The Daily Reveille - May 3, 2010

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THE DAILY REVEILLE Volume 114, Issue 137

WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM

Monday, May 3, 2010

T-Bob Hebert issued DWI

By Staff Reports T-Bob Hebert, a junior center on the LSU football team, was issued a DWI early Saturday morning, LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette confirmed Sunday afternoon.

Hebert was arrested Saturday between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, according to the TimesPicayune.

LSU coach Les Miles already knows about the DWI and will meet with Hebert on Monday morning to discuss the issue, Bonnette said.

Miles was on a business trip this weekend and was scheduled to arrive back in town Sunday night, Bonnette said.

Miles will give an official statement on the subject Monday, Bonnette said.

Hebert started 11 games last season but missed the Capital One Bowl and part of spring practice with injuries. He signed with LSU in 2007 out of Greater Atlanta Christian High School in Norcross, Ga. Hebert is the son of former New Orleans Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, who currently serves as a radio personality for WWL in New Orleans.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com

photos by SARAH HUNT / The Daily Reveille

Students participate Friday in the first annual Spring Greening Day in the Quad.

Spring Greening

More than 200 students volunteer for first annual Spring Greening Day

More than 200 student volunteers participated Friday in the University’s first annual Spring Greening Day. Students from 23 organizations spent the day planting 14,400 flowers of different varieties, 3,600 pots of groundcover and 200 camellia shrubs in 30 locations throughout campus.

The volunteers put down 2,700 square feet of sod and completed 100 cubic yards of mulch

work under the oaks near Memo- Facility Services, Landscape Serrial Tower. vices, Student Government and the “The volunteers played a criti- Student Activities Board in support cal role in helping of the Green TiBy Sarah Eddington Landscape Serger Project. vices by enabling The Green Staff Writer them to complete Tiger Project is a these many projects in one day collaborative force led by Jan Marrather than over several weeks,” tin, wife of Chancellor Michael said Ryann Denham, Campus Life Martin, and the LSU Foundation practicum student. to coordinate and support campus Spring Greening Day was beautification efforts at the Univera group effort by Campus Life, sity.

“I was really ecstatic considering the weather,” Denham said.

“Everyone was out here at 10:30 BEAUTIFICATION, see page 15

lsureveille.com Check out a video of students planting at Spring Greening Day.

NATIONAL

Obama to do everything ‘humanly possible’ about spill

By The Associated Press VENICE (AP) — No remedy in sight, President Barack Obama on Sunday warned of a “massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster” as a badly damaged oil well a mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico spewed a widening and deadly slick toward delicate wetlands and wildlife. He said it could take many days to stop.

Obama rushed to southern Louisiana to inspect forces arrayed against the oil gusher as Cabinet members described the situation as

grave and insisted the administration was doing everything it could. Then he took a helicopter ride over the water to view the 30-mile oil slick caused by as much as 210,000 gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf each day.

The spill threatens not only the environment but also the region’s abundant fishing industry, which Obama called “the heartbeat of the region’s economic life.” As of now, it appeared little could be done in the short term to stem the oil flow, which was also drifting toward the beaches of neighboring Mississippi and

farther east along the Florida Panhandle. Obama said the slick was nine miles off the coast of southeastern Louisiana.

BP Chairman Lamar McKay raised faint hope that the spill might be stopped more quickly by lowering a hastily manufactured dome to the ruptured wellhead in the next six to eight days, containing the oil and then pumping it to the surface. Such a procedure has been used in some well blowouts but never at the miledeep waters of this disaster.

OBAMA, see page 15

CHARLES DHARAPAK / The Associated Press

President Barack Obama meets fishermen Sunday affected by the BP oil spill in Venice as he visits the Gulf Coast region affected by the spill.

THE DAILY REVEILLE

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Nation & World

INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

Gunshot starts stampede at Mexico cattle fair, five trampled to death

Videotape shows possible SUV bomb suspect undressing in alley

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Five people were trampled to death early Sunday when a gunshot fired at a cattle fair sent a panic-stricken crowd rushing for the exits in a northern Mexico town already on edge from rampant drug violence.

At least 17 other people were injured at the fair in Guadalupe.

NEW YORK (AP) — Police investigating a failed car bomb left in Times Square have a videotape of a possible suspect shedding clothing in an alley and putting it in a bag and found a substance that resembled fertilizer in the parked SUV, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Sunday.

The surveillance video shows a white man in his 40s taking off one shirt, revealing another underneath.

Kelly said officers were on their way to a Pennsylvania town to talk to a tourist who also might have recorded the suspect on his video camera.

Pope believes in authenticity of Christ’s supposed burial cloth TURIN, Italy (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI all but gave an outright endorsement of the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin on Sunday, calling the cloth that some believe is Christ’s burial shroud an icon “written with the blood” of a crucified man.

During a visit to the Shroud in the northern Italian city of Turin, Benedict didn’t raise the scientific questions that surround the linen and whether it might be a medieval forgery.

Arizona’s largest paper criticizes politicians for immigration failure PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s largest newspaper criticized U.S. Sens.

John McCain and Jon Kyl and a host of other elected officials in a rare front-page editorial Sunday, saying the politicians have failed to find solutions to illegal

immigration.

The state has become the target of calls for boycotts since adopting a law that requires local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally.

Weekend storms, floods kill seven in Tennessee, four in Mississippi MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Seven people were killed in Tennessee and four in Mississippi by a line of storms that brought heavy flooding and tornados to the region over the weekend. More rain and storms loomed Sunday as emergency officials in Tennessee sought help from the state’s Army National Guard and urged people to stay off roads, as interstate highways turned into raging rivers.

The National Weather Service said up to 12 inches of rain had fallen along areas of Interstate 40 since midnight Saturday.

STATE/LOCAL

Attorneys general for five states talk legal strategy for oil spill

Local authorities holding off on Saints theft investigations

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas want BP PLC to sign an agreement spelling out exactly what “legitimate expenses” they’ll cover from the spill.

Florida AG Bill McCollum said after Sunday’s meeting in Mobile, Ala., that he doesn’t know if expenses include business losses, protecting environmental areas and lost wages for restaurant workers.

The men say BP executives told them the company would review their request.

The men aren’t going to file a lawsuit yet, but they say they want Gulf Coast residents to know that they will work together to hold BP and other responsible parties accountable.

The AGs also want to tap an entire federal oil spill response fund, which is capped at $1 billion per incident.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Local authorities are holding off on investigating possible criminal accusations in a lawsuit involving the New Orleans Saints. The civil suit brought by former Saints security director Geoffrey Santini alleges several possible state offenses, including theft of prescription drugs from the club’s suburban headquarters by senior staff.

TODAY

Weather 82 64

Blessing of the boats in St. Bernard Parish a sad, tiny affair this year CHALMETTE (AP) — The blessing of the boats is normally a joyous kickoff to the spring fishing season in St. Bernard Parish. But this year’s affair had more the air of a wake. Some years as many as 200 craft, most of them working boats, line up at the Gulf Outlet Marina to be sprinkled with holy water by a waiting priest.

On Sunday only four boats floated by for the blessing — and not one a commercial vessel.

TODAY ON lsureveille.com

@ lsureveille, @TDR_news, @TDR_sports

See a photo of hand gestures in the LSU Dance Concert on the Photo Blog.

Read about the baseball team’s pitching woes on the Baseball Blog.

Keep up to date at facebook.com/lsureveille

Read about Pearl Jam’s performance at Jazz Fest on the Music Blog.

