The Reveille 2-23-23

ON THE RISE

Inside the rapid growth of LSU women’s hoops

Read on page 2

SIXTH MAN

Inside LSU women’s basketball’s record-breaking home atmosphere

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus

The hype surrounding LSU women’s basketball is arguably higher than its ever been.

From Kim Mulkey’s arrival last season to the emergence of Angel Reese and a 25-1 record this season, LSU’s fanbase has fully embraced the program that garnered little attention just two years ago.

The hype and support from the fanbase has been easy to see. Attendance numbers have skyrocketed this season, with LSU breaking a Pete Maravich Assembly Center attendance record in its win over Tennessee.

Over 15,000 people filled the PMAC to watch the Tigers secure a 76-68 win in what was a “whiteout” game for the LSU crowd. That wasn’t the only game that featured a raucous LSU crowd, though.

A little less than two weeks prior on Jan. 9, LSU welcomed Arkansas to the PMAC for what was a battle between two of the top teams in the SEC. LSU gutted out a 79-76 win, with the crowd being a critical factor, according to Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors.

“Their student body, I don’t know how many they had here but it was vocal, it was honest, it was distracting, it was a really really tough environment,” Neighbors said.

The student investment and attendance has been a major factor in the atmosphere around LSU women’s basketball changing, according to LSU Director of Fan Engagement Heidi Wetherbee.

“Atmosphere 100% makes a big difference,” Wetherbee said. “It energizes our team when it’s been a late game going into overtime and they’re digging for those last couple of pushes of energy and you guys 100% reinvigorate them.”

Across all levels of women’s and men’s college basketball, student sections are often the driving forces of big crowds and atmospheres. Groups like the “Cameron Crazies” at Duke or the newly named “Kim’s Krewe” at LSU are known for their loud cheering and in-game gimmicks in hopes of creating a tough environment for their team’s opponent.

At LSU, Wetherbee and the athletic department have worked with the students throughout the season to continue to build on the atmosphere. Promotions such as free food and t-shirts for students have been a large part of the overall effort to drive student engagement.

“We made extra efforts this year to really get out in front of the students,” Wetherbee said. “We hit free speech rally the day of the game, as long as it’s

a midweek game, if it’s a weekend game, we try and hit it on the Friday before the weekend with flyers of what we’re doing. We did a lot of student food this year, we’ve had a lot of t-shirts, especially here at the end of the season. The two things I always hear that get students out are food and t-shirts.”

Another factor in creating the environment seen in the PMAC this season is cultivating both the students and the rest of the fanbase together. Much of the early support for LSU women’s basketball under Mulkey came from the older crowd, and that support is still present.

With the growing support coming from the student body, one of the challenges for Weathersbee and LSU is creating an environment that is appealing to both crowds.

“We’ve worked really hard this year and continue to work hard to find that balance between what the older generations of our fanbase want, more family based kind of stuff and stuff that the students in the team want to hear,” Wetherbee said. “Those are two kinds of different ends of the spectrum. So you’ve got to find a way to merge them nicely.”

A major part in creating the atmosphere in the PMAC is the music played. Between the band and the music pumped through the arena speakers, it’s all meant to supplement the noise made by the crowd.

This is another area where ef-

forts are made to balance the interests of the older and younger crowd. At LSU women’s basketball games, the band sits in the lower level of the student section and is active throughout the game.

The band plays many of LSU’s traditional anthems and fight songs that much of the fan base, especially the older crowd resonates with. The students often feed off that energy too, but Wetherbee talked about the importance of playing the songs the students and players know, finding that balance between the two.

Some students do enjoy the traditional experience of the band, though. Toni Gwynn, an LSU junior social work major, enjoys the energy the band creates.

“I like the band more than like a typical, like, DJ type thing. Just because, like, everybody knows the stand tunes, like, even like the old people who show up,” Gwynn said. “Any situation where there’s like live music versus like DJ recordings type deal, I’m always gonna go for live music.”

Many students, though, enjoy the energy created by the music played over the speakers. Some have even mentioned the idea of having a DJ inside the arena, to enhance that experience.

Peyton Pipher, an LSU junior Bioengineering major, enjoys the newer music that connects the students to the players.

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“We love our Tiger Band. They do a fantastic job. But I think just creating basketball environment from the NBA to college elsewhere, keeping up with the times. I mean, if you look at the loudest parts of the Tennessee game, it was when, when ‘Swag Surfin’ was played, or when, songs are played. That’s when the student section really went crazy,” Pipher said. “I’m definitely pro-DJ and I think it affects the team. I think the girls probably enjoy listening to the music that we all like, they’re one of us.”

Though there’s no metric or statistic to truly measure it, it’s easy to see how the crowd impacts certain games. LSU is currently undefeated at home this season, and Mulkey has often given credit to the LSU fans.

Now with one home game left in the regular season, LSU looks to continue that atmosphere into the postseason. And for Wetherbee, she looks to cultivate that atmosphere going forward with LSU just two years into the Mulkey era.

