Reveille
entertainment University freshman finds success in clothing line page 9
The Daily
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
lsureveille.com/daily
thedailyreveille
opinion
Oklahoma’s fraternity’s racism nothing new in Greek organizations
page 12
@lsureveille
all
thedailyreveille
tied up
Softball team embraces SEC style of bows BY morgan prewitt mprewitt@lsureveille.com
photos by javier fernández / The Daily Reveille
[Top] Bows are displayed on Feb. 10 inside the main office at Tiger Park. [Bottom] Tigers wearing bows stand at the top of the dugout during a game.
Every sport has its trademark. Baseball has hats, football has jerseys and Southeastern Conference softball has bows. Not small, insignificant bows. They are statements made with glitter and sequins, huge bows that hang off the sides of players’ heads and remain magically perfect through all the diving catches, stolen bases and trips to the plate. Although not every player in the SEC sports a bow, they are the trademark of the conference that has come to dominate softball, with two of the last three national champions and the only two undefeated teams left in the country: No. 1 Florida and No. 5 LSU. In Baton Rouge, there is a clear divide between the Tigers who wear bows and those who don’t. Regardless of whether they sport a bow, the Tigers come together behind a quiet mantra of “look good, feel good, play good” and spend hours bonding as they prepare to
Volume 119 · No. 105 academics
Attendance policy under review
BY Carrie Grace Henderson chenderson@lsureveille.com
step into the bright lights at Tiger Park. For sophomore pitcher Baylee Corbello, the bows are the sparkle on gameday that represents all the hard work and hours spent in the bullpen. “We’re girls, and girls like to get dressed up every once and a while,” Corbello said. “We’re out here practicing every day, so of course we’re not going to wear makeup and try to look cute. Then you wake up early for workouts, so you’re not going to look cute for school. The only time that you really get to dress up and be a girl is for games.” For many players, the bow tradition began on their travel ball teams. Sophomore infielder Constance Quinn said she has worn a bow since playing travel ball and continues to wear bows, even to practice at the collegiate level. Corbello said LSU coach Beth Torina is even in on the style, making bows for some of the players
A revision to the policy governing attendance, PS 22, is in the works at the Office of Academic Affairs after two and a half years “in the soup,” said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope. What began as a request cope by the Faculty Senate to the Executive Committee is now becoming an effort to correct vague language regarding both excused absences and class attendance in course criteria. “The motivation for this is that, of course, there is a fairly salient problem with regard to attendance at the entry-level classes,” Cope said. “Particularly, the general education classes, and this does have a serious and adverse effect on student success, graduation rate.” Cope said the revision is more well-defined than the current policy and gives professors and
see bows, page 15
see attendance, page 15
state
Whitney Plantation focuses on the history of slavery in La. BY Emilie Hebert emiliehebert@lsureveille.com Not even the pristine white fence surrounding Whitney Plantation can hide the horrors that happened there just 200 years ago. On the long stretch of Great River Road populated by grand plantation homes and chemical refineries sits Whitney Plantation’s 250 acres, telling the stories of Louisiana’s 107,000 enslaved people in the 19th century. As the first museum in the country to focus on slavery, Whitney Plantation stands out against a sea of historic Southern homes that regard slaves as an afterthought. A one-and-a-half hour tour around the Wallace, Louisiana plantation makes its purpose clear.
Only 15 minutes are spent in the “Big House,” and the rest are spent in the fields where slaves toiled from sunrise to sunset from the age of 3 years old on a diet of cornmeal and leftover bacon fat. Owner John Cummings didn’t want the voices of the enslaved thousands to be lost. Cummings wants his plantation to start an uncomfortable conversation about slavery that is sometimes avoided. “I thought it was important to tell a story about the human beings who had been kidnapped — just human beings — and that we had to have a recognition of their humanity,” he said. German immigrant Ambroise Heidel established Habitation Haydel in 1752 as a successful indigo plantation, later
see plantation, page 15
Clay statues sit inside the church of Whitney Plantation on Sunday. The statues memorialize slaves who lived and worked at the plantation.
Fernanda Piña / The Daily Reveille