The Reveille 10-20-22

ALEAH’S LEGACY

Aleah Finnegan paves her own way at LSU.

FAMILY TIES

Out of the shadows: Aleah Finnegan is creating her own legacy

BY MORGAN ROGERS @__morganrogers

Last summer, Aleah Finnegan arrived in Baton Rouge with a broken foot and a broken dream. After recovering from a career-al tering surgery, Finnegan failed to qualify for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

She was also still reeling from the loss of her father during the height of her elite career. He watched her finish fourth on vault at the U.S. championships and win gold at the Pan-Am Games before succumbing to his battle with pancreatic cancer.

She went on to compete at the GK U.S. Classic in early 2021, where she placed fifth in the allaround behind the likes of star gymnasts Simone Biles and Jor dan Chiles. The following month, however, she fell during three of four events during the National Championships, which put her out of the competition for the Olympic Trials.

“I was heartbroken,” she told collegegymnews. “It felt like it was ripped from me.”

Finnegan’s story didn’t end there, however. Shortly after, she started her collegiate career at LSU.

The Missouri native was no stranger to the environment. Her older sister, Sarah, became an LSU legend when she competed from 2016 to 2019. She became the 2019 SEC Gymnast of the Year, 2019 SEC All-Around Champion and 2019 AAI Award Winner. She was also a nominee for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year and an alternate for the 2012 Olympic gymnastics team.

Needless to say, the 18-yearold knew she was stepping onto a campus where her older sister made ‘Finnegan’ a household name. Yet, she had more chal lenges than just the expectations of the public.

“So I actually came to college on crutches,” she said. “I had foot surgery about two days before moving here. I’ve been having problems with my ankle since 16 or 15.”

Finnegan was limited to beam and floor after undergoing her second foot surgery. She trained for all four events during the preseason but was ultimately benched from competing in allaround for her own safety.

“Of course, there was pressure coming here,” she admitted. “But I’m gonna try to focus on mak ing sure it’s my name that people see when I finally get out there because you know, we are differ ent. So I want other people to see that too.”

Finnegan made her debut by the second meet of the season on beam. She competed on both the beam and the floor in every meet of the season afterward. She set career highs of 9.925 in both events.

“I was just proud of myself for getting into that lineup con sistently,” she said. “It’s not nec essarily about certain scores. Obviously, I set expectations for myself. Some things I haven’t ex actly hit yet.”

Going from crutches to a spec tacular freshman debut, Aleah was thankful for the support of her teammates and staff. Sarah’s time at LSU definitely influenced her, but several other factors led to her commitment.

“I saw the sisterhood and fam ily that was inside of LSU gymnas tics,” Aleah Finnegan said. “It just felt like home.” she commented.

Her dad’s influence was also a big factor in her decision to come to LSU.

“He’s always been my biggest fan and he absolutely loved LSU Gymnastics,” she told TigerTV.

“They treated him so well, like family.”

Although LSU gymnastics is Aleah’s home away from home, it’s still difficult to be away from her family at times. Gymnastics was something she did with her sisters during her youth after all.

And naturally, she always wanted to go to the Olympics while growing up.

Sarah achieved that goal when becoming an alternate for the 2012 Olympic Games. Aleah felt like a source of her inspira tion was becoming a shadow of her identity from the public’s per spective.

“After qualifying for elite, it was just like I was ‘Sister of the 2012 [Olympic] alternate’,” she said. “But I was like, ‘You know, my name’s Aleah.’”

Seeing her sisters in the sport meant more than comparing ac

complishments though. Being of Filipino heritage, she was always grateful to see her ethnicity rep resented in the sport. After arriv ing at LSU, she realized not every one was as lucky. She’s hoping to use her career to inspire under represented gymnasts.

So when Aleah’s freshman year ended in May, it was no sur prise that she made the leap back into her elite career.

After the collegiate season ended, Aleah had only four weeks to prepare. The Filipino-Ameri can had to train in completely dif ferent skills. Most elite gymnasts represent their home countries, but Aleah was determined to rep resent her Filipino heritage.

“It really was a hectic time,” she said. “But it was something that I wanted to do for myself, my mom, my family, and all of my Filipino heritage.”

In May, the sophomore flew to Vietnam to represent her moth er’s home country at the South east Asian Games. The youngest Finnegan sister paved the way for the Phillippines to win their first gold team medal in thirty years. She also won silver in the allaround with a 49.250.

“[National competition] shows how connected we are through this one passion,” she spoke. “I’m proud that I could represent the Philippines.”

The following day, she won another silver during beam and grabbed her first-ever individual gold for the Phillippines on vault. The formerly retired elitist walked away with four medals.

“My mom was so proud of me. During the trip, she was with me every step,” she spoke. “Right after our team finals won gold,

I just remember running to my mom and giving her flowers. It was so cute!”

Now back in Baton Rouge, the sophomore is ready to compete for the purple and gold again. Unlike last preseason, Aleah isn’t taxed with learning how to walk again.

“Now I’m able to do all the assignments without any restric tions. I’m a lot more comfortable going into this season.”

Aleah’s path to this moment has given her something just as great as an Olympic experience. Revisiting her elite career is a memory she holds dearly, but she’s focusing on her future now.

“My goal was the Olympics and I didn’t go to them,” she said. “Some things don’t always work out the way we want, but I’m here now and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We can always take something away from our hard ships.”

The hardships that Aleah has faced were crucial in molding her into the woman she is today. Having Sarah’s shadow loom over her presence at LSU is just one of them.

“Sarah’s legacy was a goal that I wanted to reach, but I realized that I didn’t have to beat her,” she admitted. “She made that very clear to me. [But] I love when people say that I remind them of Sarah. Guess I’m doing something right! But no, I don’t necessar ily see it as pressure. I think it’s an honor to be able to carry the Finnegan legacy throughout LSU.”

