The Daily Reveille - March 24, 2015

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SOFTBALL Tigers use humor to build team chemistry page 5

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TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 FACULTY

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ENTERTAINMENT BR art gallery offers high-caliber cultural pieces page 9

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Volume 119 · No. 115

Dean of Students K.C. White to leave effective July 1 CHANDLER ROME and FERNANDA ZAMUDIO-SUAREZ news@lsureveille.com Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students K.C. White is leaving the University for Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where she will become the Vice President for Student Affairs.

“I’ve had a tremendous experience at LSU,” White said Monday night. “I have only fond memories of LSU, working with

the faculty, staff, students and alumni. I’ve experienced great advancement opportunities here.”

White, a native of Ormond Beach, Florida, said the opportunity is a logical progression in her career WHITE path and also will bring her closer to family in Florida. She’s

no stranger to Georgia, having worked at Mercer University before obtaining her doctoral degree.

Both White and University media relations director Ernie Ballard confirmed she will leave July 1.

In a new vice presidential role, White will report to Kennesaw State president Daniel Papp and serve on Papp’s leadership cabinet. In late 2013, Kennesaw State and Southern Polytechnic State University consolidated to form

one university, which debuted in the fall 2015 semester, something White said she was excited to see and termed “cutting edge.”

White first came to the University in 2002 from Samford University and served as the associate dean of students. During her first years, she co-advised Student Government and established a leadership training program, LeaderShape.

In 2005, White served as interim assistant vice chancellor and dean of students,

overseeing the offices of Campus Life, Disability Services, Greek Life and Student Advocacy and Accountability. White remained SG adviser after her position changed.

She took on her current role as associate vice chancellor and dean of students in 2008.

White has experience in university student affairs at Florida State University, University of Miami, University of South Carolina, Samford University and Mercer University.

BUDGET CUTS

University trees critical part of campus’ look, feel, attraction

BY DEANNA NARVESON dnarveson@lsureveille.com

branching out JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ / The Daily Reveille Campus trees add a real estate value of more than $40 million to the University.

There are roughly the same amount of trees on campus as seniors earning degrees this year, and some were planted before the University’s founding. Though the University might be unrecognizable without the trees, much is required to maintain the canopy of leaves under which students live and study.

The trees, ranging from sprawling live oaks to sparse cypresses to colorful crepe myrtles, are treated by a team of four men working for Landscape Services, tasked only with pruning and caretaking, said assistant director of Landscape Services Fred Fellner.

“The urban forest, the trees at LSU are the backbone of the LSU green infrastructure. They are the salient feature of campus, the most notable feature of the LSU landscape,” Fellner said. “Anyone coming to LSU, the first thing they see are the trees, they are a big reason why people come here, work here, educate here, stay here.”

Earlier this year, the University was named one of the Arbor Day Foundation’s tree campuses, one of four in the state, for its efforts to preserve and grow the trees. A council meets twice a year to discuss the state of the trees, and students participating in yearly Spring Greening Day help take care of the campus landscape.

The trees have a real estate value to the University of more than $40 million, Fellner said, and about $250,000 is spent each year on their care.

The trees must be pruned by cutting dead or malformed branches to shape them and help them grow. The forest needs protection from fungi and destructive insects, and some trees must to be cut down or care-

see TREES, page 15

Alexander warns of results of budget cuts

BY ROSE VELAZQUEZ rvelazquez@lsureveille.com LSU President F. King Alexander said the next generation has the potential to transform the economy, but students’ University education is in jeopardy.

Alexander spoke to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday about the consequences of the budget reductions facing higher education and plans to mitigate the effects.

“The greatest asset to any state, the greatest asset to any nation is the human capital,” Alexander said. “It’s the investment in the next generation.

They’re going to create an economy that we can’t even think about in decades to come.”

In total, Alexander said state higher education received about $1 billion for the current fiscal year.

Of that money, $250 million belongs to TOPS. Alexander referred to TOPS as a “washout” because it provides no additional revenue to public universities, leaving higher education with roughly $750 million in state funding.

Higher education faces an almost $600 million reduction in state funding if no solutions are worked out by the legislature, Alexander said. This

see ALEXANDER, page 15

The Daily Reveille

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

TODAY’S FORECAST

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page 9 “79% of smartphone users look at their phones 15 minutes after waking up.”

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LSU Reveille Wake up in the know!

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SIDNEYROSE REYNEN Opinion Editor

CAMPUS BRIEFS

J. Cole to perform at Varsity Theatre tonight North Carolina native and Grammy nominee J. Cole will perform tonight at the Varsity Theatre.

The show will also feature performances by artists on J. Cole’s label, Dreamville.

These artists include Bas, Cozz, and Omen.

Songs from J. Cole’s recent album “2014 Forest Hills Drive” can be expected to be heard during the set Doors will open at 8 p.m., and the show will start for 9 p.m. Those in attendance must be 18 or older with valid proof of ID. Tickets are sold out.

University to add Alpha Delta Pi sorority in fall 2016 The University will add Alpha Delta Pi to sorority row in fall 2016, according to LSU Panhellenic.

ADP will join the 11 sorority chapters now on campus. The sorority is now in the colonization process, getting ready for its

official establishment.

Alpha Phi was the last new University sorority chapter to establish itself on campus in fall 2013.

There are currently two ADP chapters in Louisiana, one at Tulane University and one at McNeese State University.

Softball’s Bell, Hoover grab SEC weekly honors Sign up to receive The Daily Reveille newsletter at www.lsureveille.com

LSU junior shortstop Bianka Bell earned her second consecutive Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, and freshman pitcher Carley Hoover was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week, the league announced Monday.

Bell became the only player

RYAN LACHNEY Deputy Production Editor

in program history to be named SEC Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Hoover is the Tigers’ second freshman pitcher to earn SEC Freshman of the Week after freshman pitcher Allie Walljasper picked up the honor earlier this season.

ZOE GEAUTHREAUX Photo Editor MARYLEE WILLIAMS Radio Director SAM ACCARDO Advertising Buisness Manager PAIGE ROBERTS Marketing Manager

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) 578-4811 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-39 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and semi-weekly during the summer semester, except during holidays and final exams.

Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscriptions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each.

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The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 FACULTY

page 3

LIGO documentary to be shown Thursday in Nicholson Film explores generations of scientists’, University professors’ research

BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON chenderson@lsureveille.com Science from as far back as the Nixon era is now reaching a conclusion.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Livingston and its sister facility in Hanford, Washington, will begin using advanced equipment to detect gravitational waves in the distant corners of the universe after countless hours of research compiled by more than 900 scientists.

LIGO Generations, a film directed by Kai Staats, shows the journey of an idea from the mind of MIT emeritus professor Rainer Weiss in 1972 to its culmination in Livingston, Louisiana.

The 4-kilometer long, L-Shaped observatory will soon detect the smallest gravitational changes in galaxies far away from our own.

“The goal of the whole project, and actually the whole LIGO collaboration, is to detect gravitational waves and begin doing a new kind of astronomy,” said professor of physics and astronomy and spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration Gabriela González. “These things we want to detect are coming from neutron stars and black holes colliding and forming new black holes out there, so we think it is very exciting.”

courtesy of KAI STAATS

Co-founder of the NSF LIGO Project Rainer Weiss is featured in Kai Staats’ documentary ‘LIGO Generations.’

Starring former and current University professors and students, the 25-minute documentary will play March 25, at 7 p.m. at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum and March 26, at 5 p.m. in Nicholson Hall room 130.

Physics and astronomy professor and head of LIGO Livingston Joseph Giaime began working with LIGO in 1986 as a graduate student at MIT under Weiss, making him a second-generation LIGO scientist.

“The way scientists are

trained by and large is in graduate school through a Ph.D. program,” Giaime said.

“You establish a really close and lasting relationship with your Ph.D. adviser. It’s kind of like a generation.”

In 1995, LIGO broke ground in Louisiana. Since then, LIGO has collaborated with overseas partners. There are similar detectors in Italy and Germany and under construction in Japan and India.

By the ’90s, the University and state were well-versed in gravitational wave detec-

tor development, Giaime said, thanks to work by professor William Hamilton in the 1970s and ’80s.

Hamilton’s contribution to wave detection, a cryogenic bar turned off since the introduction of the LIGO unit, is still housed in Nicholson Hall.

“I think that LSU, since we’ve been at it since 1970, has shown support for this field for a long, long time, and it’s really comforting,” Giaime said. “If people don’t think of Louisiana as a place where

interesting science happens, they are badly informed.”

González also worked under Weiss at MIT. “When a discovery is made, [González] is the one that announces it and is in the spotlight,” Giaime said. “So the fact that she is entrusted in that role, of course a leadership role in the collaboration by all these scientists around the world, is a really big deal for her and for LSU.” Giaime said many professors at the University contributed to LIGO research, and students of Giaime and González have since worked on the LIGO projects in Livingston and Hanford.

The National Science Foundation funds LIGO, the LIGO Science Education Center and LIGO Generations.

NSF grants are awarded to about a dozen large facilities across the country.

“This is a very worthwhile project, and worthwhile projects sometimes take a long time,” Giaime said. “They might take more than one generation, and now we’re on the cusp of the thing of achieving a sensitivity where we’ll actually make the discovery that we’ve all been hoping for for a long time.”

The movie showing this week is one of two by Staats detailing the LIGO projects and will be followed by discussion by Giaime, González and three other scientists close to the project.

Both movies can be streamed online for free.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

MARCH

SG works to increase transparency SG senators hope to better engage students

BY CHLOE HUFF chuff@lsureveille.com Student Government members want students to think of one word when their names come up — transparent.

At least that’s what Speaker of the Senate Adam Grashoff and Director of Communication Zachary Holley are working toward.

The transparency they want is to better inform the student body of what goes on during their over three-hour-long, public, weekly meetings.

