The Reveille 2-10-22

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T hu r s d ay, Fe b r u a r y 10, 2 022

‘HANDED A GIFT’ New local theatre collective emerges from pandemic

DYLAN BOREL / The Reveille

Pictured from left to right: Co-founder Victoria Brown, founder Stephanie Bartage, Jordan Hebert and Ashley Schmid. The 225 Theatre Collective team smiles for a group photo Feb. 4.

NEWS

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Repeated HVAC failures lead to flooding in Hergett Hall, halted research and learning for months.

ENTERTAINMENT

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Political science junior Stephen Privat advanced to the semi-final round in “Jeopardy!

National College Championship.”

SPORTS

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Before the start of the LSU softball season, take a look into the personality of Taylor Pleasants.

OPINION

Read on

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“At LSU and beyond, people across the country are forced to choose between healthcare and other necessities.”

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L SU Re ve i l le.co m @l s u r e ve i l le

225 THEATRE

B-16 Hodges Hall Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, La. 70803

Four women create theatre collective, diverse performing community

BY MATILDA SIPP @SippTilly The 225 Theatre Collective gives the boot to all antiquated notions of what theatre should look like, one stage production at a time.

It all started with a mom’s group on Facebook. Stephanie Bartage, founder and artistic director of the collective, was disappointed with the limited theatre scene in Baton Rouge after moving here from New Orleans.

She remedied this by starting a theatre company of her own and searching for like-minded individuals who shared her passion for performance art.

Bartage posted in the mom’s Facebook group she was a part of, asking if anyone had any experience with theatre. Victoria Brown, current co-founder and head of the company’s costume department, readily answered.

“We clicked instantly,” Bartage said of Brown. “I told her about the plan and the mission, and she was all about it. I’m very grateful to have found her so fast.”

Brown, like Bartage, felt slightly stuck after moving to Baton Rouge. She came here from Georgia in 2020, right as COVID-19 was beginning to rear its ugly head.

“I couldn’t find any theatre jobs,” Brown said. “Everybody was filming on skeleton crews for film and television, so it was very limited.”

Luckily, the team came together quickly after Bartage met with the other half of the four-women collective, Jordan Hebert and Ashley Schmid. Hebert, an LSU international studies junior, is the company’s social media manager and performance coach. Schmid, an LSU political science junior, is the technical director and graphic designer.

For all four women running the collective, it was imperative that they create a space where people from all different backgrounds felt they could safely express themselves creatively.

Specifically, as a woman of color, Bartage noted that theatre could often be a discriminatory environment where people of color are outcasted.

“It was always very hard for me to get casted in things because of the way I looked, so I didn’t want that for my company,” she said. “Every show that we did, I wanted it to be open casting.”

Bartage would often get nervous before auditions, not because of the audition itself, but because casting directors would toss her aside or typecast her since she is brown. Fostering a nurturing environment that encourages people of color to get onstage has helped Bartage take back the narrative and rectify a culture of misrepresentation in theatre.

COURTESY OF STEPHANIE BARTAGE

Performers act out a scene as part of the 225 Theatre Collective’s stage reading of “The Great Gatsby.”

The collective launched November 2021 and put on its first production, a stage reading of “The Great Gatsby,” in front of a sold-out crowd at The Guru theater on Jan. 28.

Hebert, tasked with spreading the good word of the show far and wide on social media, tapped into the loyal south Louisiana communities she is a part of to generate some buzz. Her efforts paid off, and soon word about the show had spread all over Louisiana. None of the women could have guessed how big of a reception their performance would receive.

“I knew people would come, but they were so excited,” Hebert said.

With COVID-19 discouraging so many people from getting out of their houses to enjoy local art, the women were delighted to see so many eager faces in the audience. People were thrilled to support the mission of the non-profit theatre group.

The collective’s production of “The Great Gatsby” brought people of all different backgrounds together, even featuring a working lawyer and mom of three children, Maryanna Broussard, as Jordan Baker. Most of the people cast in the production had no previous theatre experience, but their confidence solidified them as performers.

“It was so rewarding to see everybody’s confidence grow throughout the show,” Brown said. “I remember most of the people that auditioned, auditioned for small roles. We were like, ‘No, we want you as the main roles.’ My heart grew four sizes just watching it.”

For anyone who might be intimidated by the thought of putting themselves out there and acting on a secret desire to try their hand at theatre, the 225 Theatre Collective wants them to know

they can join in on their judgment-free haven.

“We’re not seeking the best actors in town; that’s not what we’re doing,” Bartage assured. “If you don’t try it, you’re never going to know.”

When Broussard came in to audition for the production, Brown and Bartage immediately thought she had years of experience under her belt. In reality, it was one of the first auditions Broussard ever did. As long as you allow yourself to showcase your passion and excitement in your delivery, it will translate into a fantastic performance.

“Fake it till you make it,” Brown said. “If you can believe that you’re an actor, if you believe you can do this, you’re gonna fool us.”

While an all-female-owned theatre collective was not intentional, it has made for an immensely empowering and inspiring workplace environment. The typical hierarchical structure that most theatre companies operate on is not how the 225 Theatre Collective runs. No big egos, just women uplifting other women.

“I’m always telling them, this is as much mine as it is yours,” Bartage said, emphasizing that the group calls itself a collective for a reason.

As a political science major in many male-dominated classes, Schmid knows the difficulty of trying to have her voice heard or her ideas valued in spaces with little to no women. Since she was a freshman in high school doing technical theatre work behind the scenes, men have assumed that she lacked the competence to do her job.

“Usually when I’ve worked with men in the past, even though I’m usually the one in the leadership position, a guy always assumes I’m in less of a role than I am because I’m a woman,”

Schmid said.

The group wants to use the power of their combined voices to push the boundaries of Baton Rouge theatre, opening up the community to topics that are considered taboo or uncomfortable.

“It’s important to bring awareness to certain shows that would be kind of scary to try and put on here,” Schmid said.

With the help of the LSU Women’s Center, which has generously allowed the theatre collective to hold meetings and auditions in its facility, the group is hoping to eventually put on a production of the show “Student Body,” which addresses college campus sexual assault.

“It needs to get talked about,” Hebert said. “Everyone knows a woman who bad things have happened to, but ironically, nobody knows men who have done it.

There are certain voices that need to speak.”

Even if someone isn’t interested in using acting as a form of advocacy, the members of the theatre collective emphasized that what goes on behind the scenes is just as crucial to amplifying the voices of overlooked and silenced communities.

“There’s something for everyone in the theatre,” Schmid said.

“Theatre is all-inclusive, and there is more to it than just acting.”

The collective’s mission of promoting diversity extends to the costume department, the technical work backstage and even in the marketing of the productions. In every aspect of the company, they want to support people looking to work in a diverse environment where they can gain experience for a career in the arts.

For the four women at the helm of this collective, their experience working together and with the people who have helped get the company off the ground has been extraordinarily fulfilling.

“I feel so privileged, I feel like I’ve been handed a gift,” Brown said. “You just get this feeling in your chest of like, ‘Oh my god, I’m doing exactly what I want.’

We are giving a platform to people. We are using our talents to bring up issues that need to be talked about. I can show people that this is more than just a little artsy hobby.”

Showing people how rewarding it can be to come together as a community and support others as they grow in their confidence and abilities is precisely the dream Bartage had in mind when she reached out on that Facebook group.

“I just want everyone to get involved,” she said. “Regardless of your experience, just get involved. I want this space to be inviting for everyone. I want them to feel that with everything we do.”

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NEWS HVAC FAILURES

Communications sciences equipment rendered useless by leaks

BY DOMENIC PURDY @tigerdom16 Note: Louisiana legislators will decide what to do with a significant surplus of cash available to the state in the next legislative session in March. Ahead of the session, The Reveille is dedicating a string of stories looking at LSU’s infrastructure. This is the seventh story in the ongoing series.