Though Aleah is proud to carry on the Finnegan name, she isn’t just ‘Sarah’s little sister’. She’s walking in her own foot steps now.

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

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ABOUT THE REVEILLE

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THE REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU gymnastics freshman all-around Aleah Finnegan performs a split during her balance beam routine Feb. 18, during LSU’s 198.050-197.650 win over the University of Alabama in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on N. Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

COMMITTEE DISBANDED

BY JOSH ARCHOTE @JArchote

LSU’s building renaming com mittee quietly disbanded in De cember 2021, the university con firmed Monday.

Committee members came to a consensus to disband the group to “give the new administration adequate time to develop its vi sion and set priorities,” according to a letter sent to LSU President William Tate IV on behalf of the committee.

“The committee supports con tinued investment in the univer sity’s efforts towards authentic inclusion and belonging of its growing population of students and faculty from historically mar ginalized backgrounds within a campus community dedicated to an environment of dignity and re spect,” the letter reads.

According to Ryan Landry, the administrative liaison for the committee, members came to a consensus without objection to disband the group.

The 16-person committee was created in June 2020 amid nation wide Black Lives Matter protests and calls from LSU students for the university to reevaluate prob lematic namesakes on campus. Members of the committee were to “review and study building names on our campus to deter mine if they are symbols of, or monuments to racism,” according to LSU’s website.

The committee’s dissolution came less than a month after Tate said that he would have never started the committee in the first place, had he been president at the time.

“I actually would have never started that committee,” Tate said

ACADEMICS

The letter sent to LSU President William Tate IV on behalf of the universi ty’s building renaming committee announcing the group’s disbandment.

in a November 2021 interview with The Reveille. “But since it’s here, I have to be respectful of the democratic process. So in order to be respectful, I’m gonna have to let them deliberate and give me some set of recommendations.”

Tate said that most students don’t know who the buildings are named after and that he wanted to emphasize what he saw as more important diversity and inclusion policies, like having a stronger plan to diversify LSU faculty and

graduate programs.

Amid Black Lives Matter pro tests across the U.S. in summer 2020, Black Out LSU, a student or ganization meant to advocate for the Black LSU community, intro duced several diversity initiatives. Part of that list of policies was to rename the Middleton Library.

The library was renamed the “LSU Library” on June 19, 2020, unanimously by the Board of Su pervisors. Students then started a petition to rename the following 13 buildings on campus they said were named after racist figures:

• P.G.T. Beauregard Hall

• David F. Boyd Hall

• Murphy J. Foster Hall

• George Mason Graham Ti ger Tower

• Andrew Jackson Hall

• William Preston Johnston Hall

• Edmund Kirby Smith Hall

• Samuel H. Lockett Hall

• James William Nicholson Hall

• James William Nicholson Gateway Apartments

• John M. Parker Coliseum

• William C. Stubbs Hall

• Zachary Taylor Hall

LSU then agreed to form the committee made up of adminis tration, faculty and students to evaluate building names on cam pus and deliver a report with sug gestions to the university.

The group stopped meeting weekly around the time Verge Ausberry, LSU Athletics’ executive deputy athletic director and mem ber of the renaming committee, was suspended for mishandling a Title IX case, according to Devin Woodson, a former member of the committee.

SG passes minimum wage increase

BY CORBIN ROSS @CorbinRoss5

The Student Government Sen ate passed a resolution urging LSU to increase the minimum wage for on-campus workers at their Wednesday, Oct. 12 meeting.

The resolution passed with 29 in favor, seven against and five abstaining.

The resolution calls for an in creased minimum wage of $20 an hour. SG is willing to negoti ate, explaining that $16.25 is the lowest they will go, according to international trade and finance junior Cooper Ferguson, a sena tor for the University Center for Freshman Year.

Ferguson said the $20 number came from the assumption that the wage won’t get increased for some time after this proposed increase. According to Ferguson, accounting for future inflation by the time the wage gets increased, the minimum living wage will be $20.

“The resolution is basically raising wages for workers on campus so they can live with dig nity and respect from a university that has been exploiting them for years on end,” Ferguson said.

Political science sophomore Landon Zeringue, a UCFY sena tor, said that a similar resolution was passed in the spring of 2021, calling for a $15 minimum wage. Zeringue said that it started a dia logue with administration that

NASA, LSU researchers study severe weather in the Gulf

BY CLAIRE THERIOT

@ClaireTheriot2

LSU researchers received a $1.4 million grant to study the im pact severe weather disturbances have on the western portion of the Gulf of Mexico.

Z. George Xue, an associate professor in LSU’s Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sci ences, is leading the research of the project, along with colleagues from LSU, Texas and East Caroli na University. Their research will focus on ecosystem resistance and resilience after severe weath er disturbances.

Xue said that it’s difficult to define whether an ecosystem has a high resilience level because of its complexity. He said there are many components such as wet lands, marshes and coastal water,

but the resistance and resilience of these different ecosystems are what they want to learn about.

While they are still trying to learn more about each ecosys tem, they can tell that some have a higher resilience than others because of hurricanes, Xue said.

Marshes and mangroves will be easily submerged by water if there is a hurricane, causing their veg etation to be destroyed and po tentially taking years to recover.

On the other hand, estuaries have a shorter recovery time. An estuary is a water body and the exchange of its water with coastal ocean water is much faster than the exchange of water on land.

“It might take a shorter time for estuaries to recover compared to wetlands or marshes,” Xue said.

Xue also said that when look

ing at the direct impact of the food chain in the ecosystem, it’s obvious the waves and currents are very strong, causing violent conditions in the ocean. The water column is constantly re mixing and changing drastically so the pollutants in the shallow water soil will be disrupted and released back into the water sys tem. He said this could affect the food chain because the pollutants harm the animals in the ecosys tem.

Xue said other impacts are de bris from the land, causing estu aries to have high turbidity in the water. High turbidity lowers the amount of sunlight in the water, creating less plant growth which results in less oxygen available to the animals in the water.

