The Reveille 6-12-23

CATS OUT THE BOX

LSU wins cat fight with Kentucky 8-3 to punch ticket to College World Series.

GEAUXMAHA

LSU makes it to the College World Series with an 8-3 win over Kentucky

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

There wasn’t a rain delay. There was only one home run for LSU. But the Tigers still came away with a 8-3 win over Kentucky to punch their ticket to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

The College World Series begins on June 16 at TD Ameritrade Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. The format of the series is an eight-team double-elimination tournament over the span of ten days. The Tigers will face the winner of the Hattiesburg Super Regional between the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Tennessee.

The bats lost electricity after Saturday night’s home run derby, but the result was the same. After LSU took its first lead of the game in the third inning, Cade Beloso gave the Tigers a four-run lead with a three-run home run to right-center field. Beloso finished one of five with three RBIs on the night.

The bats were controlled on both sides until the ninth inning, when a wild-pitch brought Gavin Dugas in to score, and a double from Dylan Crews brought two more runs in to make the score 8-3. Crews finished, in most likely his last game at Alex Box Stadium, going one for two with three RBIs.

While it may not have seemed like it, the wealth was equally distributed throughout LSU’s lineup Sunday night, as each player in the lineup had at least one hit. Although there was only one home run, the Tigers showed the small-ball side of them that they’ve shown at times throughout the season.

Instead, Kentucky found some home-run power of its own to keep LSU on its toes. But the Wildcats didn’t have runners on base whenever they homered, and that ended up being the determining factor for the outcome of the game.

Jackson Gray gave Kentucky an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo home run; he finished one for five. Devin Burkes hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to make the game 5-2, and Nolan McCarthy homered in the fourth to make it 5-3. Burkes went one-for-five on the game, and McCarthy went one-for-four.

Emilien Pitre and Hunter Gilliam each had two hits on the game for Kentucky.

Once the relievers for both teams came into the game, it became a pitchers’ duel. Ty Floyd

got the start for LSU. He went 3.1 innings, gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out five.

Riley Cooper controlled the Tigers once he came in first in relief in the fourth inning. He pitched 3.0 innings, struck out two and gave up no runs on two hits.

Gavin Guidry closed it out as he has multiple times this season, and he did not disappoint. He pitched the last 2.2 innings, struck out four and gave up just one hit.

For Kentucky, Austin Strickland got the start, went 2.2 innings and gave up five runs on five hits. He also walked four.

Mason Moore was the biggest pitching obstacle LSU’s offense had faced this postseason. In first in relief, he pitched 4.1 innings, struck out five and gave up no

runs on just two hits.

But the wheels started to fall off after Moore’s outing came to a close. In the last inning of the game, Kentucky used five different pitchers.

It may not have been the most action-packed game for the Tigers, but the result made up for that. Jay Johnson will take LSU to Omaha for the first time in his coaching tenure.

Reaching the College World Series was one of the program’s biggest goals for the season. The team has experienced adversity this season when it comes to injuries, inconsistency, bullpen concerns and more.

But with a world series appearance now checked off the list, the next goal that the team looks to add: a national championship.

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MORGAN COOK / The Reveille

The LSU baseball team celebrates by pouring water over head conch Jay Johnson’s head June 11 after LSU’s 8-3 win against Kentucky at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL/ The Reveille

LSU baseball graduate student designated hitter Cade Beloso (24) sends the ball flying June 11 during LSU’s 8-3 win against Kentucky at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

CONTROVERSY CANNED

Louisiana governor to veto bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth

BY PIPER HUTCHINSON | LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, will veto three anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the Republicandominated Louisiana Legislature.

When asked Thursday at his annual end-of-session press conference, Edwards said it is his “expectation” to veto the bills.

While Edwards had previously declined to commit to reject the proposals, he raised concerns last month that the recent onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation would have a negative impact on the already high suicide rate for transgender Louisianians.

“Members of this community believe they’re being attacked for who they are,” Edwards said at a press conference in May. “Members of the the trans community are much more likely than other young people to have suicidal ideation or attempts or to actually be successful. These kinds of bills do not tend to help with that.”