FLAGS OF OUR FESTIVALS

Mostly Cloudy

TUESDAY

DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE? Call Isaiah at the Student Media Office 578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or E-mail: officemanager@lsureveille.com

PAGE 2

87 66 THURSDAY 89 69

WEDNESDAY 92 68 FRIDAY 85 67

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

See photos of decorative Jazz Fest flag poles at lsureveille.com.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified please contact the editor at (225) 5784811 or e-mail editor@lsureveille.com.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

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Monday, May 3, 2010

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 3

MUSIC

Franklin cancels Fest appearance

By Ben Bourgeois Entertainment Writer

NEW ORLEANS – The 41st New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival came to a close Sunday, though producers and festivalgoers faced a few setbacks throughout the festival’s seven-day span.

The festival’s second weekend, which began April 29 and ran through Sunday night, suffered the last-minute cancellation of headlining artist Aretha Franklin and threats of inclement weather.

Franklin, who was set to perform on the Fair Grounds’ biggest stage last Friday canceled her appearance the night before, associate producer Louis Edwards announced just 10 hours before the Queen of Soul’s 5:35 p.m. start time.

But six-time Grammy Award winners and Jazz Fest veterans Earth, Wind & Fire filled in at the last minute. The band was scheduled to perform at Biloxi, Mississippi’s Beau Rivage Casino & Resort the following night.

The last-minute headliner began its set with a thunderous version of “Boogie Wonderland,” complete with the 11-piece band performing synchronized dance moves.

Though most of the crowd was around when Earth, Wind & Fire first played in the early ‘70s, the band reminded younger fans of its importance.

“A lot of y’all were conceived on Earth Wind & Fire music,” singer Philip Bailey told the packed crowd from the Acura Stage. “That makes us your musical godfathers.”

The band had the packed crowd dancing throughout its nearly twohour set with hits like “September,” “Shining Star” and “Let’s Groove.”

And while Frankin’s last-minute cancellation was surprising, some fans preferred her replacement to her own show.

“I’d much rather see Earth, Wind & Fire,” said Lainnie Capouya, University alumna and Los Angeles resident, who recently saw the group at a private party. “And Aretha always cancels.”

Franklin’s no-show on Friday is her second consecutive year backing out of Jazz Fest. She was set to headline last year but withdrew her commitment shortly after performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony in January 2009.

Neither members of Earth, Wind & Fire nor Festival Director Quint Davis, who had been introducing the festival’s headliners, even mentioned Franklin’s absence Friday.

With news of Franklin’s cancellation coming shortly before the gates opened Friday, many festivalgoers found out after they purchased their tickets.

“We’re here to see her,” said Sonia Vidrine, University alumna, early Friday afternoon. “We’re really

bummed about it, but Earth, Wind & Fire should be good. You can’t go wrong at Jazz Fest.”

Some fans hadn’t heard of Franklin’s cancellation until moments before her replacement took the stage.

“I was wondering why the Earth, Wind & Fire sign was up there,” said Tim Hoph, a resident of Brunswick, Texas. “It was an 11-and-a-half hour drive here.”

Grunge rockers Pearl Jam headlined on the Acura Stage the following night and performed hits like “Alive,” “Better Man” and “Even Flow.”

For the first time in the festival’s history, Pearl Jam’s performance was broadcast live to members of the Louisiana National Guard and other military officers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Blues legend B.B. King and New Orleans favorites The Neville Brothers closed out the festival Sunday night.

The large crowd dispersed from the Acura Stage shortly after Van Morrison left the stage at 4:45 p.m., possibly to avoid the afternoon showers or to listen to King over the Nevilles.

King took the stage nearly 10 minutes before his 6 p.m. start time, wielding his signature guitar “Lucille” to raucous applause. Fans gathered in a nearly 40-foot radius around the Blues Tent to hear the

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

Earth, Wind & Fire performs Friday on the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course.

King of the Blues.

“We love the music here,” said Albany, New York, resident Patty Zappala, who traveled to New Orleans after seeing local bands the Subdudes and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. “A festival like this would never happen in New York.”

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, which produces Jazz Fest and five other festivals throughout the year, raked in more than $26.3 million in total revenue for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2008, according to its Form 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

The foundation attributed nearly all of its income to the 2008 Jazz Fest, with the festival generating

$26.2 million, or more than 99 percent of total revenue. Only $140,000 of the foundation’s revenue came from contributions.

The foundation incurred nearly $24 million in expenses for the same year, though, only netting $2.2 million.

Financials for the fiscal year of last year’s festival are not yet available.

Jazz Fest “pumps $300 million a year into the local economy,” according to the foundation’s Web site.

Contact Ben Bourgeois at bbourgeois@lsureveille.com

ACADEMICS

College of Basic Sciences now College of Science Change will have no effect on courses

By Xerxes A. Wilson Senior Staff Writer

The College of Basic Sciences announced on Friday it will now be called the College of Science.

College of Science Dean Kevin Carman said the change will not have any effect on students’ degree paths or the college’s academic offerings.

“It’s simply a name change,” Carman said. “We are working to change the names on our rubrics, but students will see no change to their classes or our course offerings.”

Carman explained the name had been an issue for many years, and the change in 1983 to College of Basic Sciences was controversial.

“When the College of Basic Sciences changed its name in 1983, there was strong sentiment to call

it the College of Science,” Carman said. “But some were concerned the name would exclude other sciences outside the college as non-science.”

Carman said he hasn’t heard any objection from departments like the College of Arts and Sciences and doesn’t anticipate any confusion with the name change.

“Our college was the only one in the country that went by the name

of College of Basic Sciences,” Carman said. “College of Science is the accepted standard.”

Carman explained the name was changed for three reasons.

Medical schools are often divided into sections referred to as Basic Sciences and Clinical Sciences, Carman said. The change will end the common misconception that the College of Science is part of a

medical school.

Carman said having “basic” in an academic name implies faculty and students are engaging in research with no practical applications.

“That is a misconception,” Carman said. “Our faculty and students are engaged in many forms of research that have direct practical and economic implications.”

The change will also end the

misconception that the College of Science teaches primarily introductory courses, Carman said.

The change was approved by the provost, chancellor and LSU System, Carman said.

Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at xwilson@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 4

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

ART

University students, faculty enjoy free night at LSU MOA ‘Treasures’ from new book exhibited

By Ryan Buxton Senior Staff Writer

The LSU Museum of Art marked the spot Friday as the museum displayed its University treasures.

The museum hosted its third “LSU Night” — an evening when University students, faculty and staff are granted free admission and receive a discount in the museum store.

Friday’s event coincided with the University’s 150th anniversary by displaying 26 works of art from its collections that are featured in the

upcoming book “Treasures of LSU.” The book, to be released this fall, includes essays and photographs of items selected as the University’s treasures.

The Museum of Art staff selected works they felt were unique and were most proud to house, said Natalie Mault, assistant curator.

“We chose the works by looking at the significance of the artist or each individual piece,” Mault said.

“Some of them are by internationally renowned artists, which shows that something by very recognized artists could be held in a museum here in Baton Rouge and in an LSU museum.”

Some of the most recognizable works at the museum include portraits by photographer Yousuf Karsh.

The LSU Museum of Art features

TELEVISION

Karsh’s portraits of famous people such as Muhammad Ali and Winston Churchill.

The photograph of Churchill, which appeared on a classic cover of “Life” magazine, is one of the most famous photographic portraits in the world, Mault said.

“It’s the most reproduced portrait ever,” she said. “It’s kind of like the Mona Lisa of photographic portraits.”