COURTESY OF KANCHAN MAITI / The Reveille Action shot of scientists at work.

The Reveille

FINANCE, from page 3 went up to the Board of Supervi sors, where it was dropped.

Geography graduate student

Adam Dohrenwend, a senator for LSU’s Graduate School and co-au thor of the resolution, said the $20 number is partially to provoke ad ministration, to get their attention to keep the discussion going.

“This resolution is to say that we still care about this issue, this is an issue that is still pertinent to you, and going forward with the passing of this resolution me

GULF RESEARCH, from page 3

“What effect that the land sources will have on the ocean ecosystem is also a big question mark,” Xue said.

Xue and his scientists will be working at three different sites between Louisiana and Texas including Barataria Bay in Loui siana, Galveston Bay in Texas and Mission-Aransas Estuary in Texas.

He said the setup is different in each area because Louisiana’s Barataria Bay is very humid and subtropical, Galveston Bay is much drier than the bay and ur banized and Mission-Aransas Es tuary is semi-arid and has limited freshwater input, resulting in sa linity double that of the ocean’s.

Xue said for the research, the

and the other co-authors will be starting on getting more research done,” Zeringue said.

Political science senior Lizzie Shaw, the student-body president, asked the resolution’s authors at the meeting for data concerning how many dollars per fiscal year departments will have to take on per worker. She also asked what the average rate of pay per worker is. The authors were lacking this data, but Zeringue said they are interested in getting it.

Zeringue said the resolution is operating largely as a form of

team is using a state-of-the-art community model system called the Regional Ocean Modeling System, or ROMS. This model will help them navigate the phys ics of the ocean. It can also be used as a land surface model to simulate the movement of the ocean on the land.

Xue said they run both of these systems simultaneously, called a cuphold system, allowing the ocean and the land to com municate with each other. The re lationship between the land and the ocean is ongoing and these scientists are attempting to gain a better understanding of it.

“This model is very effective as we have already applied it to another hurricane in the past,” Xue said.

Xue said he found this new

outreach, to show the university SG still cares about this issue. He said they will be gathering more data so that they can better work with administration to get the minimum wage raised.

Dohrenwend said the wage was determined by the MIT liv ing wage calculator, which looked at the price of living in different metropolitan areas and deter mines what a living wage should be.

The current minimum wage at LSU is $7.25 an hour, in line with the federal minimum wage.

technique has largely improved the accuracy of models simulated sea level variation. He believes this new technique can help im prove past research. This proj ect will be viewed from a previ ous NASA project using a similar method.

Oceanography and Coastal Sciences professor Kanchan Maiti said the team’s research is de voted to understanding and sci entifically modeling the impact of unpredictable events, such as hurricanes and floods, on the ecosystem.

As of now, most of the glob al models don’t incorporate the impact of these unpredictable events, so it’s unclear what the full effect is on the environment, Maiti said. He said that this proj ect spans Louisiana to Corpus

Zeringue said that it is hard for the university to employ student workers since many are seeking higher paying jobs off-campus.

“If LSU can’t afford to pay its workers the wages that are re quired for them to live in the com munity, then maybe LSU should look into its personal finances,” said Dohrenwend.

Mechanical engineering senior Colin Raby, senator for the Col lege of Engineering, said he op posed the resolution. He said he supports an increase to the mini mum wage but felt a resolution

Christi, Texas, to fully under stand how these coastal systems are affected.

He said that the group’s re search is focused mostly on car bon as carbon can change an ocean’s acidity and increase car bon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“Especially in Louisiana, car bon dioxide is more prominent because all the wetland soils have between 10-20% organic carbon in them,” Maiti said.

Hurricanes often result in land loss, meaning the carbon from these wetlands is either released into the atmosphere or dissolved in the ocean. This can hurt the ecosystem because it changes the water chemistry and negatively impacts the survival of the organisms living in it. These samples are collected after a big

calling for $20 hurts the potential for the minimum wage to be in creased, calling the ask unreason able.

He said that calling for a mini mum wage based on future in flation is a bad idea and should have been based on the current economic state, adding that he felt that the authors of the resolution didn’t address many of the chal lenges to increasing the minimum wage to $20.

“I think all they’re doing is generating more laughs from ad ministration,” Raby said.

tropical storm or hurricane hits.

“Then we try to understand how the carbon flow is happen ing in the system during these events and how long the system takes to come back to its original form,” Maiti said.

Maiti said the ROMS mod el creates a mesh of the entire Gulf of Mexico. The model runs through every part of the gulf, figuring out where currents are happening and giving the scien tists a solution to the problem.

Maiti said that his prediction for the differences between the Louisiana and Texas sites are that Western Texas will be very arid and have less carbon stored in its wetlands than Louisiana and that there will be a bigger change in carbon number in Louisiana than Texas.

LSU AgCenter hosts annual corn maze and pumpkin patch

BY EMILY BRACHER & CLAIRE THERIOT @emily_bracher @ClaireTheriot2

The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens is hosting its annual fall event, Corn Maze at Burden, for students and families every week end in October.

Communications Coordinator of the LSU Botanic Gardens, Hailey Judge, said these festivities have been going on for over 10 years. She said the pumpkin patch and corn maze were started to show case the AgCenter to the public in a way that people could participate. She said they were trying to build public awareness and encourage the community to stay involved on campus.

Judge said the people who at tend the event are normally chil dren and families, as many of the activities are geared toward small children.

“But there is definitely some thing for everybody,” Judge said.

Judge said the Corn Maze at Burden has helped a lot of the stu dents and families get into the fall spirit. She said she knows many families look forward to it every year, adding that the corn maze changes a bit every year, so people look forward to what each year brings. She also said this is one of the first fall events in the Baton Rouge area.

“People are all excited about pumpkins, the corn maze and the night maze,” Judge said.