“And in fact, they aggravate that situation and then cause it to be worse,” Edwards added.

Britain Forsyth, the legislative coordinator for Step Up Louisiana, a progressive organization, thanked Edwards for his impending veto in a statement to the Illuminator.

“I’m very thankful the Governor has made the decision to stand with LGBTQ+ youth and veto this hateful legislation,” Forsyth said. “All of us who worked hard against these bills will continue to fight to

POLITICS

defeat them and let every queer and trans kid know they are loved by so many people in this state and that this is their home too.”

Acting in line with an unprecedented nationwide barrage of state level legislation, the Louisiana legislature passed three anti-LGBTQ+ bills targeting young queer and transgender people. While antiLGBTQ+ legislation has been introduced in Louisiana in the past, it advanced much further this year than last year when the only two bills filed did not make it out of committee.

House Bill 466 by Rep. Dodie

Horton, R-Haughton, prohibits discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools.

House Bill 81 by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, would prohibit school employees from using transgender students’ preferred names or pronouns unless they have parental approval. House Bill 648 by Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, bans gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.

Horton’s bill is similar to a Florida law referred to by critics as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Her proposal is much broader and would apply to K-12 grades, whereas Florida’s

law applies only through the third grade.

Horton’s legislation applies to any school employee or volunteer, and it covers discussions in the classroom and during any extracurricular activity, meaning it effectively outlaws Gay Straight Alliance clubs.

While proponents of Crews’ proposal argue the bill prioritizes parental rights, teachers with religious or moral objections could opt to override parental consent to use a student’s given name, also called a deadname, as well as pronouns associated with their

sex assigned at birth. Referencing a person by pronouns other than what they identify as is referred to as misgendering.

There is no recourse for educators who have a religious or moral objection to deadnaming or misgendering their students.

At the core of Crews’ proposal is his belief that parents have the right to know whether their kids are transgender.

“I don’t think it’s ever good for the parents to not to know what’s going on in school, and it ensures the rights of parents as primary caregivers to know what’s occurring in their children’s lives,” Crews said when the bill came up in the Senate Education Committee.

Advocates have raised concerns about what happens when parents find out — and don’t approve.

A survey from the Trevor Project found that 38% of transgender women, 39% of transgender men, 35% of nonbinary youth experienced homelessness as a result of parental rejection.

Firment’s proposal is similar to proposals filed in at least 17 other states, including every other state on the Gulf Coast. An Associated Press analysis found most of these bills have strong similarities to model legislation right-wing organizations have put forward.

Gender-affirming care is a catch-all term for medical treatments given to people to align their physical bodies with their

Lawmakers limit teachers’ pay, cut $100M in health spending

BY ALLISON ALLSOP | LSU MANSHIP SCHOOL NEWS SERVICE

Under a compromise approved in the chaotic closing minutes of the spring session Thursday, state lawmakers limited a $2,000 pay increase for teachers to a one-year stipend and cut $100 million from what the Senate had sought for the Louisiana Department of Health.

Those moves came even though legislators had more than $2 billion of revenue at their disposal beyond what had originally been expected to supplement both the current budget and one for the fiscal year starting July 1.

In the deal, lawmakers also added back more than $40 million for early childhood education programs and $25 million for extra differential pay for teachers in demand areas like math and science.

The final votes came with angry lawmakers demanding to know what had happened with

the teacher pay raises and the health cuts and objecting strenuously that they did not know the details of the bills they were voting on.

The package of budget bills includes hundreds of million for roads and bridges, health care and higher education as well as money to pay down state debt.

The House voted 95-9 to approve the final version of House Bill 1, the state operating budget negotiated by a conference committee made up of members from each chamber. The Senate passed it 35-3.

But as lawmakers heard a few of the details of the final agreements only 20 minutes before the session expired, some demanded to know why the teacher pay raise was not made permanent and how House members could have slipped in the $100 million cut in health spending.