“Every time we get you get a new coach, you expect it to be a couple of years before we rebuild,” Wetherbee said. “But she’s a phenomenal recruiter, her and her staff utmost respect to all of them for what they’re building there. I would hope that we continue the, the upward trajectory, and that will lead to, you know, letting us do more and bigger things.”

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

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The Reveille 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. A single issue of The Reveille is free from multiple sites on campus and about 25 sites off campus. To obtain additional copies, please visit the Office of Student Media in B-39 Hodges Hall or email studentmedia@ lsu.edu. The Reveille is published biweekly during the fall, spring and summer semesters, except during holidays and final exams. The Reveille is funded through LSU students’ payments of the Student Media fee.

ERIN BARKER / The Reveille

LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey reacts to a play from the side on Jan. 30 during LSU’s 76-68 win over Tennessee at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

BY CORBIN ROSS @CorbinRoss5

INNOVATE TICKET Interest in on-campus housing at all-time high

ticket

The executive candidates for the Innovate ticket promise to focus on sustainability, inclusivity, safety and more if elected in this spring’s election.

Political science and screen arts junior Anna Cate Strong and political science junior Gigi Powers announced their candidacy for student-body president and vice president in a campaign ad released Feb. 6. They will be heading the Innovate ticket.

Both Strong and Powers have experience in Student Government.

Strong has been a member of the Student Technology Fee Committee and the Faculty Senate Committee on Enrollment. She’s the director of philanthropy in the SG executive branch and said she ran a successful food drive. She started out in the Freshman Leadership Council upon arriving at LSU and eventually became a student senator.

Powers is the chair of the Student Sustainability Fund Committee and the director of campus affairs and sustainability. She initiated the Light Walk, which brought students around campus to highlight areas that needed more lighting. She began in SG as a senator in spring 2022 and then moved to the executive branch in fall 2022.

Strong and Powers said having experience in Senate and the executive branch gave them a better understanding of how both enti-

see INNOVATE TICKET, page 4

FACULTY

BY OLIVER BUTCHER @OliverButcher73

It’s that time of year again: housing season.

From the moment the housing portal opened on Feb. 1 for students to begin the application process for on campus housing, both upperclassmen and current freshmen interested in the West Campus, East Campus and Nicholson Gateway Apartments have flocked to the portal, driving up record demand for what may be not enough supply.

Peter Trentacoste, executive director of Residential Life, said there might not be enough room for everyone.

“Interest from returning students to live on campus at LSU is at an all-time high which means it’s very likely we will not have enough space to accommodate everyone that wants to live in a campus apartment next year,” he said.

Many residents choose on-campus housing for the convenience and security.

“If something happens, it’s LSUPD not BRPD, or if something happens in the building, it’s LSU Facility Services, not some random landlord…they have peace of mind knowing it’s LSU’s system,” said Nick LaPresta, a freshman and a Residence Hall Association senator.

see HOUSING, page 4

Louisiana, LSU faculty sound the alarm on retirement crisis

BY PIPER HUTCHINSON LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR

Louisiana’s higher education faculty feel trapped.

In the early days of their teaching careers, professors are asked to make an irrevocable choice about their retirement: choose the more portable optional retirement plan, or the more lucrative Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

Faculty do not pay into Social Security and therefore do not have the option to draw on Social Security in retirement.

Because of the natural uncertainty about a career in academia, many select the optional retirement plan, which gives individuals the ability to take the money they’ve paid in to another employer. Approximately 26% of college faculty have tenure, which offers an indefinite academic appointment. To be grant-

ed tenure, a faculty member typically works at an institution for about six years.

That combination of factors has led to thousands of faculty statewide choosing the optional retirement plan, a decision they regret as they join the lucky few that obtain tenure or the unlucky crew that are unable to leave for a more prestigious post. Many of these individuals now struggle to afford retirement.

The LSU Faculty Senate, the most vocal faculty body in the state, passed a resolution last week calling on LSU leadership to endorse legislation in the 2023 regular session that would allow faculty to switch from the optional retirement plan to the Teachers’ Retirement System on an actuarial basis.

The ability to switch on an actuarial basis, meaning that

LSU Faculty senators listen to the meeting on Feb. 16, in the Woods Auditorium on LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge, La. see RETIREMENT, page 4

COURTESY OF INNOVATE

Gigi Powers, the vice presidential candidate, for Innovate and Anna Cate Strong, the presidential candidate, pose for a photo.

Innovate

aims to address sustainability, inclusivity, safety and more

TICKET, from page 3

ties operate.

“It actually has been very helpful to get to understand, the different views, different jobs,” Strong said. “There are kind of different cultures between exec, Senate and college council.”

Strong said their campaign has five pillars: community, inclusivity, communication, sustainability and safety. She said that they are still working on developing specific policies or are waiting to announce them, so no specifics have been revealed yet.

“We think really working on those five, really bringing a lot of

RETIREMENT, from page 3

faculty would have to buy their way into Teachers’ Retirement System, would mean that those individuals would have a higher monthly pension based on their years of service and highest average annual salary as well as a lifetime benefit guaranteed by the state.