Judge said a lot of the materials for the event are ordered online.

She said the large round barrels come from the LSU AgCenter sta tion, and the hay comes from lo cal farmers. She said the pumpkins come from Southside Produce Mar ket.

She also said the AgCenter gets a lot of donations as well. The dec orated pumpkins are donated by Clegg’s Nursery, and the corn pit is donated by a grain corporation called Zen-Noh.

Judge said her favorite part of the Corn Maze at Burden is seeing the kids excited and jumping up and down when they check in at the front.

While the Corn Maze at Burden has been part of the Baton Rouge community for over 10 years, Judge said it won’t be going on much lon ger as the AgCenter is in the pro cess of organizing other seasonal events. It’s unknown when the new seasonal events will start; however, she said the pumpkin patch might stay for one Saturday in October in the coming years.

“I do not see the corn maze continuing for the foreseeable fu ture, but we will have something else for a different season to re place what corn maze does for the community,” Judge said.

Judge said they are building a holiday light show that will last from Thanksgiving to the New Year and is expected to open in November 2024.

Jeff Kuehny, Director of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, said the Corn Maze at Burden was started as an agricultural educational ex perience for young families and a fundraiser for the Botanic Gardens.

Kuehny said that the Corn Maze consists of many activities, such as a corn maze, a mini maze, and a hayride. He said the hayride leads to a citrus grove full of satsuma mandarins where people can pick and eat the fruit. There’s also a hay mountain, a pumpkin patch, a pet ting zoo and a “Spooktacular” play ground.

“Its greatest effect is that it gets young families outdoors to experi ence nature and agriculture,” Kue hny said.

Kuehny said his favorite part of the Corn Maze at Burden is the joy on the faces of the children when they see the numerous activities. He encourages everyone to come and experience the Botanic Gar dens or Windrush Gardens.

Pre-medicine freshmen Trinity Bullock exclaimed her excitement for the corn maze, saying it’s a re minder of home. She believes that even though it’s geared towards small children, everyone can find something to enjoy through this

event.

Bullock is a first-year student and is 22 hours away from her home in North Haven, Connecticut. During the fall, pumpkin patches and other seasonal events are her favorite thing.

“Seeing that there was a pump kin patch so close to campus was really exciting for me,” she said. “A big part of adjusting to school is finding things that remind me of home.”

Bullock said she is also excited about the plans of it turning into a holiday light show in the near fu ture. She said the children in the

community are lucky to have this as it provides so many activities up until New Years.

Business management fresh man Kaleigh Maher said the corn maze at the AgCenter Botanic Gar dens reminds her of the one in her hometown. Maher recently moved to Baton Rouge from Mandeville, Louisiana, and said she was happy to see that there was a seasonal event that she could go to with her friends.

“This is such a great opportuni ty for families to get out with their kids with the holiday season near ing,” Maher explained.

CAREER CENTER

MADALYN CUNNINGHAM / The Reveille The entrance of the corn maze at the Botanic Gardens sits decorated with pumpkins on Oct. 12, on Essen Ln. in Baton Rouge, La.

ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK IN BR

BY ARIS WILLIAMS @jonetaw

Want to see your event in The Reveille? Email information to editor@lsu.edu.

Thursday at 7:30 20th

OCTOBER

Divas Live Drag Show

LSU Student Union

LSU Residential Life is hosting its annual live drag show in celebration of Homecoming festivities. Featured per formers include Santana A Savage, Lady Danisha An drews, Andy Black, and Madalyn Andrews Steele. There will be giveaways at the door, and, as always, tipping the queens is encouraged. The Student Union’s Royal Cotillion Ballroom doors open at 7:15 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show on Thursday, Oct. 20.

OCTOBER

LSU NPHC Homecoming Step Show

LSU Student Union

The National Pan Hellenic Council will host a homecom ing step show featuring performances from the Divine 9 chapters of LSU. Come out to witness the culture and talents of historically Black Greek Lettered organizations. Tickets are $15 and available at the door or through the LSU Greek Life office in the Student Union, room 333. The step show starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21 in the Royal Cotillion Ballroom of the Student Union.

OCTOBER

at 2 23rd

Constantinides New Music Ensemble

LSU Museum of Art

The LSU School of Music Constantinides New Mu sic Ensemble will be performing a response to the exhibition, “Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936 – Present.” Admis sion is free. The performance will be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the LSU Museum of Art, located on the fifth floor of the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St.

AT 7

OCTOBER

Record Swap Day

Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library

Local record enthusiasts are encouraged to stop by the EBR Parish Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library for a community record swap. Local vinyl record vendors will also be on site with re cords to browse for purchase. This event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd.

COURTESY

THE

ARCHIVES

Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Protecting digital footprints

BY COURTENEY LATIMER @goldencxx

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Created in 2004, Cybersecurity Awareness Month encourages individuals to think about digital security and protect themselves online.

Many social media users be lieve they have more control on line than they really do. With or without your knowledge, your in ternet activity and information is being documented and collected.

Your digital footprint is essen tially the collection of everything you do online. Understanding the importance of a digital footprint is the first step to protecting it.

Listed below is advice on how to safeguard your digital foot print with input from two LSU professors: Golden G. Richard III, associate director for cyber security, and Joshua Howard, so cial media and digital advertising professor.

1. Keeping a presentable ac count

As a college student heading into your career, you should aim to protect your digital footprint.

Professionals in your field will research you, especially when you’re applying for an internship or job. Social media accounts can

say a lot about people and con tribute to the first impression an employer has. Professionals are more likely to hire and work with someone who has a clean, purposeful account, highlighting your accomplishments and the concepts you represent.

2. Getting rid of the past Avoid posts that are question able, unintentional and make your account seem as if you are

careless.

“While things you did in the past might be written as ‘errors of youth,’ patterns of apparent behavior create distinct impres sions and individuals will likely have no ability to rebut these things,” Richard said.