Grashoff wants students to know about more than just the financial bills they pass.

“Students don’t always hear about resolutions we passed, people we appoint to senate, the ‘Thank yous’ we send to faculty and administration,” Grashoff said. “They mainly hear about the financial aspect of it — what their money is being spent on.”

Grashoff said SG did an

overhaul of their bylaws and governing documents last year and found their system of communicating to students was ineffective.

To address this issue, SG Senate created Holley’s position as Director of Communication.

“We’ve tweaked that system to where instead of having someone as a liaison from exec to senate as a communications director for senate, ... a current senator holds that position,” Grashoff said.

Holley has taken steps via social media to better inform students of SG Senate’s workings, including re-establishing the organization’s Twitter account and drafting generic biweekly updates for senators to send to their constituents on Facebook.

“If you ask students what SG has done in the past year or so, they’ll know picnic tables because that’s what has hit social media,” Holley said. “There’s a ton of stuff that goes through every week that people just don’t worry about.”

Grashoff and Holley agreed there is plenty to be gained from a more transparent SG. But student senators always want something more from their constituents — more public input, according to Holley.

“If organizations and students knew they had these fundings they could tap into, that would help them immensely. It would also help us because we’re not just an idea factory,” Holley said. “We have our limitations, and it’s great to have input from the students to help us figure out what’s wrong because if we don’t know what’s wrong, we can’t fix it.”

Grashoff said he thinks an informed student body will lead to a more effective SG. “SG doesn’t get the best rep because students aren’t well informed of what we’re doing and how we’re trying to do,” Grashoff said. “If they’re more knowledgeable about what we’re doing and what we’re trying to do, they can maybe help us to come up with more ideas of how to improve the university.”

EVENT CALENDAR

24

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5:30 PM

Ready to Run Louisiana - LSU Lod Cook Alumni Center Louisiana State Softball - Tiger Park - LSU Softball Field Dance Class - Gus Young Park

6:00 PM

Sit and Knit - Parkview Branch Library WBA School of Planning & Event Institute - Old Governor's Mansion Happy's Running Club Weekly Run - Downtown Baton Rouge The Healthy Home Seminar - Iberia Parish Library Main Branch

7:30 PM

Shen Yun - Baton Rouge River Center Theatre Preston Gilchrist and Theresa Herrera - Baton Rouge Gallery for Contemporary Art

ALL DAY

An American in Venice: James McNeill Whistler and His Legacy LSU Museum of Art Margaret Evangeline: On War - LSU Museum of Art

For more information on LSU events or to place your own event you can visit www.lsureveille.com/calendar

The Daily Reveille

page 4 RESEARCH

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Study reveals LSU football 32nd most disliked team in nation

BY AMANDA CAPRITTO acapritto@lsureveille.com It started as an average Thanksgiving-time conversation — the Tigers and the Razorbacks were touted across the table.

The rivalrous remarks among colleagues struck an idea for an economic study.

The University has the 32nd most disliked football team in the nation, 4th in the Southeastern Conference, and the Tigers’ fiercest rivalry is surprisingly with the University of Mississippi, according to a study by University economics professor Sudipta Sarangi.

Tiger fans harbor “rivalrous” feelings toward the University of Mississippi, but their strong feelings are saved for the University of Alabama, Sarangi said. The LSUMississippi rivalry falls at No. 50 in terms of nationwide rivalries.

Sarangi, who wrote the paper in collaboration with University of Arkansas professors Cary Deck and Javier Reyes and University of Arkansas– Little Rock professor Sarah Quintanar, said the study grew out of an argument during a colleague dinner while he was at the University of Arkansas conducting experiments.

Sarangi emphasized that economics provides much more than its reputation lets on.

“For me, it shows me how you can apply those ideas of economics to something that initially sounds strange, like football rivalry,” Sarangi said.

“It’s not really about the stock market.

“Over dinner, we started having an argument about who

is who’s biggest rival. Turns out, Sarah is from LSU. I’m at LSU. Cary Deck got degrees from Alabama, so he’s a Crimson Tide fan, and Javier went to Texas A&M,” Sarangi said. “So, we started having this argument, within each conference, about who is whose biggest rival.”

Deck said the conversation spurred some interesting observations.

“My observation was that LSU was one of the games that Arkansas really wanted to win, but Sarah said her sense was that LSU fans were more focused on other teams. So, this got us thinking about why some rivalries are one-sided and others are mutual,” Deck said.

Quintanar said the study is more about how aligned fans are with each other — the question was why some teams care more about certain rivalries than others.

Sarangi said as the group argued, someone pointed out a Sports Illustrated survey from 2009 which polled online readers with the question, “In your conference, who is your biggest rival?”

Sarangi and his co-authors gathered the information from the poll for each conference, and then computed market shares within each conference to compile data for “Everybody Hates a Winner, and You are Close to Your Rival: A Study of Rivalry in College Football.”

“We did it just like we compute regular market shares.

For example, how much market share does Verizon have?

How much does AT&T have?”

Sarangi said.

The group didn’t stop there,

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

Fans sing along to ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ on Nov. 23, 2013, before LSU’s 34-10 victory against Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium.

Sarangi said.

They computed the highest nationwide market share for football rivalry, which turned out to be Boise State University.

Sarangi said the most important point to remember is comparisons cannot be made across conferences.

Quintanar suspects some people might complain about the results once the study is released to the public.

Complaints generated by the study will most likely come from readers’ ignorance of conference restriction, Sarangi said.

“We cannot compare across conferences, that’s the important thing to remember,” Sarangi said. “You have to keep that in mind, and I think that’s what people are missing and why they are complaining. You have to look at it as ‘I am your rival, and you are my rival.’ So, there might be a case where

Vanderbilt hates Tennessee, but Tennessee doesn’t give two hoots about Vanderbilt.”

Deck and Sarangi agreed the study was a fun and interesting finding.

Contrary to popular belief, Sarangi said, this study is not unusual for economics. Many people don’t realize the factors in football rivalry are the same ones that drive sibling rivalry and international rivalry.

Rivalries are comprised of two important factors — society and identity, Sarangi said.

“If you think about football, what are we competing for? We are competing for talent. Basically, we want the best players, the best coaches,” Sarangi said.

“And the other important component of rivalry is identity.

You must care about something.

So, nations go to war because they have an identity they want

to protect.”

People can argue this is not a rivalry where there is mayhem or casualties, but feelings in football rivalry can be just as intense, Sarangi said.

Deck and Sarangi said there are hopes the study will open up notions about what economics can really do.

“I would love to think that this study might encourage students to consider studying economics,” Deck said. “I do worry that many people see economics as a boring, dry subject, when really, studying economics helps people develop tools and techniques for looking at all sorts of interesting questions.”

“Everybody Hates a Winner, and You are Close to Your Rival: A Study of Rivalry in College Football” has been accepted by the Economic Inquiry journal and will be published in the upcoming edition.

Who do you think is LSU’s biggest football rival?

‘Alabama.’

‘Texas A&M.’

Ben Latham

Samantha Smith

political science junior

psychology sophomore

‘Alabama.’

‘Alabama.’

Mon Tapalla

Taylor Cormier

electrical engineering freshman

petroleum engineering freshman

Sports

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

page 5

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN Jokes, pranks help No. 1 softball team stay loose

BY JACK WOODS jwoods@lsureveille.com The No. 1 LSU softball team is no joke at 30-1, but the Tigers have plenty of laughs on and off the field.

The players focus on taking care of business at practice and during games, but that doesn’t stop them from having fun when they get

the chance.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s business and it’s really serious, but it’s a game,” said LSU coach Beth Torina.

“And it’s a game that we’ve grown up playing and loved playing, so we’ve got to always remember to treat it as a game.”

A diverse range of personalities on LSU’s roster

makes for an interesting team dynamic. Junior shortstop Bianka Bell said having a wide range of mentalities prevents things from becoming stale.

“We have a bunch of different personalities on this team,” Bell said. “This year everybody has meshed really well together. We have a lot of people that are goofy [and] a lot of people that are serious

but still come off really funny.

Everybody is just so different. It’s just really fun to be around everybody all the time because you never know what you’re going to get.”

Bell and sophomore second baseman Constance Quinn are responsible for a good portion of the team’s goofiness.

see FUN, page 8

JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ / The Daily Reveille

The LSU softball team congratulates sophomore catcher/infielder Sahvanna Jaquish (2) after her home run during the Tigers’ 10-2 victory against Oklahoma on Saturday at Tiger Park.

GYMNASTICS

LSU earns No. 4 overall seed for regionals

BY JACOB HAMILTON jhamilton@lsureveille.com Minutes before the NCAA Regional Selection Show pegged LSU as the No. 4 overall seed and No. 1 seed at the Ames Regional, LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux delivered an enthusiastic message — “Bring ‘em on, whoever it is.”

The Tigers (19-2, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) will match up against No. 9 Nebraska, No. 16 Denver, Washington, Michigan State and Iowa State in the regional round of the NCAA Championships on April 4.

The Tigers earned the third seed in the regional meet last year when they hosted the Baton Rouge Regional and posted a season-high 198.325 for a first-place finish.

Senior all-arounder Rheagan Courville said the competitors this year will have their hands full with an improved LSU team.

“We are even better than we were last year,” Courville said. “We are better as a team, as a family and in our gymnastics. We have fixed a lot of details that separate us from other teams.”

Breaux and her gymnasts expressed excitement about their opponents and the opportunity to compete at Hilton Coliseum — a venue where LSU has never competed before.

The Tigers’ No. 4 regional qualifying score of 197.650 dwarfs the other teams competing at the Ames Regional,

see REGIONALS, page 8

Tigers should schedule in-state teams for weekend series LIFE OF BRIAN BRIAN PELLERIN Sports Columnist Rivalries make the best matchups in college sports.