The museum also features several works by people connected to the University, including former professors. Math education sophomore Tommy Naugle said those works speak the most to him.

“I really like seeing art that came from people at LSU,” Naugle said. “It’s cool to feel that connection to the University.”

LSU Night is meant to attract students to the museum despite its off-campus location downtown, said Renee Payton, the museum’s marketing director.

“We’re trying to engage the LSU community and get them to come out here,” Payton said. “We want to let them know this is their museum, and even though we’re not on campus, they can come here.”

Jonathan Ryan, studio art senior and a member of the museum’s advisory board, said he understands why some students may not frequently visit the museum.

“It’s hard to get students to go anywhere,” he said. “I understand that as a student.”

But Ryan said the museum often hosts high-profile exhibits featuring famous artists like Auguste

Rodin and Andy Warhol — big student attractors.

Haley Weeks, child and family studies senior, said LSU Night was her first visit to the museum, and the University-related event is what got her there.

“I had been meaning to go, and this is what pushed me to it,” Weeks said.

The off-campus location may separate the museum from students, but Lara Gautreau, education curator, said it has its benefits.

“With us being downtown, we’re a lot more visible and more community-oriented,” she said.

Contact Ryan Buxton at rbuxton@lsureveille.com

DANCE

Tiger TV program Shaver houses performance present wraps up first season Students semester of work Russell Shepard to appear in finale

By Chris Abshire Entertainment Writer

Dead week just got funnier as Tiger TV comedy show “Sketchmo” will wrap up its first season tonight at the Varsity Theatre.

“Sketchmo,” which has been on air since March, is a 30-minute sketch comedy production.

The first season featured everything from a spoof of VH1’s Behind the Music — using ’80s band Hall & Oates as inspiration — to a parody of MTV’s show “Silent Library” and even a tribute to Nicolas Cage as one of the “greatest” actors of this generation.

“I always tell people that I like to think of the show as a cross between SNL and Chappelle’s Show,” said Mac Alsfeld, English senior and the show’s creator.

The party will include drinks, dancing and a full recap of the first season of the show, before the anticipated season finale.

The last episode of season one will feature campus stars, including Russell Shepard, and will be “more raw and uncensored,” Alsfeld said.

“This is just a night of comedy that will be kind of a

culmination of the semester for the show and also Tiger TV as a whole,” Alsfeld said.

He noted that a few television executives from the New Orleans area have taken notice of the show after a positive response in Baton Rouge.

“There will be some scouts checking out the show and seeing what ‘Sketchmo’ is all about,” he said. “We’ve had good publicity in the local market, and the show at the Varsity feels like a chance to showcase ‘Sketchmo’ for a wider audience.”

Alsfeld said the first season has been a learning experience and said he hopes students would laugh a little before the stress of exams.

“It’s sort of your last chance to relax, laugh and have a few drinks before everybody has to start getting serious for the next two weeks,” Alsfeld said.

The show begins at 9 p.m., and tickets are $5 at the door.

Contact Chris Abshire at cabshire@lsureveille.com

competitive process, and the concert will count as part of their final grade, Buchmann said.

Rachel Assaf, psychology senior and dance minor, choreographed two dances for the show — one by

By Mallory Logan herself and a tap dance with another Contributing Writer student.

Dance is one area threatened by Dance Ensemble, ballet, jazz, tap and Legacy dance students and budget cuts, Assaf said.

“This concert means a lot to me, choreographers presented themselves this weekend in Shaver The- and I think it means a lot to everyone in the Theatre Department, consideratre.

The 11th Dance Concert re- ing the uncertainty of whether there will be a dance conturned to the thecert next year,” Asater after a six-year saf said. hiatus because of Juliet Lestage, renovations. kinesiology freshAbout 100 man and dance dance students minor, said cutting participated, said the dance program Molly Buchmann, could affect the head of the dance Rachel Assaf prestige of Tiger department.

Girls.

Dance Ensempsychology senior “You have to ble, a dance class in the department, presented dances have a dance program to continue to support a nationally ranked dance choreographed by students.

“We have eight choreographers team,” Lestage said.

She said some students are trytotal,” Buchmann said.

The show was an exciting op- ing to complete all their dance minor portunity for participating seniors hours by spring of next year in case to showcase their work, Buchmann the program gets cut. said.

Students are selected to be in Dance Ensemble through a

‘‘

‘This concert means a lot to me, and I think it means a lot to everyone in the Theatre Department.’

“Teachers aren’t really allowed to tell us anything about the budget cuts, but we have talked a little about them in class and what we can do to prepare,” Lestage said.

Lestage, who usually dances ballet, presented a style of dance new to her this weekend that was choreographed by dance adjunct Christine Chrest: contemporary jazz.

There were two shows Saturday and one on Sunday, and the public packed the theater.

“We always have a great turnout,” Buchmann said.

Contact Mallory Logan at mlogan@lsureveille.com

Monday, May 3, 2010

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 5

EDUCATION

University transfer enrollment on rise since 2005

One in three college students transfer

By Ryan Buxton Senior Staff Writer

One in three college students will transfer institutions during their education, according to a study released last month, and the University is taking notice by making strides to accommodate transfer students.

The “Special Report of the Transfer Admission Process” by the National Association for College Admission Counseling examined the factors most important to university admissions when reviewing transfer applicants.

The number of students transferring to the University has been on the rise in recent years.

546 transfer students enrolled in the University this spring — up from 401 in 2009, according to the Office of Budget and Planning’s enrollment statistics.

998 students transferred to the University for fall 2009 — up from 2008, when 957 transfer students enrolled.

Lupe Lamadrid, associate director of Undergraduate Admissions, said the number of transfers has been climbing since 2005 because of changes in admissions standards implemented that year, which had

previously required transfer students to have a 2.5 GPA and at least 30 hours of college credit.

Transfer student enrollment was 924 in fall 2005 — a level that wasn’t surpassed until 2008, according to the Office of Budget and Planning.

Spring 2005 transfer enrollment was 519, and this spring’s enrollment of 546 transfer students was the first semester to top that number.

The numbers have been rising because recruitment efforts have improved, and the University is working more closely with Louisiana community colleges to identify students who are interested in attending LSU, Lamadrid said.

The increase is also partially because of recently passed legislation seeking to implement minimum admissions criteria that would send students not ready for a four-year university to community colleges first and have them transfer later, Lamadrid said.

The NACAC study found college admissions departments consider a different set of factors for transfer applicants than for students applying as new freshmen.

Factors that are heavily considered during new freshmen admissions, like high school GPA and standardized test scores, were given less weight for transfer applicants.

Only 7.3 percent of colleges reported ACT or SAT scores were of “considerable importance” for

graphic by MATTHEW JACOBS / The Daily Reveille

transfer students, while 11.7 percent said the same for high school GPA, according to the study.

Factors regarding student performance at another postsecondary education institution were weighted with more importance. Students’ GPAs at the previous colleges were of considerable importance to 91.9 percent of universities, according to the study.

Lamadrid said students who apply for transfer to LSU are given different consideration than new applicants as long as transfer students have 30 hours of prior credit.

“If a student has 30 hours of course work, we don’t look at high school criteria,” she said.

Academic performance at the students’ prior postsecondary institution is “much more relevant” and

reflective of their academic aptitude, Lamadrid said.

To properly accommodate the increasing number of transfer students, the University has been working to make their transition more seamless and efficient.

One step in this direction is a change in the way transfer students schedule classes upon their arrival at the University, said Registrar Robert Doolos.