Howard recently helped a po litical candidate prepare for their campaign by researching their digital footprint.

“We went through ten years’

worth of Google searches and their social media channels to gauge any and all things that could help and harm their cam paign,” Howard said. “Luckily for them, there wasn’t much to change, delete or prepare for, but sadly that’s not always the case.

I’ve personally seen individu als’ futures blow up because of things they’ve done and said on line.”

3. Being safe Richard warns that a digital footprint collects both things a user deliberately and consciously does, like posts on Facebook or Twitter, and things a user is less aware of, such as location and time data, and user preferences of various kinds.

Here are a few suggested steps to promote online safety:

• Go to settings on your devices, check your privacy settings and disable location tracking.

• Unsubscribe from mailing lists and deactivate old accounts.

• Use virtual private networks, or VPNs, when using the inter net.

• Make sure to log out from pub lic devices, such as classroom computers.

4. Asking yourself these ques tions

Howard suggests asking your self these four questions next time you plan on posting, liking or commenting:

1. “Will most moms find this activity presentable?”

2. “Will I be employed by most places, or will I be forced to start my own company?”

3. “Will in the future I love to tell this story?”

4. “Would ‘The Internet’ can cel me for posting this?”

CARTOON BY BLAINE SWANZY

L O C A L L Y D E S I G N E D & P R I N T E D

EXERCISE, AND MORE

LSU students play video games on Oct. 12.

LSU students play air hockey on Oct. 12.

LSU students do yoga with goats on Oct. 12.

The LSU UREC

Photos by Chloe Kalmbach

The LSU UREC offers a variety

EXERCISE, FUN MORE

An LSU student plays racquetball on Oct. 12.

An LSU student balances a goat on her back on Oct. 12. variety of activities to try.

REACCLIMATION

LSU football recruiting: Four-star

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

The Class of 2023 is full of talented quarterbacks nation wide, but LSU was able to find its quarterback for the 2023 recruit ing class right in Baton Rouge in Rickie Collins.

A look into Kayshon Boutte’s reemergence and altered attitude

BY HENRY HUBER & TYLER HARDEN @HenryHuber_ & ttjharden8

Kayshon Boutte entered the sixth game of his sophomore season leading the country in re ceiving touchdowns, on pace to achieve the first thousand-yard season of his college career.

He had effectively picked up where he left off at the conclusion of 2020, where he amassed 500 yards over the last three games of the season after the opt-out of star receiver Terrace Marshall Jr.

FOOTBALL

However, halfway through the 2021 season he faced some adver sity. An ankle injury suffered late in LSU’s loss to Kentucky derailed that campaign prematurely.

Between his injury and return to practice, the football program experienced months of turmoil.

The announcement that LSU and then-Head Coach Ed Orgeron were parting ways after the 2021 season occurred a week later. The team would drop three of their next four games and before the regular season had even conclud

ed, the first high-profile player, Eli Ricks, hit the portal.

A week later, Brian Kelly was announced as the new head coach, but that did little to stop the bleeding.

Quarterback Max Johnson, who had quickly built chemistry with Boutte over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, would depart for Texas A&M, and other notable departures began to add up. With talented players leaving the team in bunches, it was rumored that the Tigers’ most high-profile play

er was soon to follow, with Ala bama being the theorized destina tion for Boutte.

Those rumors would later be proven to hold some merit, as Boutte later confirmed he had considered the possibility of leav ing at the conclusion of last sea son. But he was patient with his decision, opting to hear what the new coaching staff would bring to the table.

It’s safe to say he was satisfied.

Collins is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback from Woodlawn High School, and he’s ranked as the No. 13 quar terback in the country, the No. 8 recruit in Louisiana and the No. 207 overall recruit in the country, according to 247sports. He com mitted to LSU in August shortly after decommitting from Purdue, a school he was committed to for the better part of a year.

The decision for Collins to commit to LSU extended beyond just football; it was a decision that would benefit him and his family long-term.

“I want to play in front of my family and friends,” Collins said. “This is the right opportunity and best situation for me and my fam ily.”

A similar mindset applied to several of LSU’s commits for the 2023 class, as five of the 22 com mits live within an hour of Baton Rouge. Three of those five com mits are Baton Rouge natives.

Of those five players, Collins is very close with safety Kylin

Ole Miss football preview: How LSU can stop the Rebels

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

It makes perfect sense that two bitter in-state rivals would be so different from each other; Mississippi State was a pass-first team, but the University of Mis sissippi is the complete oppo site.

The Rebels’ run game brings a type of offense that LSU hasn’t seen much of as of yet. They’ve seen their fair share of pass-first teams, like Mississippi State, but the Tigers haven’t seen a team that keeps the ball on the ground as much as Ole Miss.

The Rebels rank third in the country for rushing yards, run ning the ball for 271 yards per game. The backfield duo of true freshman, Quinshon Judkins, and junior, Zach Evans have led the charge all season. Jud kins leads the team with 720 rushing yards on 121 carries,

and Evans isn’t far behind with 605 rushing yards on 100 car ries. The pair have combined for 17 touchdowns on the year, Judkins with 10 and Evans with seven.

In Ole Miss’ recent win against Auburn, the Rebels ran the ball 69 times. Judkins found the end zone twice, and Evans added another touchdown. Both Judkins and Evans ran for over 130 yards that day.

Ole Miss also has a quar terback who likes to run the ball. Not only has Jaxson Dart completed 61% of his passes for 1,488 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he’s also run for 371 yards on 53 attempts.

It’s safe to say Ole Miss’ run game has been good enough to rank them seventh in the coun try, and their backfield has al lowed them to get past every

ERIN BARKER / The Reveille

LSU junior wide receiver Kayshon Boutte (7) runs with the ball on Oct. 8, during LSU’s defeat to Tennessee 13-40 in Tiger Stadium.