In college football, no atmosphere competes with Auburn and Alabama’s Iron Bowl, and the Battle for Tobacco Road between Duke and North Carolina is the pinnacle of college basketball.

The two teams hate each other, and fans in attendance want to prove cheering for

their team was the right decision. Sunday’s NCAA Tournament game between Kansas and Wichita State is proof.

The Shockers are probably considered second or third-class basketball players in their state when compared to Kansas and Kansas State.

They play in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Kansas takes the Big 12 championship every year.

When the two met this weekend, the teams competed to be the “Kings of Kansas” on a national stage, which elevated the level of play and the mood of the entire game. Two

teams were playing to prove a point, and their fans wanted to prove it just as bad.

It was a thrilling game as the Shockers won the first matchup between the two schools since 1993.

Similarly, LSU is the top dog in Louisiana.

In baseball, the Tigers play almost every team around the state that’s willing to face them in a midweek game.

LSU faces Nicholls State, Southeastern, Grambling, McNeese State, Southern, ULLafayette and Northwestern State once and Tulane and UNO twice in midweek action.

If there’s anything interesting going on in these games, it’s the rivalry between each fanbase.

My first memory of LSU athletics was Brad Cresse’s walk-off single in the 2000 College World Series to cap off Skip Bertman’s decade of dominance in college baseball.

As a kid, any team that measured up with the Tigers was my mortal enemy.

In 2001, I found my regional rival in Tulane. LSU faced the Green Wave in the Super Regional at Zephyr Field in Metairie, Louisiana, just a short drive away from my

house. I had never seen the Tigers play in person, so watching them in the Super Regional heightened my excitement.

But Tulane won the series and left for Omaha, not LSU. As any 7-year-old would be, I was crushed. I never wanted to see the Green Wave win another game in any sport.

Now, I realize that’s ridiculous, but that series gave me someone to hate. Any time LSU played Tulane for almost a decade, I wanted a Tiger victory more than anything. But some-

see RIVALRIES, page 8

The Daily Reveille

page 6

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

SOFTBALL

Sluggers Jaquish, Bell lead explosive Tigers’ batting order

BY MORGAN PREWITT mprewitt@lsureveille.com LSU junior shortstop Bianka Bell and sophomore catcher/infielder Sahvanna Jaquish are a pitcher’s worst nightmare. They have the kind of power that wakes pitchers up at midnight before a game with the image of back-to-back homers imprinted in their vision.

The duo entered this season with the potential to become an elite power-hitting combo after combining for 31 home runs in 2014. Throughout the top-ranked Tigers’ historic 30-1 season, they have become LSU’s lightning rods at the plate, inspiring their teammates and cementing themselves among the nation’s best with 24 combined homers.

“Every time they get up to the plate and every swing they take, it amazes me,” said freshman pitcher Allie Walljasper.

“We always make jokes in the dugout, and we call their home runs. Usually we are right when we call them. It’s awesome. They are having so much success, and they deserve every bit of it.”

Throughout the season, Bell and Jaquish have amazed their teammates and Tiger fans alike with their ability to stay cool, calm and collected in high pressure situations.

Although she hit 26 home runs and had 101 RBIs in her first two seasons, Bell has reached another level of consistency in 2015.

She leads the Southeastern Con-

JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ / The Daily Reveille

LSU catcher/infielder Sahvanna Jaquish (2) hits a home run during the Tigers’ 10-2 victory against Oklahoma at Tiger Park on Saturday. ference and is third in the country in batting average (.561). Her 1.071 slugging percentage leads the SEC and places her sixth in the NCAA. Despite her eye-catching statistics, Bell’s ability to break games wide open with key hits has secured some of the Tigers’ marquee wins this season.

In the Tigers’ series win against previously No. 1 Florida on March 13-15, Bell recorded 10 hits in 14 at-bats and eight RBIs while hitting .714 against

the Gators.

Bell opened and closed LSU’s scoring in their nine-run first inning in Game 2 with an RBI single up the middle and a two-RBI single, respectively. In Game 3, Bell broke a 3-3 tie with a threerun homer in the sixth inning.

In LSU’s two-game series against No. 6 Oklahoma last weekend, Bell came out firing in Game 2 after recording only one hit in Game 1. She exploded for her first multiple home run game in 2015 and the second of

her career.

Whether she is setting the LSU career home run record or earning a single, Bell keeps the same mindset at the plate — just get on base.

“I’ve just been doing what I normally do — just trying to stay within myself,” Bell said.

“I’ve just been seeing the ball really well lately, and I’ve just been trying to make things happen for my team.”

After breaking the LSU single-season home run record

as a freshman in 2014, Jaquish has continued to excel in producing runs for the Tigers. She trails only Bell with 47 RBIs and leads LSU in grand slams this season.

Like Bell, Jaquish has come through with key hits in the rare occasions when the lineup has struggled.

Against Louisiana Tech on Feb. 17, Jaquish stepped to the plate with the Tigers’ trailing by one run with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Jaquish secured a 7-5 win with a three-run walk-off blast to left field.

In Game 3 against Arkansas on March 8, Jaquish broke open the game in fourth inning with her second grand slam of the season, helping lead LSU to a sweep in its first SEC series.

The duo’s success individually pushes the other to improve.

After struggling against Florida, Jaquish fought back from a home-run drought by hitting back-to-back homers with Bell for the first time this season in Game 2 against Oklahoma on March 21. “[Bell] looked like she was having a blast out there hitting home runs,” Jaquish said after Game 2 against Oklahoma.

“I was like, ‘Man, I should join the party and try to hit a home run.’ Thank God, one went out for me.”

You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.

LSU hopes to stay perfect at home against South Alabama wins coming in games stopped early courtesy of the mercy rule. South Alabama managed The No. 1 LSU softball team to take one game in its series will put its perfect home record with No. 7 University of Louision the line again when it hosts ana-Lafayette and fell narrowly South Alabama at 6 p.m. tonight in a 2-1 loss to No. 5 Alabama in at Tiger Park. its opening game of the season.

The Tigers (30-1, 5-1 SouthSouth Alabama’s accomplisheastern Conference) are a per- ments have not gone unnoticed. fect 23-0 at home this spring The Jaguars were ranked in the following a two-game sweep of top 25 in the National Fastpitch No. 6 Oklahoma Coaches Associaover the week‘They still have a lot of tion’s week five end, but the team room to grow, so that’s poll. They tumis refusing to rest out in the latexciting too, to see that bled on its laurels. Juest edition but rethey just continue to nior shortstop Biceived more votes anka Bell said the push themselves, but it than any other was another great test unranked team. team will have to practice hard this LSU is in the that we passed.’ week in preparamidst of a fiveBETH TORINA, tion for the Jaggame win streak LSU softball coach uars (21-6, 5-3 of its own. Since Sun Belt Conferfalling in the ence) and a looming weekend opening game of their series series against Kentucky. against Florida on March 13, South Alabama has been the Tigers have rebounded by in good form in the lead-up to winning two games against the tonight’s game. The Jaguars Gators, one game against Nichhave won their last five games, olls State and two against the including a three-game sweep Sooners. of Appalachian State over the LSU’s pitching staff was weekend. dominant once again over the During the undefeated f- weekend. Coming into the seive game run, the Jaguars out- ries, the Sooners had the highest scored opponents, 28-4, with two batting average in the country

BY JACK WOODS jwoods@lsureveille.com

at .403, but freshman pitchers Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper held the Sooners to just seven hits in 46 at-bats for a .152 batting average.

A lone home run from Bell gave LSU the win on Friday, but LSU’s lineup came alive Saturday. The Tigers blasted four home runs en route to a 10-2 victory.

Junior catcher Kellsi Kloss and sophomore infielder Sahvanna Jaquish each blasted a home run, and Bell added two more to give the Tigers their fifth consecutive win.

Bell leads the Tigers in batting average (.561), hits (55), RBI (50), slugging percentage (1.071), on-base percentage (.604), total bases (105) and is tied with Jaquish in home runs (12).

Senior center fielder A.J. Andrews and sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry are both hitting over .400 for the season, too. In addition to Bell, Andrews, Landry and freshman left fielder Emily Griggs all have on-base percentages greater than .500.

The Tigers’ rotation is a combined 30-1 and has an ERA of 1.33. Walljasper leads the staff in wins (9), Hoover leads

JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ / The Daily Reveille

LSU sophomore outfielder Bailey Landry (26) prepares to swing at the ball during the Tigers’ 10-2 victory against Oklahoma at Tiger Park on Saturday. in strikeouts (72), sophomore pitcher Baylee Corbello leads in ERA (1.18) and opposing batting average (.168) and sophomore pitcher Kelsee Selman has given up the fewest walks (8).

Despite the lofty stats and record, LSU coach Beth Torina said her team would continue to work on improving following Saturday’s win.

“My team would tell you they still have so much to work on,” Torina said. “They still have a lot of room to grow, so that’s exciting, too, to see that they just continue to push themselves, but it was another great test that we passed.”

You can reach Jack Woods on Twitter @Jack_TDR.

The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 BASEBALL

page 7

No. 1 Tigers to square off with in-state rival Green Wave

BY JACK CHASCIN jchascin@lsureveille.com The No. 1 LSU baseball team will try to keep its streaking bats alive for a midweek matchup against in-state rival Tulane at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Turchin Stadium.

The Tigers (21-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) are headed to New Orleans to take on the Green Wave (17-7) after taking their 10th series win from Arkansas in the last 11 seasons.

“We’ve got a big one tomorrow night at Tulane,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri Monday.

“It’s going to be a big game tomorrow night and a big crowd, I’m sure. It’s not the most pleasant place for the LSU

Tigers to play as far as the things they hear yelled at them from the stands, but it’s fun.

It’s a great environment, and one we’re looking forward to.”

