57 days since oil spill began.
OPINION
Local student watches World Cup in Cape Town, page 8.
BASEBALL
Austin Ross signs with Milwaukee Brewers, page 5.
The Daily Reveille
Volume 114, Issue 145 – Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tiger Band director announces resignation
Summer Edition – see www.lsureveille.com for more
Obama to address nation about oil spill tonight
Highland intersection closure extended
Matthew Jacobs
Ryan Buxton
Senior Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Linda Moorhouse will no longer fill the Tiger Band director position she recently accepted when the fall season swings into action. Moorhouse, who currently holds the associate director of bands position, accepted an offer for a position at the University of Illinois as a visiting associate professor of music, according to Pamela Matassa, communications director for the College of Music and Dramatic Arts. Roy King, assistant director of bands, will likely lead Tiger Band in the fall with the help of a visiting faculty member and current faculty and students, according to Matassa. “My personal thought is that Linda just wanted a break,” she said. “A lot has been going on this past
The intersection of Highland Road and Staring Lane will be closed a few days longer than expected due to work delays caused by rain. The intersection has been closed since June 1 for the installation of sewer drains as part of the work to extend Staring Lane to Burbank Drive. It is scheduled to reopen Friday. The intersection was originally slated to reopen today, but about three days of work were lost because of rain, said Jose Alvarez, chief construction engineer for East Baton Rouge Parish. “We were excavating very deep to install a 64-inch pipe going across Highland Road,” Alvarez said. “It was extremely dangerous with water pouring into that hole, about 15- to 18-feet deep.” Weather forecasts for this week predict possible isolated thunderstorms. Alvarez said the work could potentially be extended again if there is more bad weather, but the intersection is still expected to reopen Friday.
MOOREHOUSE, see page 4
photo courtesy of PAMELA MATASSA
Nicholas Persac Staff Writer
Fifty-seven days after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and began spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, federal officials continue pushing BP’s response efforts forward while the president concludes his fourth visit to the region and prepares to address the nation tonight about the catastrophe. “The bottom line is the Feds can’t do this all alone, and they really need universities and the private sector to be involved,” said Chris D’Elia, dean of the School of the Coast and Environment. “A lot more of that could be done right now.” D’Elia, who will testify today before a U.S. Congressional committee about the spill, said he will emphasize to lawmakers the importance of research and science during the response, as there are still many unknown factors affecting the societal wellbeing of Gulf-Coast residents. “Instead of the blame game that is going on right now and people running to get money, we have to really understand things as analytically and OIL SPILL, see page 7
photos by DERICK E. HINGLE and TIM ISBELL / The Associated Press
[Top] Oil-stained brown pelicans feed in the water Monday on Cat Island. [Bottom] President Obama arrives Monday at Trent Lott Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport, Miss.
Contact Ryan Buxton at rbuxton@lsureveille.com
REGISTRAR
Academic tracking program completes pilot stage CATS to be fully implemented in fall Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
A program to track and evaluate students’ academic progress each semester has completed a two-year pilot and will be fully implemented this fall. The Comprehensive Academic Tracking System, or CATS, which monitors students’ scheduling and academic performance, completed its pilot stage
at the end of the spring semester and will be used with all incoming freshmen beginning fall 2011. The ultimate goal of the program is to create a more proactive approach to students’ academic success, said University Registrar Robert Doolos. “It’s all about helping these students to succeed and doing that through proactive planning,” Doolos said. CATS determines whether students are on track by evaluating various criteria deemed important by each academic department, like maintaining a certain GPA or scheduling a course
deemed critical in a specific semester. If a student is deemed off track for two consecutive semesters, he or she will be scheduled to meet with a counselor to discuss the possibility of changing his or her major, Doolos said. “On the face of it, that sounds pretty dramatic, and actually it is,” he said. “But we don’t want students making decisions about what to do with their academic career way too late in the game.” Senior Associate Registrar Patti Beste said it’s important to students to understand the CATS program is completely for
their benefit. “It’s not a punitive plan,” Beste said. “We’re not trying to hurt or punish you. We’re just trying to help you stay on track so you can use your time wisely.” Doolos said if students remain off track for too long, they could end up asking how they can graduate in the least amount of time, but the Office of the University Registrar is more interested in helping students graduate efficiently with a degree best suited to their ability. The two-year CATS pilot gave the registrar’s office time to evaluate the University’s needs
and establish a program to address them. The pilot began in fall 2008, when the program was implemented with only a handful of majors, said Beste said. By the second year of the pilot, 50 majors had been incorporated. CATS began about five years ago when work began to create a more specific outline of graduation requirements, Beste said. The first step to creating CATS was developing detailed eight-semester plans for each major specifying the most efficient CATS, see page 4