In the Speech-LanguageHearing Clinic in the basement of Hatcher Hall, audiologists and speech pathologists from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders work with pieces of equipment like specially-designed sound booths costing thousands of dollars to diagnose patients with communication disorders like deafness.

Until recently, much of that equipment has been unusable following a series of leaks, mold and ceiling collapses due to the building’s failing HVAC system.

Three different incidents were reported last year by department members that left some of them displaced and unable to see patients, conduct research or teach students for months.

The basement, which has been the department’s home since a $19.5-million renovation in 2004, has had issues with flooding in the past. The building, built in 1934, experienced 11 floods since the Department of Communication Sciences and

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille

A newly renovated booth sits Feb. 1 amid water leakage concerns in William B. Hatcher Hall.

Disorders relocated, Janet Norris, the department’s chair, said.

“The university worked hard to resolve those multiple issues,” Norris said.

Unlike the previous incidents of flooding due to rainwater, three occurrences in 2021 were all connected to the HVAC system above the department’s clinic, Norris said.

The first incident took place in Hatcher Room 39 one year ago when an acoustic booth was flooded, Norris said. A leak in the HVAC system caused the ceiling to cave in and leak water into the booth.

“It led to rust, staining, bro-

ken tiles and a risk of mold. This damage prevented the researcher from using the sound booth for research purposes,” Norris said.

The booth had to be entirely removed and replaced with a similar one, costing $33,851, Norris said. The insurance claim on the damages was denied due to the leak being part of an ongoing issue–meaning the College of Humanities and Social Sciences had to cover the costs.

“Removing and replacing the booth has led to periods of time when the research lab could not be used at all, further detracting from research productivity,” Norris said.

page 3 CRIME

Stolen coins, swords, bayonets

Two months after the first incident, the same HVAC system flooded the audiological suite in room 55 used to train students in the clinic. The incident, which occurred May 10, damaged the booth beyond repair.

The damages, caused by water leaking from a failed seal on an HVAC pipe, costed $78,177 to replace, Norris said.

“Without a booth, our audiologist has been unable to provide diagnostic assessments on our patients,” Norris explained.

“Without the ability to provide diagnostic assessments, we have been unable to recommend and dispense hearing aids to our clients. This severely limited training for our students since May.” Whitney Sutherland, one of the audiologists that utilizes the damaged equipment in her research and clinical work, explained that the equipment is extremely sensitive, and the mere presence of water made the equipment unusable. The acoustic insolation of the booth was completely saturated, she said.

The new booth was not installed until December, and Sutherland did not move back into the suite until last week.

“It completely halted audiological services on campus,” Sutherland said. “Think about the student education that we lost in the summer semester and the fall semester. I had an extern who was unable to see patients,

From Roman coins, bayonets and, most recently, a World War I cavalry sword, LSU history professors have reported multiple thefts of historical items this semester and last from Himes Hall.

A WWI sword stolen in January belongs to History Department chair Aaron Sheehan-Dean, currently serving a year appointment at University College Dublin, Ireland, as a visiting professor of American history.

The sword is about 3 feet long, gray, has a leather-wrapped handle and “Col. Tower” inscribed on it.

Sheehan-Dean said the sword was a family heirloom, passed down from his great grandfather, a colonel in WWI. “I remember playing with it as a kid; it’s banged up mostly on account of us playing with it in the basement. My brother and I would swing it at each other, so the value is really sentimental--although the fact that I’m a historian makes it a little more acute,” Sheehan-Dean said.

Christine Kooi is filling in as the interim chair of the History Department while Sheehan-Dean is abroad. She uses the department chair’s office and was the

see HVAC, page 4

see SWORDS, page 4

BY JOHN BUZBEE @thebuzzbuz

ENVIRONMENT

Campus Sustainability looking for eco-friendly initiatives

BY CHANDLER MCINTOSH @GeauxChandler18 LSU Campus Sustainability is accepting student proposals and prioritizing green space accessibility to produce a more sustainable campus.

Tammy Millican, director of Facility and Property Oversight, said that Campus Sustainability extended the deadline for student proposals from Dec. 15 to Feb. 18 and is eager for students to continue sending proposals in.

Students can submit proposals to the LSU Campus Sustainability website. Once submitted, the committee will review each proposal and reward funding to the best ones.

The Ross Ziegelasch Student Sustainability Fund, named after LSU alumnus Ross Ziegelasch, was created to ensure sustainability funding remains a priority for the university.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Plants grow up and out of the tarp on Feb. 5, at the LSU Hill Farm Gardens on South Campus Drive in Baton Rouge, La. During his time as a student, Ziegelasch worked with Student

Government to create a bill that would collect funds for sustainability through the fee bill. LSU adopted the bill in 2016 and collects $2 from fall and spring fee bills and $1 from summer fee bills to go toward the sustainability fund. “[LSU Student Government] could think of no better way to honor him, his legacy and his dedication to sustainability than name the fund after Ziegelasch,” Millican said.

The Ross Ziegelasch Student Sustainability Fund contributes to many projects around campus, including reestablishing the student-run Hill Farm Community Garden, reducing the annual cost of the bike-sharing program and updating the Museum of Natural Science in Foster hall.

In 2019, a total of nine student proposals were approved including installation of an electric vehicle charging station on campus,

a butterfly and pollinator garden and Spring Greening Day and Sustainability Expo to preserve LSU’s ecosystem.

Campus Sustainability is also working on a composting program.

“One of the projects made possible by the fund that is most exciting is to establish the compost program in LSU dining halls and the Student Union,” Millican said. “It uses black soldier flies to break down pre-consumed and post-consumed food. The pre-consumed is used for materials to bring back and put into flower beds around campus. The post-consumed is used for animal feed.”

Millican said Campus Sustainability is working with Devon Brits from the Department of Entomology and Fluker Farms to decrease food waste on campus and ensure it is used in a sustainable way rather than going to a

landfill.

Campus Sustainability also completed one of its goals by implementing a green roof system at the new LSU Veterinary Clinic. “[LSU Campus Sustainabilty] always had a dream that we would be able to bring a green roof to campus, but it’s difficult to find funding for that,” Millican said. “Now we are going to have our first green roof.”

Biochemistry student Laiba Iqbal is the chair of the Student Sustainability Fee Oversight Committee that advocates for funding proposals.

“It’s fun being a part of the Student Sustainability Fee Oversight Committee,” Iqbal said. “Everyone in their day-to-day lives is actively trying to be sustainable.

They are trying to provide less waste, use less gas and reduce their carbon footprint. I think

see ECO, page 4

Thursday, February 10, 2022

page 4 HVAC, from page 3 I have undergrad students who are in clinic that couldn’t see patients.”

Another incident of HVAC flooding occurred only 5 months later.

On Oct. 4, substantial flooding was reported in the main office of the Speech-LanguageHearing Clinic, room 68, Norris said. Electronics were saturated, the carpet was soaked, filing cabinets waterlogged and the ceiling collapsed.

“The carpet was saturated, the desks were damaged, unusable, and our filling cabinets were full of water. When I picked up binders, water fell out. There was water in the walls,” Melissa LaLande, clinical director, said.

“We literally had to fight tooth and nail to get the carpet pulled up and to get the drywall cut and repainted to dry it.”

While the room was usable as of Jan. 31, furniture has still not been replaced and is not set to be replaced for a number of weeks, Norris explained.

LaLande said that the solution proposed was to shampoo the carpets instead of replacing them. She said Facility Services assured them that the threshold for mold was well below safe lev-

SWORDS, from page 3 first to notice the sword’s disappearance.

The sword is presumed to have gone missing between the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 24, and the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 26.