Under the optional retirement plan, monthly payout and length of benefits depend entirely on how much professors in Louisiana, who are consistently compensated below the regional average, are able to put aside. The Southern Regional Education Board reports that the average faculty pay for 2019-2020, the most recent period data is available, is $56,305, whereas the average faculty pay in Louisiana for

HOUSING, from page 3

But the cost of on-campus housing drives some students away. It “just depends how the money works out on your lease,” said Christian Garrett, a social work freshman, when asked how he’s viewing housing next year.

LaPresta said he’s spoken to many people who prefer off-campus housing because of the price.

Some feel daunted securing an off-campus apartment. Here’s the timeline:

Feb. 1: The housing portal opens.

This is when you want to log into the housing portal and complete all the steps including creating a roommate group in the “On-Campus Housing Application” tab and eventually signing the oncampus housing agreement at the end. Once you finish, you’re all set until Feb. 20 when selection time slots are assigned. The portal remains open until March 6, but you’ll want to complete this step before Feb. 19 to secure a selection time slot as soon as possible.

Feb. 1-19: Current apartment residents secure their same space

During this time current apartment residents will be securing their same apartment or moving around within the different apartment communities. The only thing you can do during this time if you’re a freshman or an upperclassman new to campus housing is complete the housing agreement if you haven’t already.

policies dealing with those five to the forefront is gonna not only improve student’s day to day life but also make LSU a more holistic experience for all students,” Strong said.

Strong said these pillars are interlinked with each other, so by improving one they can contribute to the others.

For community, Strong said they want to remove any barriers stopping students from engaging with the broader community. She said this will involve focusing heavily on students’ freshmen and sophomore years.

Powers said they want to make it easier for first year students to

the same period is $46,542.

But legislative relief is not likely to happen anytime soon.

Legislation regarding public retirement systems is subject to public notice, which must be given no later than 60 days before the regular session. That deadline passed on Feb. 9.

The topic could be approached in next year’s regular session, but future legislation is likely to hit the same obstacles as past attempts.

In the 2022 regular session, Sens. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, and Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, introduced Senate Bill 10, which would’ve allowed individuals in the optional retirement plan to switch to Teachers’ on an actuarial basis.

The bill ran into problems when it was realized that al-

Feb. 20: Selection time slots announced

If you completed the on-campus housing agreement, you’ll receive an email from LSU designating a timeslot in which you will select your apartment.

Feb. 20-22: Portal closed for maintenance

Feb. 23 until full: Apartment selection

Once it’s your allotted time, return to the housing portal, and select your apartment as soon as possible, as the spots will fill up quickly. If you manage to secure one, you have 48 hours to pay a $250 deposit, or the spot will become available again.

Feb. 27: Waitlist opens

If you didn’t secure an apartment and are still interested in an on-campus apartment, put your name down on the waitlist quickly. There is still a decent chance you secure an apartment spot.

According to Aubree Adams, the occupancy management associate director, the school was able to transfer “hundreds of tigers on campus and into a preferred location” in the past.

After that, the timeline is all on the individual, so always check your email to not miss your chance to get your new on-campus home.

It may be the toughest year yet to live on-campus next year, but it is by no means impossible.

“My advice to students is to be flexible and patient and our team will do their very best to get as many upper-class students on campus as possible,” Trentacoste said.

find connections and friendships at LSU. She said they wanted to emphasize assisting first-generation students and making SG more inclusive to any student who wants to get involved.

For inclusivity, Strong said they want to open up resources for LGBTQ students and students of color. She said she also wants to make the campus more inclusive to graduate students.

For communication, Strong said they want to improve how SG and administration talks to students and addresses concerns. She said they also want to better communicate what is available to students, which will involve specifi-

though it was designed to be cost neutral for the state, it would actually result in millions of dollars in cost for the state.

“From a fairness point of view, it was the right thing to do,” Luneau said of the bill, which he hopes to bring back in the future.

Because the bill would result in an actuarial cost, the constitution would require it to receive a two-thirds majority vote to pass, rather than the usual simple majority most legislation must receive, a high bar to pass in a politically divided legislature.

Other educators are looking to the judiciary for relief.

LSU Professors Kevin Cope and Roger Laine are suing the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

“The retirement plan provid-

cally communicating with student organizations.

For sustainability, Powers said there’s a lot of work to be done. She said it’s terrifying how little sustainability efforts there are around campus and that she wants LSU to be a leader in this area.

“My goal, and now our goal, is to make LSU the flagship school of sustainability in the [Southeastern Conference],” Powers said.

Powers said the biggest area LSU can improve its sustainability is in dining.

Powers said the SEC schools broadly rank low in sustainability in comparison with the rest of the country. Powers said LSU is listed

ed by Louisiana State University and indeed by most of the Louisiana universities, regardless of system or location, is atrociously bad and is indeed one of the worst of the nation by every measurable index,” Cope said in an interview.

According to the lawsuit, if Cope were to retire, his optional retirement plan account would provide him $1,750 per month. Cope has been a professor at LSU for 40 years.