Transfer students were formerly given last priority on class scheduling, regardless of how many credit hours they completed when they came to the University. Beginning this semester, when transfer students scheduled classes for fall, they were given priority in the same way as other students — based on their number of credit hours.

“We try to treat them like a continuing student,” Doolos said. “We determine what priority they have when they enter the system, and that will help them a lot when they won’t be dead last in scheduling for the upcoming term.”

Lamadrid said it’s important for admissions to not only attract transfer students but also make them feel welcome at the University.

“That is the key – increase the level of customer service and ease the transition,” she said. “We want to remove obstacles that in the past have prevented the process from being an easy and unobstructed process.”

Contact Ryan Buxton at rbuxton@lsureveille.com

PAGE 6

Revelry

WEEK

IN

THE DAILY REVEILLE Today’s KLSU Specialty Shows: Valley Girl Intelligencia (girl bands): 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Bars and Ballads with L.A. Tre’ (R&B and soul): 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

REVIEW

J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

ADAM VACCARELLA / The Daily Reveille

The LSU Tiger Band plays at the State Capitol on Thursday at LSU Day in celebration of LSU’s 150th anniversary. See more photos online at lsureveille.com.

Kim Forman, member of Jebidiah Goodstuff’s Pyro-maniacal Olde-Thyme Traveling Sideshow, right, shows Mackenzie Ganter, mass communication freshman, how to hula-hoop Tuesday during ECO at LSU’s Earth Day celebration of the Parade Ground. See more photos at lsureveille.com.

Watch Matt and Mal’s blooper reel at lsureveille.com

JAMES WEST / The Daily Reveille

Licensed massage therapist Lucas Allen, left, helps India Favorite, psychology senior, relax during Student Activities Board’s Time Out event Wednesday in Free Speech Alley. See more photos at lsureveille.com.

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Sports

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

BASEBALL

No. 15 LSU loses seventh straight

PAGE 7

Eyeing the Tiger Potential new members of Team Mike audition this weekend in PMAC

Tigers swept by No. 6 Florida Gators

By Johanathan Brooks Sports Writer

The past two weekend series for LSU baseball were a living embodiment of the saying “When it rains, it pours.”

The No. 15 Tigers (32-13, 11-10) are in the midst of a torrential downpour of losses, as they have dropped seven straight contests after being swept by No. 6 Florida (31-11, 15-6) this weekend.

The losing streak is LSU’s longest since an 11-game skid in 1982, two years before former coach Skip Bertman’s arrival, and moves LSU into fourth place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, ahead of only Alabama and Mississippi State.

“This was a tough weekend for us against a great team,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “It’s hard to win when you’re playing from behind as much as we were the whole series. We have to move forward.

There’s still a lot of baseball left, including three very important conference weekends.”

Sunday’s game — like most of the weekend — saw LSU fall behind early and never catch up.

The Gators jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior center fielder Matt den Dekker hit a tworun home run off LSU sophomore

JAMES WEST / The Daily Reveille

Editor’s Note: Members of Team Mike were granted anonymity for this story because the organization does not disclose Mike’s human identities.

By Katherine Terrell Sports Contributor

All eyes inevitably follow him when he walks into a room.

He never speaks, but he always shows up. He stalks the sidelines at almost every LSU sporting event — rain or shine.

Mike the Tiger, arguably the face of LSU, has appeared at weddings, birthday parties and even on “Good Morning America.”

Auditions for Mike are held on an as-needed basis — most recently this weekend.

“We could be juggling four athletic events in the same weekend,” said LSU Spirit Coordinator Pauline Zernott. “But Mike can never be at two events at the same time.”

So how does Mike make appearances at home and away games in the same day?

MIKE, see page 11

BASEBALL, see page 11

AMANDA TAGGETT / The Daily Reveille

LSU students audition to be the next Mike the Tiger on May 2 in the PMAC’s auxiliary gym.

SOFTBALL

Tigers take two from Georgia Steal by Shortridge highlights Game One

By Chris Branch Sports Writer

ERIN ARLEDGE / The Daily Reveille

Freshman pitcher Rachele Fico, 37, threw six strikes against one walk, improving to 17-4 on the Tigers’ season during a home game this weekend.

The LSU and Georgia softball teams put on Oscar-worthy performances Friday after a lack of dramatics in Thursday’s contest.

The teams split the games, with LSU (41-11, 19-6) taking game one, 5-3, while the Bulldogs (41-10, 18-8) took game two, 3-2.

The first contest had no shortage of heroics. Down 3-1

entering the sixth inning, LSU rallied to tie the game at three on senior right fielder Rachel Mitchell’s sacrifice fly.

Senior center fielder Kirsten Shortridge did the rest.

Shortridge, on third base with the bases loaded, darted home while Bulldog catcher Ashley Razey tossed the ball back to pitcher Alison Owen.

“I looked at coach Girouard and said, ‘Coach Girouard, they’re not paying attention to me,’” Shortridge said in a news release.

“She said, ‘Shorty, you’re fast, but you’re not that fast. You can’t steal home.’ I really trusted the hitters

that were coming up, so it made me think twice about it, but I just took off.”

Shortridge’s steal was enough.

LSU added another run in the inning to push the lead to its final tally.

LSU coach Yvette Girouard said she had no doubt that when Shortridge took off, she would score.

“She timed it just right,” Girouard said in a news release. “She planned it just right. They kind of lobbed the ball back. They weren’t paying attention, and I know how SOFTBALL, see page 11

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 8

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

ATHLETICS

Blanton inducted into La. Basketball Hall of Fame

— I was just like, ‘Wow,’” Blanton said. “We got on the plane, and I was scratching my head, wondering if I could play at this level. It was a little bit much.”

But Blanton persevered. He

By Chris Branch consulted his parents, who told him Sports Writer to give it a try for one more season.

Welcome to the Hall, Mr. HusIt worked out well. Blanton entle. joyed a stellar career in purple and Ricky Blanton, former Tiger gold, averaging 20.3 points and 8.2 forward from 1984-89 known for his rebounds per game his senior season. scrappy play, was inducted into the Blanton was named to LSU All-CenLouisiana Basketball Hall of Fame tury team last season as the program on Friday by the Louisiana Associa- celebrated its 100-year anniversary. tion of Basketball Coaches.

He is perhaps most known “I’d like to for his effort in thank the LABC the 1986 NCAA for the honor to be To u r n a m e n t . among this prestiWith LSU down gious group of peothree centers, the ple,” Blanton said.

6-foot-7 Blanton “It’s pretty surreal to was forced into think where I started the starting center and where I’m standrole. ing now.”

He didn’t Blanton is best miss a beat. known for shoulder“Without the ing a heavy load in first shock of it, 1986 and aiding LSU without questionto an improbable Fiing, he assumed Dale Brown nal Four run as a No. something that former LSU coach 11 seed. Blanton and was almost imcompany were the lowest seed to possible,” Brown said. “He led that ever reach the Final Four and have team to a Final Four.” since been tied by George Mason’s Brown, who introduced Blanton Final Four run as a No. 11 seed in at the ceremony, walked up to the 2006. stage with Blanton’s 3-year-old son It almost didn’t happen.

Gavin in tow.

Blanton came to LSU as an “If you think [LSU coach] Trent unheralded recruit from Miami. Johnson can’t recruit, I’ll tell you Legendary former LSU coach Dale what he’s already done,” Brown said Brown loved Blanton’s work ethic. with a laugh. “This is Ricky BlanHis freshman season was a ton’s son, and Trent has offered him whirlwind. Playing schools like a scholarship already.”

