers, telephones, cell phones, DVDs, MP3 players, XBoxes, Playstations, GPS Devices and digital cameras. Students cannot recycle televisions, stereos, appliances or
copiers. When a computer is brought into CACRC’s warehouse, it’s assessed by the warehouse crew and sorted. If items are old and aren’t able to be reused, they ‘It’s are sent to demanufacturing, important where every- to eliminate thing is pulled as much apart and sorted to be recycled electronic based on the waste as components. If an elec- you can.’ tronic can be reused, it’s Shannon Fish sent to testing, CACRC director of where the crew resources removes the hardrive’s data, and the system is cleaned, tested and reworked.
If the electronics are still working, they can be given to someone in need, or the working parts can be reinstalled into other devices. “It’s going to benefit people when it’s donated to us,” Fish said. “It’s also a tax-deductible donation. We give you a receipt, and you can write off the value of what you donate to us on your taxes.” In 2007, the CACRC refurbished and recycled more than 1,000 tons of used electronics — enough energy savings to power 3,350 US households a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Contact Leslie Presnall at lpresnall@lsureveille.com
‘‘
‘Protect [a state’s] financial aid programs. That can have a devastating effect on people who are going to college.’ Dewayne Matthew
Lumina Foundation vice president of policy and strategy
aid programs,” he said. “That can have a devastating effect on people who are going to college.” President Obama has addressed the issue of higher education needs by funding more student loans. Obama is receiving some opposition for his plan to return to a system of funding student loans through federal government,
said Robert Mann, mass communication professor. The system would eliminate the “middle man” for funding student loans, Mann explained. To reach the foundation’s goal to fill the needs for college graduates, nearly 800,000 more college graduates need to be educated each year until 2025, the Lumina Foundation reported. There are no easy solutions, Matthews said, but states can at least learn to minimize the damage from budget cuts to higher education to increase college graduates. Obama’s budget proposes all new student loans originate in the Direct Student Loan program starting in 2010, according to the Committee on Education and Labor’s Web site.
Contact Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@lsureveille.com
tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
PAGE 5
NATION
STATE
Consultants earned Students help with sandbags hold off flood $80K on Katrina case Dikes waters in N.D. Surgeon accused of killing patients By The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eight contractors were paid more than $80,000 to assess autopsies and other medical information as part of a failed effort to prosecute Dr. Anna Pou for allegedly killing patients at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina. Former Attorney General Charles Foti also failed to prosecute two nurses accused of helping Pou. A ninth contract — for $15,000 — was awarded, but an invoice for services was not submitted, records show. The contracts and invoices submitted with them, obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act request, run as high as $300 an hour. The lowest charge was $75 an hour. Foti accused Pou, a cancer surgeon, and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry of killing critically ill patients with overdoses of a sedative-painkiller mix in the days after the storm, when Memorial Medical Center and other hospitals had no electricity and no way to evacuate. No one was ever indicted, and all three denied the accusations. Both nurses were given immunity for grand jury testimony. Pou was not indicted, and the charges have since been expunged. “This is a prosecution that should never have been brought,” Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said Friday. Caldwell testified before the Louisiana Supreme Court that there might someday be further prosecution for the 34 deaths at Memorial, but not against Pou. The attorney general has not yet tallied the complete cost of the cases against the three; some will not be accounted for separately since the work was done as part of investigators’ and attorneys’ regular schedules. The attorney general’s office was active in the case from September 2005 until a New Orleans grand jury refused to indict on July 24, 2007. Last week, the state Attorney Fee Review Board recommended Pou and her employer, LSU Healthcare Network, be paid more than $450,000 for their legal fees. Most of the money — about $312,000 — would go to LSU. Pou would get about $145,000. The state Legislature must approve the payments. Pou, the case’s primary target, had patients at the hospital when the storm struck on Aug. 29, 2005, and volunteered to stay and care for the critically ill. Budo and Landry were employees of Tenet Healthcare Corp., the private company that operated Memorial at the time, and didn’t qualify for state reimbursement, Pou lawyer Rick Simmons said. The storm flooded the area around the hospital and knocked out electricity. Daytime temperatures spiked to more than 100 degrees.
Many of the dead succumbed to dehydration as they waited for four days for boats to rescue them. Ochsner Health System later bought Memorial hospital from Tenet and changed the name to Ochsner Baptist Medical Center. It reopened in January 2009 after renovation. Of the $80,028 Foti paid, the largest payment was to Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathology consultant, who received $22,049. He concluded 11 patients died from “acute drug toxicity,” and that the deaths should be classified as homicides. Dr. Steven Karch, a consultant in pathology and toxicology, was paid $18,500, and later testified before the Legislature that every case “should have been declared undetermined, because it is impossible to do a scientific analysis of a cadaver that has been in the sun for 10 days.” Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com
By The Associated Press FARGO, N.D. (AP) — High school and college students were let out of class Monday to help with sandbagging as residents raced to hold off a threat of flooding from the rising Red River. City officials planned to fill more than 1 million sandbags, but with more rain predicted, they increased the need to nearly 2 million sandbags — about 500,000 each day by the end of the week. “We’re confident that we can get the bags delivered,” said Bruce Grubb, Fargo’s enterprise director. “Getting them made is a more daunting challenge.” North Dakota State University canceled classes Monday, and Fargo high schools also excused students to help. “The students are eager to
help. We’re ready to go,” Fargo school spokesman Dan Huffman said. Across the river, outside Moorhead, Minn., Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School junior Luke Gable said he was given the option of studying or sandbagging, and decided school could wait. “Everyone needs help right now,” Gable said. “We’ve got fresh legs and fresh arms.” North of Moorhead in Oakport Township, where residents had to be evacuated by boat during the 1997 flood, homeowner Barb Groth helped volunteers fill sandbags near her house Monday. “We’re considered the dry side of the township, but we flooded anyway in 1997. This flood is supposed to be worse,” Groth said. “We’re nervous.” Fargo city administrator Pat Zavoral estimated the city of some 90,000 residents was about 40 percent protected as of Monday.
Flood stage at Fargo is 18 feet, and the National Weather Service said the Red River had reached 25.3 feet Monday morning. The weather service said the river is expected to crest in Fargo early Friday at about a record 40 feet. Officials said the dike protecting downtown Fargo was being raised to about 43 feet and an emergency levee south of the city was being completed. Minnesota and North Dakota both were sending National Guard troops to help. Fargo is borrowing some expertise from Louisiana. The National Guard and the city plan to bring in seven miles of 4-feet high interlocking plastic containers that can be filled with sand to form temporary dikes, a system that was used during Hurricane Katrina. Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
tuesday, march 24, 2009
RECREATION
University powerlifting team to compete in nationals Event to be held March 27-29 By Natalie Roy Contributing Writer
While many University students are hitting the gym to prepare their bodies for spring break, Cody Albright is making sure his body is in tip-top shape for a much different reason. Albright, anthropology senior, along with 28 other dedicated University students, is part of the University’s powerlifting team, which will compete in the 2009 Collegiate National Powerlifting Championships in Baton Rouge on March 27-29. This year’s nationals, which Albright called the “Super Bowl of collegiate powerlifting,” begins at 7 a.m. in Family Christian Academy’s gymnasium and will hopefully contribute to the team’s growing list of national titles since its formation in 1999. Among the powerlifting team’s recent achievements are a men’s 2007 national championship and combined team 2007 championship, as well as a women’s 2008 national title. But the team members agree that winning this year’s national title in a local venue would be especially rewarding. “[The location of nationals] switches every year around the
nation,” said Albright, who serves as the men’s team captain. “It’s been ... years since it’s been in Baton Rouge. One of the big national meet promoters happens to live in Baton Rouge, so we [are] lucky and excited that it’s in our backyard this year.” The lifters’ performance at nationals comprises three lifts: squat, bench press and dead lift. “You get three attempts on each lift,” said Andy Hughes, kinesiology junior and team secretary. “Your heaviest [weight lifted] in each category goes toward your combined total, and the highest totals determine the winner.” The powerlifting team competes in an average of four sanctioned meets a year with the goal of reaching a qualifying total, Albright said. The lifters who reach this total are then eligible for nationals. Among the powerlifting powerhouses are LSU, Louisiana Tech, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and some Texas universities, said Patrick Mooney, kinesiology sophomore and team treasurer. Mooney said powerlifting is a South-dominated sport, with only a few choice teams emerging from the North. “I transferred from Southeastern University to LSU ... specifically to join the powerlifting team,” Albright said. “The thing I really like about [powerlifting]
is that it’s ‘put up or shut up.’ It’s not like I’m throwing a pass, and if someone doesn’t catch it, everybody’s doomed. I have to lift [the weight], and if I don’t, it’s on me — I don’t have anyone else to blame.” Though each individual seems to bear the burden, Albright, Hughes and Mooney agree their individual accomplishments as well as their common goals make nationals — as well as every other meet — a team effort. But the men aren’t the only contributors to this team effort. The women’s team makes up a vital portion of the combined team’s total lifting points. “Some of our female lifters ... are probably stronger than some of the guys in our weight classes,” Albright said. “Their strength is underrepresented sometimes. Sam [Baker, team vice president] was a cheerleader, converted powerlifter and now she’s ranked ... [among the best] in the world. They come in and work and earn it like everybody else.” “Earning it,” as defined by the powerlifting team, is practicing 365 days a year with no off season, Albright said. After nationals, the team takes a week off before it starts training for next year’s competition, a commitment that requires both mental and physical strength. Despite the team’s grueling
photo courtesy of Amdrew Hughes
Samantha Baker, powerlifting team vice president, practices a lift. Baker and her teammates will compete in the National Powerlifting Championships on March 27-29.
schedule, extensive practices and preceding victories, this year’s nationals will be anything but a walk in the park, Hughes said. “We’re definitely going to have to fight to win nationals,” Hughes said. “Last year, we didn’t ... get the combined team award, so this year ... we’re definitely looking to take back our crown and hopefully have another big ring on our fingers.” Contact Natalie Roy at nroy@lsureveille.com
THE DAILY REVEILLE
Sports
TUEsday, MARCH 24, 2009
Rumble for Raleigh
LSU looking for 7th straight Sweet 16 By Casey Gisclair Chief Sports Writer
LSU’s 2008 season ended with a heartbreaking loss to a team led by the projected first pick in the WNBA draft, Candace Parker. That 47-46 loss to Tennessee came much deeper in the NCAA tournament — in the Final Four. But the Lady Tigers are hoping to avoid a similar fate tonight in their second-round matchup against No. 3 seed Louisville in the PMAC. The winner of the contest will advance to the semifinals of the Raleigh regional this weekend.
