MOSTLY SUNNY
87º 66º
Reveille
IN THIS ISSUE
The Daily
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
lsureveille.com/daily
thedailyreveille
• Sophomore forward Jorian Baucom reflects on LSU career, page 5 • Trampoline park Area 51 offers classes, college nights, page 9 • OPINION: Demi Lovato stepping away from Disney image, page 12 @lsureveille
SQUAD GOALS
POLITICS
Graves talks higher ed over breakfast
BY MORGAN PREWITT @kmprewitt_TDR
see SQUAD, page 15
NÁN
DEZ
/ Th
e Da
ily R evei lle
BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON @carriegraceh
FER
Every season since LSU’s undefeated run to the 2012 Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game, the comparisons between the Tigers’ 2011 team and the current squad fuels the Tiger faithful’s hope for perfection until a loss spoils it. With LSU posting a 2-0 record in Southeastern Conference play in 2015 for the first time since 2011 and extending its NCAA-record regular season nonconference winning streak to 51 games with a 44-22 victory against Eastern Michigan University on Saturday, the connections between the 2015 Tigers and their 2011 counterparts abound. Despite the return of a star-studded secondary in 2015 to go with a dynamic pass rush, one glaring difference remains between LSU’s 2011 and 2015 teams: the position its Heisman Trophy contender plays. Without question, the strength of the 2011 team resided in its secondary with Heisman Trophy finalist and 2011 Bednarik Award Winner Tyrann Mathieu. But for the first time during LSU coach Les Miles’ tenure, the Tigers’ success rests on the shoulders of an offensive playmaker in the form of sophomore running back Leonard Fournette in 2015. “The more comfortable [Fournette] gets, the more freakish and electric he gets as a player,” said senior offensive tackle Vadal Alexander after LSU’s win against the Eagles. “He’s very comfortable with the offense this year. He’s great at pass protection. He’s great running-wise, and he’s great at seeing holes obviously.” Defensively, comparisons between the 2011 and
JAVI ER
THE DAILY RE
VEILLE ARCH
IVES
No. 7 LSU football team resembles 2011 Tigers
Volume 120 · No. 31
thedailyreveille
Nine months after taking office in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, was back in the Capital City — this time, to talk to constituents on LSU’s campus. LSU President F. King Alexander and students and community members joined the freshman congressman in the Student Union on Monday to discuss his role in Washington as part of “Grub with Garret,” a series of informal meetings Graves is holding throughout the district. Alexander told Graves students were tired of using their tuition dollars to fund state government instead of seeing that money go into their classrooms. But to balance the state budget, Graves said lawmakers would have to step back and look at inefficiencies in all departments. “To try and balance our books on health care and education is absurd,” Graves said.
see GRAVES, page 15
RELIGION
La. Satanists stand in solidarity with Arkansas brethren
New Orleans-based chapter discusses activism BY TRENT PARKER @TrentParker_TDR
After the Arkansas Legislature approved a statue of the Ten Commandments to be built on the grounds of its state capitol in April, The Satanic Temple’s national organization requested in September that a statue of Baphomet be installed as well — a repeat of its 2014 efforts in Oklahoma. Baphomet — a horned entity with mixed features of a man, woman and goat — represents the duality of mankind’s intellectual and animalistic natures, said Caligo Accedito, chapter head of The Satanic Temple’s Greater New Orleans Chapter. Accedito founded the Greater
New Orleans Chapter in 2014 and estimated more than 1,000 allies and members of The Satanic Temple live in Louisiana. Many keep their membership status discrete to help maintain personal safety. Separation of church and state and equal treatment of religions by law are essential to avoiding the creation of theocracies, Accedito said, which would ultimately lead to widespread cultural destruction and violations of individual rights. “Our expectation is that if it’s open to any religious group, it’s open to every religious group,” Accedito said. “That’s the nature of American values. That’s one of the founding principles of our nation. And the fact that it has to be tested is kind of disappointing because it should be [a] given.” According to a September
2014 news release issued by The Satanic Temple, it would not have proposed to install the statue of Baphomet in Oklahoma if a religious monument was not already placed on public property, as is currently in Arkansas. The Satanic Temple frequently tests church-state separation cases and questions the use of public property by religious organizations to promote secularism and ensure religions are equally treated by the law. “We oppose theocratic law,” Accedito said. “We don’t think that Satanic law should govern. We don’t think that any one religion’s law should govern. We think that law should be separated completely from religion.” In one case, a Florida school board allowed Christian groups
see SATANISTS, page 15
EMILY BRAUNER / The Daily Reveille
Members of The Satanic Temple’s Greater New Orleans Chapter wear masks and veils to hide their identities on Sunday in front of the Orleans Parish Criminal Justice Court.