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The LSU offensive line holds off the University of Mississippi players on Oct. 23, 2021, during LSU’s 31-17 loss against the University of Mississippi, in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi.

MISS

PROSPECT, from page 11 Jackson, who plays at Zachary High School, and wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr., who plays at Catholic High School. Collins has experience with playing with his two fellow commits in the past.

“We’ve been playing 7-on-7 to gether for a long time, and we’ve

been knowing each other for a while now,” Collins said. “So just getting back together and keep playing together is going to be fun.”

In addition to LSU being able to provide familiar faces once he arrives on campus, Collins felt the coaching staff would be great to be around. He feels Kelly and

his staff will help him develop into a great quarterback for the Tigers.

“Coach Kelly is a players coach and Coach [Joe] Sloan is always going to get the best out of you, so that’s what I’m looking for in coaches,” Collins said. “They’re going to get the best out of me and get me to my full potential.”

While Collins’ team at Wood lawn sit at a record of 3-4 this season, Collins has played great football; he was even able to showcase his talents on ESPN in Woodlawn’s matchup against Zachary.

Collins’ play-style is one LSU fans are already familiar with, as his ability to run effectively and

make high-level throws is some thing Jayden Daniels has dis played for the Tigers this season. This being said, once Daniels leaves the program, it should be comforting for Tiger fans to know a quarterback with a similar skill set is on the team, allowing the transition between seasons to be rather smooth.

one they’ve played. In their matchup against Kentucky, who was ranked seventh at the time, Judkins led the Rebels with 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

While Evans was limited that game to just 24 yards on nine carries, he was also still able to get in the end zone.

In the Rebels’ win against Georgia Tech, Evans led the team with 134 rushing yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Judkins found the end zone twice as well on 19 carries for 98 yards.

For LSU to give Ole Miss its first loss of the season, the team will have to stop both of Ole Miss’ primary running backs, a task that no team has fully been able to do yet this year. While teams have been able to stop one of the two, no team has been able to control both.

Ole Miss also ranks third in the SEC for least points allowed per game at 17 points. Last week against Florida, the Ti gers scored the second-highest amount of points they’ve had all season at 45 points. The key to that was the fast start the of fense got off to, led by Jayden Daniels and Kayshon Boutte.

Boutte led the team in re

ceiving yards last week with 115 yards on six catches, a sea son high for the receiver. The Daniels-Boutte connection has to keep the momentum go ing heading into the matchup against Ole Miss.

In general, Daniels has to keep his offensive surge going. The Arizona State transfer has passed for 300 yards or over in the past two games, and last week against Florida, he threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more.

Coinciding with Ole Miss’ ef ficient defense is the Rebels’ No. 2 rank for total sacks on the sea son. Defensive end Jared Ivey, leads the team with 3.5 sacks, and Tavius Robinson and Khari Coleman both add 2.5.

Stopping Ole Miss’ defense will come down to the offen sive line giving Jayden Daniels enough time in the pocket to continue his dominance.

Controlling Ole Miss will be the common theme headed into Saturday’s matchup with LSU. The Rebels’ run game has taken control in every game they’ve played this season, and the de fense has carried enough weight to win convincingly in most cas es. If the Tigers can be success ful in limiting Ole Miss in all as pects of the game, their destiny will lie in their own hands.

OLE MISS,

MADALYN CUNNINGHAM/ The Reveille

LSU football head coach Brian Kelly and the LSU Football team run out onto the field on Sept. 24, right before the LSU vs New Mexico game starts in Tiger Stadium.

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LSU football freshman quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (5) throws on the run on Oct. 23, during LSU’s 31-17 loss against the University of Mississippi, in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi.

“Honestly, I thought about it, I really did,” Boutte said on trans ferring. “[But] I felt comfortable with what they were coming in and telling us, and I trusted that they would hold themselves to that.”

While the dark cloud of un certainty engulfing the 2022 sea son began to evaporate with ev ery hole Kelly and his staff filled, Boutte was still dealing with a lot. He had to acquaint himself with a new coaching staff on top of hav ing limited involvement with the team due to his injury.

The development of Boutte and Kelly’s relationship was slow and steady, and was heavily scru tinized by fans and media. But by summer, the concerns regarding their relationship seemed to be in the past, with the receiver men tioning that they talk everyday in an interview that took place dur ing fall camp.

As Boutte got used to not being involved on the field, he learned to become more involved off of it, developing as a leader throughout the offseason.

“I was engaged fully, know ing that my teammates needed me and my leadership off-the-field even though I’m not doing what they’re doing,” Boutte remarked. “As time went on, I tried to be more vocal to teammates, saying we need to get this done and get

this done.”

Fast forward to the start of the 2022 season, and all eyes were on Boutte for his return against Flor ida State, and Tiger fans expected him to be the electrifying receiver he was in the past right away. But his return was slow, as he totalled just 20 yards on two catches in the season opener.

While he shared the frustra tion of LSU fans early on, just be ing back on the field was some thing Boutte appreciated, and he recognized this as a long-term re acclimation.

“I see the things people post and tag me in,” Boutte said. “But I just block out the noise and worry about what I can do to get better.”

Boutte’s productivity remained limited throughout the first month of the season, but his situation co incided with Jayden Daniels ad justing to his new receiver room. In the Tigers’ next three games, Boutte totaled just 77 receiving yards on nine catches.

Along with his limited impact on the field, Boutte sat out against New Mexico to be there with his girlfriend for the birth of their son. Fans were concerned this would further minimize his im pact on the field, as taking care of a child is a huge responsibil ity. However, Boutte saw it as the complete opposite, as something to motivate him to be even better.

“It’s not bad because I don’t re ally think of it as a bad thing, I

think of it as a blessing,” Boutte said. “It’s a blessing to be able to play at LSU, and then just know ing that off the field, I still get to go home to great things.”