The plaintiffs contend that funds paid into the optional retirement plan that should benefit retirees are instead unlawfully diverted to pay off the unfunded accrued liability, which is the difference between what officials expect future retirement benefits to cost and the assets that they have to pay for those benefits.

at a platinum level assigned by the American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education. She said she wants LSU to reach a gold level.

For safety, Strong said they want to foster a campus where everyone knows they can get help as soon as they need it. She said they want to promote the Shield app, which allows students to contact LSUPD for any assistance they need that may not warrant a 911 call.

Strong said their campaign is being funded by friends, family and themselves. The SG election code caps campaign spending at $4,000.

The lawsuit also alleges that the university does not meet the criteria to be exempted from Social Security and that LSU misrepresented the facts about the optional retirement plan.

The lawsuit asks for a judgment that forces LSU to meet the minimum contributions to claim exemption from Social Security.

It also seeks a declaratory judgment that Teachers’ has no right to impose unfunded accrued liability expenses on optional retirement plan members.

Faculty across the state have been eagerly watching the progress of the lawsuit, which has slowly inched its way through the judicial system for several years, in the hope that a ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor creates a precedent that will lead to relief for all.

ENTERTAINMENT

Netflix cracks down on password sharing on their platform

BY MADISON HEYDARI @madisonheydari

The days of using your parents’ Netflix or sharing an account with friends are coming to an end. The company announced that it would start cracking down on password sharing for its subscribers beginning sometime at the end of March.

The streaming service has long facilitated account sharing and allowed its users to take advantage of account features like user profiles and multi-device streaming. According to Netflix’s update on sharing, these features have caused “confusion” about how your Netflix account is supposed to be used, and it’s negatively affecting the company.

To address this, Netflix decided to end password sharing and came up with its paid sharing plan.

The goal is to prevent users from using Netflix without paying for their own subscription to the streaming service. Netflix has already tested a similar program in Latin America, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Canada that charges users to add extra mem -

bers to sub-accounts.

According to Netflix, your account is only supposed to be shared with the people in your household, which the company defines as “people who live in the same location with the account owner.” Anyone outside the

household will need to get their own account.

Originally, Netflix stated on its help center page that each subscriber’s Netflix account would be under one household, and it would require users to verify their devices.

This would mean users would no longer be able to watch Netflix while traveling, which affects families with deployed loved ones and family members who live away from home, such as college students.

Mass Communication senior

Courtlin Long, like many college students, uses her parents’ Netflix account and said she would be affected by this plan.

“I think it’s dumb and unnecessary,” Long said. “They already make a lot of money as it is and there are tons of students and kids who use their parents’ accounts or share accounts with their friends. I think they would lose a lot of users if they end password sharing.”

Netflix is anticipating that decline in users. In a letter to its shareholders, the company explains that it expects cancellations, but it also expects to see an increase in overall revenue as password borrowers activate their own accounts.

After receiving backlash from subscribers, Netflix removed its plan’s details from its website and told streaming news website The Streamable that those rules were specific to the countries where these changes were already implemented, meaning the parameters of the plan could vary by country while the company tests the waters.

Regardless, password-sharing will soon be coming to an end.

LSU’s AACC holds events to celebrate Black History Month

BY ARIS WILLIAMS @jonetaw

Black LSU Game Night Coates Hall Room 143

The African American Cultural Center will be hosting a Black History Game Night in an effort to cultivate community amongst minority students on campus. This event is an engaging way to learn more about the history of African Americans and test students’ knowledge on familiar topics.

Kuumba: Black Renaissance Fashion Show

Magnolia Room (LSU Student Union)

The African American Cultural Center proudly presents the First Annual LSU Black History Month fashion show: Kuumba The Black Renaissance. Black creatives and models are invited to present their work.

COURTESY OF FORBES

COURTESY OF LSU AACC INSTAGRAM

OUR LOCAL FARMS

Louisiana is home to many farms and pastures. Farmer Shannon Devall showed Reveille photographer, Tarun Kakarala, around his farm in Ethel, Louisiana on Feb. 13th.

An oyster trap sits.

A bull sniffs the hand of Shannon Devall.

Shannon Devall pulls on a cattle cage.

A cow looks out from behind a tree.

Photos by Tarun Kakarala

BREAKOUT THE BROOM

Takeaways from LSU baseball’s sweep over Western Michigan

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus

When you’re ranked No.1 in the country and are favored to win the National Championship, there’s little satisfaction in a sweep over Western Michigan.

However, LSU did what good teams should do against teams they’re better than; The Tigers completed a dominant series sweep. They never trailed over the course of the weekend.

LSU was especially dominant in games one and three, winning 10-0 and 9-2 respectively. It won just 5-3 on Saturday, but throughout the series, the Tigers showed off an ability to win in different ways.

There wasn’t anything too flashy over the course of the weekend; it was the straightforward sweep that many expected. However, there were some things that did stand out.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend.

The freshman class is as advertised

LSU entered the season with one of its best freshman classes to date. Baseball America ranked LSU as having the best freshman class in the country, and that was on display this weekend. Five different freshmen started games this weekend, with the four position players starting all three games.