Louisville senior forward Angel McCoughtry averages 23 points and nine rebounds per game this season and is projected by many to be the first player selected in April’s WNBA draft. And LSU’s success in containing McCoughtry could determine whether the Lady Tigers advance to their seventh-straight Sweet 16. “You don’t stop great players,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “You just hope she doesn’t have a monster game. You’ve just got to make sure she doesn’t score 45 points and keep her at her averages.” And accomplishing that feat LOUISVILLE, see page 15
BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille and BILL FEIG / The Associated Press
[Left] Senior forward Kristen Morris fights on the floor for the ball with a WisconsinGreen Bay player Sunday night in the Lady Tigers’ 69-59 win. [Right] Liberty guard Rachel Hammond defends Louisville senior forward Angel McCoughtry on Sunday.
PAGE 7
THE 6th MAN
10 things I learned this past weekend
With one weekend of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments in the books, I can truly say it has been an educational experience. Here’s a short list of things I learned from watching the tournaments — in no particular order. 1. Never doubt LSU when the deck is stacked against them. I lost points in my bracket pool and $5 from my wallet because I was stupid enough to doubt coach Johanathan Brooks Trent Johnson’s Sports Columnist boys and follow popular opinion. I had Butler beating the Tigers in the first round. Wrong. I also made a side bet for the second round game that North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough would score 30 points against LSU’s interior defense. Super wrong. 2. Wake Forest is possibly the most inconsistent team this year. This team beat Duke, UNC and blew out Florida State in Atlantic Coast Conference play. But the Demon Deacons lost to Cleveland State in the first round of the big WEEKEND, see page 15
BASEBALL
Tigers face Harvard in first meeting between teams Crimson travel across state for seven days By Andy Schwehm Sports Contributor
BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille
Sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs throws the ball Wednesday during LSU’s game against McNesse State. LSU faces Harvard tonight in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers have found a magic number for this season: five. LSU is 15-0 when leading after five innings and 15-1 when scoring at least five runs. The combination of large offensive output with solid starting pitching to back it up was the key to the Tigers’ two wins this weekend in South Carolina. “It was so good to hear the bats come alive like they did,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Hitting is a contagious thing. When one guy starts getting the big hits, then the other guys all seem to follow. I knew it was just a matter of time before we started to swing the bats again.” The No. 5 Tigers (17-5, 4-2) can build on their last two games of 10 or more runs today in the first
of their two-game, mid-week series against Harvard. This will be the first game ever between the teams. It will also be the fifth game in as many days for the Crimson as they are on a sevenday Louisiana road swing including a weekend series against Centenary, a Monday night game against Louisiana-Monroe, two games against the Tigers and a Thursday night game against New Orleans. “They called us and said they were going to take a trip through the South and wanted to know if we had spots on our schedule, and we did,” Mainieri said. “I have a lot of respect for schools like Harvard. They want to get their kids some experience.” Harvard has compiled a 2-11 record so far this season after a 1030 effort last season. But the Crimson’s problem hasn’t been their bats. Harvard is batting .303 with a .439 slugging percentage and has hit eight home runs this season. While those numbers pale in
comparison to LSU’s .313 batting average, .540 slugging percentage and 40 home runs this season, they’re still nothing to scoff at. The problem has been pitching. Harvard’s ERA (10.94) looks more like former LSU quarterback Andrew Hatch’s yards-per completion (11.28) as their opponents are hitting at a .377 clip. Mainieri said he won’tt overlook the Crimson, despite their record. “I’m not going to take these games lightly,” Mainieri said. “They will be good games, and we want to keep our momentum going, especially with the way we are swinging our bats.” Harvard will have to do more than calm the Tigers’ bats tonight as they face LSU senior southpaw Ryan Bird, who boasts a 0.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched this season. Contact Andy Schwehm at ashwehm@lsureveille.com
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
tuesday, march 24, 2009
FOOTBALL
Quarterbacks eager to rebound from shaky 2008 season Shepard to join battle for playing time By Casey Gisclair Chief Sports Writer
Last year was not a good year to be an LSU quarterback. The Tigers’ quarterbacks threw a combined 18 interceptions in 2008 — the second most of any team in the Southeastern Conference. The 116.6 passing efficiency was barely good enough for the sixth best in a conference of 12 teams. But with a rough season under their belts, LSU coach Les Miles said he expects more production from sophomores Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee — the team’s top returning quarterbacks. “[Quarterbacks] who step onto the field better have thick skin and be ready to play,” Miles said. “They understand it’s about their ability to ‘The be the best and younger not what the guy is doguys have other ing.” a lot of J e ff e r s o n talent. And is considered many to be it’s going by the favorite to to be fun.’ start the Tigers’ season opener Les Miles Sept. 5 against LSU football coach Washington. The St. Rose native started the final two games of the season, throwing four touchdowns and just one interception. But Jefferson had problems with accuracy throughout the season. He completed 49 percent of his passes. Senior offensive tackle Ciron Black said Jefferson has tried to be more vocal in LSU’s locker room after winning the Offensive
Most Valuable Player award in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. “He’s starting to let the childish things go,” Black said. “He’s trying to help out the new freshmen.” Jefferson said he has also been preparing his body for the upcoming season. “I’m more advanced this year,” Jefferson said. “I gained some weight, got a little bigger — [about] 218-220 pounds.” Lee’s freshman season was the opposite of Jefferson’s as the Bentham, Texas, native started his season hot and rallied the Tigers off the bench to a 26-21 road
win at Auburn. But Lee’s season ended poorly as the then-red- Log on to see shirt freshman the quarterbacks threw seven inperform during terceptions that were returned spring practice. for touchdowns and suffered a right ankle injury against Ole Miss. The injury caused Miles to switch to Jefferson prior to the Arkansas game. Miles said he expects Lee to rebound strongly after a difficult end to the season. “Jarrett understands the aches and woes of the quarterback,” he
lsureveille.com
JASON BORDELON / The Daily Reveille
Freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson prepares to pass the ball during a spring practice session. Jefferson has been preparing for the upcoming season by gaining weight and working on his passing skills.
said. “He’s here to compete.” True freshman Russell Shepard is also expected to compete with Jefferson and Lee for playing time in
the fall. Shepard was rated as Rivals. com’s No. 7 prospect in the country last season and the No. 1 dualthreat quarterback. Miles said though Shepard lags behind Jefferson and Lee in terms of his understanding of the offense, the Houston native’s athleticism will earn him an opportunity to see the field in the fall. “With a guy with that kind of skill, you’re constantly looking for opportunities to get the ball in his hands,” Miles said. The opportunities Miles referenced may not necessarily be under center.
Miles said the coaching staff is focused first on utilizing the blue chip prospect at quarterback but will focus in the fall on the opportunities for him to play other positions. “I don’t think there will be anything else other than getting [Shepard] comfortable at quarterback in practices,” Miles said, “If we choose to look at him in some other positions, we’ll decide at that point in time.” Miles said the play of Shepard and fellow freshman Chris Garrett should have fans optimistic for the future of the position. Like Shepard, Garrett enrolled early for spring practices. “The younger guys have a lot of talent,” Miles said. “And it’s going to be fun.”
Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com
tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
PAGE 9
GYMNASTICS
SOFTBALL
LSU takes five-game win streak to Ole Miss Tigers Mitchell named SEC earn top Player of the Week seed in regional By David Helman Sports Writer
LSU’s softball team shouldn’t be too concerned about a Southeastern Conference road trip after its past three games. The Tigers (19-7, 7-2) play their second consecutive midweek series against Ole Miss tonight (12-16,1-10), but that seems fairly manageable after
LSU’s last series in the Magnolia State. The Tigers swept Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., last weekend, which isn’t exactly an easy task for a team that has started as many as five freshmen in some games this season. “We were down in two of those games and managed to fight our way back,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “There’s no quit in our team.” As the Tigers rolled to their fifth-straight win, Ole Miss found itself getting rolled by Alabama.
GRANT GUTIERREZ / The Daily Reveille
Freshman catcher Morgan Russell takes a swing on opening day of Tiger Park Stadium. The Tigers shut out McNeese State, 6-0, on Feb. 11.