“I know they were there last week on Monday because I was on a Zoom meeting and the camera caught over my shoulder and someone mentioned the sword, but then on Wednesday morning at about 10 a.m. I discovered one of them was missing,” Kooi said.

The WWI sword sat beside another historical sword from the Civil War, though that one wasn’t stolen. Kooi took the Civil War sword home for safekeeping.

“To me, the mystery is why was only one sword taken but not both?” Kooi said.

Other items in the office seemed to be untouched, including a brand-new laptop that’s worth more than either sword.

In the 30 years that Kooi has been at LSU, there has never been an apparent need for locking away valuables.

“I won’t feel secure keeping anything of value like that,” Sheehan-Dean said. “The previous chair had something sentimental and historic in there as well, so I just presumed that stuff is generally safe, but that’s not the case.”

The administrative coordinator of the History Department, Darlene Albritton, said that the offices are locked at night.

“These offices definitely are locked, so it has to be someone who has a key to the individual offices,” Albritton said. “Let’s just say the building was accidentally left open, but for sure, my professors’ offices, and especially this

els.

“It felt like a big excuse,” she said. “After the carpet was cleaned, the smell was horrible here for days and days. And they still told us that the carpet could be cleaned and replaced.”

Three people didn’t feel safe returning to the office because of the smell and risk of mold, LaLande explained. Sutherland described the carpet as “squishing” even after the cleaning.

In her audiological studio, Sutherland played a waiting game in the period she was without her equipment, where she sent several emails to Facility Services to get the old booth removed and the area dried out. She felt that she was merely knocking on doors with no one behind them to answer their questions.

“I remember being told they had limited man-power and funding, and they couldn’t prevent the leaks and the flooding,” Sutherland said. “Because of that, they said they could only come in and help us after they had already occurred.”

In the aftermath of all three incidents, Facility Services responded to the issues and fixed the problems.

For each incident, the mechanical seal on the HVAC system was either tightened or replaced

and the leaks were reported to have stopped, Tammy Millican, Executive Director of Facility & Property Oversight, said.

Millican explained that Facil-

ity Services has taken steps to reduce water damage in buildings wherever possible like in the work done in the flood-prone Himes Hall.

“In Hatcher, pans were added under the first floor pumps in an effort to catch any future

main office is always locked.”

a messy office, but after a thor-

COURTESY OF WHITNEY SUTHERLAND

Hatcher Hall room 55 following the removal of an audiological sound booth.

COURTESY OF LSU HISTORY DEPARTMENT

A similar sword to the one that was stolen from the LSU History Department in January.

Albritton and Kooi believe the thief of Sheehan-Dean’s sword may have had some form of key access to the office. They are still puzzled as to the illogical circumstances of the missing items of all the professors and encouraged them to act cautiously with any items they deem valuable.

“My hope is that if somebody took it and if it was some kind of prank even, that they’ll just return it and that be the end of it. It’s not about the money, it’s a part of my family history,” Sheehan-Dean said.

Other history professors have reported missing historical items.

History professor Maribel Dietz’s Roman coins and history professor Victor Stater’s WWI British infantry bayonet were stolen last semester.

Dietz first noticed her coins were missing after returning from a long period of remote work at home. She initially assumed that they had been lost in

ough sweep, she concluded that they were stolen.

The coins were made of copper and silver and much like the stolen sword, their value wasn’t measured monetarily, but in their historical significance. She said the cheapest one may have been worth around $20 and the most expensive was maybe $80.

“I have taught at LSU for 23 years. I’ve had those coins with me and I would take them to class. These are classes of 300 people that pass them around and I just tell them whoever has them at the end, just bring them up,” Dietz said. “I never lost a single coin.”

Much like Dietz, Stater can’t exactly pinpoint when his bayonet disappeared from his desk.

He believes that it was sometime during the early part of the fall semester. He estimates the value of the bayonet to be around $100-150.

“Part of teaching history is to

seal leaks and direct the water to a drain. The HVAC was fitted with a float switch to shut the unit down if water reached a level that would overflow the pan and lead to leaks,” Millican explained.

Despite the flooding of the various rooms in the department all being connected to an issue with the HVAC system, insurance did not cover the damages.

Norris shared an email she sent to an LSU claim agent on Jan. 4 concerning a lack of communication regarding the status of the insurance coverage of the damages to the main office three months after the initial incident.

“Can you please let us know whether the furniture will be covered so we can move forward? We have been without our main office for three months, and the semester is about to begin again,” the email read. “New clients will not have a place to register, receive parking passes, etc. I do not understand why this decision is so delayed. We have not heard back about this claim.”

The insurance difficulties stemmed from the issues being unrelated, said Bernadette Abadie, assistant to the department chair.

“They told us it was multiple different issues so we would

have to wait to see if insurance would cover it,” she said. “But the building and the HVAC is so old that it’s all connected. It is never maintained until tragedy strikes.”

Following the flooding, some of the functions of the affected areas were relocated to the fourth floor of Hatcher. Here, the department faced another troublesome HVAC system.

Due to the sensitive nature of their equipment and minute measurements involved in audiological research, the proximity to the fourth floor’s louder HVAC system made the relocation difficult, Sutherland explained.

Once returned to the department’s basement location, the affected staff were more weary than ever of the damage and insecurity of their facilities.

Outside of the damages caused by the HVAC, complaints of rain stopping the usage of elevators, poor accessibility for patients and parking troubles have been levied, LaLande said.

“It’s a stressful and heartbreaking situation to have potentially beautiful facilities that are being constantly flooded,” Norris said. “It was bad enough when it was caused by mother nature.

But now it’s being caused from poor maintenance.”

get the students to have a connection with the primary source material, not just me droning on or their textbook droning on,” Dietz said.

By having physical pieces of the past, students may engage further either by interest or better understanding of the material. Something like these items could make a general education class something that a student genuinely connects to, remembering it for the rest of their life.

“It may help students to better visualize or connect with a period. To actually have something that you can show them that comes from that moment in time. They’re useful teaching tools,” Stater said.

Theft in LSU office spaces aren’t necessarily a new phenomenon, Stater said. What’s unusual is what’s being stolen – items with historical value that aren’t worth much monetarily.

“It’s not that uncommon for things to be stolen out of people’s offices. More commonly, it’s unguarded purses and things like that,” Stater said.

Stater believes this could just be “opportunistic crime” — someone who happens upon the items and decides to take them.

He and Dietz are not particularly hopeful they will get their items back.

“It’s a shame, but my fault for leaving it on my desk where somebody could just grab it. It’s also partly my fault because I don’t lock the door every time I walk out of my office. That might’ve made the difference,” Stater said.

Stater said that security cameras around the building would be nice, but he realizes that they might not be the most cost-effective solution.

ECO, from page 4 everyone can agree that humans deep down do not want to hurt the earth.”

Iqbal said the committee and faculty worked together to implement a program for using reusable takeout boxes instead of styrofoam in the 459 to reduce waste that increased from the pandemic.

“As a student, you constantly think that people within the administration are far removed from you,” Iqbal said. “I got to make demands and interact with faculty within Student Government.”

Daniel Bureau, assistant vice president for Student Health and Wellbeing, helped other universities with green fee proposals intended to enhance their commitments to sustainability.

“I think that any campus commitment to creating a more sustainable place and engaging students, faculty and staff is really beneficial for our campus,” Bureau said. “I think that anything that can be done in order to use student fees in a way that will improve the campus, but also improves the general environment makes [LSU] more efficient with better resources.”

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Piping feeds water to the plants on Feb. 5, at the LSU Hill Farm Gardens in Baton Rouge, La.