North Carolina and Syracuse early Laughs aside, Brown had some in the season and toiling through sparkling words for Blanton. a tough Southeastern Conference “If anybody is the epitome of slate would be enough to overwhelm what a college player should be, he many college players, let alone a is,” Brown said. “He’s the beacon freshman.

The Tigers earned a trip to the NCAA tournament nonetheless, squaring off against Navy in the first round. LSU was a No. 4 seed, Navy a No. 13 seed.

Navy had something LSU didn’t: David Robinson.

Robinson, a two-time AllAmerican at Navy and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, torched the Tigers for 18 points, 18 rebounds and eight blocks en route to a 78-55 first-round upset.

“I wasn’t so sure who that was, but after 40 minutes of basketball, we were well aware,” Blanton said.

“We were sent home rather quickly.”

Maryland and Miami of Ohio played following LSU’s loss. Blanton stole out of the locker room to catch a glimpse while Brown went through postgame interviews.

The late Len Bias played for Maryland, and former NBA star Ron Harper suited up for Miami of Ohio.

Seeing them play made Blanton feel underqualified to play at that level.

“I watched those guys catch alley oops and dunk and everything

Mitchell, Thornton receive awards

‘‘

‘If anybody is the epitome of what a college player should be, he is.

He’s the beacon light for young players.’

J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

Former LSU forward Ricky Blanton holds up his plaque Saturday after being inducted into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame during the annual Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches banquet at Embassy Suites Hotel.

light for young players.”

The banquet was not limited to Blanton’s induction. Other LSU ties included former LSU players Tasmin Mitchell and and Marcus Thornton receiving awards. Thornton, who just finished his rookie season with the New Orleans Hornets, garnered the Professional Player of the Year award. Mitchell, who will attempt to enter the professional ranks next season, won Major College Player of the Year.

Blanton, who only played two games in an NBA uniform, had encouraging words for Mitchell and his future.

“I was telling Tasmin if it’s not in the NBA, there’s a way to make a living out of this game,” Blanton said. “I lived in three different countries and had a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Contact Chris Branch at cbranch@lsureveille.com

Monday, May 3, 2010

THE DAILY REVEILLE

PAGE 9

KENTUCKY DERBY

Super Saver, La. native Borel clinch first place Heavy rains result in muddy track

By The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The starting gate sprung open in the Kentucky Derby, with 19 horses scrambling for position. One jockey knew exactly where he was headed.

St. Martinville, La., native Calvin Borel deftly tucked Super Saver along the rail Saturday on a track turned into creamy peanut butter by heavy rain. Once again, he was in his favorite spot, getting a clear path all the way through the goo.

That’s why they call him “Borail” and, for the third time in four years, he took the shortest path to the winner’s circle.

Borel found only one horse in his way, and once he steered Super Saver around front-running Conveyance, another Run for the Roses was his.

The most wide-open Derby in years ended with a sure thing — Borel crossing the finish line and punching the air with this right fist, this time raising it toward a leaden sky.

“I knew nothing was going to run him down,” he said, referring to his bay colt.

The jockey’s magic touch on his home track gave trainer Todd

Pletcher his first Derby victory after 24 failures with a 2 1/2-length victory over Ice Box. “Calvin Borel is a great rider anywhere he goes, but at Churchill Downs, he’s even five lengths better,” Pletcher said. “He knows how to ride this track and gets along with his colt beautifully.”

Borel’s ride at his home track nearly duplicated the one he turned in last year aboard 50-1 shot Mine That Bird, except he and Super Saver went off at lower odds and were never in last place.

Now the trio heads to Baltimore for the Preakness on May 15.

“Calvin already said he’s going to win the Triple Crown,” Pletcher said, “So I guess we’d better go there.”

The Triple Crown was last won 32 years ago by Affirmed. The last Derby winner to break from Super Saver’s No. 4 post was 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.

Borel almost pulled off his own personal triple last year. Mine That Bird won the Derby, then Borel switched to filly Rachel Alexandra to win the Preakness before going back to Mine That Bird in the Belmont Stakes. They finished third as the 6-5 favorite.

On Saturday, he was confident enough in his colt and his knowledge of the track to take him off the lead in the early going of the 1ømile race. In all but one of his six

previous races, Super Saver had never been farther back than second in the early stages.

Borel knew that strategy wouldn’t work in a 20-horse Derby field on a tiring, sloppy track that had been pelted by heavy rain early in the day. So they hugged the rail in sixth place, while many of his rivals were well off the fence in the muck.

“We all know what he’s going to do,” said Robby Albarado, the Lafayette native who finished 14th aboard Dean’s Kitten. “He just does it anyway.”

“I was just taught it’s the shortest way around,” Borel said.

Super Saver was timed in 2:04.45 as the 8-1 second-choice behind favorite Lookin At Lucky, whose 6-1 odds tied Harlan’s Holiday in 2002 for the longest priced favorite in 136 runnings. He paid $18, $8.80 and $6.

Pletcher let out a whoop and slapped his hands together after his colt crossed the finish line, snapping a skid the Eclipse Award-winning trainer was eager to end. He watched the race alone on TV in the horseman’s lounge near the paddock.

“It will all soak in in a day or two,” he said. “Now that it’s happened, you just kind of don’t know what to feel or say.”

JOHN FLAVELL / The Associated Press

Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com

Calvin Borel rejoices Saturday after riding Super Saver to victory in the 136th Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

PAGE 10

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Monday, May 3, 2010

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010 MIKE, from page 7

“Mike’s got his own private jet,” one current Mike said.

Or maybe it’s just the few dedicated individuals who make up Team Mike.

Potential team members spent three days this weekend learning how to become Mike. Candidates had to learn Mike’s special pregame walk and casual walk.

Judges graded prospective Mikes on their walk, character, improvisation skills and interview.

The judges look for “a collegiate, clean-cut person that is going to represent the University well,” Zernott said.

Mike has no specific height requirement, but the transition between Mikes must be seamless. A potential candidate must be able to step into the role instantly, Zernott said.

“They need to be able to make Mike come to life,” Zernott said. “If they don’t portray that, you can easily see it.”

Current and former members of Team Mike stressed to potential candidates the commitment it takes to be Mike.

“There’s only been about four Mikes a year since 1958,” said a former member of Team Mike. “It’s

BASEBALL, from page 7

pitcher Matty Ott. The game was Ott’s first career start for the Tigers. He pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs on eight hits in the outing while striking out three and walking two.

Florida would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the third inning when freshman catcher Austin Maddox hit a three-run bomb to left-center field.

The Tigers would cut into the Gator lead in the fourth inning.

A two-out double to center field by freshman left fielder Alex Edward allowed junior center fielder Leon Landry to score and bring the score to 5-1.

An RBI single from den Dekker and a grand slam from freshman pitcher Brian Johnson blew the game open for the Gators in the bottom half of the frame.

Florida was firmly ahead, 101, after four innings.

The Tigers scored five unanswered runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to get as close

SOFTBALL, from page 7

fast she is. She timed that one perfectly.”

Freshman right-hander Rachele Fico hurled 4 2/3 spectacular innings in the circle. Fico only allowed two hits with six strikeouts in relief of sophomore right hander Brittany Mack.

Junior designated player Ashley Applegate led LSU at the plate in game one, going 3-for-4 with a run. Shortridge went 2-for-4 with a run as well.

The Tigers weren’t so fortunate in the evening game. But it was just as entertaining.

Owen silenced the LSU bats for most of the game. LSU put up goose eggs in their first six trips to the plate. The Tigers made their

THE DAILY REVEILLE

a big responsibility.”