Sen. Rogers Pope, R-Denham

Springs, and a long-time educator, called the failure to make the teacher pay raise permanent an insult to teachers.

“The budget has come back in horrible, horrible condition,” he said.

Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, said he could not understand how the Health Department budget could have been cut at the last minute when the state has so much extra money. Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, responded that House members insisted on the cut.

It was not immediately clear which health programs would be cut or whether the reduction would cause a corresponding loss in federal funding.

As House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzalez, rushed

see TEACHERS’ PAY, page 4

see LGBTQ+ BILL, page 4

FRANCIS DINH / LSU MANSHIP SCHOOL NEWS SERVICE

Governor John Bel Edwards gave his final State of the State address, April 10, highlighting some of his victories as governor.

ALLISON ALLSOP / LSU MANSHIP SCHOOL NEWS SERVICE

Rep. Jerome Zeringue, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, spoke about the state budget Wednesday on the House floor.

LGBTQ+ BILL, from page 3 identified gender. Gender-affirming care is used by transgender people, who identify as a gender different from their sex assigned at birth, as well as cisgender people, who identify as their assigned sex.

Gender-affirming procedures, such as top surgery, which adds or removes breast tissue, or bottom surgery, which constructs a vagina or penis are not recommended for minors, according to Dr. Kathryn Lowe, a pediatrician who represents the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on LGBT health and wellness.

Treatments are individualized to the patient. Some young pa-

TEACHERS’ PAY, from page 3 members from one vote to another as the clock ticked down to the 6 p.m. end of the session, conservative Republicans lashed out at him for refusing their demands about voting procedures.

“Mr. Speaker, you have to follow the rules of the House,” Rep. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, the leader of the House Republican Delegation, shouted. “ Noone is above the rules of the House, not even yourself.”

Conservatives in the House had battled for most of the two-month session to hold onto expenditure limits under a formula that caps

tients will be prescribed fully reversible puberty blockers, giving the patient time to consider their options.

Later, a patient may be given hormone treatments that can help young people go through puberty in a way that allows their body to change in ways that align with their gender identity. These treatments are partially reversible.

Firment’s bill requires any youth currently receiving genderaffirming healthcare be taken off the course of treatment by the end of 2024. Providers who specialize in gender-affirming healthcare say that there is no length of time that would make discontinuing care safe, pointing to the risk of

legislative spending in an effort to reduce the size of the budget.

But Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and Senate leaders teamed up to pressure House members to lift the cap and allow up to $250 million of the extra funds to be spent this year’s and $1.4 billion to be spent next year.

At a press briefing after the session ended, Edwards said the late cut in the Health Department budget came as a “complete surprise” to him and could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in related federal funding.

He also criticized the increasing partisanship at the Capitol.

“You heard me say this before:

suicide.

Studies approximate 80% of transgender youth have considered suicide, and 40% report at least one suicide attempt. Research also indicates gender-affirming healthcare leads to improved mental health outcomes.

Chris Kaiser, advocacy director for the ACLU of Louisiana, expressed relief that the bills will not become law.

“These bills sow division, invite discrimination, and are at odds with our fundamental constitutional rights,” Kaiser said in a statement to the Illuminator.

The Legislature, which has a supermajority in both chambers, has the option to override the veto.

we’re not Washington D.C.,” he said. “We’re moving in that direction, and that is not a good thing.”

Earlier in the session, Edwards had proposed a $3,000 pay increase for teachers that would continue in future years. House Republicans wanted to use part of the windfall to pay off state and local debts for the teachers’ retirement program, ostensibly freeing up money for parishes to decide whether to give raises to their teachers.

Education leaders placed ongoing pay raises of $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff in the Minimum Foundation Program, a formula for allocating

In Louisiana, a veto override session automatically occurs 40 days after a regular legislative session unless a majority of lawmakers in either the House or the Senate send in ballots to cancel it.

The first time legislators opted to hold the session was in 2021, when no overrides were successful. But the occasion marked a new era of increased tension between the legislature and the governor, who will be leaving office next year.

Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates, said she hopes it wouldn’t come to a veto session.