ENTERTAINMENT

page 5

THIS WEEKEND IN BR

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FEBRUARY

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TH Mardis Gras Masquerade Cook Hotel and Conference Center

LSU’s Mardi Gras event is back after being canceled for the past two years. This free event is open to all students wanting to get a taste of Mardi Gras celebrations and spend the night dancing from 8 p.m. to midnight.

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February Maker’s Market Circa 1857

SUNDAY AT 4

MidCity Maker’s Market returns Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 1857 Government St. to bring live music, food and goods to buy from local artists and vendors.

SATURDAY AT 5

FEBRUARY

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Yard Art: February Brickyard South

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If you want a break from Superbowl festivities — or you’re just looking for something to do before the new “Euphoria” episode comes out — Brickyard South on South Boulevard will feature local artists from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. with crawfish and drinks.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

page 6 TELEVISION

LSU junior advances to semifinals in ‘Jeopardy!’ competition

BY KATY-ANN MCDONALD @katyann0 When political science junior Stephen Privat got a text from “Jeopardy!” asking if he would be available for a phone call the following day, he thought it was a scam. But the next day, he took the call with the show’s producers, who confirmed he was in the final running to be a contestant on his lifelong favorite game show.

“I wasn’t sure if it was real or not. Like, why would you just send a text?” he laughed. “I had already kind of forgotten that I had even applied for the show, so it was all super sudden.”

Privat was one of 36 college students from across the country competing in the “Jeopardy!

National College Championship,” which premiered Tuesday on ABC. On Feb. 8, Privat won his section in the quarter-final round of “Jeopardy! National College Championships.” His victory advances him to the semi-final.

Privat said since the announcement, he’s been flooded with calls from friends and media hoping to hear if he won the $250,000 cash prize.

The actual application and audition process for “Jeopardy!” is

COURTESY OF STEPHEN PRIVAT

surprisingly simple. It requires a 15-minute test comprising 50 questions. If you do well enough, you are invited back for two rounds of auditions, including a mock game.

The most tedious part of the entire audition process, Privat recalls, was the break between taking the first quiz and finally being on the show. He took the first at-home test in September 2020, and waited about 7 months before coming to the competition as one of the only Louisiana natives.

“At that point, I had even forgotten that I auditioned; I was more worried about school and classes.”

In the months leading up to the competition, Privat prepared for

the show by binging past seasons, each time using a pen as a makeshift buzzer to practice speedy responses. He took history and geography quizzes, and even recalled some of his classes at LSU being helpful in remembering information.

“I was in a class about Alfred Hitchcock, and you never know, there could have been a movie category that had a question about that,” Privat said.

Privat believed Greek Mythology to be the category he would be most successful in if he had freedom of choice, crediting his knowledge to “Percy Jackson” books in his youth.

Rehearsing, Privat said, was

a dramatic shift from clicking his pen while watching episodes on the couch. Not only did he have a bonafide buzzer, but was surrounded by sound effects and studio lights as he grew comfortable with the environment.

He expressed overall satisfaction with his experience on the game show, especially in terms of feeling prepared to be on stage. His favorite takeaway was the friendships he formed with other contestants from across the country.

“Everyone there was really cool. It was a great experience to meet them all,” Privat said. “We have a group chat together. I hope we stay in touch.”

Privat said the “Jeopardy!” application process was much less daunting than others would think, and that he would be happy to see more LSU students try to get on the show.

“It’s far less complicated than people think,” Privat said.

In the quarter-final round he went up against Ella Feiner, a Princeton University senior and Jasmine Manansala, a Rice University junior. After a tough game, Privat won his round with $14,3000.

Privat said he is relieved that he can now discuss the game with friends and family, after having to

keep details confidential for three months since filming in November.

“I’m bad at keeping secrets so it’s good to now be able to openly talk about it,” Privat said.

Privat admits that he had forgotten how close the scores were until re-watching the show last night with friends. Re-watching the show also reminded him of a few tough questions.

“The two questions that stood out to me were the daily doubles back to back that I got both wrong.

I lost a lot of money. So at that point I was pretty nervous,” he said.

Despite a few stumpers, there were a few questions that he was particularly happy with. His favorite question was a Shakespeare one that he didn’t initially buzz fast enough for. This worked out in his favor though, after Princeton’s Feiner gave a wrong answer.

“I’m glad she buzzed her answer first,” Privat said. “I was actually going to say Julius Caesar, but because she got it wrong I was able to go with my backup answer that ended up being right.”

Watch Stephen Privat perform in the semi-final round of “Jeopardy! National College Championships” which will air Thursday, Feb. 17 on ABC.

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Thursday, February 10, 2022

page 7 MUSIC

Billie Eilish kicks off ‘Happier than Ever’ in New Orleans

BY VIVI NGUYEN @vivi_ngyn There was a torrential downpour outside the New Orleans Smoothie King Center on Feb. 3.

Nevertheless, dedicated Billie Eilish fans packed together with raincoats and umbrellas in hand, ready to see the beloved singer perform at the opening concert of the “Happier Than Ever” world tour.

To add to the list of setbacks, opener Willow had withdrawn from the first four dates of the tour. Dora Jar was asked to open in her place—until she came down with COVID-19 on the same day as the NOLA date, leaving only Eilish to perform 30 minutes ahead of schedule for the sold-out crowd.

Eilish was three concerts into her “Where Do We Go” world tour in the spring of 2020 before the pandemic ultimately made her cancel the rest of it. Because of her unexpected free time, she finished her sophomore album, which is the main focus of the present tour.

Eilish emerged from the pandemic better than ever (and, of course, happier than ever) and showed no signs of slowing down. After scattered performances in late 2020 and 2021, she performs this album practically in its entirety for this tour.

Fans erupted in screams as white strobe lights flashed, and the words from her hit song “Happier than Ever,” “You made me hate this city,” echoed around the arena. You could feel the eager anticipation building with every passing second until Eilish finally jumped onto the stage from below the platform. Her 90-minute show began with a performance of “Bury a Friend,” which was illumi-

COURTESY OF LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT

nated in red lights. The transitions from each single were smooth as each song beautifully flowed into the other.

The visuals were detail-oriented and crafted to match the theme of each song. During “NDA,” the stage was transformed into a dark road crossing as cars rushed by on the screen behind her. The stage and audience were flooded in song-matching colors like blue for “I Don’t Wanna Be You Anymore” and gold for “Goldwing.” During “You Should See Me in a Crown,” a giant spider crawled across the screen in reference to the music video, while ballroom dancers’ legs moved in sync to “Billie Bossa Nova.”

“She played a really versatile set and had such a powerful stage presence,” senior Mandy Martin said. “She sang some emotional things that were captivating, but

she was also relatable and funny.”

Tonight was a special night for Eilish, as her energy was unlike any of her previous shows. She could be seen running, spinning and bouncing across the stage at some moments. Eilish enjoyed interacting with the audience and instructed them throughout the show to keep them on their feet.

During “You Should See Me in a Crown,” she urged everyone to stand still, “like Squid Games,” until she directed them to jump around. For the slithering single “Oxytocin,” (which included a portion of “Copycat”) she got the audience to get as low as they could before springing up from the ground.

The show’s more heartfelt moments included a stripped-down performance of “Your Power,” with Eilish and her brother Finneas strumming guitars and singing

the emotional song. Finneas then walked away, leaving Eilish to sing “Male Fantasy” alone with her guitar. A montage of our planet being ruined by pollution, oil spills, waste and global warming made for the show’s most somber moment during “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.” She admitted that she’d cried multiple times while looking at the heartbreaking video during rehearsals but knew these were important issues that needed to be addressed.

During the middle of the set, “Not My Responsibility” and its corresponding short film played as Eilish ran to the opposite end of the arena and rode on a massive crane. There, she sang “Overheated” and took a few moments to admire her delighted supporters as the crane circled slowly. She then delivered a performance of her earlier musical masterworks, in-

cluding “Bellyache,” “Ocean Eyes” and “Bored” before getting off.