The judges asked candidates why they wanted to join the team.

One candidate wanted to be Mike since high school.

“It’s about touching lives,” another candidate said.

The Team Mike captain said Mike must be first priority, especially in the fall.

“Your weekends are totally committed to Mike during football season,” the captain said.

Every Mike must also follow rules. Members of Team Mike never speak or respond to their own names while in character.

They can’t be seen outside their suit or do anything to put LSU in a bad light.

And everything has to be larger than life for Mike.

“When you get in the suit, you’re not yourself. You have a completely different personality,” a Team Mike member said. “Your job is to entertain a crowd. As long as it’s not offensive, anything is fair game.”

Members of the team said interacting with strangers makes the job fun. But some fans can be unpredictable or dangerous, especially at away games.

“When Kentucky beat us three years ago, some fans stormed the

field, ripped Mike’s head off and started punching him,” one Mike said. “You’re pretty much defenseless in the suit.”

But there are hundreds of positive interactions for every bad one. One Mike said his visit to a children’s hospital made him realize the impact of what he does.

“Some of those kids probably hadn’t smiled in months,” Mike said.

Being Mike can be a thankless job. Team Mike members get some of the perks of being an NCAA athlete, but don’t get full scholarships.

That’s why it takes a certain kind of person to be Mike, a former team member said.

“You really have to have that heart,” he said.

Mike must be mentally and physically tough. A current Mike said the suit is about 30 degrees hotter than room temperature.

The position can also be lonely because the identities of Mike are secret.

“You’re publicly known, but it’s the man behind the suit nobody knows,” a former Mike said.

But the challenge of leading a double life can also be fun, a current Mike said.

Current and former Mikes said sharing the experience with other

as four runs.

LSU added another run to its total in the sixth inning when Edward hit a single to right field to allow senior first baseman Blake Dean to score from second base.

The Tigers went on to cut the Gators’ lead to seven runs in the seventh inning.

Sophomore shortstop Austin Nola hit an RBI single to left field that allowed sophomore right fielder Mikie Mahtook to score from second and bring the score to 10-3.

The Tigers had a three-run eighth thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Landry to score and a two-RBI single from Mahtook.

The 10-6 score was the closest the Tigers would come to challenging Florida.

The Gators scored three more in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to its final count.

The game was the sweepclinching contest as Florida locked up the series win Saturday.

The Tigers and Gators played one and a half games Saturday after Friday’s contest was suspended in the fifth inning because of rain.

The odd schedule was no problem for the Gators.

Florida won the first game, 7-3, after freshman pitcher Hudson Randall limited LSU to one run through the course of the first eight innings.

The Gators had already jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the game was suspended Friday.

The Tigers outscored the Gators, 5-1, once the game resumed, but the effort was not enough, and Florida won, 8-5.

“I like the way we’re playing right now,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a news release following the “pseudo” doubleheader. “The young players are starting to think that they’re pretty good, and that’s the time when coaches try to stay out of the way and go a little bit. I like the effort they’re giving, and we’re getting some good leadership from the older guys.”

LSU next takes the field Tuesday night against Southeastern Louisiana in Alex Box Stadium.

stand in the seventh.

Down 3-0, the Tigers boarded two runners on base by way of an error and a hit by pitch. Shortridge single plated sophomore shortstop Courtney Hollier to put LSU on the scoreboard. Applegate drove in a run on a groundout to close the gap to one.

It wasn’t to be. Mitchell flied out to left to end the game.

LSU senior pitcher Cody Trahan filed a loss in the second game after a stellar outing Thursday. Trahan pitched all seven innings and scattered six hits with one earned run. She struck out eight Bulldog batters.

Shortridge was crisp at the plate again with a 3-for-4 outing with one RBI. Besides her and Mitchell, who went 2-for-4, no one

registered more than one hit.

The series win puts LSU in third place in Southeastern Conference play with one weekend to go. Alabama sits atop the standings with a 20-4 conference record, while Florida resides in second at 17-4.

The Tigers will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., next weekend to play the Volunteers.

“I’m very proud of the team — we are all exhausted,” Girouard said. “This has been a long weekend. It’s been a while since we’ve won a series against Georgia, so we’re glad we had the opportunity to do that and that the weather didn’t stop us.”

Contact Johanathan Brooks at jbrooks@lsureveille.com

Contact Chris Branch at cbranch@lsureveille.com

PAGE 11

JAMES WEST / The Daily Reveille

A Mike the Tiger hopeful auditions to be part of Team Mike this weekend in the PMAC’s auxiliary gym.

members of the team helps.

“You can’t be an independent person if you want to be Mike,” a current team member said.

Team members said being Mike has opened up doors for them.

“The program meant a lot to me,” one former Mike said. “LSU sent me all over.”

Another former Mike said he loved the job because of the people he met and worked with.

A current Mike said some of his experiences included riding in a private jet and limo with LSU

coaches Les Miles, Trent Johnson and Van Chancellor.

“I’ve shaken hands with Kevin Faulk,” said the Mike. “I’ve gone skydiving in the suit.”

The experience stays with team members forever, one former Mike said.

“Once you’re Mike, you’ll always be Mike,” the former Mike said. “You don’t just leave it behind.”

Contact Katherine Terrell at kterrell@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Opinion

PAGE 12

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Meal plans don’t save money for students

At the beginning of this semester, LSU Dining placed ads in the Reveille that emphatically claimed that meal plan students save time and money while dining on campus.

However, doing some basic math exposed a flaw in this argument — namely, that it was entirely false.

Let’s look at the numbers.

Lunch at The 459 Commons or The 5 costs $9.15. Students who did not get a meal plan and pay for each meal individually could get an LSU

Dining punch card, which gives one free meal for every ten purchased.

For lunch alone, the average price using this card comes out to $8.32.

Now let’s look at the cost per lunch for dining plans this year.

Taking the total Meal Plan cost, subtracting Paw Points, and dividing the total by the number of meals per plan gives us the average “cost per meal” that you pay when purchasing a meal plan. For the Tiger Resident plan, this was $8.28. For the Tiger Commuter plan, the average cost was $9.45.

See a problem here? Students did not save through meal plans this year, and in fact they lost money.

Do not get me started on “meal transfers,” which supposedly give

students “flexibility.” The average cost of a meal transfer at Papa John’s, Taco Bell, or Quizno’s is around $6. Anytime meal plan students used a “meal transfer,” they did so having paid more than $9 in advance for a $6 meal. Also, breakfast at 459 or The 5 costs $5.95.

So how could you save money this year with a meal plan? Only eat lunch and dinner — never breakfast — and never transfer meals.

Even then, it is difficult to come out on top. Is this the kind of convenience and value that LSU Dining has been so proudly advertising?

What kind of voodoo economics did LSU Dining use when they claimed, “Meal Plan students save?”

However, it must be noted that

the meal plans for Fall 2010 have drastically changed. The average Tiger Resident meal price is now $5.56, while the Tiger Commuter plan will set you back $7.80 per meal. The problem is now not the price per meal but rather the fact that instead of simply reducing the price of each meal plan, LSU Dining increased prices and added additional meals to each plan while reducing the amount of Paw Points given.

According to The Daily Reveille’s article “Getting it On and Taking it Off Campus,” LSU Dining director David Heidke notes that 10 percent of meals purchased through meal plans are never used. The addition of meals to each plan will only compound the problem. I will be lucky

Monday, May 3, 2010

to use all 160 of my Tiger Resident meals this semester, and the idea of having 285 on the same plan next semester is absurd (that’s 19 meals a week if you are curious). Unclaimed meals are bound to go up, and thus the overall value of a meal plan will decrease. Want to save money next semester? Forgo meal plan. Your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart is right down the road.