BASEBALL

for each game.

course of the weekend.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

LSU vs. Vanderbilt preview

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

LSU women’s basketball prepares to take the road for the final time of the regular season on Thursday.

The Tigers will travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Commodores have had a tough season, sitting in 11th place in the SEC with a 12-16 overall record, and a 3-11 SEC record.

Ciaja Harbison leads Vanderbilt in scoring with 19.4 points per game. To put this in perspective, she’d be LSU’s second-leading scorer if she was on the team.

She’s also second in the SEC in points per game below Angel Reese and is third in the SEC in assists per game at 4.4.

Harbison isn’t the only one to worry about for the Commodores. Marnelle Garraud and Sacha Washington all average in double figures for points per game. If the Tigers can contain Harbison, Garraud and Washington, they can certainly handle the workload.

Garraud especially is capable of putting points on the board for the Commodores. She leads the SEC in three-pointers made per game with 2.8. The guards have to contain Harbison and

see SWEEP, page 10 see ON THE ROAD, page 10

Day in the life of LSU baseball pitcher Christian Little

BY SOPHIA WEILAND @sophweiland

Most college students have a pretty similar routine, wake up, go to class, do homework, study and repeat.

Student athletes have routines different from the average student. LSU pitcher Christian Little spends his days studying and preparing for his first baseball season at LSU. Little is from St. Louis, Missouri, currently a junior and the son of former Houston Astros member Chris Little.

Little starts his mornings at 7:30, gets ready for the day and heads to class at 9:30. Transferring from Vanderbilt, Little is continuing his education at LSU as a film major. After class, he heads to the athlete dining hall for some lunch around 11 a.m. A meal Little has been enjoying recently for lunch is barbecue chicken wraps. Little enjoys being on campus because of the enthusiasm of everyone at LSU in comparison to his previous school.

“There is so much enthusiasm on campus from students, whether it be past or present students and the kind of culture in Baton Rouge too, is a lot different and a lot more exciting,” Little said.

After lunch, Little heads to the baseball field. Little says practicing consistency is key as a pitcher. His daily practice on the field starts at 2 p.m. Most of the pitchers on the team have a similar practice routine. To start, he and the other pitchers throw while the team does defensive work.

Out of all the pitches he throws, Little’s favorite one is the cutter, which is a version of the fastball that moves slightly away from the pitcher’s arm-side.

After a few hours on the field, Little heads to the weight room. While in the weight room Little does different exercises for about an hour and a half. Having bone chips removed from his arm in the fall and working with the new strength coach has helped him better prepare for the season.

“In the weight room everything is individualized to the person and the deficiencies of the player,” Little said. “We also have a top notch strength coach in Derek Groomer, and he works hand in hand with our pitching coach”.

He then heads back to the athlete dining hall for some dinner. Little and the rest of the team work with a nutritionist to ensure they fuel their bodies properly.

“They help us daily with what to put in our body in order to recover and produce,” Little said.

After dinner, Little spends the rest of his night finishing up homework and hanging out with friends.

On a day where Little has school and a baseball game, his

,

Paxton Kling, Brady Neal, Jared Jones and Ben Nippolt all featured in the starting lineup

Neal and Jones were the two standouts; they combined for six RBIs over the

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille

LSU baseball junior left-handed pitcher Riley Cooper (38) speaks with freshman catcher Brady Neal (16) Feb. 18, during LSU’s 5-3 victory over Western Michigan at Alex Box Stadium on LSU’s campus.

FRANCIS DINH/ The Reveille

LSU baseball fans watch the game Feb. 18, during LSU’s 5-3 victory over Western Michigan at Alex Box Stadium on LSU’s campus.

SWEEP, from page 9

Neal was the starting catcher and went 3 for 5, with four walks for the series. Jones was the starting designated hitter and was 3 for 7 for the series, with four RBIs and three walks.

Chase Shores was another player that stirred conversation; he started the series finale on the mound for LSU and pitched three and one third innings. He tallied two strikeouts and allowed just one earned run. His fastball consistently hit the upper 90s, and 62% of his pitches were strikes.

Coming into the series, one of the major talking points was how the talented class would translate on the field. When speaking to that after the game, head coach Jay Johnson wasn’t surprised by how well the young players handled the adjustment.

“They’re some of the most talented guys in the program. And I think the older players that have been here three, four or five years would tell you that,” Johnson said. “Re -

ON THE ROAD, from page 9 Garraud from getting hot from the field, especially from behind the three-point line.

Washington leads Vanderbilt in rebounds per game with 7.4, so both Reese and LaDazhia Williams will have to defend here heavily so that LSU isn’t allowing Vanderbilt too many secondchance buckets.

On the contrary, Jasmine Carson is coming off of a careerhigh performance of 25 points with seven made three-pointers. Making sure she stays consistent as the post-season gets closer will be something head coach Kim Mulkey and the team hopes to see.

LSU has to come out with energy and with a fast start on Thursday in order to secure the win. In situations like these, however, a lockdown defense is a must.

The Commodores are very similar to LSU in that they roll with whatever is working in the given day. If they can get their points down low, they will, and if the three-point shot is hitting, they’ll keep shooting for it.