The Tigers have been nearly unstoppable in the batters’ box so far this season. LSU is ranked No. 3 in the nation with a .327 batting average, which is good enough for first in the SEC. The Tigers are ranked first in the SEC in slugging percentage (.484), hits (280), total bases (414) and triples with 13.

In the Tigers’ series win against Arkansas over the weekend, LSU hit .384 with five doubles, one triple and four home runs while outscoring the Razorbacks, 24-12.

LSU’s success at the plate

has come from all angles, but senior catcher Kade Scivicque and junior outfielders Andrew Stevenson and Mark Laird have led the way as of late.

Scivicque went .471 at the plate for the week and leads LSU in batting this season with a .433 batting average.

The Maurepas, Louisiana, native has seven doubles, three homers and 15 RBIs this season.

Stevenson hit .533 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with an RBI and two runs scored. Stevenson hit for a career-high four hits in the Tigers’ 16-3 win on Friday night, raising his overall batting average to .388, which is second among starters.

“We’ve just been trying to

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take it one bat at a time,” Ste- pitcher Russell Reynolds for venson said. “We’re not trying the second straight week afto do too much and just trying ter he threw four strong into take what they’re giving us.” nings in the Tigers’ 4-2, extra Laird kept the trend alive, innings win against Southern hitting .500 against Arkansas on March 17. Reynolds allowed while recording three RBIs in only three hits, and retired his the series. Laird’s .383 batting first six batters. average this season is third Reynolds returns to Tulane, among starters, and his .442 where he started his career on-base percentage is second two season ago. He earned his behind Scivicque’s at .461. first collegiate win at Turchin LSU’s success in the bat- Stadium, limiting the Green ters’ box over the weekend Wave to one unearned run on was a result of a four hits in seven inlineup shift. Main‘We’ve just been nings with one walk ieri decided to go trying to take it one and four strikeouts. with senior Chris were my bat at a time. We’re first“They Sciambra at desigextended start nated hitter in the not trying to do too my freshman year,” leadoff spot, mov- much and just trying Reynolds said. “It ing sophomore left to take what they’re was a breakout. It fielder Jake Fraley kind of helped me giving us.’ down to the eighth get some more feel spot.

ANDREW STEVENSON, as a starter, so it’ll be Mainieri’s degood to go back there LSU junior outfielder cision paid off. and pitch again. I Sciambra went loved pitching there.

5-for-10 in his two games It was fun pitching there, and played with a double, triple it’ll be fun to go back.” and four RBIs. In Saturday’s The Baton Rouge native and 7-4 win, Sciambra had a ca- the Tigers’ offense will be pitreer-high four hits in the lead- ted against a Tulane pitching off position, going 4-for-5 on staff ranked No. 3 in the nation the game. with a 1.89 ERA. Sciambra said while his caMainieri said the energy reer hasn’t been textbook, he the Tulane coaching staff has wouldn’t trade it for the world. put into the program has been “I wouldn’t change it,” a huge factor in its success this Sciambra said. “Not many season. guys come in and start every “Their staple is pitching,” game, or are basically every- Mainieri said. “They’ve won day guys their whole career several games late and I’m from their freshman year sure all of the times they’ve throughout. You can wait your done that it builds confidence turn here as well. Not every- in their team, and I’m sure one’s going to be [junior short- they’re feeling very good stop] Alex Bregman and start about themselves.” every game for the whole time they’re here.”

You can reach Jack Chascin LSU will start sophomore on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.

CHARLES CHAMPAGNE / The Daily Reveille

LSU outfielders Andrew Stevenson (6) and Jared Foster (17) high-five during the Tigers’ 18-6 victory against Ole Miss at Alex Box Stadium on March 15.

page 8 REGIONALS, from page 5 but Breaux didn’t rule out their opponents’ ability to pull off the upset.

Nebraska has the ninthbest RQS score in the nation of 196.990, and it ranks in the top 10 on vault and floor, where the Cornhuskers have the sixth and 10th-best scores in the nation, respectively.

Denver is the only other team with an RQS score in the top25 rankings. The Pioneers’ 196.455 score is No. 16 in the nation.

“It is [at] some place we have never been,” Breaux said. “We are very happy about the opponents. It’s great to not be up against somebody in the SEC that [we] see week in and week out. Nebraska is a great team and they will push us to be our very best.”

The Tigers will have to finish in first or second place to advance to the NCAA Semifinals on April 17 in Fort Worth, Texas, but LSU said second place is not an option.

Courville said the team is using its close defeat at the SEC Championships as motivation to finish in first place at all of the remaining meets.

“It [was] a bittersweet finish at SECs,” Courville said.

“We still have that national championship to look forward to. We have a lot of things that we know we can work on, which is good because it means we haven’t hit our peak yet.”

LSU has its first bye

week of the season leading up to the regional, something Breaux said will be beneficial for the gymnasts and coaches.

With two weeks to let their bodies heal and fix their remaining imperfections, the Tigers are confident in their chances of advancing to the NCAA Semifinals.

“The bye week is important because it’s nice to have a week of rest,” said sophomore all-arounder Ashleigh Gnat.

“We’re excited.

Everyone loves a bye week.”

You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.

RIVALRIES, from page 5 played Tulane for almost a decade, I wanted a Tiger victory more than anything. But somewhere in Louisiana, another fan didn’t care.

He probably cares if LSU beats ULL, but it doesn’t matter to me.

Your rival is the school located three miles from your house. The school your annoying neighbor went to and has to brag about every time it wins a SWAC weekend series. The one your boss graduated from and won’t stop talking about.

You know LSU is better than its teams, but in a one-game

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 format, anything can happen.

The baseball team plays in-state teams, but not on weekends.

The last time LSU faced off against an in-state opponent for a full three-game series was 2009’s opening weekend against Centenary. The drought isn’t as long as the 22-year hiatus in the Kansas-Wichita State basketball series, but it’s still too long to go without a legitimate series against a Louisiana team.

Florida and Miami (FL), Texas and Rice, Georgia and Georgia Southern and California and UC-Irvine have all played in-state weekend series this season. LSU can easily do

the same with Tulane or ULL. The fun and excitement surrounding an in-state opponent would bring a better crowd to the Box on a weekend than it does during the week. Fans that don’t travel to a Tuesday game from other parts of the state would travel for a weekend.

If LSU faced in-state teams then, instead of during the week, attendance, fan interest and excitement would be better.

That’s a win-win for everyone.

Brian Pellerin is a 21-yearold mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana.

You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.

EMILY BRAUNER / The Daily Reveille

LSU junior all-arounder Jessica Savona performs her floor routine Jan. 23 during the Tigers’ 197.350-192.725 victory against Missouri at the PMAC.

around the corner when they come upstairs.

Radio City Music Hall “I was hiding the other might be “The Home of the day, and I thought the manRockettes,” but for one day agers were going to be comlast spring it belonged to ing out of the equipment Bell and Quinn. The duo room, and it was a washing performed a skit on the machine repair man,” Tostage to their teammates’ rina said. “I jumped out and amusement. scared some guy I’d never met “[Constance] wanted to before.”

The scare tactics, jokes be on stage and wanted to do something, so we just got up and skits are entertainment value for anyin front of ev‘We have a bunch of erybody and did one who has a different personalities chance to oba little skit for on this team. This year serve them. everyone, and it was really funeverybody has meshed However, they ny,” Bell said. are much more really well together…’

“Everybody was than that.

BIANKA BELL, laughing. It just All the laughs LSU junior shortstop makes trips and are indicators of things more enmeaningful rejoyable for us.” lationships the players have Quinn and Bell aren’t the developed with each other, and only ones generating laughs. none of it is forced.

While her teammates “We did a lot of team talked to the media a few bonding stuff at the weeks ago, freshman catcher beginning of the season in the Sydney Loupe hid from the fall,” sophomore pitcher Baycold weather inside a card- lee Corbello said. “This team’s board box. When Bell walked chemistry — it’s not fake. It’s out into the batting cage not like we have to be friends bearea and poked the box with cause we’re teammates. When her toe, Loupe popped out and it’s a real, genuine thing, it scared her back through the just kind of comes naturally. The fun stuff just locker room door.

Even Torina gets in- happens.” volved in the shenanigans at times. She said she’ll try to You can reach Jack Woods on scare her players by hiding Twitter @Jack_TDR.

FUN, from page 5

The Daily Reveille

RONNI BOURGEOIS / The Daily Reveille

LSU senior outfelder Jared Foster (17) stands on second base on March 11 at Alex Box Stadium during the Tigers’ 7-0 victory against McNeese State.

Entertainment

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

page 9

Album release dates now arbitrary PARDON MY FRENCH GERALD DUCOTE Entertainment Writer

Rue Cou Cou was originally located on Bienville Street in 1998, but in 2009, local art enthusiast and graphic designer Laurel Doucet purchased the establishment with her husband at its current location near Circa 1857 on Government Street.

“Like all artists, you grow up doing something creative, whether it’s drawing or painting or whatever,” Doucet said. “Of

Imagine being a birthday party planner for one of your best friends. However, instead of buying crepe paper, balloons and a cake, you have to spend months planning and thinking about this party. This party costs thousands of dollars to pull off.

You’ve worked with dozens of people to pull this event off.

Now, imagine somebody tells your best friend about the surprise party. Everything you’ve worked for is null and void.

This immense disappointment and aggravation is exactly what musicians feel when their much-anticipated albums are leaked or released early. In a trend that has become more and more prevalent in recent weeks, major label albums by some of music’s most popular artists are dropping like flies into our Spotify accounts and iTunes preorders.

With this rash of early releases spreading quickly, it seems important to question the importance and relevance of scheduled release dates. Currently, the majority of albums are released on Tuesday, allowing music publications to get a listen early in the week and issue a timely review.

One of the most recent victims of premature releases is

see GALLERY, page 11

see ALBUMS, page 11

CHARLES CHAMPAGNE / The Daily Reveille

Laurel Doucet, along with her husband Greg Doucet, is the owner of the Rue Cou Cou art gallery and frameshop located in Mid City on Government Street.