Chris Williams history junior

Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at opinion@lsureveille.com

NIETZSCHE IS DEAD

New generation could help break blind partisanship There’s nothing inherently wrong with a two-party political system.

But there is something very much wrong with a two-party American people.

Take the recent debate about Arizona’s controversial new immigration law. The bill allows law enforcement personnel to ask for documentation from anyone they suspect is an illegal immigrant.

Republicans and conservatives are calling the bill a drastic but necessary measure to prevent the tide of immigration causing economic and other damage to the state as a result of failures by the federal government.

Democrats and liberals are saying the bill is draconian, racist and, of course, Nazi-esque.

Virtually any issue of national significance is framed in terms of Republicans vs. Democrats at this point. This makes sense in theory — Republicans are supposed to represent those in favor of smallgovernment self-actualization, while Democrats are supposed to represent those in favor of induced social progress.

But these two labels don’t — and can’t — really suffice to describe an entire worldview or political philosophy. Some issues — such as immigration reform — simply don’t fit the neat little ideological lines we like to draw all over our social landscape.

If anything, the strengthening of these laws represents a marked increase in governmental power — something that should, in theory, offend conservative sensibilities.

Yet Republicans almost universally support the action.

The long-standing stalemate

over abortion likewise represents a complicated moral divide centered around vague, difficult philosophical distinctions — but apparently most people still believe it’s a debate that can neatly fit the all-encompassing labels to which we so quickly turn.

Again, the argument can be and often is made that, on the whole, Republicans are “socially conservative” and Democrats are Matthew “socially libAlbright Opinion Editor eral.” But making decisions on complex and vitally important moral issues is a lamentable shortcut that does a great disservice to individual and collective thought.

It’s a well-documented trend among political scientists and psychologists that people like to take shortcuts when making decisions on complicated issues. It’s obviously easier to just figure out what your professed political party thinks about some issue and go from there.

And, in an era of increased media specialization and polarization, it’s becoming easier and easier to only hear your side’s side of the story.

Republicans get to listen to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report and thus get a partisan spin on all their news. Democrats have their own echo chamber in the form of the Huffington Post and MSNBC, etc.

It’s a grim arrangement that seems all arrayed against anyone hearing all sides of the story. But is all hope lost?

THE DAILY REVEILLE Editorial Board NICHOLAS PERSAC JERIT ROSER GERRI SAX ELLEN ZIELINSKI MATTHEW ALBRIGHT

Editor Managing Editor, Content Managing Editor, External Media Managing Editor, Production Opinion Editor

No. I firmly believe our generation has all the tools and all the impetus it needs to break the cycle. First and foremost is the Internet. Many observers rightly fear this new medium’s tendency to allow users access to only the sites they agree with, but they forget one important trait about people our age.

We have short attention spans.

People have traditionally consumed news by reading a few select sources. But we find ourselves with more and more short lapses of time with which to check the news as the Internet further insinuates itself into our daily lives. New evidence is

emerging that those who primarily use the Internet to get their news — read: us — access a larger number of sites for smaller periods of time.

Instead of having the one source we trust, the one news source that is our daily bread and butter, we go everywhere we can on the vast, trackless paths of the World Wide Web. So it’s true media outlets become increasingly specialized, but many observers fail to understand the reason this specialization is occurring. As Internet users scamper around the Internet like ADHD hummingbirds, we are looking for as many different views as we can.

I’d like to think that’s a death knell to blind partisanship. I’d like to think that’s a sign we’re going to put aside the divisive politics of our parents for more informed citizenship.

Of course, I’d also like to think I’m right about all of this.

Matthew Albright is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

EDITORIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author.

Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired every semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “All generalizations are dangerous — even this one.”

Alexandre Dumas French writer July 24, 1802 — Dec. 5, 1870

THE DAILY REVEILLE

Monday, May 3, 2010

CAMPUS-RESIDENT ALIEN

Opinion

PAGE 13

American obsession with war bewilders everyone else It’s time for me — as this is my last column of this spring semester — to talk about the controversial edifice of war, which since the birth of the nation has been the pillar of American leadership and disgrace.

It’s no secret the wars the United States fights are very unpopular, as seen by the rest of the world.

But more than simple unpopularity, the reasons why this country goes to war are really hard to swallow. Especially the last few.

And I’m not just some foreigner critiquing this country’s foreign relations policies. I’m pretty sure there’s a legion of Americans that will sing with me in this choir.

I have respect for the people that fight wars. I admire their courage.

But I can see no good in a nation’s leadership that prevails by force. I actually see no good in even a single

person making himself or herself valued by force.

Let’s not lie, my friends. War is about violence and profit.

It puzzles me that a country with a message of freedom and peace has such a strong military face.

Don’t give the tired excuse you have to have war to have peace. This is the worse slogan ever thrown out to justify the unjustifiable.

There’s a curse on the United States, stamped on its anthem: “And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

I understand the historical context of this verse, but I think it came to mean more than that. It suggests, in the very dawn the country’s history, that this nation will stand by the sight and sound of a battle.

The U.S. is not the U.S. we

know without its well-advertised military apparatus and the blurry, all-consuming concept of national security.

This is difficult to understand.

The last war my dear and unimportant country of Brazil fought was more than a hundred years ago.

We barely think of the matter, and a military career is rarely considered as a meaningful place to dedicate Marcelo Vieira one’s life.

Columnist Who would deny the economic motivation of wars? Who would argue the great part of American wealth comes from the despicable business of war?

American families break apart

to send people to “defend the country.” Defend from what?

Terrorism? I can’t understand how you fight terrorism by controlling and killing people from terrorists’ countries.

How can a nation build its “national security” by bringing insecurity to other nations through war?

These are questions that won’t rest because the answers made of silence.

Now that I’ve lived here for a year and half and have made good friends, I have started to care about the fact the best people in the world grow up believing that war is legitimate and normal. Good people have been led to believe the theater of a dirty and violent supremacy game is worth the lives of their own.

The ambiguity of a nation whose principles declare peace, free-

dom and dignity shows itself in the plastic madness of war. And this sad reality is as old as America itself.

How painful is the notion violence should be fought with violence? Only the valuable lives of soldiers and innocent people can tell.

War is certainly a curse carried by terrorists. But it is also a curse on America’s core principles.

There’s a war being fought, yes.

It’s the war of this country against itself.

Marcelo Vieira is a 32-year-old jazz cello graduate student from Brazil.

Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mvieira.

Contact Marcelo Vieira at mvieira@lsureveille.com

ART WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Remixers deserve to be respected as musicians I’m dancing, completely losing myself to the beat, and it’s probably the best damn time I’ve had in a while. It’s been a long day, and after a bottle of wine, I’m blaring my favorite remixed music in my room — Girl Talk.

Yes, I am that pathetic, but people need to realize Girl Talk is more than a combination of different songs.

It is art.

Who is Girl Kali Babineaux Talk? Greg GilColumnist lis is a biomedical engineer by day, but at night he becomes Girl Talk, an electronic musician. He has an ear for compiling the best dance music I’ve ever heard, and it seems as though he does it effortlessly.

There is controversy whether Greg Gillis should have the merit of musician or the shame of a thief.

This debatable concept is completely absurd.

When somebody pirates, he or she replicates something already created. Gillis does nothing of the sort.

He recreates what is already there into something completely different that can lead to a different conclusion and interpretation.