The Crimson Tide crushed the Rebels by a combined score of 31-4, putting Ole Miss on a threegame losing streak. As hot as the No. 2 Crimson Tide’s bats were in Oxford, Alabama couldn’t get a win in Baton Rouge. The Tigers swept the Tide in a doubleheader last Wednesday, giving the Crimson Tide just its second and third losses of the season. “The ‘Bama wins were just a huge boost in confidence for our younger players,” Girouard said. “Our pitching staff is putting things together bit by bit, but we’re finally starting to get production from the lineup.” The big week was enough to earn junior outfielder Rachel Mitchell SEC Player of the Week honors Monday. Mitchell knocked six hits and 11 RBI and added three runs of her own, including a game-winner against Alabama. “Rachel Mitchell has been absolutely on fire — she’s been monumental,” Girouard said. “We have her [fourth in the lineup] to get RBIs. She’s our RBI girl.” As hot as LSU has been, Ole Miss has been equally cold, if not more so. The Rebels have lost 9-of-10 SEC games with their only win coming against South Carolina, which is 1-11 in conference play.
Girouard said getting ready for the Rebels won’t be much of a challenge, despite their poor record. “They beat us in two-of-three games last year in Baton Rouge,” Girouard said. “The returners understand that. The young ones don’t understand yet, but [Oxford] is a difficult place to play for us.” Ole Miss took two from LSU despite finishing 2008 with a 9-19 SEC record, so it’s not likely the Tigers will look past Ole Miss’ three-game losing streak. While LSU has Mitchell, the Rebels also boast one of the conference’s top hitters in junior All-American infielder Lauren Grill. Grill has six home runs and 20 RBI in the early going of the season, and it was Grill’s pair of home runs that helped Ole Miss to the series win at Tiger Park last season. “They’re in most of their games, and they don’t go away,” Girouard said. “They have a player in Lauren Grill, who could start for any team in the SEC, and if you don’t show up you’re going to get beat.”
Contact David Helman at dhelman@lsureveille.com
By Rob Landry Sports Contributor
The LSU gymnastics team found out Monday afternoon they will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the Central Region meet of the NCAA tournament. The Tigers earned the No. 1 seed in the meet, which begins on April 4. Oregon State will be the No. 2 seed followed by Ohio State, Kent State, Kentucky and Michigan State, respectively. LSU hosted the Central Regional last season, beginning the Tigers’ trek to the program’s first Super Six appearance. The seventh-ranked Tigers finished first against a field of Stanford, Ohio State, Missouri, Kentucky and Kent State to advance. This season, LSU finished the regular season ranked No. 5 nationally to earn the top seeding in their regional. Contact Rob Landry at rlandry@lsureveille.com
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
tuesday, march 24, 2009
tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
FOOTBALL
Black to anchor offensive line Newcomers fill spots after player losses By Rowan Kavner Sports Contributor
Rumors spread in the offseason about senior offensive tackle Ciron Black possibly entering the NFL draft. But he decided to stay and anchor the offensive line for his senior season — something LSU coach Les Miles has appreciated a lot in the Tigers’ spring practice. “He makes a heck of a difference to us,” Miles said. “He’s a leader. He knows exactly what to do, and he’s a left tackle. As a protector, there’s no finer spot to have a veteran.” Black’s leadership could prove vital to the Tigers’ offensive line after guard Herman Johnson and center Brett Helms completed their eligibility last season. “I’m basically just trying to lead the younger guys,” Black said. “We have a lot of freshmen.” Black said he wants to make sure his play on the field dictates how the younger players look up to him. “Talk is cheap. You can talk a big game, but if you don’t show it on the field, you can’t be a leader,” Black said. Black said he wants the experienced football players to make a difference with their leadership. “Coach says he’s really trying to mesh the line because we have a lot of guys who haven’t played,” he said. “Me, Lyle and Joe [Barksdale] have to be that glue to mesh the offensive line.” S o p h o -more Josh Dworaczyk may join the starters with the departure of the 386-pound Johnson, who had 100-pound advantage on the 286-pound sophomore. “At left guard, Josh Dworaczyk played a lot of football last year, and he’ll be the place we start there,” Miles said. Hitt, a guard, will join Black as the only other senior protecting the backfield. But with all the changes to the left side of the line, the right side returns a few veterans. Hitt and Barksdale, a junior tackle, return after starting every game last season. The only question mark seems to be the three-way race at center. “I like [sophomore] Will Blackwell, [freshman] P.J. Lonergan and [sophomore] T-Bob [Hebert],” Miles said. “Those guys will be in there competing. We have good centers.” Miles said the center position is still very much up for grabs. “Some days one guy looks better than the others,” Miles said. Miles said some of the more inexperienced players are getting their chance to show what they can do. “There are no [third-stringers],” Miles said. “These guys who come in here will certainly compete at the second-team spot. We’ll develop a third team after the incoming freshmen arrive. We’ll give those [secondstringers] time to improve.” The Tigers picked up three fourstar offensive linemen for the 2009 season in Carneal Ainsworth, Chris
BEN BOURGEOIS / The Daily Reveille
The offensive line prepares for a play as center Brett Helms snaps the ball during the Tigers’ 34-24 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 11.
Faulk and Stavion Lowe, along with one three-star lineman, Josh Williford, according to Rivals.com. But outside of the center position, there aren’t too many players who are competing for a starting job.
“The lack of depth does hurt today,” Miles said. “But it allows these guys to go a little quicker.” Contact Rowan Kavner at rkavner@lsureveille.com
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tuesday, march 24, 2009
WORLD
South Africa bars Dalai Lama from peace talks Country to host 2010 World Cup By Donna Bryson The Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from a peace conference in Johannesburg this week, hoping to keep good relations with trading partner China but instead generating a storm of criticism. Friday’s peace conference was organized by South African soccer officials to highlight the first World Cup to be held in Africa, which South Africa will host in 2010. But because the Dalai Lama isn’t being allowed to attend, it is now being boycotted by fellow Nobel Peace prize winners retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president F.W. de Klerk as well as members of the Nobel Committee. “It is disappointing that South Africa, which has received so much solidarity from the world, doesn’t want to give that solidarity to others,” Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad told The Associated Press in Oslo, referring to the decadeslong fight against apartheid. An eclectic mix of Nobel laureates, Hollywood celebrities and other dignitaries are coming to discuss
ASHWINI BHATIA / The Associated Press
Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama greets the crowd gathered to welcome him as he arrives March 8 at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India.
issues ranging from combating racism to how sports can unite people and nations. But Thabo Masebe, spokesman for President Kgalema Motlanthe, said a high-profile visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader would have distracted from the conference’s focus. “South Africa would have been the source of negative publicity about China,” he said Monday. “We do value our relationship with China.” South Africa is China’s largest trading partner on a continent in which China is heavily and increasingly involved. Tamu Matose, a spokeswoman
for Tutu, told the AP that Tutu would not attend “because of the Dalai Lama issue.” Tutu was quoted Sunday as calling the barring “disgraceful.” “[South Africa] should admit anyone with a legitimate and peaceful interest and should not take political decisions on who should and who should not attend,” de Klerk said Monday, announcing he also would skip the conference. The Norwegian government said it “regrets” the South African decision and was considering whether to withdraw. However, the South African Communist Party backed the move,
saying March was a particularly sensitive time for a visit. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of anti-government riots in Lhasa, Tibet’s regional capital, and 50 years since the Dalai Lama escaped into exile in India after Chinese troops crushed a Tibetan uprising. China claims Tibet as part of its territory, but many Tibetans say Chinese rule deprives them of religious freedom and autonomy. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence and fomenting anti-Chinese protests. South Africa decided last month to refuse to issue an official invitation, without which, Masebe said, the Dalai Lama cannot visit. Masebe said the spiritual leader had been welcomed twice previously in South Africa and would be welcome again in the future — but “not now, when the whole world is looking at South Africa.” Beijing, an ally when South Africa’s now-governing African National Congress was a liberation movement, and Pretoria have diplomatic ties stretching back a decade and an economic relationship based on trade as well as aid. China’s exports to Africa last year rose 36.3 percent from 2007 to $50.8 billion, while imports of African goods rose 54 percent to $56 billion, according to customs data reported by Xinhua, the Chinese state
news agency. Critics say China’s investment in and aid to Africa, ranging from building presidential palaces and sports stadiums to rail and road projects, aims to secure access to the continent’s natural resources. African governments, though, are eager for the funds and counting on continued Chinese investment despite the global economic meltdown. Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan governmentin-exile, said South Africa was under pressure from Beijing and its decision to bar the Dalai Lama was a business matter. “South Africa is a newly emerging country and China is giving it considerable economic resources so it is understandable,” he said Monday in Dharmsala, India. “Every country has to protect its economic and political interests.” Masebe insisted that his government was not bowing to pressure from China. “We make our own decisions,” he said. Masebe said if conference organizers had talked with officials beforehand, they would have been advised to exclude the Dalai Lama and the controversy could have been avoided. Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com
tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
PAGE 13
MLB
Red Sox pitcher Schilling retires with ‘zero regrets’ By The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Curt Schilling retired from baseball Monday, ending a career in which he won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks and was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers and grittiest competitors. The 42-year-old right-hander said on his blog he’s leaving after 23 years with “zero regrets.” Schilling missed all of last season with a shoulder injury after signing a oneyear, $8 million contract. “The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime,” he wrote. Schilling had surgery last June and had said he might come back in the middle of this season though he was not under contract. He made no reference to his injury on his blog. He was co-MVP of the 2001 World Series with Randy Johnson while in Arizona. Schilling also won World Series titles with Boston in 2004 and 2007. “Curt had a great career and made a profound impact on the Red Sox, helping to restore the Red Sox’ status as a championship organization,” general manager Theo Epstein said in an e-mail to The
Associated Press. “He was consistently dominant, and never more so than when it mattered most. Not only for what he did — but for when and how he did it — Curt deserves to be remembered with the all-time greats.” Schilling came to Boston for the 2004 season and helped the team win its first World Series in 86 years, pitching Game 2 of a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals after a surgical procedure to suture a loose tendon in his right ankle and with blood seeping through his sock. The sock is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the second round in 1986 but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles before playing for the big league club. He pitched for Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia and Arizona before being wooed to the Red Sox by Epstein. Schilling, one of the sport’s hard throwers, finishes his career with 3,116 strikeouts, 14th most in baseball history, a 216-146 record and a 3.46 ERA. He was even better in the postseason, with an 11-2 record, the best of any pitcher with at least 10 decisions, and 2.23 ERA in 19 career starts. “The game always gave me far more than I ever gave it,” Schilling wrote on his blog. “All of those things, every single one of those memories is enveloped with fan
sights and sounds for me.” Schilling was 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007, when he spent seven weeks on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. In the final game of his career, he won Game 2 of Boston’s 2007 World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies, 2-1. Schilling allowed one run on four hits in 5 1-3 innings and was relieved by Hideki Okajima after walking Todd Helton on a full count. Schilling’s shoulder injury came to light early the following February when he disclosed on his blog that he and the team disagreed about the best way to treat it. He preferred surgery while the team wanted him to rehabilitate it in hopes of having him pitch in 2008. He eventually had surgery on June 23 to repair his right biceps tendon and labrum. Dr. Craig Morgan, the surgeon, said the operation kept Schilling on target to pitch by the middle of this season if he decided to return. Schilling was known for his outspokenness. In March 2005, he testified at a congressional hearing concerning steroids. In July 2007, he said on HBO’s “Costas Now” that the refusals of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire to address speculation about steroids use were tantamount to admissions. Last September, he criticized former teammate Manny Ramirez
ELISE AMENDOLA / The Associated Press
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Curt Schilling throws to the New York Yankees during the first inning of their game at Fenway Park in Boston. Schilling wrote on his blog March 23 that he’s retiring from baseball.