Instead of an encore, Eilish announced that the show would conclude after two final songs. With that, she took out her pigtails and danced wildly on the runway to “Bad Guy,” with confetti cannons exploding from the rafters. The title track “Happier Than Ever” began quietly but quickly turned into a rager, with fans screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs.

There’s no better way to experience New Orleans for the first time than to do so at the start of a world tour, and Eilish did just that.

“It was absolutely incredible,” said freshman Trissidy Semien.

“I’ve wanted to see Billie Eilish on tour for years now, and it feels like a dream that I finally got to see her. It was so much fun. I’m happy we could all gather safely and have a great time.”

FILM

Kevin James is Sean Payton in unimpressive ‘Home Team’

BY CONNOR MCLAUGHLIN @connor_mcla

I’m writing this “Home Team” review so you don’t have to go through the same painful hourand-a-half viewing experience that I endured.

Back in May 2021, it was announced that Kevin James would be starring as Sean Payton, the now-retired head coach of the New Orleans Saints, in a Netflix movie. I remember seeing the headline and being quite confused.

I asked myself, was it about the year the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV? Who’s directing and producing it? Then, I clicked on the article.

Hold on, is this is a Happy Madison movie? Is it a family comedy? Is Taylor Lautner in this? Is this is a real movie or a fever dream? Wait, say that again, please. Is Kevin James Sean Payton?

Flash forward to this week, where I watched “Home Team” in its entirety. The film follows

COURTESY OF IMDB

James as Payton, who, after being suspended from the NFL due to his Bountygate involvement, returns home and starts coaching his 12-year-old son’s Pop Warner football team. I clicked play and, thus, a cinematic atrocity ensued.

This movie was utterly insufferable from start to finish.

It starts with some truly cursed

imagery of actual footage of Super Bowl XLIV with James edited into it as Coach Payton, which is not even the film’s worst offense.

The crux of the movie’s crimes stems from it feeling entirely unnecessary and completely unfunny. By the two-minute mark (or rather the two-minute warning sign that this film would be egregiously horrible), there’s al-

ready product placement of Juicy Fruit—a chewing gum that Payton is widely known for loving— and a plethora of cringeworthy jokes.

You might’ve guessed it, but the film does not get any better, as it unsuccessfully inches up the field to no gain or glory.

I realize this movie is a family comedy at its core, but a film about Sean Payton coaching peewee football has no right to be this bad. At the very least, it could’ve been a mediocre sports drama about the consequences of your actions, the dangerous ambition of winning and the power of family. The New Orleans Saints have been through a lot with Payton as their head coach, so Netflix and even James could have crafted something somewhat special.

However, “Home Team” is not special. The movie resorts to toilet humor that comes from people falling or vomiting while the emotion stems from lousy clock management, horrible play calling, trite family drama, and the

2012 hit “We Are Young” by fun. feat. Janelle Monáe.

It’s not funny in the slightest, it feels entirely forced with so many unnecessary scenes and characters, and I cannot reiterate this enough—Kevin James plays Coach Sean Payton. It sounds genuinely insane for me to say this, but the best part of this movie was Taylor Lautner as the head coach of Payton’s son’s team. Wild, I know.

Payton’s decision to leave has been a horrible time for Saints fans everywhere and now there is this atrocity. I know there are more significant events happening globally, but this feels like the world is imploding on itself.

Thankfully, Sean Payton’s cameo at the end was bittersweet and felt like a wink at the audience.

It might be the one saving grace of the movie.

No shade to those that worked on the movie, but it could have been so much better than the flaming dumpster fire that Netflix decided to greenlight. Talk about a fumble of a film.

SPORTS Column: Pinson’s PLEASANTLY resurgence is vital HUMBLE

page 8

OPINION

HENRY HUBER @HenryHuber_

I’m really here with all of these incredible athletes, which is a dream come true.’ But then I started doubting the fact that I was even there.”

Her deeply rooted faith, as well as the people she leans on most for comfort and support, are what pulled Pleasants out of her rut.

“I texted a couple of my friends, and they really helped me walk through this,” she explained. “And that night I gained that confidence

The Tigers were dealt a heavy blow just weeks ahead of their opening game against Louisiana Monroe when Illinois transfer Adam Miller suffered a torn ACL in practice. Miller was expected to play a prominent role on both ends of the court, particularly on the offensive end, and his shoes were going to be hard to fill.

Still, LSU did what it could with the players available... and then some.

LSU kicked off the season on a 12-game win streak, more than just handling business against the likes of Liberty (No. 1 in ASUN East), Belmont (No. 3 in OVC), Wake Forest (No. 3 in ACC) and Ohio (No. 2 in MAC). The Tigers allowed 60 points just three times in that span, sporting the best scoring defense in the country and giving up just 54 points per game.

The team was humbled in a rough road loss against Auburn (currently ranked No. 1 in the country) before besting two other SEC contenders in No. 5 Kentucky and No. 19 Tennessee. But in the latter matchup, the fireworks

see PLEASANTS, page 9

see COLUMN, page 9

SAVANNA ORGERON / The Reveille

LSU freshman Taylor Pleasants (17) throws the ball during the Tigers’ 8-4 loss against Duke on Feb. 12, 2021 at Tiger Park.

Red-shirt sophomore Taylor Pleasants is a name to know this spring

BY MACKAY SUIRE @macthetiger From “Air” Aliyah Andrews to Britni Sneed, LSU Softball has had its fair share of iconic players throughout the years. While this season’s roster is stacked with talent, there is one player who has made her name known both in and out of Tiger Park. That player is redshirt sophomore Taylor Pleasants, and she’s now known as a member of the 2022 USA Women’s National

Team.

The Texas native quickly found her spot in LSU’s lineup last season as a freshman. Pleasants was the Tigers’ starting shortstop for all 57 games of the 2020-21 season and hit an incredible 0.316 with 56 hits, 12 doubles, 49 RBIs and a staggering 13 home runs as the cleanup hitter.

Deemed the SEC Newcomer of the Year after that season, Pleasants was chosen to try out for the Women’s National Team, the only Tiger to do so.

With such notable stats, many would be surprised that going into the tryouts for the National Team, Pleasants was consumed with doubt. The night before the tryouts were scheduled to begin, the humble player was unsure that her skills matched those of her counterparts.

“I was going to sleep and I just started thinking about all the people that I’d be competing against,” Pleasants explained. “We hadn’t even touched the field yet, and I was laying down and I was just like, ‘Wow,

MEN’S BASKETBALL

LSU mens hoops scrambles back to winner’s circle

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus Coming off a three game losing streak and losing six of its last seven games, LSU men’s basketball picked itself off the mat with a 76-68 win against Texas A&M. Xavier Pinson was back in the starting lineup for LSU and played significant minutes for the first time since getting injured on Jan. 8. His absence was a big part of LSU’s slump over the last seven games, and having him back in the lineup made a huge difference in the game for the Tigers.

“He makes a huge difference for us,” Head Coach Will Wade said when talking about the impact having Pinson back had on the team.

On both ends of the court LSU looked more cohesive and like a team which speaks volumes to Pinson’s leadership as a point guard. Pinson would go on to finish with 11 points and two assists. He was a floor gen-

eral throughout the night for the Tigers on both ends. This was not the first time Pinson played since sustaining his injury, but was the first time he saw significant action and claimed he finally felt more like himself in this game.

“I can admit that the first two times I tried to play I was nowhere near ready,” Pinson said. “I felt great out there today, happy to be back with the guys.”