RUE COU COU Local gallery stands out in Mid City cultural district

BY MICHAEL TARVER mtarver@lsureveille.com Perched in the cultural district of Mid City Baton Rouge stands a renovated Esso station, transformed into an art gallery called “Rue Cou Cou,” offering collectors not only a delightful shopping experience ,but a variety of pieces in multiple genres as well.

Walking in the gallery, visitors are

immediately exposed to various art platforms including sculpture and stained glass work while smooth jazz hums through the rustic-urban yet colorful space.

Though, in the ’20s, the former establishment provided gas to Baton Rouge travelers, the building now pumps out high-caliber, Louisiana-inspired art pieces by prominent and emerging artists from the Capital City.

THEATRE

Student makes directorial debut with ‘Dream Walker’

BY GRETA JINES gjines@lsureveille.com Most superheroes are known for their super strength, ability to fly or even their X-ray vision, but it’s rare to find one who can transcend space and time, only to find themselves capable of walking into other’s dreams.

The University’s Department of Theatre will present August Schulenburg’s “Dream Walker” as part of its 2014-15 Lab Theatre season.

Each year, the department gives a few of its students a hands-on production experience where they are responsible for everything from acting to directing. This lab season’s production of “Dream Walker” falls under the direction of

theatre senior Jordan Campbell.

While most students are familiar with Swine Palace productions or LSU Theatre Mainstage plays, lab season shows have a smaller budget and are run entirely by the University’s students.

Campbell said he submitted his selection to the lab season committee for approval last year around this time, and after fulfilling class requirements and certain qualifications, he was chosen to direct this show for its second production ever.

“It had an off Broadway performance in New York for a week by this company,” Campbell said. “That’s one reason I’m particularly excited for this — it’s a pretty original thing.”

After reading the play more

than a year and a half ago, Campbell said he was set on this comedy, which happens to feature a cast of only three members.

The play follows the lives of two brothers — Richie, Gary and Gary’s girlfriend, Dawn.

Campbell said Richie is a laid back, slacker fantasy novelist while Gary is an aggressive corporate type, who’s also Richie’s landlord. The story picks up once Richie discovers he possesses the ability to walk into other people’s dreams.

Campbell, who is accustomed to the managerial aspect of theatre, said he’s learning how to approach the artistic elements of a production, and

see DREAM, page 11

University theatre senior Spencer LaBelle plays the character Richie and theatre sophomore Devin Williams plays the character Dawnon Sunday during the rehearsal of ‘Dream Walkers’ in the Studio Theatre in the LSU Music and Dramatic Arts building.

CHARLES CHAMPAGNE /

The Daily Reveille

page 10 ART

The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Charter Street Studios to host 50th annual Jackson Art Show and people were fighting over them and everything. It was way more people than they anIn Jackson, La., the 200-year- ticipated, and it just kept getting old buildings may be falling bigger and bigger every year.”

The items sold in Charter apart, but they are never demolished. Instead, they’re trans- Street Studios aren’t the only formed into an artistic holy antiques in the show. The building itself is an antique, as Charground.

This weekend, Charter Street ter Street Studios is almost two Studios will host the 50th annual centuries old. Built in 1820, the studio has since Jackson Assembeen revamped and bly Antiques and ‘This is a very small made into a key Art Show. The show is a celebra- town, with probably less component of the tion of the town than 3,000 people, and Jackson Assembly of Jackson and a it’s just amazing that a Antiques and Art fundraiser for the small group of people Show.

Many other continuing pres- could do something this centuries-old buildervation work of big for this long.’ ings in Jackson are the Jackson Asbeing repurposed sembly. Upstairs JAN WORTHY, for the Jackson Asin the two-story Jackson Assembly publicist sembly Antiques building, local and Art Show. Worartists and antique dealers from seven states thy said the buildings were purwill showcase and sell their chased and renovated with the original works. Downstairs in funds from past shows.

“One of the only advantages the Gumbo Kitchen, homemade meals will be sold to customers. of being in the backwater and Jackson Assembly publicist being poor is that these buildJan Worthy, who helped put the ings were never torn down,” event together, said this tradi- Worthy said. “The antique dealtion began in the early ’60s when ers love it because they have old some of the older women in the wood floors, brick walls and recommunity decided to get to- ally high ceilings that show off gether and sell antiques in their their antique qualities.”

At the show, people will get homes to raise funds to save the the chance to see all of the hisold buildings around town.

“The first time, they brought tory the town has to offer. For their old antiques, and all of a participants, there will be selfsudden they were gone,” Worthy guided tours of Jackson’s hissaid. “They ran out of antiques, toric district.

BY KAYLA RANDALL krandall@lsureveille.com

Worthy said the entire town of Jackson comes together every year for this event. It’s a community affair for everyone to get involved.

“This is a very small town with probably less than 3,000 people, and it’s just amazing that a small group of people could do something this big for this long,” Worthy said. “Everybody in the community benefits.”

Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the show are local artists like Donna Kilbourne, Keith Morris, Roger Persons, Alice Kent, Stephen Kimball and Ronnie Collins, who will get the chance to show and sell their art pieces, many of which are original watercolor paintings.

Kilbourne said she made her piece selections for the Jackson Assembly show based on her knowledge of the community’s interests.

“For this show, generally I have an idea of what appeals to this viewing audience,” Kilbourne said. “I mostly pull anything that’s Louisiana-related, or the animal paintings. Any of my animal or landscape paintings usually do well here.”

The Jackson Assembly also allows the artists to use the second floor of Charter Street Studios as studio space for a minimum amount of money. Kilbourne said because the Jackson Assembly has been so supportive of the artists, the show is an important way for the art-

ists to show their appreciation and have personal contact with people who enjoy her work with contagious and inspiring enthusiasm.

“The most rewarding feeling for any artist is when you have someone who truly appreciates your work,” Kilbourne said.

“Artwork becomes a part of the artist, so you’re selling a part of yourself. That’s what we have at

the show.”

The 50th annual Jackson Assembly Antiques and Art Show will take place March 27 to 29 at 1740 Charter St. in Jackson, La., from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the first two days and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the last day. Tickets are $10 for all three days.

You can reach Kayla Randall on Twitter @kay_ran21.

courtesy of RONNIE COLLINS

The 50th annual Jackson Assembly Antiques and Art Show will begin March 27 at 1740 Charter St. in Jackson, La.

Poisoning incidents involving e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine jumped by 156% in the past year. And they have increased more than 14 fold since 2011. More than half the calls involved a child under the age of 6. One child died last December.

-- American Association of Poison Control Centers Support LSU’s 100% tobacco-free campus policy. Please Suppo don’t smoke on campus.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 GALLERY, from page 9 course, you come to [the] realization that the chances of making a living are slim.”

For Doucet, this realization guided her into making the decision to become a graphic designer, including an earlier job at Tiger Rag magazine.

Dabbling in various forms of art including photography and water color painting, Doucet said she always gravitated toward any form of art.

When Doucet’s husband started a fine art reproduction business called Renaissance Imaging, she was exposed to local artists from around the city and the state. She said opening a gallery just seemed to be “the next logical step.”

ALBUMS, from page 9 Kendrick Lamar, whose third album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” was digitally distributed a week ahead of schedule due to a mistake by Interscope Records.

Earl Sweatshirt, of the hiphop collective Odd Future, also experienced some anguish about the sudden announcement of his second album “I Don’t Like S--, I Don’t Go Outside: An Album

by Earl Sweatshirt.” According to Sweatshirt’s Twitter, his label, Columbia Records, and its parent corporation, Sony Music Entertainment, are to blame for the spontaneous issuing of “Go Outside.”

In hopes of remedying the confusion of various international release dates, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry decided in February to establish a “Global Record Release Day.” This ruling declared that, starting this summer, all albums would be released on Fridays, allowing music fans worldwide to enjoy their favorite artists at the same time.

This news, combined with the continuous issues surrounding planned releases, begs the questions: Does any of it matter?

Are release dates relevant to today’s listeners? More and more websites such as Pitchfork and NPR Music are gaining early access to music’s biggest names,

DREAM, from page 9 while it hasn’t been easy, he’s confident in the cast and crew he has surrounded himself with.

Campbell said he asked theatre senior Yvette Bourgeois to accompany him in her assistant directing debut after she participated in a reading of the play at Campbell’s apartment during the summer.

“We had previously worked together on multiple shows, so he trusts me and I trust him,” Bourgeois said. “We work very well together, and I’m not afraid to have a different opinion from him. I think he liked the thought of me not being afraid to challenge him.”

Having such a small cast provides an environment for exploration, which Bourgeois said helped the show grow. It’s more difficult for actors to con-

According to Doucet, the name Rue Cou Cou was born when the original owners told their friends they wanted to start an art gallery in their custom framing shop and call it Rue Bienville, but the friends promptly called them “cuckoo” for concocting such a crazy idea. Thus, the French spelling of the word was adopted, and the gallery was born.

Almost 20 years later, Doucet evaluates new artists’ pieces to determine whether or not their work will mesh with the artistic flow of the gallery to maintain a common theme throughout Rue Cou Cou. “The artists have to have a unique style, and be slightly different from the other artists in the gallery,” Doucet said.

However, all of the artists allowing fans to hear albums without ever having to pay. In the case of today’s early access, the concept of paying for music has become the long-dreaded option.

Fortunately, the possibility of streaming an album usually only applies to artists who are so successful, they are hardly affected by the money lost to Spotify.

If this trend of disregard for artists’ wishes continues, the concept of planned releases will go the way of the dodo. Musicians, especially the strongwilled ones like Sweatshirt and Lamar, will be forced to take matters into their own hands, releasing albums as they see fit.