during a radio appearance. “He was very kind, and wellmannered, but there were spurts and times when you didn’t know who he was,” Schilling said. “You know, he was always kind and nice for the most part, but he’d show up the next day and say, ‘I’m through with this team, I want out now.’” On Monday, Schilling announced he was out of baseball. “The game was here long be-
fore I was, and will be here long after I am gone,” he wrote. “The only thing I hope I did was never put in question my love for the game, or my passion to be counted on when it mattered most. I did everything I could to win every time I was handed the ball.” Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com
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tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
tuesday, march 24, 2009 WEEKEND, from page 7
dance. 3. Don’t pick teams based on the nationality of their post players. I have an affinity for Australian big men when it comes to basketball. I love Vanderbilt sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy, former Georgia Tech standout center Luke Schenscher and former Chicago Bulls great Luc Longley. But those three guys are no reason for me to put Utah in my Sweet 16 just because they have a 7-foot Australian center in senior Luke Nevill. 4. The Southeastern Conference really was that bad. The conference only had three teams in the tournament, and none of them made it out of the first weekend. Mississippi State got dismantled by Washington. Oklahoma State squeaked by Tennessee. And UNC beat LSU by double digits. It’s pretty shameful. 5. The Big East really was that good. Of its seven teams to be included in the field of 65, the conference had five teams advance to the Sweet 16. At least two of its three No. 1 seeds appear warranted after the clinics Louisville and Connecticut put on their opponents last weekend. But the jury is still out on Pittsburgh though. 6. There’s a reason not many mid-majors were included this year as at-large bids. Thirteen of the 16 teams playing next weekend are from major conferences. The only teams from mid-major conferences to win two games last weekend were Xavier, Gonzaga and Memphis. In addition to the Big East’s five teams, the Big 12 has three, the ACC and Big Ten each have two and the Pac-10 has one. 7. I am better than President Obama. The president chose the winners of 12 of the first round’s 32 games incorrectly in his official bracket. I, on the other hand, only chose nine incorrectly. Take that, commander in chief. He was 14-2 in the second round while I was 11-5, but it doesn’t prove his superiority — just that he can choose chalk. Here’s a few lessons from the women’s tournament as well. 8. LSU is pretty good. The Lady Tigers’ win against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday night marked the program’s 10th-straight trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The women have history on their side as only one of those tournament appearances ended in the second round. That being said ... 9. Anyone can be beaten in the tournament at any time. Tennessee, who had been to 27 straight Sweet 16s, lost its first round game against Ball State. The Lady Vols were 51-0 against teams seeded lower than them. 10. Well, almost anyone can be beaten. The Connecticut women will win the title. This team is too good to be bothered with losing any games. The Huskies defeated Vermont by 39 in the first round, and sophomore guard Maya Moore only scored 13 points. I’m sure there will be more lessons to be learned about the tournament next weekend. Contact Johanathan Brooks at jbrooks@lsureveille.com
LOUISVILLE, from page 7
isn’t too far-fetched. The Cardinals’ All-American forward struggled in Louisville’s 62-42 first-round win against Liberty and scored just 12 points on 5-of14 shooting. “I don’t worry about scoring,” McCoughty said. “I think we showed [Sunday] we can play as a team.” LSU forward Kristen Morris, who scored 13 points and 16 rebounds in LSU’s 69-59 first-round win against Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the Lady Tigers will have to bring their best defensive effort to contain McCoughtry, despite her slow start to the tournament. “We’re going to have to play great team defense,” she said. “I don’t think any one player can stop her.” Louisville overcame McCoughtry’s rough shooting night and forced 27 turnovers against Liberty. The Cardinals play a fullcourt pressure defense for the majority of their games and force 22 turnovers per game. Chancellor said the way LSU’s inexperienced point guards
handle the Louisville pressure will go a long way in deciding the outcome of the game. “That’s our No. 1 concern,” Chancellor said. “We’ve got to limit our number of turnovers.” The Cardinals are 2-0 against Southeastern Conference competition on the season and defeated Alabama and Kentucky early in the season. But those victories came before Christmas. Since then, Louisville has endured a rigourous Big East Conference schedule, and LSU has overcome its freshmanheavy roster and used a late-season surge to once again play deep into March. “Reaching the Final 32 with this team is almost like going to the Final Four,” Chancellor said. “At one point this season, we thought we’d be out playing golf today if you want the truth.” LSU rode its two most experienced players, Morris and junior guard Allison Hightower, in its 69-59 opening round win against Wisconsin-Green Bay. Hightower led the Lady Tigers’ offense and scored 20 of her career-high 26 points in the first half.
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BILL FEIG / The Associated Press
Liberty sophomore guard Rachel McLeod, right, tries to get past Louisville senior forward Angel McCoughtry on Sunday in the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals won the game, 62-42.