LSU started the game on fire, getting out to a 36-16 lead at halftime in what Wade described as a “defensive clinic.” The Tigers held Texas A&M to just 16 points and the Aggies were abysmal from the field shooting 21% in the first half. On the other end of the floor, LSU had one if its best shooting halves of the season, shooting 54% from the field and an amazing 70% from beyond the arc. Tari Eason had yet another great game scoring, adding 25 points, which led all scorers.

Eason spoke about how it felt to break the losing streak and how

this momentum will help them moving forward.

“Today it felt like it did in the beginning of the season again,” Eason said, talking about the win. “Obviously we had some slippage, but these are things we can come back to, correct and watch film on.”

Eason was right about the slippage, as despite the win, LSU still made its fair share of mistakes and gave Texas A&M life in the second half. The Tigers committed 22 turnovers on the night, which almost ended up being costly as Texas A&M made a surge. LSU also gave up 52 points in the second half, and a lot of that had to do with Texas A&M’s 12 offensive rebounds in the final twenty minutes. Turnovers and rebounding have been struggles for LSU all season, but a strong first half was enough to offset these difficulties and allow LSU to close out a much needed win.

see PINSON, page 9

PETER NGUYEN / The Reveille

LSU men’s basketball freshman center Efton Reid III (15) attempts a layup Jan. 26 during LSU’s 70-64 win against Texas A&M in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on North Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

page 9

PINSON, from page 8

PLEASANTS, from page 8

This win will undoubtedly give LSU some much-needed confidence going into a crucial stretch of SEC play that will go a long way in determining where the Tigers will be come March. LSU’s next three games are against Mississippi State, Georgia and South Carolina — all very winnable games, especially with the Tigers seemingly at full strength.

back and was thinking, ‘Maybe being here was my purpose.’ We always talk about what’s our ‘why,’ and my ‘why’ is to play for God, and to use my platform to make Him known. I decided then that I was going to use my time here to do exactly that.”

Pleasants’ faith has a prodigious influence on the way she chooses to lead her life both on and off the field. Her faith holds her accountable, making her extremely aware of the choices she makes and the way she interacts with those around her.

“I think the way that your faith is incorporated into your life has a lot to do with how other people see you,” Pleasants said. “So, if I’m going to walk around campus, I’m going to walk around as if God was there. I’m going to portray myself as someone that Jesus would want to be known or associated with. I want to be Christian like, and I strive to be that way everyday.”

Many of these people are actually her current teammates. Pleasants says that being alongside a few of her teammates who are also in constant pursuit of their personal faith has created a culture off of the field that to her, is beautifully encouraging and supportive.

“A few of my teammates have really been the reason why my faith has blossomed like it has,” Pleasants

explained. “I really was able to go to some of these girls and just talk to them, and that was very comforting. Shelbi Sunseri helped me a lot as well with learning the Word and just how to really balance things like time management when incorporating your faith into your daily schedule. I think that having a community to go to is just really helpful, and a lot of people have been impacted by it as well.”

Her personal faith, relationships with her teammates, and Head Coach Beth Torina’s focus on boosting the confidence of each player has proven to be fundamental building blocks of Pleasants’ understanding of what confidence truly is, and how she can portray confidence both on and off of the field.

Torina frequently invites Brian Cain, a best-selling author, to Tiger Park to speak with her players.

Cain discusses with the team a lot about what confidence truly looks like, and how each player should be working toward strengthening their mental performance.

“Cain talks a lot about not feeling confident, but acting confident,” Pleasants explained. “So for example, when I walk out on the field and I don’t feel very confident but still I act as if I am, I will ultimately end up feeling more confident. It is really all about not having the choice of acting unconfident. Brian is always talking about having strong

tistics, with the team dropping in scoring (No. 42 to 113), assists (No. 140 to 207), assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 201 to 296) and offensive efficiency (No. 82 to 167). These

starting point guard. The team lacked chemistry, comfort and direction through those eight games, averaging just 64 points per game and looking like a shell

SAVANNA ORGERON / The Reveille

LSU men’s basketball sophomore forward Tari Eason (13) dunks the ball Jan. 4 during LSU’s 56-50 win against Kentucky in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on North Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

COLUMN, from page 8 abruptly halted.

At this point in time exactly one month ago, the Tigers had the sixth-best average scoring margin in the country (+20.5) thanks to a defense that ranked third in opponent scoring (56.4 points per game) and first in defensive efficiency (0.762, 0.54 better than the next best team). They either led or were within the Top-5 in steals per game, defensive play and possession (No. 1), opponent true shooting (No. 2), opponent effective field goal percentage (No. 4) and opponent assist/turnover ratio (No. 4).

With arguably the best defense in the country and an offense that could pull its weight, LSU was building a reputation as one of the best teams in the SEC. But their starting point guard Xavier Pinson went down with an injury, causing one of LSU’s biggest flaws to rear its ugly head.

This team has absolutely zero depth in the back court. That was somewhat predictable with Adam Miller’s injury in October, but if anyone was unaware of that before Pinson’s injury, they could not ignore it after the fact.

LSU had two other point guards available to take over while Pinson was gone: Eric Gaines and Justice Williams. And with Justice Williams lacking experience at the college level, Gaines was forced to take on a huge role.

Gaines did an adequate job of filling Pinson’s absence, but the team still suffered immensely without him, especially on the offensive end. Offensive production was always the weak part of LSU’s game, but it became a liability without Pinson.

It was clear based on the sta-

body language and positive words for yourself, which ultimately work to create that confidence. We really try to use his advice for pretty much everything we do here.”

Cain’s advice to the LSU softball team has carried over onto the field in practice time. With internal con-

SAVANNA ORGERON / The Reveille

LSU freshman infielder Taylor Pleasants (17) throws the ball during the Tiger’s 1-0 loss against OSU on Feb. 26 at Tiger Park. fidence comes the confidence to be a leader, which is exactly what Torina is seeing now. Freshmen on the roster have stepped up and taken charge in practice, a trait that both Torina and Pleasants are super excitnever perfect but it managed to score the most points in a game since the one where Pinson suffered the injury.

The key difference between

ABBY KIBLER / The Reveille

LSU men’s basketball senior Xavier Pinson (1) high fives sophomore forward Tari Eason (13) after he makes a jump shot Nov. 22 during LSU’s 83-53 win over Belmont in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. drops occurred in less of a month of play, just eight games.

The eye test didn’t lack any clarity either, as any average basketball fan could recognize that this offense was lost without its

of its former self.

Pinson returned to extended playing time in their latest matchup against Texas A&M and just like that, the team looked like itself again. Their offense was

LSU’s game against Texas A&M and the previous eight games was apparent from the beginning of the first half, as even with scoring being somewhat slow to start, the team looked comfortable on

ed for fans to see come game time.

Pleasants says that her main advice to her teammates hoping to be leaders is to be confident in who they are as individuals.

“Stay true to yourself,” she said.

“Know what you’re good at and know where you can help people rather than just trying to be a whole bunch of different things at one time.”

With her name attached to so many accomplishments, one can assume that the pressure may get to Pleasants once the season truly begins. This isn’t a concern for Pleasants though.

“There’s always pressure,” Pleasants admitted, “but I am going to trust my teammates and everything that they do. I’m going to rely on them and focus on them rather than myself.”

Torina also has no doubt in Pleasants’ capabilities, noting that the stellar shortstop can “control any situation on the field.”

One thing Pleasants made sure to acknowledge in regards to this season’s team is the undeniable chemistry that every player has had a role in creating. Fans can look forward to seeing how this bond affects their game play this weekend, as the team is gearing up for the Tiger Classic, a tournament that will begin Friday, Feb. 9. The first game versus the South Alabama Jaguars begins at 3 p.m. offense. The possessions were devoid of forced shots and charges towards the basket and eventually, the shots started falling.

The Tigers played arguably their best first half of the season and though Texas A&M managed to give itself chances in the second half, each surge was met with a confident response from the Tigers, who never let the lead drop below eight points.