Musicians calling the shots would probably result in a better world for listeners. An album released without any prior advertisement can be a culturally significant event. In the case of Beyoncé’s unannounced selftitled fifth album in 2013, fans lauded the album, its videos and the resulting mania as an artistic move for the ages.

Since the surprise release of “Beyoncé,” many labels have been looking to capitalize on the effect of Beyoncé’s independence and control over her own material.

This independence could result in artists releasing albums that are either underdeveloped nect as part of a large cast while the size of this ensemble has allowed the actors to form strong relationships both on and off the set.

The play features six actual scenes and six dream sequences in 21st century New York, which means the show’s set is fairly simple, using only several furniture pieces and movable stage props for easy transition between scenes.

Even though the set and cast are small, Campbell said he has high hopes for this week’s show.

He said Schulenburg probably never expected this play to be produced again, and that made him feel good about his decision to direct.

“If we were doing Hamlet, Arthur Miller or Sam Shepard, we could be the 10,000th production of this play and do it maybe mediocrely or at least not outstandingly,” Campbell

The Daily Reveille featured in the gallery are Louisiana artists and most of them revolve their work around Louisiana culture.

Business savviness is also an important quality when finding a new artist to display in the gallery because Rue Cou Cou splits the commission for each consigned piece.

The artists featured in the gallery include Amy Anderson, R.C. Davis, Meichi Lee, Keith Morris and many more. Additionally, the gallery is the exclusive dealer of William Hemmerling.

Rue Cou Cou is the only gallery in Baton Rouge to carry the original works of James Michalopoulos, a New Orleansbased artist who has been commissioned multiple times to create the official Jazz and

page 11 Heritage Festival poster.

It’s clear Doucet knows the context and meaning behind almost every piece in her gallery as she can describe each in detail. While Rue Cou Cou visitors browse casually throughout the space, they can find a guide in the knowledgable store owner.

Most of the pieces in the gallery space are clearly inspired

by Louisiana, highlighting everything from majestic bayou pelicans to the lively streets of New Orleans.

Mickey Asche, for example, started painting shortly after Hurricane Katrina and has a kayak he keeps in the back of his van, stopping to take photos of an interesting waterfront spot or subject as reference material for his paintings of Louisiana birdlife.

Information about the artists and photos of their pieces can be found at the gallery’s website RueCouCou.com along with any event information or newly added pieces. The gallery services allow buyers to take a piece home and see how it fits in their space before making the final purchase decision.

Whether through various events or casual shopping, Doucet said visitors of Rue Cou Cou will be most impressed with the collection of artists and their work because of the art’s high quality.

“People come in here and are in awe of the caliber of artwork in the gallery,” Doucet said. “I’m in awe myself.”

You can reach Michael Tarver on Twitter @michael_T16.

RICH FURY / The Associated Press

Earl Sweatshirt performs at the Spin Magazine Day Party at Stubb’s during South By Southwest on Friday in Austin, TX. and released due to impatience or albums that hold an extended hiatus because of the need to perfect every last detail, which is a cursory effort.

The solution to this tense environment between artists, labels and fans lies in the direction of label decisions. Whether

it is in artists’ contracts or in the leniency of a company’s legal handling of an artist’s wishes, choices should always be made with the artistic well-being of a talent rather than the well-being of a label’s pocket.

Every friend deserves a good birthday party and every

said. “I feel like it would fade into the distance whereas this is a special little moment in time.”

The play explores several social issues, specifically gender identity. Even though the storyline touches on several serious topics, Campbell said the main focus is what a man is supposed to be in the 21st century by presenting two diametrically opposed forces found in the show’s two brothers. By the end of the play, he said the audience will be able to tell where Schulenburg stands on the issue.

Both Campbell and Bourgeois ventured into new roles for “Dream Walker,” but they are excited for the results of all their hard work, and said people should make an effort to come see entertaining and original theatre.

“I think every single character is very relatable,”

Bourgeois said. “Even though some of them might do some things that aren’t so great or are flawed in ways. At the same time, I can look at each charac-

WHAT:

party planner deserves to have their secret kept until it’s time to yell “Surprise!”

Gerald Ducote is a 20-year-old communication disorders senior from Hamburg, Louisiana.

You can reach him on Twitter @geraldducoteTDR. ter and identify with each one, and two of them are men.”

You can reach Greta Jines on Twitter @TheGretaJines.

“Dream Walker”

WHERE: Music and Dramatic Arts Building- Studio Theatre

WHEN:

March 24-28 at 7:30 p.m. and March 29 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

PRICE:

$10

Opinion

page 12

WEB COMMENTS In response to Clarke Perkins’ column, “Rising taxes on the rich is necessary for America’s welfare,” one reader had this to say: I have always been a proponent of The Fair Tax. It is a consumption tax based on what people spend. It is not a sales tax per say but the seller would need to price in the cost of doing business that amount of tax. When you purchase an item, the tax is already built into the price you pay. What this does among other facts is this: 1. There will be no more lobbying for tax breaks since there won’t be any income taxes, for people or corporations. There would be no more social security or medicare.

2. Everyone who buys something in this country would pay the Fair Tax, drug dealers, illegal immigrants, foreign visitors, etc.

Everything bought at the retail level would apply.

3. There would also be a paycheck that most everyone would receive. The money would be scaled according to your paycheck amount. People at the bottom would receive considerably more than a doctor, lawyer if they receive anything at all. You can go work at McDonalds if you want and still can raise a family.

4. Did I mention you keep your entire paycheck minus state income taxes. No more 401ks, IRAS, and the like.

5, Who knows how many trillions of dollars would be repatriated and made to work in this country.

6. The most important feature would be the percentage take by the Federal Government would be determined by circumstances.

If this country goes to war, guess what, we start paying for it from the get go.

7. Tax credits would also be eliminated.

I could go on and on but we need to have everyone contributing to the government to pay for programs and like Mr. A said, quit paying for worthless programs.

– eEngineer The Daily Reveille wants to hear your reactions to our content. Visit lsureveille.com/daily, our Facebook page and our Twitter account to let us know what you think.

The Daily Reveille Editorial Board

Chandler Rome Erin Hebert Rebecca Docter Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez Quint Forgey SidneyRose Reynen

Editor in Chief Co-Managing Editor Co-Managing Editor News Editor Deputy News Editor Opinion Editor

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

College students open to threat of identity theft JAY TALKING JAY CRANFORD Columnist Identity theft is when someone steals your social security number, bank account information, birth certificate or passport number.

College students in particular are more vulnerable to this type of crime. In fact, author Steve Weisman reported college students are five times more likely to have their identities stolen.

One of the reasons students are more vulnerable to identity theft is because we all live next to each other in dorms, where you can easily find a checkbook laying around in someone’s room.

Students also take fewer precautions to prevent identity theft. How many of you have checked your credit report in the last four months?

Identity theft is one of the most difficult crimes to track, which means many cases of identity theft probably go unreported. However, in 2012 the Bureau of

Justice reported 16.6 million people were victim of identity theft.

Identity theft is so prevalent because it’s easy for thieves to gain access to your information. Over the past decade, the government and credit card companies have taken some steps to help stop identity theft, but the responsibility of prevention is placed almost solely on the victim.

The effect identity theft has can vary widely. Sometimes the thief will steal credit card information and only make several hundred dollars worth of purchases before your credit card company shuts down your credit card.

However, being a victim of identity theft can drastically affect your life for years and potentially cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

According to the Department of Justice, in one famous case, the criminal used the victim’s information to accumulate over $100,000 in credit card debt and took out a home loan. The criminal also bought handguns, motorcycles and homes before filing bankruptcy in the victim’s name.

Louisiana

The victims spent several years and over $10,000 to fix their credit and reputation. This is an extreme case, but it shows how serious identity theft can be.

When you’re studying for tests, you’ve probably figured out studying for what your teacher wants is more efficient than studying the material.

In the same way, if we look at how thieves steal identities, you can better understand how to prevent it.

One way people steal identities is by simply stealing a wallet or a purse.

With the information you carry around in your wallet, such as credit cards and IDs, someone can steal your identity.

Another way is called “fishing.” This is where people go through trash and mailboxes looking for information they can use to start stealing your identity.

Thieves also will send you fake emails posing to be your credit card company or Nigerian princes looking for information.

The third method is one you cannot prevent, but should still be aware of.

There are cases of inside jobs where employees of

*DUP*

credit companies will steal information to either use to steal your identity or to sell your information.

If you suspect that you have been a victim of identity theft than you should take action as soon as possible.

The first thing you should do is call the fraud department of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and Transunion. When you call them, say you think you’re a victim of identity theft and they will put a fraud alert on your account.

If you have accounts with any creditor, such as a home loan or credit cards, be sure to call the companies and tell as well. They will help with all the steps to changing account information. Do the same with any bank you use.

Finally, call your local police department and file a report.

Alternatively, you could run your credit into the ground so that no one would want to steal your identity.

Jay is a 20-year-old finance junior from St. Simons Island, Georgia. You can reach him on Twitter @hjcranford.

Don’t Drink And Drive Don’t Litter Louisiana

How to avoid identity theft 1. Avoid carrying around your social security card.

Lock it up somewhere safe.

2. Don’t shop online or pay bills on a public computer.

3. Be extremely careful to who asks for your financial information, and only give it out to people you’re sure are trustworthy.

4. Get your free yearly credit reports from the three major credit bureaus.

5. Monitor the transactions on your credit card.

6. Maintaining records of your financial statement for the previous five years will make it easier to dispute and fraudulent activity.

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-39 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 Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

Quote of the Day ‘A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is an open dialogue and transparency.’

Peter Fenn American political consultant Dec. 12, 1947 — present

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Gov. Jindal’s budget cuts harm the state’s higher ed. schools

Opinion Louisiana’s colleges and universities are being abused by Bobby Jindal’s irresponsible budget priorities almost as much as the students who attend them.