She missed portions of the second half with cramps — an issue she said she’s working to stop from happening again against Louisville. “I’m starting early already with a lot of drinking and getting a
lot of food in me,” she said. “And just trying to prevent it from happening [tonight.]” Contact Casey Gisclair at cgisclair@lsureveille.com
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tuesday, march 24, 2009
ENVIRONMENT
Growing numbers think global warming is exaggerated Study: 41 percent of Americans skeptical By Joy Lukachick Staff Writer
While most climatologists agree global warming exists, a growing number of Americans think the idea is “exaggerated,” according to a recent Gallup poll. The poll reports a record-high 41 percent of Americans are skeptical of the severity of global warming. “Surveys such as this Gallup poll suggests that our effort to educate the public about the science of global climate change needs to be strengthened,” said David Brown, geography professor. Most climatologists agree on the existence of global warming, and most don’t doubt the earth is warmer today than it was 100 years ago, Brown said. The real question is if humans are contributing to the earth’s warming temperature and how much they are affecting the climate. Most scientists think the human role is an important one, Brown said. The poll shows a 10 percent jump from 10 years ago, when 31 percent of Americans believed the idea was exaggerated. And after 2006, skepticism grew steadily. “A couple problems is it’s a very complex issue in which all the components are not all understood,” said University climatologist Barry Keim. While many people are convinced humans are causing all the problems and catastrophic changes are near, many people take a stance that the issue doesn’t exist, Keim
Deal made for LSU teaching hospital
graphic by DELIA LUDU / The Daily Reveille
said. In reality, people should be in between the two extremes, he said. Jared Gallo, mechanical engineering sophomore, said he thinks climatologists have proved the sea levels are rising. “Even if it is exaggerated, it’s still something to worry about,” Gallo said. “If we don’t worry about it, it will be the next generation’s
problem.” Climatologists know the climate has warmed about a whole degree Fahrenheit since the ’70s, but the big question is what caused the change, Keim said. Most people see the global change in climate as an issue “off in the future,” and view the stock market, the local economy and issues in
the Middle East as more immediate problems, he said. These issues could be the reason more people are skeptical about the severity of global warming, he said. While Keim said many people may not be as educated as they should be on the issue, even climatologists don’t understand some of the changes and how they occur. “There are a lot of uncertainties in terms of predicting what the future will hold,” he said. Matthew Schullen, philosophy junior, said he didn’t think the threat was a big deal to worry about. “What it means to us is exaggerated,” Schullen said. Another finding in the Gallup poll suggests Republicans’ belief that the threat of global warming is inflated has grown increasingly. In 2009, 66 percent of Republicans believed the climate change is exaggerated, and this number is growing among
Independents as well. Democrats have remained close to 20 percent in their belief of the climate change, the study found. “The average person doesn’t know about climate change,” said Kirby Goidel, mass communication and political science professor. “Most people take cues from political leaders.” People don’t have time or don’t take the time to research issues for themselves, Goidel said. Instead, people take positions on issues based on the leaders they trust, most often from partisan leaders, he said. Global warming should be addressed as a problem, Keim said. But the issue should not completely disrupt the order of business in the economy, he said. Contact Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@lsureveille.com
Pluckers wing bar $14.99 All You Can Eat Wings and $3 Pluckers Lemonade. If you don’t like our wings, we’ll give you the bird. Mellow Mushroom pizza Bakers $5 Domestic Pitchers $6 Abita Pitchers
By The Associated Press (AP) — LSU will go to the state Legislature next month for the $120 million in construction funding needed if a deal is struck for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center to become LSU’s teaching hospital. LSU System Vice President for Health Care Fred Cerise said LSU will ultimately need legislative approval of the plan under which LSU would close its Earl K. Long Medical Center. The antiquated hospital on Airline Highway serves the area’s poor and uninsured. Included in the Our Lady of the Lake construction is development of a trauma center, the addition of 60 hospital beds and construction of a medical education building. Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com
9:00-10:30pm Student Government Debate Replay 12:00-1:30pm Student Government Debate Replay 7:00-8:30pm V for Vendetta-
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
ADMINISTRATION
Forum lets students speak up Monday on Mondays talks transportation By Brianna Paciorka Contributing Writer
Students looking to share their thoughts, suggestions and questions about the University can look to Monday on Mondays, a weekly forum held at the 459 Commons discussing University issues with students. Monday’s topics focused on parking and bus transportation, and forums in the past have centered on campus dining, student fees and green campus and sustainability. But just one student participated in Monday’s forum. Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Life Eric Monday said the forum began as a way to engage more students and gives him the opportunity to hear student opinion on different aspects of the University. “This allows us to go to the students instead of the students having to come to us,” Monday said. “It’s just good to have that direct feedback from the students and to hear what they’re concerned about.” Thoughts and concerns brought up at past Monday on Mondays led to the green competition among residential halls as well as bringing healthier options to campus dining facilities. Don Koshis, LSU Dining
Director of Operations, said they are looking for healthier options for late-night dining, and students will be able to use meal transfers to get a sandwich, a piece of fruit and a beverage. “We’re going to run some of the new things throughout the semester,” Koshis said. Gary Graham, Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation director and guest at this week’s forum, said several things done during the school year have been because of student initiative. “We look at what the students say and say, ‘That’s not a bad idea, let’s try it,’” Graham said. The forum is open to everyone. The next forum, about residential life, will be held at one of the resi-
dence halls on March 30. “Sometimes we get a lot of students, sometimes we only get a few,” Monday said. But some students said they were unsure what Monday on Mondays actually is. Molly Csaki, political science freshman, said she only knew of Monday on Mondays from the screensaver on the library’s computers but thought the forum’s concept is a good idea. “Most people don’t know where to go if they have concerns of questions, so it’s good that they have a specific time and place to go and talk about these things,” Csaki said. Contact Brianna Paciorka at bpaciorka@lsureveille.com
KIM FOSTER / The Daily Reveille
Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Life Eric Monday sits at a table at 459 Commons on Monday waiting to discuss parking and transportation issues with students.
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been trying to buy happiness.” Outland said acceptance is so staff and officials, “If you had one important for Americans, and buying last chance to address a group of LSU expensive goods rewards Americans with acceptance. students, what would you say?” “In a way, people in the ’20s got Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist, gave themselves in the same jam for the his last lecture about facing termi- same reasons,” he said. “The siminal cancer in 2007, quickly gaining larities are frightening and embarinternational attention, and today, rassing.” The American economy was universities across the country sponbooming in the sor their own “last ’20s, and people lecture” series. were living better Outland dethan ever, he said. livered a motivaBusinesses got bigtional, emotional ger, factories proand ordinary lecture duced more and intertwined with a economists promdiscussion of toised it would only day’s economic Robert Outland get better. problems. He also history professor “People had a emphasized some very primal fear that of the lessons to be learned from what happened in the they wouldn’t be accepted,” Outland said. “They identified themselves by 1920s and ’30s. Outland said he wished he could what they had and what they looked tell students what to do with their like.” But the stock market crashed in lives to make them happy in his “last October 1929 — forcing a cultural lecture.” “You can’t buy true happiness,” and consumer change. “If you are your stuff, what exhe said. “You can’t surround yourself with cool stuff and in the end be truly actly are you when you lose everysatisfied. Hopefully, we will make it thing?” Outland asked. Outland said Americans today out of this economic disaster relatively easy, but we should not let this are being forced to relearn the lessons of the 1930s and go through a lesson escape us.” Outland said Americans are liv- very similar cultural correction. “This is a seismic shift occuring with the disastrous consequences of unsustainable economic practices ring in the culture,” he said. “People and are coming out of a decade when are enjoying simple activities that don’t cost a thing.” people took their jobs for granted. “We center our lives and education around pursuit of more and more expensive stuff that we absolutely Contact Leslie Presnall at don’t need,” Outland said. “We’ve lpresnall@lsureveille.com
LECTURE, from page 1
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‘You can’t surround yourself with cool stuff and in the end truly be satisfied.’
THE DAILY REVEILLE
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for jury service. Individuals who receive questionnaires are required to House Bill 2045 states any person who’s enrolled in and at- complete and return them to the tends any higher education insti- clerk’s office to determine eligitution as a full-time student will bility for jury service. The prospective jurors are be exempt from jury duty serthen questioned in court by the vices. This exemption only applies judge and attorneys. “We were asked questions to jury service during any term about our occupation, hobbies, of court while classes are in seswhere we lived, and bumper sion. The 19th Judicial District stickers or window decals on our car,” Hawkins said. “After evCourt in Baton eryone answered Rouge already offers full-time col- To be legally qualified these questions, the attorneys got lege students an for jury service, an to pick people exemption from they didn’t want individual must: jury duty, regardon the jury.” less if the bill • be a United States Citizen To legally passes. • be at least 18 years old “If this bill • reside primarily in the judicial qualify for jury service, an indipasses, it will district for one year vidual must be change nothing • be adequately proficient in at least 18 years we do,” said Mona English Gills-Collins, jury • have no disqualifying mental or old, a U.S. citizen, proficient in coordinator for physical condition English, have no the 19th Judicial • not currently be subject to physical or menfelony charges District Court. Before po- • never have been convicted of a tal condition and tential jurors are felony (unless civil rights have not be convicted of a felony. summoned for been legally restored) Members of service, their the armed forces names are randomly drawn from on active duty, members of the a list of voters to receive a questionnaire to determine whether police and fire department and they meet the legal qualifications public officers of federal, state or
local governments are exempt. but Gills-Collins said students Many courts offer excuses are permanently exempt unless from jury duty for persons more they want to serve. than 70 years old; persons who “We work with students the have, within the past two years, best we can,” she said. “School served on a federal is very important, jury; and persons and the judges who serve as volknow and underunteer fire fightstand that.” ers or members of But students a rescue squad or are required to ambulance crew, serve if the are according to the summoned to jury Federal Court’s services during Web site. But this the summer and exclusion doesn’t aren’t enrolled in Mona Gills-Collins include full-time summer school, Judicial District Court jury coordinator G i l l s - C o l l i n s students. As long as said. students have proof from the “You have to be a present Registrar’s Office stating they’re college student at the time you’re full time, they’re excused from summoned for jury duty to be exthe 19th Judicial District Court. cused,” she said. Usually the Registrar’s Office Blake Richard, biology faxes the proof to the courthouse, sophomore, received a letter in Gills-Collins said. the mail saying he had jury duty “Most students show up on this month in Lafayette. Mondays for orientation,” she Richard went through the said. “But if they send us from Registrar’s Office to get a letter something from the Registrar’s for the clerk of court to excuse Office before the actual jury date, him. we will take care of it, and they “As far as I know, I’m out of don’t even have to come down- it,” he said. “I would have missed town.” Some courts require those who are excused to postpone their services and serve at a later date,
erally remain the same from year to year, but they can be amended microwaves in dining areas and by any student who gets a SG high-traffic buildings on campus. Senator to pen a bill altering the SG received rules. about 100 stuAside from a dent-submitted shorter campaign ideas during the season, another past two months, major difference and a team of five between this year student Senators and previous elecserving on the tions is the numTemporary Stuber of candidates dent Initiatives running for SG Committee naroffices. Jordan Milazzo rowed it down to “This is deficommissioner of elections the top three. nitely one of the While SG biggest elections candidates will continue to cam- in recent memory,” Milazzo said. paign throughout the day, they More than 320 students on will not be allowed to do so within five separate tickets filed to partic50 feet of any polling location. ipate in this year’s election, a 250 This year’s season lasted only percent increase from the spring three weeks, significantly shorter of 2008, according to Milazzo. than past seasons, which have Each of the candidates agreed lasted up to five weeks. Commissioner of Elections Jordan Milazzo and the election board set the dates for this year’s election season last November. “We got a lot of complaints from students about how long the campaigning season was,” Milazzo said. “It annoyed students more than it encouraged them to go vote.” SG President Colorado Robertson said the only benefit of having an extra week to campaign last year was a longer opportunity to speak with different student organizations. Each of this year’s presidential candidates agreed the shorter season was beneficial to the students, but some said they would have liked more time to go to student organizations. The election codes specify a 35-day season from the beginning of filing until two days following the announcements of run-off results. The election codes, which define the terms of an election, gen-
the campaigns had been handled well, focusing more on the issues than on personal attacks, despite the increased number of personalities. “Our campaigning was a little more heated last year,” Robertson said. “It was a little bit more personal because there were much broader issues at hand.” Though the spending cap for each campaign differed based on the number of candidates on their ticket, most of the parties spent nearly $4,500 in the past three weeks. The exception was the Make it Reign campaign, which ran as an independent party and spent less than $100.