Teams like these can be dangerous because they are wellrounded. This is partially why LSU has done so well. They’ve been able to depend on Reese, but Alexis Morris has also had her moments when she will shoot and make from all over the field. The difference is that SEC teams have been able to contain Vanderbilt easier.

But the Tigers should not come into the matchup underestimating Vanderbilt.

On paper, Vanderbilt is a team with very little to lose. That could be a dangerous mentality to come into a matchup with LSU, a team with seemingly everything to lose. When LSU faced Georgia, for example, Georgia knew it was the underdog, and

ally excited about that class and they’ve just got to put their head down and keep working because if they improve as much as they have since they got here, then some good days are ahead for them and for us.”

The pitching depth will go a long way

Starting pitching was arguably one of LSU’s biggest weaknesses last season. The Tigers had no true ace on Friday nights and didn’t have much in the rotation.

Both of those issues seem to be addressed after this weekend.

Paul Skenes’ performance on Friday definitively answered the concern of LSU having its ace this season. The Air Force transfer pitched six shutout innings and struck out 12 batters to start his LSU career.

In game two, veteran lefthander Riley Cooper pitched five and one third shutout innings, striking out seven. LSU’s starting pitchers allowed just one earned run all weekend; the lone run came on Sunday against the freshman Chase

Shores.

The staff as a whole was impressive too. LSU gave up just five runs over the whole series and tallied 35 strikeouts as a staff.

One name out of the bullpen that impressed was Ty Floyd. The junior right-hander pitched three perfect innings in game three, striking out four batters. His command was impressive, and 76% of his 46 pitches were strikes.

Christian Little, Micah Buckman, Bryce Collins, Nate Ackenhausen, Sam Dutton and Blake Money were the other pitchers who saw action out of the bullpen. Collins, Ackenhausen and Money were the only pitchers out of the bullpen to allow an earned run.

Tommy White injury hurts, but infield depth is much improved

Depth in the infield was another issue LSU faced last season; LSU ranked last in the SEC in fielding percentage. This made defense a point of emphasis coming into this season. The improvement was already

on display this weekend; LSU didn’t commit a single error in three games.

The infielders were also vital for LSU at the plate; Gavin Dugas and Jordan Thompson were especially impressive. Nippolt also seems to be a mainstay in the infield, as he rotated over to third base after White’s injury in Friday’s game.

Dugas was the star of the weekend, though.

The senior went 6 for 8 in the series and had a home run in each of his two starts. He played at second base in both starts, moving into the infield after spending most of his LSU career in the outfield.

Thompson was another player who sparked conversation entering the season. Despite impressing at the plate last year, he struggled at times in the field; this didn’t help LSU’s poor fielding percentage.

Thompson didn’t have a single error in the opening series, and he showed an impressive day at the plate in game three; he went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs.

DAY IN THE LIFE, from page 9

routine is slightly different. He goes to class like usual and then heads to the field. He’ll do any homework he has before the game starts. Right before the game, he’ll listen to any song by Brett Fayes, his favorite artist. On travel days, Little takes advantage of the down time on the bus and likes to get ahead of his school work. He appreciates the academic advisor’s guidance for staying on top of work.

Little’s days end around 10 p.m. during the week and stay pretty consistent day-to-day.

So far, Little has had a solid start to the season for LSU. He has made two appearances and has yet to allow an earned run. He was instrumental in LSU’s win against Southern, replacing Thatcher Hurd and pitched three and two thirds innings, tallying six strikeouts.

LSU baseball will be back in action on Friday as the Tigers will travel to Round Rock, Texas for the Round Rock Classic. LSU’s first game will be against Kansas State on Friday at 2 p.m.

LSU women’s basketball sophomore forward Angel Reese

embraced it. The Bulldogs ended up taking LSU into overtime at the PMAC.

The Commodores can clearly put points on the board when needed, and LSU giving them

her

Feb. 16, during LSU’s 69-60 victory over Ole Miss in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

that chance could lead to disaster for the Tigers. In February, anything can happen, and to think

of a game as a guaranteed win would be a mistake for any team at this point in the season.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

(10) celebrates

and-one on

Put the coke back in coke for the sake of the American dream

SERIOUSLY

KIDDING

FRANK KIDD @FK446852315

Editor’s note: This column is satire.

Americans, regardless of political affiliation, feel that the conditions around them are worsening. Things are being taken away, leaving citizens to wonder what they can do to recover what’s been lost. They should focus on reversing the change that started it all, CocaCola’s decision to remove cocaine from its formula in 1903.

The decision violated the spirit of freedom, a despicable move for the quintessential American company. Coca-Cola is so American one could argue that it should be nationalized to restore the formula to its former glory. The move would be a win for civil liberty and also make Joe Biden the largest drug dealer in the world.

Instead of being taken out by a gust of wind Biden could go out

like Tony Montana. Or perhaps Biden’s syndicate would more closely resemble that depicted in another Al Pacino movie, with Biden taking the role of Vito Corleone and Hunter Biden taking the role of Michael. The country would move away from elections and keep things in the family, giving Hunter a chance to create his version with his preferred variety of cocaine, crack, when he takes power.