While the governor’s fiscal house of cards is tumbling down, the sound of the can hitting the end of the road that he has been kicking it down is reverberating

throughout the state. I know these funding cuts are having unpleasant effects here at LSU, Louisiana’s proud flagship university and one of the best in the country.

This upsets me.

Still the governor and his allies, especially my opponents in the race for governor this year, have not learned their lesson.

page 13

They continue to play with the very fire that led to the 90 percent tuition increases that have occurred since Bobby Jindal took office.

I am concerned about how these kinds of shell games have affected LSU and will affect it even more. While Bobby Jindal failed to prioritize our higher

education institutions and the students like you that attend them, I actually led a bipartisan coalition to pass the only balanced budget, the only budget that largely spared higher education, in the last seven years.

John Bel Edwards Candidate for Governor, 2015

White House sends clear message on transparency SMASH THE HATE JAMES RICHARDS Columnist Thousands of college students are soaking up the sunshine this week for spring break. They’re probably already on their third case of Natural Light and on the way to a sunburn a redneck would be proud of.

Last week a different kind of sunshine was exhibited, not at Panama City Beach, but in government buildings across the U.S. I’m not talking about senators butt-chugging margaritas, I’m talking about Sunshine Week.

Sunshine Week is the attempt of government transparency advocates at the American Society of News Editors to bring light to areas of government that are kept hidden from public view.

This mission has become even more important ever since revelations from former NSA contractor and current international hobo Edward Snowden confirmed that, yes, the U.S. government systematically lies to its people.

The White House showed its recognition of the week in the only way it could, by changing the rules for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Office of Administration will no longer be required by the Freedom of Information Act to release information to the public.

This adds it to a laundry list of other exempted White House entities, including the Office of National AIDS Policy, the National Security Council and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

The exemption further muddles the face of an administration which many are calling the least transparent in recent history. These claims stand in stark contrast to the administration’s statements, which insist it’s the most transparent in history, as pledged by President Barack Obama when he came to office.

There is little to no evidence to show he’s upheld that pledge.

A study from the Associated Press released last week showed the administration denied more FOIA requests and suppressed more documents than any other, beating its own record from last year.

The requests that do make it

into the system will sometimes languish for decades, according to Nate Jones at the National Security Archive. If a request finally makes it through the “black hole” of referrals, the government may produce nothing more than a Wikipedia article for the requester who wanted government documents.

Despite public statements to the contrary, there’s no chance the White House wasn’t deliberately trying to spit in the face of government transparency with this move.

The rule change for FOIA requests was effectively approved by the courts six years ago under the Bush administration. That means the White House had plenty of time to trample on transparent government advocates during any other week, but instead chose to give them an executive middle finger.

This recent flashpoint for transparency probably isn’t going to affect any serious information disclosures. The Office of Administration releases things like the White House beer recipes and staff salaries — not exactly life changing information.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest also stated they will continue to release these things, despite not having a FOIA division requiring them to do so.

The little things do matter in the grand scheme of overall government transparency, though.

To use an example from history, consider Cardinal Richelieu of King Louis XIII in 17th century France.

Knowing the king would face a revolt if he revoked a great amount of noble privileges at once, Richelieu suggested he take something away every year.

By the time Louis’ subjects realized what he was up to, they were already too weak, and the Fronde rebellion was put down with relative ease.

In the same way, American citizens ought to vehemently oppose any efforts to restrict their access to government documents. If they don’t, the government will have free reign to trample over their civil liberties without so much as the courtesy to admit they’re doing it.

James Richards is a 20-yearold mass communication sophomore from New Orleans.

You can reach him on Twitter @JayEllRichy.

MARK HERTZBERG / The Associated Press

The White House restricted Freedom of Information Act access to the Office of Administration this week.

Stopped Watch

cartoon by GAELAN HARRINGTON

page 14

Announcements

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The Daily Reveille

Housing

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

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To place your ad, visit www.lsureveille.com and click classifieds

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1st month free rent Blox at Brightside Condos! Call 225-246-2274 for information about leasing. _________________________ LSU Library Apartments. 1&2 bedroom flats & townhouses.

Gated, crown molding, wood floors, some have w/d, laundry on site, swimming pool. On site manager $475.00-$675.00. Call (225) 615-8521 _________________________ RESERVE YOUR 4BED/4BATH TOWNHOUSE in BRIGHTSIDE Spacious living and kitchen Full size laundry Private fenced yard $1,800/month Call 225.802.6898 _________________________ walk to LSU, 2/1 wood floors, wyoming street,$625 pets OK. McDaniel Properties owner /agent 388-9858 _________________________ $1050,. 3BR 2BA. PERFECT FOR COUPLES & GRAD STUDENTS. 225-931-4250. _________________________ Lake Beau Pre Townhomes, Arlington Trace & Summer Grove Condos 2 & 3 Bedrooms Accepting Deposits for Summer/ Fall Move In Dean & Company Real Estate 225-767-2227 www.deanrealestate.net

Help Wanted Louie’s Cafe: Hiring cooks, servers and dish staff. Apply in person, online or via email. louiescafe.com 3322 Lake Street __________________________ If your looking to make some extra money as a student on the side, my business is expanding in the Baton Rouge area. I am an LSU student who works with several pro-athletes endorsing sports nutrition as well as working with makeup artist that sponsor Mrs. America-USA. I’m only looking for a few motivated individuals to

Services

Costs: 35 cents per word a day, personals free for students Deadline: 12 p.m., two school days prior to the print publication date

work 5-10 hours a week. Call or email me at 985-255-6872 SDInc. info@gmail.com. -Katelyn _________________________ Behavioral Intervention Group (BIG) is a team of dedicated therapists focused on providing the skills, teaching environments and learning opportunities BIG provides children with a highly individualized Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program that is continually modified to meet the child’s needs as they progress.

BIG is looking for ABA line therapist to join our team. This is a full time position starting with an hourly rate of $14.00/hr plus benefits. _________________________ HELP WANTED Part Time/ Evening work after 3:30. Must be self motivated, mechanically inclined & able to work with your hands. Duties consist of working on chainsaws & basic tree service equipment. Call 225-755-8088 for further details. _________________________

LOUISIANA NURSERY is Now Hiring! Lawn & Garden Sales/ Customer Service and Cashier positions are available. No experience needed, flexible hours, fun atmosphere. Apply in person or on-line at www.louisiananursery. com/careers _________________________ Earn $1000-$3000 and more a month to drive our company cars. www.VehicleJob.com _________________________ PLUCKERS is now hiring Servers and Cooks for both locations. Apply in person or at pluckers.com _________________________ Sherwood South Animal Hospital Our emergency facility is hiring 1-2 FT/PT staff members for overnight veterinary assistants.

The right candidate for our open positions should be reliable, compassionate, and have a strong technical background and knowledge of veterinary medicine/nursing. Applicants interested in our Emergency Hospital must be able to work nights, weekends, & holidays. Please send resumes to: thadley@brvetspecialists.com

resume to cactusclyd@aol.com _____________________________

_________________________ Afternoon teachers needed for a preschool near LSU. We are looking for a responsible worker who is available Monday-Friday from 2:30-5:30. Please send you resume to cdshighland@gmail.com or call 225-766-1159 and ask for Lisa or Emily. We look forward to hearing from you! _________________________

Store Manager - Smoothie King Start Your Management Career Today or Make Some Extra Money While You Are In School. Now Hiring ALL Management and Team Member Positions For Several Locations in Baton Rouge and Gonzales. Send Resumes to Jon@ skmanagers.com or apply in-store at 6556 Siegen Lane. _________________________ ACT Tutor paying $300 apiece for 2014-2015 and 2013-2014 high school student directories. For New Orleans, I need Ursuline, Holy Cross, Hannan, Cabrini, Rummel, Scholastica, Mary’s Dominican, St. Paul’s Catholic, Chapelle, Ben Franklin, Lusher, De La Salle. For Baton Rouge, I need Baton Rouge Magnet. For Lafayette, I need Grand Coteau. E-mail John at john.burford@magnoliaprep.com ____________________________ Salassi Jewelry & Fine Gifts is now accepting applications. Candidates must be fashion oriented with outstanding people skills. College Degree or soon to be required. Send resume! ____________________________

Kidcam Summer Camps - Leaders and Counselors! Apply TODAY for summer work. GREAT attitudes needed. Experience managing groups of children required for leaders. Day time /week day hours only.

Apply online at www.kidcamcamps. com or send resume and cover letter to kidcambr@gmail.com ____________________________

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in new business with a classified!

Place yours today at lsureveille.com

Gino’s Restaurant is seeking part time evening hostesses. Please apply, in person, Monday - Friday between 2-4pm at 4542 Bennington Avenue. _____________________________ Boil&Roux Restaurant NOW HIRING-Cooks, Fry Cooks, Prep Cooks, Bartenders, Wait Staff, and Hostesses. Apply in person MonTues 2pm-5pm 11777 Coursey Blvd, near Sherwood behind CVS

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EARN EXTRA INCOME AROUND CURRENT SCHEDULE Opportunity to earn Commission and Production bonuses. Contact Raquel for more information at 225.304.3220

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Find a fling that will last beyond the spring

Hiring now. Students who are looking for a spring and summer job. Job can continue into the fall semester.

You would be working one on one with an individual who has a developmental disability. We have a large number of medical, COMD, physical therapy majors who work for us now. Various hours. Apply in person at: 622 Shadows Lane Suite A Baton Rouge, LA 70806 or email resume to olograce@gmail.com _____________________________

Place your free personal today at lsureveille.com

Secretary/Photo Editor for natural history photographer. Must know Adobe Lightroom and photoshop. 20 hours per week at $8 per hour. Email

The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 TREES, from page 1 fully moved for construction projects, Fellner said. Landscape Services recycles and grinds fallen leaves, dead limbs and felled trees into mulch to spread at the feet of living trees to keep their root systems healthy.