JURY DUTY, from page 1
ELECTION, from page 1
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‘We got a lot of complaints [in 2008] ... about how long the campaigning season was.’
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‘We work with students the best we can. School is very important, and the judges know and understand that.’
Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@lsureveille.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009 class, plus I just really didn’t feel like sitting through that process.” Despite the bad timing, Hawkins said she felt like jury duty was a learning process. “Neither of my parents had ever been on a jury, so I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “Also, during this time, I was taking a sociology class on our criminal justice system, so needless to say, it was a learning experience.” Patricia Beste, senior associate registrar at the Registrar’s Office, said court-imposed legal obligations like subpoenas or jury duty are valid reasons for school absences. The student is responsible for providing reasonable advance notification and appropriate documentation, according to the University’s PS-22 policy. “We usually tell students to talk to their instructors,” Beste said. “If they go to their college’s dean’s office, the dean’s office will send out a notification to all their teachers.” Contact Leslie Presnall at lpresnall@lsureveille.com
tuesday, march 24, 2009
THE DAILY REVEILLE
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THE DAILY REVEILLE
Opinion
PAGE 20
PERFECT DYSTOPIA
TUesday, MARCH 24, 2009
Women would benefit from returning to their place at home Boys, imagine your worst day ever. You wake up early for a useless class with a hangover from the night before, and it only worsens when you realize you have an English paper and a calculus test. But this day, believe it or not, is sunshine and roses compared to a girl’s worst day. Women have a tough time now that they have so many rights and opportunities to make personal choices. It used to be simpler — girls were bred in captivity and sold to their husbands and lived life contentedly in bonds. Contentiously, people may point to literature and media that show girls unfortunately in the past, but in reality, they were not. Girls were probably happier than they are now because they didn’t have to think for themselves. Instead, they were catered to like fragile princesses.
But now, they’re free and independent. Women are obligated to fend for themselves. They are expected to do as the boys do. Women are not monkeys; they should not imitate the standards of boys. Most women probably feel more pressure now than they did 50 years ago. It’s quite ironic that as technology was invented to facilitate the way of life, women fought to make their lives harder. Instead of sitting at home, cooking food, washing clothes and taking care of children, they opted to become doctors, lawyers and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Success for a woman is now most likely oriented with her annual salary and the materialistic items she owns. Women need to revert back to their subservient, nurturing selves.
Women should choose to be housewives rather than pursue careers. Societal norms have turned in the opposite direction. Women, who choose to be classic homemakers, Dini Parayitam are castigated as parasites of Columnist society who absorb their husbands’ salary. Domestic engineers should not be thought of as bums who happened to be pretty enough to land a rich fellow. They should be revered for their acumen on life. Someone should be required to stay at home, manage the familial expenses and take care of the offspring. Without women at home, families are not as stable. Staunch feminists may argue
a home and life can still come after obtaining a career. But honestly, it can’t. Women are aging more quickly now than ever. Having to balance school, work and social life is hazardous for a woman’s beauty. One needs only to look at the amount of rejuvenation products in stores to know premature aging is prevalent in the population. Companies like Olay work many hours to formulate compounds that repair a women’s face and restore her wasted, book-filled youth. Women as young as 25 are pulling out strands of gray hair from their golden locks to look their true age. Women can’t expect to attract shallow men with wrinkling skin and gray hair. Women must realize what they should do best is what they can do best: Make babies. Women shouldn’t overstress their
bodies proving to the world they are as tough as boys but simply stay home and help continue the population. Society would benefit from women staying at home and primping as much as women should. Without women, men will also learn to relax as they no longer have to prove their masculinity. Men, undistracted by women, can compete among themselves to climb the ladder of success. A woman shouldn’t be climbing with heels anyway; it will only make the worst day worse if she falls.
Facebook event with drink specials. I hope some would agree that references to getting drunk don’t have a place at an alcoholfree event promoting responsible drinking. Which brings me to the next point, the only mention by the new director of the organization’s purpose was almost a joke. We are all aware of alcohol. I hope the director of Students on Target would know the purpose of the organization he was running and the fact that it was set up to combat the deaths of LSU students to binge drinking and drunk driving; that funding is provided through the SG Programming, Support and Initiative Fund for a spring concert solely for this purpose because higher administration and the campus community believe in its cause. And perhaps he would have known if he’d ever talked to me about it. I suppose that sounded very personal, but it was not meant to. Please know I am not trying to comment on anyone’s character, I just want someone in Student Government to get it. But also, it is an another example of Student Government perhaps missing the point for whatever reason. If you’re going to promise a show with the purpose of attempting to prevent
more alcohol-related deaths, perhaps you should appoint someone who believes in that purpose or else you’ll just be made a hypocrite. So I am reminding the new administration: Without reminding people that mistakes happen and without planning a show with a purpose, then the time you spent working on the event, was indeed “good time wasted.” Micaela deGruy mass communication junior
ideas on how these fees should be spent. We collected almost 100 submitted ideas and narrowed them down to three for you to vote on, based on feasibility and legitimacy. You’ll be able to vote for the following: 1. More recycling bins on campus and increased recycling awareness - submitted by Julia Reineman 2. A computer wait list system in Middleton Library that will allow students to enter the library and immediately view which computers are available - submitted by Frederick Addison 3. More microwaves installed in high-traffic campus food areas - submitted by Laurie McNeil Our committee has made it a point to check these ideas to make sure they can be implemented with $5,000, and we wish for you to choose which one you think LSU needs the most. Regardless of which idea gets chosen, I hope they can all be accomplished in the near future. There were a great deal of good ideas that were submitted, and just because your idea doesn’t appear on the ballot doesn’t mean it can’t be done. These three were just the best for the situation and monetary amount involved. The Student
Senate will keep these submitted ideas close by, and we want to sincerely thank all of you who took part in our effort to include more of you in the decision making process.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Groovin’ concert missed the point I am last year’s director of Students on Target. I do not write this letter with intent to create controversy or debate, but rather to fulfill a personal responsibility. I do not write as a critic of the current administration or because I think highly of myself. I attended this year’s Groovin’ on the Grounds concert. Let me first commend everyone on another wonderful event. Last spring — when the new administration was considering nearly absolving Students on Target or making it functionally ineffective, I expressed my concerns. But having withdrawn my membership from SG, my opinions were like any other, unimportant. I, like everyone else, swayed to the music of Corey Smith and danced with Akon, but I couldn’t really get past the realization that most of Corey’s lyrics had some reference to alcohol. Nor could I ignore Dee-1 promoting his after-party at a bar downtown, to which I would later find a link on the Groovin’
THE DAILY REVEILLE Editorial Board
KYLE WHITFIELD TYLER BATISTE GERRI SAX DANIEL LUMETTA MATTHEW ALBRIGHT TRAVIS ANDREWS ERIC FREEMAN JR.
Editor Managing Editor, Content Managing Editor, External Media Opinion Editor Columnist Columnist Columnist
Students can vote on how $5,000 will be spent Today’s Student Government election marks an exciting, new opportunity for all LSU students. When you vote for your respective candidates, you will vote on how you would like to see $5,000 of your student fees spent. Last semester, the Student Senate created the Temporary Student Initiative Committee, which was designed to facilitate this innovative program. Five student senators were elected to this committee. Over the course of two months, we encouraged all students to submit
EDITORIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired every semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.
Dini Parayitam is an 18-year-old biochemistry freshman.
Contact Dini Parayitam at dparayitam@lsureveille.com
Drew Prestridge Student Senate Speaker pro tempore Temporary Student Initiative Committee chair
Criticism of Bush’s beliefs unfair So Bush being against embryo stem cell research is equal to 11th century “the earth is flat” theory? What kind of science is Obama’s religious worship of embryonic stem cells? Liberal fascists are alive and well. If some one does not agree with you, accuse them of being intellectually inferior and subhuman and eliminate them — just like the Nazis did.
Harold Daigle Jr. biological sciences graduate student
QUOTE OF THE DAY “God would not give us the same talent if what were right for men were wrong for women.”