“I pray legislators maintain Louisiana values and ensure these

funding to school districts.

But late Thursday, lawmakers ignored that plan and rewrote the raise into the budget, thus turning the increases into one-time stipends. Some members said they would try again next year to make the raises permanent.

As the session came to an end, some lawmakers said $44 million had been added back into the budget for early childhood education programs.

Edwards’ original budget proposal had included $52 million for the programs to help replace some of the federal funds being lost for that. Administration officials had said $52 million would

bills do not become law,” Michelle said in a statement to the Illuminator.

House Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Tanner Magee, R-Houma, the second-highest ranking legislator in the House, thought a veto session is unlikely.

“Members are exhausted from this session, and they want to be back in their districts for campaigning, and they know there is a new governor next year that is more likely to sign,” Magee said in a statement to the Illuminator.

The Louisiana Republican Party-endorsed candidate for governor, Attorney General Jeff Landry, has previously expressed support for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

have helped to retain only a quarter of the 16,000 subsidized seats for children that were created during the pandemic.

The Senate’s budget had reduced that to $14 million, which would have funded about 1,120 seats, while the House budget had cut that funding to zero.

House Bill 1 is the main budget bill for fiscal year 2024. Lawmakers also passed HB 2, which outlined construction and infrastructure projects for next year, and HB 560, which provides for any remaining spending the legislature wishes to use for this year. Other supplemental bills made up the rest of the budget.

SPORTS & OPINION

LSU baseball smashes its way to a 14-0 win over Kentucky

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

An anticipated rain delayed LSU’s Super Regional opener against Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. However, the rain didn’t just come in the form of water. The home runs rained down once again in Baton Rouge Saturday night, as LSU mashed its way to a 14-0 win over Kentucky.

“I’m very comfortable with the process of what happened. The largest window of lightning was at 3 p.m.,” Johnson said. “We were on a call with the National Weather Service and if you listened to that call, you would understand why we didn’t start the game.”

Once Tre’ Morgan started the first inning with a home run with two outs into the left field bleachers, LSU fans knew what type of game this would be.

“The loudest I’ve heard this stadium is when we took the field,” Johnson said.

The Tigers finished with 15 hits on the night, including six home runs to bring their total home run count to 15 for the NCAA Tournament, which is a tournament high.

Tommy White started to heat up the bats with a two-run home run in the third inning. Morgan then followed up White’s home run with his second home run of the night. White and Morgan each homered twice, White finished three for five with two home runs, a single and three RBIs, and Morgan finished with a team-high four hits, going four

for five with two home runs, two singles and three RBIs.

Gavin Dugas homered in the fourth inning, and Josh Pearson

homered in the fifth, giving LSU a 6-0 lead through five innings. But the Tigers were far from done in that fifth inning.

Dylan Crews, who went two for four with one RBI on the night, scored on a single to left field by Tre’ Morgan. A hit-by-

pitch and a wild pitch scored two runs, and a single from Jordan Thompson scored two more. Thompson finished two-for-four on the night with two singles and three RBIs. A six-run fifth inning left LSU with an 11-0 lead.

The Tigers still weren’t finished. Tommy White started the sixth inning with a home run to left field once again for his second home run of the game.

In the seventh, Brayden Jobert doubled to right field, and Thompson hit a single to score Paxton Kling, Jobert’s pinchrunner, from second. Jobert went one-for-three on the night. Crews hit Thompson in on a sacrifice fly to center field to make the score 14-0.

The bats were electric for the Tigers, but Paul Skenes was electric on the mound as well. In his last outing at Alex Box Stadium, Skenes pitched 7.2 innings, struck out nine, and gave up no runs on four hits.

“I never thought that I would receive the love from the fans that I’ve gotten,” Skenes said. “It’s so cool.”

Blake Money came in relief and pitched the remaining 1.1 innings.

Kentucky was held to four hits on the game. Nolan McCarthy hit a double for the Wildcats, and Hunter Gilliam, Reuben Church and Ryan Waldschmidt each hit singles.