There are still evident flaws in LSU’s play with Pinson on the floor, with the team ranking low in assist-to-turnover ratio due to struggles with turnovers, and its other offensive statistics rank near the middle of the pack or lower.

LSU relies heavily on momentum generated by success on defense and tend to struggle a bit in half court offense.

But when this team is on and completely healthy, it is one of the best teams in the SEC and could make waves if the Tigers are playing their best basketball at the right time. That’s not only apparent in the games where they’ve had Pinson, but in how close they were to victory in the span without him.

Of the six losses that LSU suffered in that span, four of them (Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt) could be perceived as winnable without Pinson even being on the floor. The game against Alabama came down to the last shot and the rest had LSU in solid positions to take the win late in the game.

LSU win all four of those games and is 21-3, which would be one of the best records in the country and the second-best record in the SEC. Wherever this team ends up in March Madness in regards to seeding, LSU should be a team that no one overlooks.

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THE Daily Commuter Puzzle ACROSS 1 Divulge another’s secret 5 String instrument 10 Smell __; suspect trickery 14 Gossip columnist Barrett 15 Workers’ group 16 Sensible 17 Family tree member 18 Mirror image 20 CBS’ “__: Miami” 21 Marathoner’s concern 22 __ a hand; helps 23 Nonsense 25 That woman 26 Walks off with 28 Swelters in the heat 31 Greased 32 __ up; become happy again 34 Walk-__; some NYC apartments 36 As wise __ owl 37 Dog problem 38 Word of disgust 39 Teacher’s favorite 40 Inch along 41 Wash off shampoo 42 Raised, as kids 44 Renovate 45 Melancholy 46 Ne’er-do-well 47 Pays a landlord 50 Flue deposit 51 Umpire’s call 54 Allegation 57 Little __; girl of old cartoons 58 Friendly talk 59 Winnie the Pooh’s creator 60 Curry & others 61 Olden times 62 Unable to sit still 63 Sioux Falls’ state: abbr.

DOWN 1 Bric-a-__ 2 Ferrigno & Dobbs 3 Destroy completely 4 Baseball whacker

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50 Gritty residue 52 Arm bone 53 Walrus tooth 55 “I __ Man of Constant Sorrow” 56 Element whose symbol is Sn 57 Spanish article

OPINION

page 11

Student Health Center must improve its accessibility KACEYING THE STORY KACEY BUERCKLIN

@okacey1

The LSU Student Health Center offers students an extensive range of services: vaccinations, STD testing, diagnostic imaging, psychiatric care, gynecology services, and more. However, these necessary services come at a hefty cost with limited accessibility.

Healthcare accessibility is unfortunately a common issue, especially among college students.

One in five college students do not have health insurance.

I am part of that one in five; my family makes too much money to receive Medicaid, but other health insurances are too expensive.

While there is university-offered health insurance, it amounts to a costly $1,639 for the spring and summer semesters. For students like me who finance their own housing and tuition, paying that much for a few months of health insurance simply isn’t an option.

The consequences of this inaccessibility became even more evident to me when I fell ill earlier this month. My free COVID-19 test came back negative, so I called the SHC to ask how much it would cost to get a flu test. The nurse told

me it would be at least $97-200 for just a visit, not even including the cost of a flu test itself.

That $200 forced me to choose between paying my fee bill or visiting the doctor. So, I made a choice no student should have to make and rode out the illness alone. Thankfully, I was fine, but I shouldn’t have had to decide between my tuition and access to healthcare services It’s not just uninsured students who face accessibility issues. A trip to the SHC can be costly even for those with insurance.

Anthropology sophomore Gracie Bass paid $50 for a dermatologist referral and another $50 for the dermatologist appointment.

Bass shelled out $100 to talk to a dermatologist for a few minutes and get one prescription.

“You have to be referred to their dermatologist, so you’re required to speak to someone beforehand,” Bass said. “Total for just the visit I was billed $100 and all I did was really speak to them. I was in there for maybe 10 minutes in their office. It just seems too ridiculous for health coverage to be expensive this way when health coverage is the bare minimum.”

Not only did Bass pay a steep price for her brief visit, but she had difficulty seeing someone at all.

CARTOON BY EMILY TRAN

“Booking an appointment was hard. They have two dermatologists, but one only goes in on Fridays. The other was booked up until March,” Bass said. “There is a lack of accessibility for students even with health insurance.”

The SHC altered its policy about health insurance last year, raising new accessibility issues.

The SHC changed its billing system on May 10, 2021, to accept health insurance, including Medicaid. Prior to this change, the SHC was more accessible to students without health insurance or those who do not want to use their insurance.

While the new billing system benefits a large number of stu-

dents with insurance, it also leaves behind uninsured students and students with high insurance deductibles like Bass. The new billing system serves some students while abandoning others; reform is necessary to expand access to everyone on campus.

The SHC strongly encourages every student to have health insurance and provides a free forum that connects students with resources to afford health insurance and understand the billing process. More information on the free forum can be found at the SHC website under the billing and insurance tab.

SHC Executive Director Julie Hupperich said that while she is aware health insurance can be ex-

pensive, students should not take the risk of being uninsured.

“We try to get students to understand how important health insurance is. Some students risk it hoping that they don’t get seriously sick,” Hupperich said. “We don’t want students to be billed for millions of dollars for something terrible.”

Hupperich is right; it is vital to have health insurance. An unexpected emergency or accident could leave anyone with astronomical medical bills. Health insurance can help save someone from life-long debt. To ensure more students avoid this risk, the SHC is trying to lower the university’s health insurance premium to increase accessibility.

Inaccessibility at the SHC is a symptom of broader issues in the American healthcare system. At LSU and beyond, people across the country are forced to choose between healthcare and other necessities.

Students already spend thousands of dollars to get an education at the university. Offering affordable healthcare access to all students is the bare minimum and only makes sense.

Kacey Buercklin is a 20-year-old political communication senior from Murrayville, GA.

University must use influence to encourage police reform DRAKE’S TAKES DRAKE BRIGNAC @drakebrignac Cpl. Robert Moruzzi, board chair of the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board and Baton Rouge Police Department representative, resigned Jan 24, ending his term 18 months early. The university needs to raise its collective voice before the election to fill the vacant seat on this little-known, but powerful, municipal body.

His resignation marked a longsought change desired by community groups and activists, but it is only the first step in guaranteeing the Board fulfills its duty to the residents of Baton Rouge.

The Civil Service Board comprises five appointees representing the Baton Rouge Police Department, Baton Rouge Fire Department, Louisiana State University, Southern University and the Metro-

politan Council. The Board broadly oversees the police and fire departments with the statutory mandate to “represent the public interest in matters of personnel administration.”

While the Board’s oversight encompasses promotions and hiring of police officers and firefighters, one of its more important duties is reviewing firings and disciplinary appeals. The board’s power over these appeals, especially for police officers, caused many to condemn Moruzzi’s presence on the board.

In March 2010, former police chief Jeff LeDuff fired Moruzzi after an off-duty fight. During the encounter, Moruzzi allegedly attempted to pull down a sign, punched a restaurant manager who intervened, pulled out a firearm and threatened to kill the manager.

However, he returned to the force later that year.

Then, in 2016, a federal jury found that Moruzzi used excessive force against former LSU student

Brett Percle and awarded Percle $25,000. The city also paid an additional $51,000 in attorney and court costs. The suit stemmed from a 2014 drug raid during which Moruzzi stomped the back of Percle’s head and knocked out his front teeth.

Moruzzi’s departure creates a make-or-break opportunity for the future of community-police relations in Baton Rouge. For years, while Moruzzi served, the board overturned a number of high-profile appeals, specifically those involving policy violations related to conduct toward residents.