Sarah Orne Jewett American novelist Sept. 3, 1849 — June 24, 1909
THE DAILY REVEILLE
Tuesday, march 24, 2009
COMMON CENTS
Opinion
PAGE 21
Outrage over Ponzi schemes and AIG misdirected One of the misshapen mutants forged in the fallout of the recent financial fiasco is a paradoxical populism. Rightly enraged over the parasitical mosquitoes living off the middle class sheep, they stand in willful ignorance that these lambs are being led to the slaughterhouse. Recent outrage has focused on two families of incidents: large bonuses paid to executives of failed and failing companies and a slew of Ponzi schemes revealed by the chaos of Wall Street. During the past two decades, AIG has contributed more than $9 million to federal candidates and parties. This makes AIG one of the 100 largest political contributors of all time, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan research Web site. Since the crisis began, AIG has received $170 billion in bailout money. Of the $170 billion, $165 million was used to pay bonuses. That is, $170,000 million were given as a bailout to AIG, of which $165 million was used to pay bonuses. All else held equal, I would rather have senators debate how to spend $165 million of bonuses than trillions of dollars of “stimulus money.” Given government’s track record of misdirecting resources, public outcry is perhaps not a bad way to limit the damage they can do. But I agree with the majority view — Wall Street fat cats should not be able to profit from taxpayer money. By the end of November 2008, the federal government had
already committed $7.36 trillion to the economic recovery, according to a November 2008 MSNBC report. Sticking to the earlier notation, we are talking about $7,360,000 million. T h e s e measures could Daniel Morgan be forgiven if Columnist they worked. Throughout the 1990s, Japan suffered a crisis very similar to our own. From 1992 to 1995, they spent 65 trillion yen on six stimulus packages. The result was a “lost decade.” If we wish to be proportional with our energy, the rage over the government’s response to the crisis should be more than 44,000 times greater than the outcry over the AIG bonuses. Similar claims can be made about the recent ponzimonium. A Ponzi scheme defrauds clients by paying old investors with new investors rather than the profits from investing. Though they can be extremely profitable in the short run, they can only continue working for as long as new investors can be found. With less people willing to invest, Ponzi schemes are being identified at an alarming rate. As Warren Buffett said, it’s “only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” The most infamous conman is Bernard Madoff, who made away with as much as $65 billion. The Stanford Financial Group also
defrauded many local investors of much of their life savings. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in such a scheme have a right to be angry, and there is nothing wrong with sympathizing with their plight. But paying old “investors” with money from new “investors” is the definition of the Social Security system. The old receive payments directly from the money stolen from the young’s paychecks.
Unlike Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, which people only voluntarily invested in, participation in Social Security is compulsory. In early 2008, the Government Accountability Office claimed the government needed to invest more than $50 trillion to pay for future obligations to Social Security and similar programs. That number can only be higher since the recent bailouts. It’s easy to shake our fists
at the AIG’s and Madoffs of the world, but this only serves to distract us from crimes a thousand times larger. Daniel Morgan is a 21-year-old economics junior from Baton Rouge.
Contact Daniel Morgan at dmorgan@lsureveille.com
BEST AND WITTIEST
cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE / The Daily Reveille
METAIRIE’S FINEST
We hold power to stop Ticketmaster’s exploitation Imagine this. You’re an ingenious, young business owner who essentially has a monopoly on your particular product. For the sake of argument, you sell coffins. Everyone needs one at some point. And for the sake of argument, no one else in your region sells coffins, save for a few pawn shops which try to sell coffins for far more than the going rate. They aren’t making much money because you produce coffins in all types and price ranges. If someone needs a cheap cedar box or a Rosewood palace to spend eternity, they come to you. It’s a seller’s market, and you own it. But you want more money. So you buy out the pawn shops. Then you use these pawn shops to buy your coffins at a cheaper rate than normal, until your original
company has very few coffins left to sell. When customers come in looking for the final Redwoodlined satin-filled mother of all coffins, you have to say, “Sorry, we’re all sold out.” But you direct them to one of the pawn shops you’ve bought where they can buy this fantastic coffin. There they buy the fancy coffin for 40 percent more than originally intended. You get all the profits. They have no chance. You’re kind of an jerk, aren’t you? Sure, what you did wasn’t illegal in anyway, but nothing more must be said. You’ve taken a service that only you offer — a service, mind you, that you were making a handsome living off before, err, “expanding” — and you’ve exploited your customers to make more money that you don’t need. You’re a 21st century
businessman, no doubt. To take this closer to reality, you are Ticketmaster. Or were Ticketmaster. The innocuous Ticketmaster, who was always frowned upon by ticket buyers for throwing on a service charge Travis Andrews that was a deColumnist cent portion of the actual ticket price, had a brilliantly selfish plan that worked for a long time. By selling tickets to TicketsNow, a subsidiary of Ticketmaster, they could sell tickets to shows that weren’t actually sold out for scalper’s prices, according to The Star-Ledger. Because Lord knows Ticketmaster needs more pull in the ticket-selling community. The first time I saw Modest
Mouse, it cost me $12. The last time, it cost me $45. Having essentially the only avenue for selling tickets wasn’t enough. Ticketmaster agreed to stop after being pressured by the New Jersey attorney general. It would seem as if the problem is all tied up. But Ticketmaster is still surviving in a loophole that would make it pretty easy to do again. Worse, though, is that other ticket markets have picked up on the trend. AEG Live, the promoters for Michael Jackson’s “This is it!” tour, did the same thing. They set aside tickets for sale on the secondary market, according to Rolling Stone. This tour is the best-selling tour of all time, and someone still felt it necessary to rip off fans. At the risk of sounding like a petulant, puerile child, this is
absurd, wrong and simply unfair. It’s sad to see greed taking over one of the parts of life that makes it worth living — at least for me. It is sad to see the already seedy music industry take a dive into the international industrial dumpster of unabated greed. But it can be stopped. For once, we could actually do something — something simple. We can stop buying our tickets from secondary markets. We stop, then their plan does not work. And we win. It can be stopped. If we care enough. Travis Andrews is a 21-year-old English major from Metairie.
Contact Travis Andrews at tandrews@lsureveille.com
HELP WANTED
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PLACE YOUR AD TODAY Got something to sell? Want to make an announcement? Need to find an apartment or roommate? With the potential to reach over 33,000 LSU students, faculty and staff, there is no better way to advertise. Not only do we print twice a week, but there is no additional charge to place your classified ad on the world wide web at www.lsureveille.com. Just click “classifieds,” where your ad can be viewed on our website, that averages up to 65,000 unique visitors a week. For more information, please call (225) 578-6090.
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Classifieds Submit resume to pam@kurzhebert.com HELP WANTED TJ RIBS IS NOW HIRING SERVERS. APPLY IN PERSON AT 2324 S. ACADIAN THRUWAY, BATON ROUGE, LA. **EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER** !BAR TENDING! Up to $300/Day. No Experience Necessary. Training Provided. Age 18+ OK 1-800-965-6520 xt127 FRONT DESK ATTENDANT S needed for Fitness Center & Tennis Pro Shop, Afternoons, & Early Evenings, Apply in person at the Baton Rouge Country Club, 8551 Jefferson Highway 225.612.2581 STUDENTPAY OUT S. COM Paid Survey Takers Needed In Baton Rogue. 100% Free To Join! Click On Surveys. H E A LT H / F I T N E S S A S S I S T ANT S for Fitness Center & Tennis Pro Shop Afternoons & Early Evenings Apply in person at the Baton Rouge Country Club, 8551 Jefferson Highway BASEBALL INS T R U C T O R S Part-time work in kids’ athletic program. HS baseball/ softball experience pref’d. Exp with kids a plus. Salary. Call Randy at 225.291-8730 PLUCKERS Now Hiring Delivery Drivers Earn $8-$16/ Hr Apply at 4225 Nicholson SUMMER CAMP POSITIONS Interviews t h i s M o n d a y f o r G r o u p L e a d e r s and C o u n s e l o r s . G r e a t H o u r s! No nights or w e e kends. Come have fun with kids! Apply kidcamcamp.net PAR T TIME FRONT DESK POSITION Looking for energetic person with great communication skills to assist at the Front Desk. This position requires morning and afternoon shifts and every other Saturday. please email resume to jodi@gofitt.com. WEEKEND LEASING A GENT Needed for apartment community on Jefferson Hwy. Compensation is an apartment. Great opportunity for a college student. Fax resume to 225-924-9893 EARN EXTR A MONEY Students needed ASAP Earn up to $150 per day being a mystery shopper No Experience Required Call 1-800-722-4791 LINDSEY’S BOUNCING TIGERS is hiring weekend party attendants for their new location. Email resume to susan@lindseys-entertainment.com. SUMMER DAY CAMP COUNSELORS Now hiring thru April 15th...training starts in May and 1st day of camp starts May 25th. Work where you have fun! Don’t delay apply today. Must be age 18+ and pass criminal b/g check and drug screen. Contact your nearest YMCA for more information. Paula G. Manship - 767.9622 Baranco-Clark - 344.6775 A. C. Lewis - 924.3606 C. B. Pennington, Jr. - 272.9622 Southside - 766.2991 Dow Westside - 687.1123 PAR T T I M E M A R K E T I N G P O S I T I O N Local Commercial Real Estate Firm seeking P/ T Marketing Assistant. Duties include updating company website, managing listings, preparing flyers, etc.