He returned against Auburn facing the same problems, with double teams and Daniels’ con servative approach leading to the lowest output of his career.

Because of his situation, Boutte had to revisit an approach that he was forced to use during his injury: putting trust in the receivers around him. He, along with fans, initially expected him to go back to the insane produc tion he put up as a freshman and sophomore, but that was no lon ger necessary with the talent sur rounding him.

While this may not have been what he had in mind originally, it taught him other ways to help the team rather than doing all the work himself.

“It’s not about helping me,” Boutte said. “I feel like it helps the team more, not relying on just one person. I feel like that’s what makes this offense effective.”

He continued to improve as a leader, whether he was leading by example on the field with his route running, or providing the younger receivers with advice and encouragement off it.

And eventually, Boutte’s onfield involvement would begin to grow. In the Tigers’ matchup with Tennessee, Boutte was able to

find the end zone for the first time this season, along with achieving his season high in receptions with six. He was named an offensive captain to start the next week as well, furthering his development as a leader.

He carried his newfound momentum into the next game against Florida, bringing in anoth er six catches for a season-high of 115 yards, starting off the perfor

mance with a 40-yard catch, his longest of the season. He would also be named an offensive cap tain for the second straight week, with his goal being to carry on that streak for the rest of the sea son.

As the Tigers get set to face another top-10 opponent this Saturday in No. 7 Ole Miss, the reemergence of Boutte couldn’t have come at a better time.

ERIN BARKER / The Reveille LSU junior wide receiver Kayshon Boutte (7) walks off the field after scor ing a touchdown on Oct. 8, during LSU’s defeat to Tennessee 13-40 in Tiger Stadium.

University has long way to go for women’s safety on campus TAYLOR’S TALKS

TAYLOR HAMILTON @taylorhami04

Being a woman can be hor rifying when you realize the amount of violence that young girls and women endure.

We live in a society where women don’t feel safe walking, running or even going to the bathroom alone. At Louisiana’s flagship university, women fre quently report feeling afraid on campus at night.

“During the day, I don’t have a problem, but at night, it’s definitely stressful,” said kinesiology freshman Riley Lagasse. “Even walking from Miller [Hall] to Azalea [Hall] is scary, because you don’t know who’s in between cars or if someone is hiding under cars because there’s not that many streetlights.”

Students are especially on edge with recent crime reports. In September, LSU senior Alli son Rice was shot dead in her car on Government Street, and earlier that month, the LSU Police Department arrested 19-year-old Daniel Cressy in connection with the rape of a female student in the Nichol son Gateway Apartments.

More questions of student safety arise from LSU’s most recent biannual Title IX report, which was released in April.

Between October 2021 and March 2022, the Title IX Office received 182 reports, includ ing 49 rape cases, 28 dating violence cases and 23 stalking

cases.

165 of those cases — over 90% — were closed without disciplinary action.

And 45% of complaints were closed because the complain ant was unresponsive, 22% because the complainant re quested supportive measures only and 15% because the com plainant requested no further action, according to the report.

While survivors have the right to close their report with no further action, these num bers beg the question: Do sur vivors trust the school to prop erly investigate and hear their cases?

It seems LSU still has a long way to go to build the trust of students after two years of harrowing Title IX revelations.

In November 2020, USA TO DAY released a bombshell re port that highlighted systemic mishandling of sexual and domestic violence cases by university officials, especially those in athletics.

In October 2021, an inves tigation by The Advocate re vealed how LSU grad student Edouard d’Espalungue d’Arros repeatedly avoided conse quences for reports of sexual violence. The university al lowed d’Espalungue to be around LSU students and high schoolers even after his 2018 rape arrest in Rapides Parish and amid mounting reports of sexual misconduct at LSU.

Six women filed a federal lawsuit in October 2021 say ing the university did little or nothing to address their sexual assault and harassment reports

against d’Espalungue.

Despite remaining Title IX tensions on campus, LSU broke ties in August with Sexual Trauma Awareness Response, a non-profit it had contracted to provide trainings to employ ees.

It’s disheartening for the university to discontinue these services and for students to potentially suffer because of it, especially amid continued con cerns about Title IX and sex ual violence on campus. This choice raises serious questions about how seriously LSU takes sexual violence after the buzz of its scandals fades.

Women, who were over whelmingly the victims of vio lations outlined in the biannu al report, shouldn’t have to live in fear on campus. Some resi dents in Miller Hall, the only all-women’s dorm on campus, expressed concerns about campus safety.

“I feel like we could use more streetlights, like there’s a lot of dark places on campus,” said Lagasse. “I feel like there should be a place on campus

where you can buy self-de fense stuff, like pepper spray, birdies and keychains.”

When I look out of my win dow at Miller, I find a pitch black parking lot outside. It makes me not want to go out at night unless I’m in a group because I can’t see anything or anyone around me. Most of the time, I choose not to walk at night because I don’t feel safe. LSU needs more street lights for women to feel safer walk ing around at night.

“I would never walk here around campus at night, be cause you don’t know what’s happening anymore,” said bio logical sciences freshman Kate LeCompte. “Baton Rouge is al ready a scary place, and this is a school. Like I shouldn’t feel scared to walk around my school, but sometimes I am, and it’s really messed up that that’s how I feel.”

LeCompte said she’s frustrat ed by security levels on cam pus. While she thinks the selfdefense classes offered by the university are great resources, she said a lot of people aren’t

aware of them and that people should be encouraged to at tend.

Though LSU has numerous things to work on regarding safety for women, students should also try to be aware of their surroundings. The LSU Women’s Center director, Sum mer Steib, said students should take precautions to avoid dan gerous situations.

“I think all members of the LSU community can learn more about risk reduction strategies that can be used,” Steib said. “Things like situational aware ness, limited distractions when walking on campus, have the LSU Shield app installed and be familiar with how to use it, having keys out, etc.”