“His [Skenes] fastball was at 102 miles per hour and he made more offspeed pitches,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “He made the adjustment and we didn’t.”

Vulnerability is a measure of your strength, not your weakness

MADDEN’S MADNESS

There is a characteristic that all of us have but few of us show. It’s something that we admire in others but are apprehensive from showing it ourselves.

We run from it. We hide from it, and there comes a time when running and hiding can no longer be accomplished. In those moments, we are forced to encounter an oddity that is misbelieved to be a weakness.

Vulnerability.

Weakness and vulnerability are believed to be synonymous, but antonymous is the accurate classification.

To be vulnerable is one of the most courageous things we can do. It requires the strength to demolish the walls we use to protect ourselves and our hearts, and the willingness to allow others into the depths of our identity unsure of the result.

A TED Talk given by research-

er-storyteller, Brené Brown, dives into the importance of vulnerability. From her background and research, she explains how connection is why we are here, how humans are neurobiologically wired for connection and the ability to feel connected.

The root of authentic, fulfilling, meaningful connection — vulnerability.

In studying human connection, she dove into the feeling of shame.

“No one wants to talk about it [shame], and the less you talk about it the more you have it,” Brown said. “The thing that underpinned this [shame] was excruciating vulnerability, this idea of, in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.”

I wholeheartedly believe that at our core there are four things we desire: to be seen, to be heard, to be loved and to feel like we matter. To quench our thirst for these things, we must let others encounter the raw, unfiltered, sometimes troubling parts of who we are; the aspects we com-

monly shield from view.

“Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears it is also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love,” Brown said.

When we are vulnerable with others, and ourselves, we gain a better understanding of the world and our place in it. Relationships deepen, compassion strengthens and love flourishes as this uncomfortable trait is embraced.

It is living in your truth, living proof that you are growing, that requires a solid understanding of self, since the only person who can determine your vulnerabilities and their roots, is you.

It shows others that they are not alone in their hardships, that their feelings are normal, and likely common. It deconstructs beliefs of navigating the maze in one’s mind alone.

By revealing things that seem to classify someone as weak, a new kind of strength arises in the creation of community.

But we shouldn’t strive to be

vulnerable all the time with everyone we encounter. Our vulnerability is a gift, and like most gifts there is a specific time, place and person on the receiving end. No one is invulnerable. No one holds the power to diminish your emotions or classify the areas that make you feel vulnerable. Feelings are indisputable facts.

We are so close to our own vulnerability that we discount its beauty. Vulnerability is a superpower. Learning how to embrace and manage it is one of the most valorous things you can do. Be a hero. Be vulnerable. Be you.

Lauren Madden is a 22-yearold mass communication senior from Mandeville.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL/ The Reveille

LSU baseball junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan (18) runs the bases after hitting a home run June 10 during LSU’s 14-0 win against Kentucky at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

GRAPHIC BY MADDIE FITZMORRIS

LAUREN MADDEN @lllomadd

l a s s i f ieds

ENTERTAINMENT Celebrate Pride Month: Check out these 5 LGBTQ+ books

BY MOLLY TERRELL @keenryanti

by Kelly Quindlen

A basketball player hits her cheerleader nemesis’ car and has to drive her to school while it’s being repaired. It’s the perfect setup for a sapphic enemies to lovers storyline with forced proximity and two opposite ends of the social spectrum.

by Rachel Hawkins

What if Scotland still had a royal family? What if one of those royals was a bratty closeted lesbian with behavioral problems and was forced to room with an American transfer student? Millie and Flora’s romance is one for the Scottish history books.

This is a perfect high school book about a bisexual lead named Chloe that is investigating the disappearance of Shara Wheeler, whom she has a homoerotic rivalry with over which one of them will be valedictorian. Not that either Chloe or Shara would admit it.

This is one of my favorite books with LGBTQ+ representation in it. The characters all feel so real, and the relationships are extremely well-developed, platonically and romantically.