Movie references aside, Americans should consider the benefits that would come from cocaine being returned to the coke recipe. The restoration would solve issues that could potentially overtake the importance of when Kendall Jenner ended racism with Pepsi.

The opioid epidemic has been ravishing America, but an alternative drug that could be consumed easily would alleviate some of the issues. The government is never going to make any substantial changes to healthcare. There’s too much money to be made by the private sector for anything resembling single-payer to ever come to fruition.

Instead of seeking life-extending care, Americans could adopt a live fast, die young approach that is a lot more affordable for the country.

Americans feel more and more isolated every day, which has led to an exacerbation of already existing issues. People aren’t talking to each other as much, leaving gaps in their understanding to be filled by sensationalized and exaggerated news coverage. The resulting division has led to the creation and growth of toxic organizations.

The only thing that will reverse this effect is a strengthened sense of community, and what would be better at fostering that kind of community than a party drug delivered in the form of a sweet beverage? There would be less spreading of division if the purveyors and consumers of it always felt like throwing down.

Returning to the subject of movies, the films referenced earlier are from an era of better movies. An era where the directors were doing mountains of cocaine. It’s rumored that Brian De Palma de -

termined the amount of cocaine on Tony Montana’s desk by collecting his daily intake in one spot. While it’s true that filmmakers haven’t stopped doing cocaine, there is a direct correlation between how much is being done and the quality of movies.

The benefits of returning Coca-

Cola to its former glory are clear. Any red-blooded freedom-loving patriot should write their representatives or visit them directly by storming the Capitol again.

Frank Kidd is a 21-year-old mass communication major from Springfield, Virginia.

Across the world, life as we know it is losing its value, bit by bit

trinsic and exclusive to the generations older than the kind possessed by the present.

My grandfather was a great man. He was self-made, honorable, disciplined and principled. According to family lore, he was the last surviving witness to the assassination of Huey Long; he was an infantry officer in World War II, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded twice in action; he was a lawyer and judge, serving stints on the Louisiana State Supreme Court and the Louisiana Court of Appeals; he was the father to six children, and the grandfather and great-grandfather to dozens.

He died in 2010. I remember him, but I didn’t appreciate him as I should have. How could I, at just 11-years-old?

Now though some 13 years later, I find myself missing him, wanting to pick his brain on the craziness of the present, politics, life advice or hearing old stories from his childhood in Natchitoches. I know he would teach me a thing or two, even if I didn’t agree with everything he said; he possessed ancient wisdom in-

EDITORIAL BOARD

Josh Archote Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor Hannah Michel Hanks

Claire Sullivan News Editor

The point is that there’s inherent value to be found in the wisdom and experience of the elderly, not just because they’re human beings who are of priceless worth, but because they’re the keepers of knowledge inaccessible to young people, who need their forebearers to tell them when and how they’re being foolhardy or selfish, rash or naïve.

Not everyone seems to know this fact, however. Recently, Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics at Yale, made the argument that to solve the problem of Japan’s old-age crisis, the elderly should commit a “mass suicide” in the fashion of seppuku, a ritual disembowelment practiced by dishonored Samurai in the 19th century, according to the New York Times.

Japan has the oldest population in the world, with about a quarter of its people being over the age of 65, according to the World Bank. The Japanese tend to live longer than those in many other countries, and the geriatric nature of their population demographics has strained their social security system and has kept high-level

corporate and governmental positions clogged by octogenarians, according to the New York Times.

Retirees are forced to unretire, often working well into their seventies and beyond, just to supplement their lacking government-provided aid, and there’s a felt presence of professional gatekeeping on the basis of sex and age.

Narita’s solutions to these problems are jarring, to say the least. Once, he suggested the possibility of mandatory euthanasia, describing to a young student a scenario like the one depicted in the 2019 horror film “Midsommar,” in which a cult chucks its elderly members off a cliff like they’re Lemmings, all for the alleged good of the whole.

Though Narita claims that his views have been taken out of context, their violent nature is disturbing, especially considering the fact that, in Japanese circles, his ideas are downright mainstream. Not only does he teach at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, but Narita has also gained a large social media following and appears with increasing frequency on Japanese television shows and podcasts.

One explanation for Narita’s

popularity is the unique problems that Japan faces, a low birth rate and enormous public debt.

But another is an increasing devaluing of life itself, one that has shown its ugly head more and more in recent days. In the United States, this has largely come in the form of pro-abortion and anti-abortion camps alike, one in which abortion advocates seek the end of millions of babies’ lives, while anti-abortion activists largely abandon babies and their mothers once a child leaves the womb.

In Canada, they’ve gone so far as to legalize a form of medically assisted suicide for some with severe debilitating diseases, according to the Canadian Broadcast Corportation.

If Narita is to be taken at his word, and if his prescriptions for resolving Japan’s age crisis were to be enacted, the elderly would be treated as little more than chattel, a problem to be solved rather than the human beings that they are, complete with their own unique personalities, memories, skills, talents and stories to give to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

It’s difficult to see a scenario in which Narita’s advice is taken lit-

erally, especially one that involves a grotesque image of ritual disembowelment. But the very fact that Narita is popular, especially among young people, is alarming.