The larger trees, like the roughly 1,200 live oak trees, are protected from lightning strikes by pure copper wire run through their branches and canopies. Lightning is the fastest killer of trees.

“All of that costs money, though,” Fellner said. “It costs about a $1,000 to protect one of the live oak trees from lightning, so what we can do depends on our budget.”

ALEXANDER, from page 1 would reduce the $750 million in higher education funds by roughly 82 percent.

“For people that see that big ‘S’ on our helmet ... isn’t as big as it used to be because we’re only 13 percent funded from the state of Louisiana,” Alexander said referring to the word “state” in LSU. “If this cut goes unmitigated and goes unaddressed in our legislative session, we will be funded by 2.9 percent coming from the state.”

It would be the largest higher education budget reduction in U.S. history since Illinois State University began measuring and comparing higher education financing throughout the country around 1963, Alexander said.

In addition to joining the Tiger Advocates, Alexander said students need to speak to the legislature.

He said legislators often listen to two groups of people: campaign contributors and large groups of voters. Because University students represent neither group, they will have to make a collective effort to speak up and become politically active.

“Let your voices be heard collectively,” Alexander said.

“Don’t be passive in this situation. Let our legislators know that you count, that you really do matter, and that means not being passive.”

The University is becoming part of a national trend where education is completely paid for by the student because it only benefits the individual. However, Alexander said there is a 12 percent return in social benefits for every dollar invested in someone else’s education and career.

The country was able to make the right decisions for higher education in past decades, Alexander said. The U.S. ranks No. 1 in the world in the percentage of 55 to 64year-olds with college degrees.

However, he said the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees ranks 12th, and that percentage drops a ranking almost annually. If

page 15

While there is a price to provided by trees near building keeping them healthy, the trees windows also save cooling costs also save on energy costs, said because less light and heat can landscape architecture profes- enter through the windows. sor Kevin Risk.

The trees also combat runoff “Obvifrom rain ‘Obviously, most buildings in ously, most by absorbLouisiana have air conditioning ing it into buildings their root in Louisiin them because of the heat ana have air index, but a building whose roof systems. c o n d i t i o n - is shaded by a live oak canopy is “If we reing in them moved all of going to be less hot, so it would the live oaks because of ultimately reduce the colling cost.’ from the heat inthe dex,” Risk core of camKEVIN RISK, pus, the cost said.

“But landscape architecture professor of cooling a building the campus, whose roof among other is shaded or also partially shaded by things, would go up, and the a live oak canopy is going to runoff would be greater,” Risk be less hot, so it would ulti- said. mately reduce the cooling Alumni and donors can docost.” nate varying amounts of money He said shady areas to the Live Oak Endowment,

which helps fund some of the tree expenses. Half of the donations go straight to the trees, and the other half goes to the endowment to collect interest. Donating alumni can place plaques at the bases of trees with a chosen message, Fellner said.

He said there are no rules in place for climbing trees or hammock hanging, although if someone is liable to be injured or break branches, they may be asked to get down.

Music education freshman Scott Williams said he enjoys the trees on campus because of how they look and the ability to hang up his hammock.

“I just think it adds beauty to the campus, it’s what kind of defines the campus, having

a beautiful campus is just a bragging point,” Williams said.

“Hammocking is also one of the nicest ways to relax and get away from the academic points of school.”

Fellner said the shapes of some of the largest live oak trees mirror the campus.

“I always like to say that the architecture on campus is Italian Renaissance architecture, so you have arches and clay tile roofs and this Mediterranean look,” Fellner said. “The live oak trees, now that they are mature, have the same architecture and the graceful, sloping, large limbs and they have the same motif, the same design elements that you see in that Italian architecture. I like to think that the people that planted them originally had that in mind.”

the country is unable to reverse this trend, the United States will be ranked 19th — just below Bulgaria — by 2020.

“When we say these are difficult times financially, these are difficult times because of the choices we’ve made when we’re spending seven times as much to incarcerate somebody as we are to educate somebody,” Alexander said.

While serving as president of the California State University, Alexander faced a 33 percent budget reduction.

Even though Alexander said authority to raise fees allowed Cal State to stay afloat, leadership still had to furlough, a temporary leave of absence, for every faculty member throughout the system two days a month.

To offset $600 million in budget reductions, Alexander said the LSU System would have to furlough every faculty member for an entire year,

experience, Alexander said. However, those services make up about half of students’ ability to graduate.

“We’ve talked to our student government, and they’ve said come to us first and work with us first before you make massive cuts in student services, in counseling, in tutoring, in student health, in all of these areas that students know and utilize very much and know exactly what we need to preserve and protect,” Alexander said.

Of the 50 flagship universities, Alexander said the University ranks 46th in spending per student. While the

University is at the lower end of this comparison, it also ranks 25th in graduation rates, 29th in student retention, 19th in starting salaries and 14th in midcareer earnings for graduates age 42 to 45.

Alexander said the University cannot take any bigger hits in state funding without hurting those four variables.

“We start declining in retention,” Alexander said. “We start declining in graduation.

We start declining in starting salaries because many of our programs may not even be accredited. Then we’d start declining later in life with mid-career earnings.”

and that would only cover one year’s losses.

Louisiana public universities need the authority to handle their own affairs, like tuition and risk management, to become more efficient, Alexander said.

“In fact, $43 million already based in this cut is assuming that our legislative leaders will give us the authority to even charge fees in certain areas that we don’t even have the authority to charge,” Alexander said.

One of the University’s major challenges will be achieving those authorities, which will allow University leadership to identify where fees can be best applied. Alexander said he is already working with student government to determine where the University’s greatest areas of need are.

The areas of any public university most vulnerable to cuts are student services outside the core academic

FOR RELEASE MARCH 24, 2015

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The Daily Reveille

page 16

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

FOOD AND DRINK

University alumna’s shop features innovative cupcake flavors

BY ASHLYN ROLLINS arollins@lsureveille.com It’s a funny coincidence for dessert shop Cupcake Allie to be located in an alley, but it was fate that drew owner Allison Offner to establish the shop.

For Offner, a University alumna, Cupcake Allie has been a work in progress and is now garnering community attention.

The business venture began by accident after Offner and her mother put on a Christmas party at her parents’ house. She had been experimenting with baking in her free time and ended up baking mini cupcakes of every flavor she had available for the party.

Once the party ended, guests were leaving with Tupperware containers full of cupcakes, placing orders and writing checks.

This feedback made Offner realize she possessed a skill she could turn into a career.

“I guess creating things has always been my strong suit,” Offner said. “I love to bake, and it just started out as a hobby.”

From there, Offner began working out of her mother’s kitchen on days when she wasn’t working as a corporate flight attendant for Dow Chemical Company.

CHARLES CHAMPAGNE / The Daily Reveille

Cupcake Allie offers cupcake flavors such as strawberry balsamic, ‘death by chocolate,’ vanilla, red velvet, key lime pie and pecan pie at its location on Perkins Road.

After five years of growing the business and establishing a clientele, she took the big leap and bought her current shop, located at 3753 Perkins Road.

Cupcake Allie’s menu includes a range of sizes and flavors, including usuals such as golden vanilla, wedding cake, birthday cake, cookies n’ cream and red velvet. Other flavors include fruits and nuts, chocolates and some seasonal varieties. The store also carries “Back Allie” cupcakes, which are infused with

select alcohols.

The recipes are a combination of classics and innovations, and Offner said she enjoys pushing the limits on what she’s able to create.

This is shown through the “Summer Pie” cupcake based on Offner’s fiancé’s greatgrandmother’s recipe.

There is also a “Deconstructed Strawberry Balsamic” cupcake, inspired by a meal Offner had on a food trip to Oregon.

“We were eating a fresh

summer salad with spinach, strawberries, feta and pecans,” Offner said. “I thought ‘Man, if you scrap this green stuff, it could be a really good cupcake.’”

The cupcake consists of vanilla cake, strawberry mascarpone frosting and a balsamic reduction with feta and pecans.

It won third place in the 2014 Fête Rouge dessert category.

Next month, her new crawfish bisque cupcake will be featured at CrawFête.

To gather inspiration and promote her business, Offner has developed a strong Pinterest and Instagram presence and following.

“You can really draw inspiration from any and everything,” Offner said. “I post some of our stuff on there, and then see other people’s ideas and figure out how to turn it into my own.”

About eight months ago, Offner began baking cupcake bites — cake batter and frosting combinations of any usual cupcake blended together and dipped in chocolate — due to the high demand.

The cupcake bites’ popularity has grown so much that they are now featured in both Calandro’s Supermarkets, Calvin’s Bocage Market, Maxwell’s Market, Monjuni’s Italian Café and Grocery, both Oak Point Fresh Markets and all of the

Ralph’s Markets and Rouses Supermarket locations.

“We are gearing up for enormous production with [the cupcake bites],” Offner said.

Offner is proud of the other partnerships the shop has with organizations in the city.

Recent pairings have been with Bite and Booze media company operator Jay Ducote, Tin Roof Brewery and Cajun seasoning company Slap Ya Mama.

Through these collaborations, Offner created an “Apple Bacon BBQ” cupcake using Ducote’s signature barbeque sauce to make the caramelized frosting, an “Irish Car Bomb” cupcake made with one of Tin Roof’s signature beers and gumbo and crawfish bisque cupcakes with Slap Ya Mama.

In addition, Cupcake Allie owns a food truck which makes regular appearances in downtown Baton Rouge during lunchtime.

The truck participates in the Baton Rouge Food Truck Wroundup on Wednesday nights downtown.

Offner’s future goal is to open a second location and have it be more of a boutique-style restaurant where customers can go after dinner for a sophisticated dessert atmosphere.

You can reach Ashlyn Rollins on Twitter @ash_r96.

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