In this paranormal novel, Yadriel’s traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender and, therefore, won’t let him perform a ritual to prove himself a real “brujo.” With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself and hopes to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened to him and tie off some loose ends before he leaves.

The only problem is that Yadriel starts to have feelings for Julian and doesn’t want to set his soul free.

This is an obvious pick, as it’s been popular for years, but Casey McQuiston knows how to deliver on all fronts. This debut novel of McQuiston’s is getting a movie adaptation on Prime Video that releases Aug. 11.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the President of the United States, Ellen Claremont. He and Prince Henry of England have always had their differences, but when their confrontation makes its way into the tabloids, they’re forced to fake a friendship to smooth things over.

However, this fake friendship and real rivalry turn into something completely different as feelings emerge between them.

Rev Rank: I watched HBO’s

BY SAM SEDILO @samsedilo

HBO Max’s newest series “The Idol” has captured people’s attention, but it’s not all for good reasons.

The show has drawn criticism before the drop of the first episode this past Sunday from reports that the writing and direction was going to be done with the help of Sam Levinson.

Levinson is the creator of HBO’s hit drama “Euphoria,” and while many have enjoyed his previous work, his on-set allegations have fans questioning his work.

Levinson has been questioned about his direction with “Euphoria” with plotlines that have no clear path or that do not even have a clear ending.

The director is also no stranger to sexual content. The director found “Euphoria” actor Chloe Cherry through Instagram, following her for her adult content and has turned Sydney Sweeney’s character on “Euphoria” from shy high schooler to

‘The Idol’ so you don’t have to

becoming intertwined in her best friend’s love triangle.

Now, Levinson is receiving criticism for his work on “The Idol” for trying to turn the “struggle of a pop stars life story” into one of his wet dreams of super erotic and almost “rapey” story writing.

Though the show only has one episode out, it has drawn a lot of negatives from critics and followers.

“The Idol” follows rising star

Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp. Following the death of her mother and a psychological breakdown on her last tour, she is looking to revamp her style while crossing paths with shady club owner Tedros, played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. While the show originally had a compelling plotline, it has lost its luster.

The show’s focus was originally supposed to be specifically on Jocelyn and her climb

back to the top to prove she is the greatest popstar of this generation, but the show’s strenuous effort on sex appeal has faded out the show’s main plot.

The first episode lacked everything, but the sex appeal.

The opening shows Depp’s character doing a photoshoot, while agents are talking about getting her back on the top and how mental illness is “sexy” and “in.” Though we hear all about her struggling mentally, it feels like there is never any clear conversation about how it truly affects her. While it might be explained later, opening with it doesn’t seem to fit.

She struggles to find herself and while out clubbing she runs into the club owner Tedros, who even Leila, Jocelyn’s best friend and assistant, can see that he gives off all the wrong vibes.

While “The Idol” tries to make the life of a pop star as erotic as possible, it lacks the true on-screen chemistry of the characters, so even romantically it seems forced upon.

Depps and Tesfaye’s characters do not click with each other. The meeting between the two characters feels rushed and

almost out of place. Their relationship plays the biggest part within the story and having that chemistry seem almost non-existent gives no genuine connection between them.

The show’s writing also lacks luster. Much of the writing throughout the episode felt bare. The lack of complexity between many of the cast made for the dialogue to get lost in what is actually happening.

“The Idol” does not feel exciting or new. Much of what you watch gets lost as the episode has no hold when it comes to keeping the watchers interested, besides the sex appeal it tries to force in every other scene.

The show had so much potential to be something greater and to have a more riveting plotline about the struggles of the pop star, but it falls short in getting to the basics. Bare, unoriginal and colorless from the cast to the writing.

Levinson gives no life in the writing and direction of the show as “The Idol” gives nothing to the table, striking out as a contender to become a great show.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

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.

“You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life — you won’t live any life at all.”

James Baldwin

“I Kissed Shara Wheeler” by Casey McQuiston

“She Drives Me Crazy”

“Her Royal Highness”

“Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston

“Cemetery Boys” by Aiden Thomas

GRAPHIC BY MADDIE FITZMORRIS