It suggests implicitly two things. First, it indicates a diminishing in the treatment of life itself to the point in which it can be suggested – with few ramifications – the extermination of an entire subset of a population for the sake of convenience.

Second, it points to denigration in the understanding of the value that every person brings to society, even if their economic or social utility is allegedly lower than younger, more voracious citizens.

If my own grandfather had been treated in the way that Narita suggests for Japan (even the thought is upsetting), how much rich knowledge, memories, wisdom or laughter would have been lost?

It’s difficult to say exactly. But I suspect that that figure of expense is of immeasurable value. And if we lost that value before it could be passed on, the cost would be irretrievable, as gone as yesterday.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

Deputy News Editor Gabby Jimenez

Brandon Poulter Opinion Editor

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.

“The Coca Cola company is not happy with me — that’s okay, I’ll still keep drinking that garbage.”

Donald Trump American President 1946

Benjamin Haines is a 24-year-old graduate student from Shreveport.

THE REVEILLE ARCHIVES

The word police fail to understand linguistic evolution

HEADLINE NAVIGATOR BRANDON POULTER @brandopinione

The words we speak daily are constantly changing and evolving with every sentence we speak.

New words are created every year, and many words die or even occasionally fall out of fashion to find themselves in use again.

Some words are deemed offensive and, despite their original use, often maintain that characterization for the rest of their useful lifetime.

For LSU students, we’re quite familiar with offensive language. Anyone who has been to an LSU football game is familiar with that one phrase with some words you wouldn’t say in front of mom.

Rest assured, the language police, if they could, would take that away from you.

For Puffin Books, the phraseology in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” was deemed too offensive for use with modern audiences, according to ABC news. They shuttered at words like “fat” and thought that “enormous” was

better suited. Instances like these have become increasingly common. The language police are coming for offensive words in more places than one. Stanford University recently put out a catalog of forbidden words to be struck down from their websites, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Among these words were many that might strike the average American as a bit odd. The redefinitions and rearrangements of some of them were quite comical. Among the examples of harmful language were “spaz, tone-deaf, American, Karen, stupid, thug, and user,” of which the catalog recommends the replacement words or phrases “clumsy, unenlightened, U.S. Citizen, demanding or entitled White women, boring or uncool, suspect or criminal, and client,” respectively, according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

There are many more examples, hundreds of them. Many of these words are barely within the bounds of offense and merely constitute what we might call descriptive language.

Descriptive language and words of offense have something in common, their relevance within particular time periods. A

word like “Karen” is particular to our time period and will likely not carry the same meaning to someone 100 years from now.

Many of the words expressed here also share such a close meaning that the original thought is carried in much the same way.

This draws the question, how are we to extract offense from our language? The only way to truly do so would be to extract all words that could be construed as hurtful from our language and fully disallow their usage.

This would leave us with no more words of which to speak.

This is ironically exemplified in Stanford’s quite lame and useless attempt to scrub the English language. Its very recommendations themselves still carry meaning which can be construed as negative, and thus, it fails in its goals.

Another way in which one could attempt to scrub language is to only allow positive language, but even this has its problems. This is more akin to what has been seen with the scrubbing of the popular English children’s books mentioned in the beginning.

In “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” instead of saying “fat,”

the word “enormous” is used to describe Augustus Gloop, according to the Evening Standard.

While the word enormous might be more androgynous and plainer in description, it still conveys a similar message, and what the language police fails to see is that since language evolves over time and words often gather connotative prowess with their usage, the placement of this word in this fashion has all but guaranteed that “enormous” will eventually take on the meaning of what “fat” once meant.

The evolution of words is deeply misunderstood by the language police. Those who wish to use words to express colorful thoughts or even offensive thoughts will always adapt to the constraints of their time.

The very beauty of old novels, poems, and even newspaper clippings is that they paint the portrait of their times. With all their words, whether positive, negative, or neutral, they convey an image to us unlike any other.

Words merely express our symphony of thought. Language provides us with a roadway system through which to travel the world of expression. Each individual word provides the fuel that propels our vehicles of meaning and directional-

ity through space and time, of which there are unlimited routes to travel.

Sometimes this fuel will be tainted and perhaps will even cause the vehicles of our meaning to break down. But this is all a part of the journey. Without color and meaning to orchestrate differences and construct frameworks unique to our time, all of humanity loses its meaning, and all language becomes utilitarian, and while that is one part of language, another part of language is the expression of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The beauty of life is not in its sameness, nor is it in its happiness. The beauty of life lies in its juxtaposition of happiness and sadness, in its differences. It lies in the uniqueness of each individual moment.

We can choose to arrive at different destinations or even the same destination. Through whatever route we choose, we can explore life, each route as unique and filled with meaning as the words and sentences that write the very stories of humanity that the word police seek the eliminate.

Brandon Poulter is a 27-yearold political science and psychology major from Baton Rouge.