When Gillis is working, he uses a computer as his instrument to carefully compile different songs. Each song is like an individual note, preciously placed for the sake of a good beat. This is art.

He has an ear for what sounds right together, a key talent of a real musician. Not just anyone can do what he does. He manipulates each individual song, tediously searching for the best-suited song to fit in next.

A plethora of music knowledge and technical computer skills are necessary to do what he does.

If Gillis’ work is pirating, then every other art should be looked at

the same way. A painter takes what he has experienced in life and replicates it onto the canvas, an orator takes real situations and injects them into his or her speeches and an actress takes someone else’s life and plays it out. There is an ongoing cycle of copying original works or ideas, which do not have to face the pointing fingers of blame.

The way these works are understood and seen is what separates these works from the disdainful title of plagiarizer. As long as there is a different interpretation, anything can

be original and have artistic value.

Girl Talk is something original, and to see it as anything less is a misunderstanding of what Gillis has done. He is a pioneer in the remixing business and has made such music even more popular. He is a revolutionist in this aspect — and more importantly a true artist as well.

Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard University law professor and advocate for reduced legal restrictions on copyright, said remixing has become a part of our culture. It is the unstoppable art our generation has helped

to push forward. Girl Talk is an excellent example of this movement and its pursuit to be seen as something with artistic value.

Remixing is a form of self expression, and it is a response to life.

We are living in the age of touchscreen computers, ascetic arms that can grab coke cans and designer babies. If everything else is moving toward the future, what could you expect with music? Girl Talk was bound to happen as a response to this technological age.

Remixed art will flourish and

continue to grow no matter how hard our government tries to mistakenly criminalize this movement. Girl Talk is art and will always be art. Greg Gillis is part of a movement that has swept across the modern world.

Kali Babineaux is a 21-yearold English junior from Baton Rouge. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_kbabineaux.

Contact Kali Babineaux at kbabineaux@lsureveille.com

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

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MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010 BEAUTIFICATION, from page 1

and ready to go.”

Volunteers from the CHAMPS program — Challenging Athletes’ Minds for Personal Success — planted outside Lockett Hall.

“A large part of what we do involves community outreach and being well-rounded,” said Jade Bryan, assistant director for Diversity, Inclusion and Civic Engagement in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes. “We decided this was something we wanted to do to give back.”

Athletes from sports such as swimming, diving, volleyball, basketball and track were there to lend a hand.

“After traveling to other schools, you realize how good we really have it,” said Laura Carleton, management sophomore and cross country runner. “LSU has a really pretty campus.”

Brandon Gordan, finance sophomore and track athlete, said he was happy to be part of Spring Greening Day. “We should all want a beautiful campus,” Gordan said. “No one wants to go to a trashy school.”

Representatives from the Environmental Conservation Organization planted flowers in the Quad.

“This is important for ECO because it gets us outside and lets

THE DAILY REVEILLE

us educate other organizations, and we’re getting people interested in the environment,” said Lizzy Hingle, vice president of ECO. Hingle said the campus uses both perennial plants, which last three or more seasons, and annual plants.

“I was really pushing for perennials, so we’d be purchasing less flowers,” she said.

Members of Phi Sigma Theta Honor Society finished planting their designated area early and offered assistance to neighboring sites.

“Regular maintenance is important,” said Sarah Bowers, architecture junior and member of Phi Sigma Theta. “I’m normally a clean freak, but this has been very rewarding.”

Martin said she was happy with the student turnout.

“I’m thrilled, especially on not so nice of a day,” Martin said. “I’m happy to support the Green Tiger Project because it’s really important.

We have one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, and we can only make it better.”

Mallory Trochesset, assistant director of Campus Life, said she was happy to see so much student support.

“Students really braved the elements to do some tremendous work on campus today,” she said. “This is a critical time of year when plants need to be changed out for summer

and graduation events.”

Landscaping took place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and was followed immediately after by a celebration in the Live Oak Lounge.

Clint Penfield, district manager of Raising Cane’s, and Cane II, the yellow labrador, were present to donate $5,000 to the LSU Foundation’s Campus Beautification Fund.

“Raising Cane’s has been very actively involved in all the communities we serve, especially Baton Rouge,” Penfield said. “LSU supports us, and we support LSU in return.”

SAB featured two bands — the Carolinas and American Fiction.

Both bands work with Branch Records, a “Progressive, Visionary, Green” record label that plants a tree for every CD sold, along with other environment-friendly practices.

Jeffery McLain, the LSU Foundation’s vice president for development, said Spring Greening Day was the first event the Beautification Fund could help support.

“We hope this is the beginning of an annual event, and in 10 years, it will be the biggest thing on campus,” McLain said.

Contact Sarah Eddington at seddington@lsureveille.com

OBAMA, from page 1

The leaking well was not only an ecological disaster but a potential political hazard, as well, depending on how the public judges the Obama administration’s response. In 2005, President George W. Bush stumbled in dealing with Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf and left the impression of a president distant from immense suffering. His presidency never recovered.

Obama vowed his administration, while doing all it could to mitigate the disaster, would require well owner BP America to bear all costs.

“Your government will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to stop this crisis,” he said.

“BP is responsible for this leak.

BP will be paying the bill,” Obama said after a Coast Guard briefing in Venice, a Gulf Coast community serving as a staging area for the response. He stood before cameras in a heavy rain, water dripping from his face.

The president also stopped to talk with six local fishermen and said the challenge is “How do we plug this hole?” After that, he said, protecting the estuaries would be the next priority.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to protect our natural resources, compensate those who have been harmed, rebuild what has been damaged and help this region persevere like it has done so many times before,” Obama said.

Arriving in New Orleans, the president shunned helicopter travel because of a threat of tornadoes and drove to Venice to tour a close-tothe-water staging area where the government and BP were trying to keep the slick from causing even more damage.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said any comparison between the ruptured BP oil well and Katrina was “a total mischaracterization” and that the government

CHARLES DHARAPAK / The Associated Press

President Barack Obama is briefed Sunday by National Incident Commander U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen in Venice, La.

had taken an “all hands on deck” approach from the beginning.

Administration officials have been at pains to explain that Obama’s late March decision to expand offshore oil exploration could be altered as a result of the spill and that stricter safety rules would doubtless be written into leases.

In reality, oil companies and the government lack the technology to prevent the damage from a well gushing masses of oil, killing wildlife and tainting a delicate ecosystem. The oil washing ashore could ruin the coastal fishing industry.

While the government has mobilized masses of equipment to scoop up, burn and block the oil from moving ashore, the tools to contain the ecological and economic damage washing toward the coast were akin to big-game hunting with a pellet gun.

Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant, said the volume of spewing oil could climb to 100,000 barrels a day in the event of a total wellhead failure, a much greater breach than is believed to exist now.

He spoke to the obvious urgency of stopping the flow of crude.

“The difference between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels a day (original estimates), when you look at the

potential discharge of 100,000, leads me to believe that there are a lot of inaccuracies associated with trying to estimate flow from a broken pipe at 5,000 feet,” Allen said. “That’s the reason it’s so very, very important we focus on stopping this leak right away.”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters with the president that Obama was briefed on the spill for 50 minutes during the flight from Washington by homeland security and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and energy adviser Carol Browner. Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel rounded out the presidential party.

Gibbs said Brennan and Browner went “through a series of scenarios,” while Obama wanted to know “what was the latest on our first, our biggest priority, which is capping the well.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tried to assure Americans that BP, rather than taxpayers, would pay for what will likely become the nation’s worst oil disaster.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com

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Monday, May 3, 2010

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