If you’re in an environment that doesn’t have the resources or the will to protect you, stand up for yourself, fight the fight and tell your truth. Change can’t simply be said; it must be advocated for and made.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

EDITORIAL BOARD

Josh Archote Editor-in-Chief Managing EditorHannah Michel Hanks Deputy News EditorDomenic Purdy Bella Dardano News Editor Claire Sullivan 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 Commu nication. 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 deliv ered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for ver ification 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 edi tor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

“I used to get things done by saying please. Now I dynamite ‘em out of my path.”

Huey Long 40th governor of Louisiana 1893— 1935

Taylor Hamilton is an 18-yearold mass communication fresh man from Tallahassee, Florida.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille Darkness fills the walkway on Oct. 5, near the Quad in Baton Rouge, La.

TRINITY SUMLIN / The Reveille

Patrick F. Taylor Hall doesn’t deserve its architectural hype EVAN ON EARTH

EVAN LEONHARD @evan_leonhard

Our campus’ more than 250 buildings aren’t known for be ing particularly easy on the eyes. This is no revelation. The unfor tunate aesthetics that character ize much of daily life at LSU have long been the subject of student complaint through the likes of sarcastic tweets, angry op-eds (guilty as charged) and, perhaps most commonly, good ole’ casual commiseration on the route to a class in someplace like Lockett or Hatcher Hall.

There are, of course, excep tions. The French House, the Norman chateau-style home to the Ogden Honors College, is a quaint jewel box of a building. Hill Memorial Library, sitting just west of the decrepit and more frequented main library, is quite pretty. There are also the bright and dignified Italian renais sance-inspired facades that line the Quad. Mind you, emphasis should be placed on facades, as most would agree that any bright ness or dignity associated with those buildings vanishes as soon as one enters them.

A building which many are

probably surprised to see exclud ed from the above list is Patrick F. Taylor Hall, the freshly built engineering hub on the southern outskirts of campus.

Known as the pride and joy of most STEM majors and the build ing with Panera Bread for every one else, PFT has been heralded as the university’s premier archi tectural attraction and is often brought up as a counterweight to the classic campus eyesores of Lockett, Hatcher, the older dorms and the main library.

However, I’m a bit more skepti cal of the hype surrounding PFT. While its generally clean facilities and open, natural light-diffused atria and study areas are un doubtedly a refreshing improve ment upon the often dirty and cramped atmospheres of other buildings on campus, there’s still something hollow and soulless about the place.

It shares too much of a resem blance to a factory or warehouse. Its stark, sleek functionality suf focates any possibility of architec tural play or nobility, qualities on full display in the more organic curves and ornamentation of the French House or Quad facades.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that the only thing attractive about PFT is its cleanliness, more open features and, above all, the

mere newness of the building. Moreover, I suspect that the build ing’s favor among students will not be long lasting and may even slowly fade into the status cur rently held by some of the rough buildings already mentioned.

For many, this may simply seem like the natural course of things. Buildings are built, they’re nice while new but inevitably grow ugly with age.

This is such a sad way of think ing about buildings, though, amounting to the architectural sector of our culture’s charac teristic addiction to all things disposable. Moreover, it’s most definitely not “the natural course of things.” I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Europe over the past year and can testify to the power of structures that were built to be beautiful in perpetuity.

What does one get from writing a pessimistic pan of university ar chitecture? After all, it’s not like there’s much hope of it changing in the near future.

Well, what we do at universities is important. The environment we do that work in should reflect that.

Evan Leonhard is a 21-year-old English senior from New Orleans.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Two students sit on the large steps on April 29 in Patrick F. Taylor Hall on South Quad Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

Letter to the Editor: Committee disbandment disappoints

BY DRAKE BRIGNAC

The Reveille’s article “LSU’s building renaming committee quietly disbanded in December 2021” was a somber, albeit unsur prising, revelation, which showed that the Building Name Evaluation Committee and President William Tate IV shirked their duty to serve the student body and bring issues to the Board of Supervisors.

It’s frankly irritating and dis heartening to see that an oppor tunity to acknowledge repeated student pleas died with a whim per.

While I was an undergradu ate student senator, I authored a resolution with another student senator and the help of concerned students that supported the re naming of 13 buildings bearing the names of people who subvert ed the country, violated individu al rights, participated in mass vio lence or espoused racist beliefs.

To put it bluntly, these were traitors, slave owners, white su premacists and everything in be tween. How else would you de scribe the eight men who took up arms against the Union? Or the governors who unapologetically participated in the nation’s larg est mass lynching and disenfran chised nearly every Black Louisi anian?

We were neither the first stu dents to encourage such changes, nor were we making an unheardof request. In 2017, students at

tempted to convince the uni versity to rename the same 13 buildings and the University re named Raphael Semmes Road to

Veterans Drive. In 2020, students circulated a petition, Interim LSU President Thomas Galligan cre ated the now-defunct committee,

and the Board of Supervisors re named the LSU Library.

At best, the committee’s ex cuse that it wanted to give Presi dent Tate and the new adminis tration time to “develop its vision” was mediocre. The month before it disbanded, it was clear that President Tate’s vision was un concerned with, if not tacitly op posed to, the group, which “he never would have started.”

At worst, the committee’s deci sion was reckless.

It should have been obvious that they ought to continue be cause President Tate said, in the same November interview, that he would let them deliberate and offer recommendations. In June 2021, The Reveille even reported that the committee might be able to submit its report by September. Was the committee just an at tempt to placate students and kick the can down the road, or is there an unfinished report sitting aban doned in someone’s laptop folder?

It’s a shame that I have to ask these questions. It’s even worse that it took 10 months to ask them.

Drake Brignac is an LSU law stu dent and former Student Govern ment senator who co-authored the 2020 SG resolution supporting re naming buildings on campus.

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Troy H. Middleton Library sits June 17, 2020, on LSU’s campus.