PARKVIEW BAPTIS T PRESCHOOL Preschool Teachers needed flex days no degree required 293-9447 DON’T MISS THIS OPPOR T U N I T Y! Now hiring for all positions at the following locations: JEFFERSON 7615 Jefferson Hwy Baton Rouge 70809 PERKINS ROWE 7707 Bluebonnet Blvd. Baton Rouge 70810 “Flexible schedules & Benefits for Full Time Associates” Please apply in person during regular restaurant hours. Equal Opportunity Employer S TROUBES CHOPHOUSE DOWNTOWN Now Taking Apllications for the following: Wait Staff, Bartenders, Exp Kitchen staff, and Host. Pleas pick applications at Capital City Grill 3535 S. Sherwood Forest blvd S TROUBES CHOPHOUSE DOWNTOWN 107 Third Street Opening Soon Now Hiring for the following: Wait Staff, Bartenders, Host, and Exp Line Cooks. Pick up applications at Capital City Grill Downtown or Sherwood Forest Blvd. GREAT HOURS! GREAT PAY! Texas Roadhouse is currently hiring servers and hosts. Make money at a fun restaurant! Come by 10360 N. Mall Dr, M-T, between 2 and 4 pm for an interview. Hope to see you soon! 225.293.0144 LIFEGUARDS Lifeguards needed at all (7) branch locations of the YMCA. Certification classes available. We will train you! Flex schedules & fun atmosphere. Be part of our Y family! Apply in person at any YMCA or contact Toni at (225) 924-3606. AQUATICS COORDIN ATOR /PT The Paula G. Manship YMCA seeks Aquatics Coordinator P/T, 30 hr/wk, flex schedule M-F w/occasional weekends. Responsible for the quality control of all aquatic programs, focusing on swim lessons and the swim team. Individual must be comfortable managing co-workers and interacting with the membership. Lifeguard certification required and swim lesson instructor or equivalent. Certification classes available. Flexible schedule, Mon-Fri and some weekends as needed. Apply in person or submit resume to: Anthony Iracki Aquatics Director (225)767-9622 airacki@ymcabatonrouge.org PRESCHOOL TEACHER NEEDED at local Montessori based preschool. Must be experienced, energetic, and knowledgeable. Call M-F, 8am-5pm by March 31st. 225.343.9998 FUN SUMMER JOB. Foxy’s F itness Center is now hiring for Kids Camp, S w i m Te a c h e r s & P o o l s t a f f . C a l l 225.296.8000 ENJOY HELPING PEOPLE & making money? Foxy’s Fitness Center & Foxy’s Fitness for Women-now hiring for Sales Position. Apply on-line @ www.foxysfitnesscenters.com or call 225.296.8000 COUNTER CLERK part time, flexible hours, great for students Welsh’s Cleaners 4469 Perkins Rd. at College Dr. location apply in person or call 928-5067
SURVEY TAKERS NEEDED: Make $5-$25 per survey. www. GetPaidToThink.com PERSON AL CARE ATTENDANT S needed! 26 year old male in wheelchair needs male to assist w/ exercising at gym & rec. activities M&F 2p-5p, T -Th 11a-4p, and/ or S&S 12p-9p. Apply for this job & others @ 4521 Jamestown Ave., Ste. 10, B. R., M-F 8a-4 225.930.0213 GET PAID CASH AND REWARDS for taking online surveys. www. CashToSpend.com FRONT S ALES & ADMIN CLERK Full-time front sales & admin clerk needed to answer phones, take phone orders, and perform light clerical duties. Must have superior computer skills, strong attention to detail, and good communication skills. Fax Resume: 225-928-1677 or email jobs@lettermans.com. Compensation: $16,000 - $20,800 per year
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009 FOR SALE TIGER MANOR CONDOMINIUMS. U N I T S R E A D Y F O R S P R I N G & F ALL 2009!! Brand new 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units for s a l e s t a r ting at $124,900. Ask about our Guaranteed Buy -Back Program!! 3000 July St. 225-346-5055 www . t i g e r m a n o r. c o m Location. Location. Location... Star t Living. FOR S ALE: Studio Apt. 900 Sq. Ft. Fenced Yard 1535 Nicholson Dr. $114,860 985.859.3292 WHY RENT! 1400 sq ft home 5 miles from campus. 3bdrm, 2bath. Fireplace. New roof. Appliances included. $139,900. Don”t miss out on this great deal! 225.757.7455 FOR RENT FOR RENT- ARLINGTON TR ACE 1300 sq ft
THE DAILY REVEILLE
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009 living area 2 bed, 2.5 bath Apprx. 3 Miles South of LSU Gated Community $1300.00 monthly 225.819.2616 TIGER MANOR CONDOMINIUMS. U N I T S R E A D Y F O R S P R I N G & F ALL 2009! Brand new 1, 2, & 3 bedrooms available. R e s e r v e y o u r u n i t t o d a y ! Wa l k t o c l a s s ! 3000 July St. 225-346-5055. www . t i g e r manor.com Location. Location. Location... Star t Living. CONDO FOR RENT 3 bdr 2 baths BRIGHTSIDE APT.#1204 900 Dean Lee Dr. Baton Rouge La. Gated, Pool, Sand BB, Res.park $1500.00 per Mth 504-3828655 504.382.8655 APT FOR RENT 2 bedroom Apt in Tiger Plaza $455/person or best offer. 618.319.0054 SUMMER GROVE CONDOS Reserve your unit now for Summer/Fall ’09. 2bed/2 bath - $1,200 2bed/2.5 bath - $1,300 3bed/3.5 bath - $1,650 See our website for more details! www.deanflores.com Dean Flores Real Estate 9191 Siegen Lane Ste 4-B Baton Rouge, LA 70810 225.767.2227 CHATEAU DU COUR IN TIGERL AND Large 2 BR 1 B in gated complex..7722429 mckproperties.com *L A K E B E A U P R E ’ T O W N H O M E S * Reserve your place now for Summer/ Fall ’09. 2br/2.5b - $1300/ mo. 3br/3.5b - $1650/ mo. Featuring Clubhouse with Pool, Tennis Court, Gym. All Appliances Included. Dean Flores Real Estate 225.767.2227 WALK TO L SU One BR $425 881 Violet. McDaniel Prop. 225.388.9858 WALK TO L SU 1 and 2 BR FLATS and TH, pool, laundry center. University View Apartments on West Parker. Call Hannah 767-2678. NO PETS. SAFE LOC. NEAR L SU 1BR, 1BA, ALL UTILS., CBL+WIFI INCL. BUS RT. $985/mo +dep. BRYAN 225.235.3607 ROOMMATES ROOM IN GOOD house. W&D, alarm, etc. No lease needed. $260 + shared utilities. $250 dep. 225.921.1209 MALE GR AD Needs roommate to share 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath Lake Beau Pre Townhouse minutes from class. Gated, Workout Room, Pool, Tennis Court $625 ALL UTILITIES UNCLUDED! Grad or Vet student preferred. 225.247.0567 F E M A L E R O O M M AT E Seeking to share nice 2 br apt near campus, w/other female. $375/mo. 225.892.8901 PERSONALS I NEED A FRECKLY REDHEAD GIRL I am in love with redheads and their freckles, and I just can’t seem to find any; it’s a problem! I have a great sense of humor, and I’m pretty intelligent and caring. So if there are any freckled redhead girls out there who like to meet a muscular Italian guy, email me at TheGoon6@hotmail.com LIKE TO GET LOS T ON ROADTRIPS? Single guy looking for a fine honey to get lost taking a roadtrip, i have no clue how to read a map, so come get lost with me...cloupe2@lsu.edu
GUY NEEDING FEMALE G AMER Looking for a cute female teammate(18-20yrs. old) to help beat Goro in original Mortal Kombat and to discuss History with. Alien/ Zombie fighting skills helpful. Must also have tolerance for long hours of gameplay. If this matches you, e-mail me for some coffee! mcspanky101@yahoo.com WHEN 2 OR MORE ARE G ATHERED... Cute, young Christian woman seeking Christian man for a Godly relationship. Must truly have a heart for the Lord. Interested? Contact thisisthegirlnextdoor@ymail.com. R AWR! Did you see star wars? Did you like Chewbacca? Did you appreciate his height, hairiness, and loyalty? If so, I may be your man! ABSOLUTELY NO Y-CHROMOSOMES! I can be reached at hairybenjamin@gmail.com, P. S. This is a serious Ad!!! I LIKE DR. PEPPER (SEXY) I’ve recently discovered my love for HALO. Looking for a female partner to play w/. Call me. 337.274.2979 L SU GUY Looking for love in all the wrong places.
Finally decided to put this up here. I’m 22 going to graduate next May. I need a sweet girl who is content being herself. I like movies, going out to dinner, traveling, and of course LSU Football. Tigerlovin22@gmail.com *TIRED OF BEING HEAR T BROKEN* Smart, shy, Independant LSU Junior girl looking to hang out with a nice, smart, sensible, cute guy for friendship or possibly dating. damselindistress86@gmail.com I WANT TO BE YOUR DERIVATIVE so I can lie tangent to your curves. Nerdy ndn chick seeking an intelligent and attractive conversationalist. Ladies only, please—I’m tired of natural logs approaching the asymptote. sheenyinabottle@hotmail.com SEARCHING 4 SOULMATE 20yo Asian guy seeking masculine guy 18-23 to date. Races open. I’m a sweetheart! tigerboy1988@gmail.com MISCELLANEOUS GET A FREE BONE SCAN at the Wellness Fair on Wednesday, March 25
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tuesday, march 24, 2009