In 2019, the board voted threeto-two to overturn the firing of police officer Yuseff Hamadeh.

Hamadeh previously lied about being shot at and returning fire—a claim without any evidence. Later that year, BRPD settled a case with Blane Salamoni, the officer who killed Alton Sterling, in part because of concerns that the board could overturn his firing.

“You can go to the case of Yuseff Hamadeh—an egregious case like that—the civil service board gave him his job back on a technicality,” community organizer Walter Geno McLaughlin said. “Should we be overturning decisions like that?”

In another extreme case last July, the board voted four-to-one to revise the discipline of Sgt. John Dauthier following an incident where he pushed open a pregnant woman’s door, pulled her onto her deck and arrested her. Officers later realized they went to the wrong house.

Whoever fills the police department vacancy left by Moruzzi on the Civil Service Board should be an officer without a disciplinary record.

With nearly 600 sworn officers on the force, this should not be difficult.

“I got to think that one exists,” Eugene Collins, president of the NAACP Baton Rouge Branch, stressed. “I got to think that there’s

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The Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University.

The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to editor@lsu.edu or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

somebody out there that’s not tied to a major controversial thing that happened in our community that can serve in this role.”

The university and other institutions must assert their influence to secure a qualified appointee for the board, Collins said. LSU community members must vocally demand that the new appointee balances their role as a representative of the police department with their duty to represent the public interest.

The university and its stakeholders should leverage any and all influence—formal or informal—to revamp the board’s standing and fulfill its duty to the public at large.

Our university of 41,000 voices holds one-fifth of the civil service board’s power. It is our duty to use that power to inspire meaningful institutional reform.

Drake Brignac is a 21-year-old political communication and political science senior from Baton Rouge.

Quote of the Week “The way to know life is to love many things.”

Vincent van Gogh Dutch painter 1853 — 1890

Thursday, February 10, 2022

page 12

Rising cost of tuition is theft, widens class divide in US KACEYING THE STORY KACEY BUERCKLIN

@0kacey1

The rising cost of tuition is theft, stealing an education from students and unrealized potential from our society.

LSU’s cost of tuition has increased over 109% since 2008, leaving many students to fall into debt or forgo college entirely.

Every American should have access to higher education without financial struggle. Rising tuition costs only widen the significant gap between the rich and poor. Without a degree, finding a high-paying job can be near impossible.

Workers with completed bachelor’s degrees make $1.2 million more throughout their careers than workers with only a high school diploma. Though a college degree has clear financial benefits, it requires many Americans to take a major risk by signing student loans.

“Tuition costs being outrageously expensive has really affected me,” political communications senior Merissa Butler said. “Every semester it gets more and more difficult to pay off my fee bill.”

Butler is an out-of-state student from Atlanta and one of the first in her family to attend college. Though she maintains high marks and has enough in scholarships to equal in-state tuition, paying for each semester is still a challenge.

“I have to go home and work every summer and winter break just so that I can afford to pay my college tuition for the semester,” Butler said. “I try to take out as little loans as possible, but for some semesters I had no choice. It can be a lot, and it’s

JULIAN COOPER / The Reveille

Memorial Tower peaks above the building on Feb. 2 at LSU’s campus on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La. exhausting.”

In-state tuition is around $12,000 a year, while out-ofstate tuition is almost $30,000 a year. Factoring in needs such as housing and dining, in-state stu-

dents pay almost $25,000 a year and out-of-state students almost $40,000 a year.

College debt is no joke. Like Butler, I am from Georgia, pay in-state tuition and have many

scholarships and grants that help me. Still, I have accumulated thousands of dollars of student loans over my college career because my family is unable to offer me financial sup-

port.

Millions of students in America share my story, making mounting student debt one of this country’s worst financial crises. Student debt has surged over 144% in the past decade, burying students in $1.7 trillion of debt.

The university’s financial aid system is based primarily on merit, not student need. This hurts students who could not afford ACT or SAT prep-courses in high school or whose grades suffered because they had to work.

Lower-income public schools are also poorly funded, which further disadvantages students who want to apply for merit-based scholarships.

The university is now allowing students to apply without ACT or SAT scores, but this was only a recent decision.

And even with test-optional admission, higher-income students are still more likely to qualify for merit-based scholarships because they have more resources in high school and throughout the college application process than lower-income students.

Plummeting higher education funding is one of the main reasons tuition prices have surged over the past decade.

But hope may be on the horizon for Louisiana students with Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent budget proposal to invest millions of dollars into higher education. Increased federal and state investment in higher education would alleviate growing socioeconomic divides and improve the lives of Americans.

After all, it’s not hard to imagine that society would be better if millions of citizens weren’t burdened with suffocating debt.

Kacey Buercklin is a 20-yearold political communications major from Gainesville, GA.

Northern elitism destructive, serves only politicians SULLY’S SCOOP CLAIRE SULLIVAN

@sulliclaire

Living in the South as a Northerner has taught me about the two regions and the strange divide between them.

First, I never called myself a “Northerner” before I came to Louisiana. In fact, I had never used the words “the North” or “Northerner” outside of the context of a U.S. history lesson on the Civil War. Though I now use these terms as parts of my everyday vocabulary, I’m reminded of how unfamiliar they once were every time my friends and family from home laugh at me calling them Northerners.

My surprise at my new identity as a Northerner upon arriving in Louisiana likely stems from the fact that, prior to moving to the South, I thought very little about

my own regional identity. While I loved the Northeast—its nature, its seasons, its cities, its people— I was thrilled to be coming to LSU and didn’t feel particularly tied to my home region. Living in a new part of the country was an exciting—though slightly intimidating—prospect.

Deciding to come to LSU made me better understand how the people around me viewed the South. Several people asked me, with genuine concern, why I was leaving the Northeast for a region of the country they regarded as an entirely different, and much worse, world. People unloaded every negative adjective they could think of to describe the South: backwards, uneducated, racist, ignorant.

Though I had heard similar negative sentiments about the South throughout my life, I was still surprised by this reaction and confused about where it came from. What I think many

Northerners fail to realize is how harmful this regional divide is not only to Southerners, but to themselves.

The detriment of these attitudes to Southerners is more immediately obvious.

The apathy expressed by many Northerners, primarily those with platforms, when disaster strikes the South is deeply troubling. Many seem to write off red states as deserving of devastation simply based on where their electoral votes went in the last presidential election. It is unimaginable that people can look at the destruction maintained by Louisiana over the past two hurricane seasons and say something like, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have voted for such bad politicians.”

Though these are extreme examples that do not represent the majority of Northerners, they demonstrate a pervasive underlying apathy and division that in-

fects much of Northern views of the South. Viewing millions of Americans as the “other” based simply on geographical location or the designation of their state as red has dehumanizing consequences in both rhetoric and government policy.

These Northern attitudes are not only harmful to the South but destructive to the North.

Many Northern politicians embrace the aesthetics of progressivism but not its values. They know the right words to use and will offer endless platitudes in support of social issues, but, at the end of the day, fight to maintain the status quo that launched them into power. These politicians believe that since they are not explicitly racist, their support of racist policies is acceptable, and since they talk so much about the little guy, that it’s all right for them to take money from massive corporate donors. And when their constituents dare to be upset or unsat-

isfied, they can point to the villainized picture of the South they painted themselves and say, “You should be grateful.”

In many ways, the South serves as a convenient scapegoat for Northern problems. Without it, Northern politicians may have to look inward and address the faults in front of them. Though the North and the South share common problems, and though many of their residents have common social and class interests, the two regions are often portrayed as irrevocably different.

That image of an unbreachable divide between the North and South only serves bad-faith leaders that would prefer Americans spend their time divided among one another than bound in solidarity toward common goals.

Claire Sullivan is a 19-year-old coastal environmental science sophomore from Southbury, CT.