The Reveille 10-3-22

Former

FAKE NAMES

LSU Police report raises questions about former Greek life admin

BY JOSH ARCHOTE @JArchote

In 2019, LSU Police concluded that the university’s then assis tant director of Greek Life, Don ald Abels, was creating fake fra ternity recruit profiles to entrap fraternity members in university policy violations and state drink ing laws, a police report obtained by The Reveille reveals.

No criminal laws were bro ken, however, so LSU Police re ferred the matter to an internal investigation. LSU denied The Reveille’s request for records related to the internal investiga tion, citing privacy interests.

“The Greek Life office will not be providing comments on this matter,” LSU Greek Life Di rector Shawnna Ebhard-Smith said in response to The Reveille’s request for an interview.

Abels left LSU in August 2021, two years after the initial inci dent.

The accusations against Abels are now resurfacing at his new university, Sewanee: The Univer sity of the South, a small liberal arts college in Tennessee, where Abels is the director of Greek Life.

The LSU Police report began circulating among students after Sewanees’ oldest sorority was suspended under Abels’ leader

Donald Abels, Director of Greek Life, concerning his behavior while he was an employee at an other institution. A thorough re view of the allegations raised in the communications to the Uni versity has been conducted and found the allegations to be un founded. The former institution confirmed that Mr. Abels left in good standing.”

The Sewanee Purple also con

plaints from “Jenny Brooks,” the supposed mother of Crew Brooks, saying that LSU frater nity members had been contact ing her child and attempting to recruit him with alcohol.

The IFC soon discovered that all of Crew Brooks’ information had been fabricated, including his LSU ID number. They also found fake social media accounts tied to Crew Brooks that were soon deleted around the time of the discovery.

recruiting software, that some one with LSU credentials created the fake recruit.

On Aug. 28, detectives inter viewed Abels, eventually con fronting him, saying that it was possible he created the fake re cruit, according to the police re port. Abels denied it.

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ship.

The Reveille called Abels several times but couldn’t get in touch. However, in an interview with Sewanee’s student newspa per, The Sewanee Purple, Abels denied the findings of the LSU Police report, calling them false. He said that he left LSU in good standing.

Abels told The Sewanee Purple that he didn’t inform Se wanee administrators about the LSUPD investigation during his hiring process.

“There was nothing to share,” Abels said.

In response to the circulat ing accusations about Abels, Se wanee sent the following email to students:

“Members of the University’s administration were sent an email making allegations about a current University employee,

tacted LSU Police detective John Meliet, who wrote the 12-page police report.

“Everything I wrote in my re port is accurate,” Meliet told The Purple. Citing LSU policy, he de clined further comment.

The Report

On Aug. 19, 2019, LSU’s Inter fraternity Council contacted LSU Police concerned that the online program they use to recruit new fraternity members had been hacked.

IFC administrators told LSU Police that a new recruit named “Crew Brooks” had enrolled in their online recruiting program. The narrative Meliot wrote in his report for LSU Police said as fol lows:

After fraternity members be gan contacting Crew Brooks and inviting him to various events, the IFC started receiving com

“It appears that the person pretending to be Crew Brooks had modified the intellectual property of IFC and [the online recruiting program] to obtain in formation pertaining to fraterni ties on campus and possibly en trap them in criminal or policy violations by utilizing the email of [Jenny Brooks] to make com plaints,” the police report said.

Police concluded that Crew Brooks was communicating with fraternity members via Snapchat and soliciting them to commit crimes that violate LSU policy, such as fake ID’s and underage drinking.

Since IFC administrators still at this point believed that they were being hacked, potentially by an LSU student, the univer sity’s Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability was involved. Jonathan Sanders and Chelsie Bickel, then administrators in the office, told LSU Police that Abels had been forwarding them the complaints from Jenny Brooks.

Detectives later learned from an employee at Interactive Colle giate Solutions, the owner of the

The Interactive Collegiate So lutions employee was also able to give detectives the IP address of whoever was using the recruit ment program around the time that Crew Brooks’ classification in the system was moved over from a “recruit” to “potential member.” One of the IP address es belonged to Abels’ laptop.

Detectives also subpoenaed Microsoft to find the IP address connected to Jenny Brooks’ email. Only one device was as sociated with that IP address: an iphone with the name “DonaldsiPhone,” associated with Abels.

Detectives noted in their re port that Abels was unable to give any explanation as to why the IP addresses associated with the fake accounts traced back to his devices. Still, Abels denied wrongdoing and insisted he left LSU in good standing.

“Detectives have concluded that the assistant director of Greek Life (Donald Abels) initi ated a scheme (catfishing) to en trap fraternities in inappropriate behavior with recruits,” the po lice report says. “He used this information to reach out to fra ternities and stop certain events from happening and/or circum venting the need for additional follow-up investigations.”

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

The Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure its readers the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes that may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified, please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or email editor@lsu.edu.

ABOUT THE REVEILLE

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.

wrote in my report

An excerpt from the LSU Police report concludes Abel’s “initiated a scheme to entrap fraternities” and refers the matter for internal investigation.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

The Quad sits empty on March 22, after a rainstorm on LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge, La.

TIGERS ABROAD

LSU leads SEC initiative to recruit students from Africa

BY KATHERINE FRAZER @kathfzr

At the end of October, LSU will be joining eight other SEC universities for a week-long recruitment initiative focused in Senegal and Ghana. LSU is leading the recruitment effort in Africa.

While in Africa, several SEC officials will visit educational institutions to speak with pro spective students and host in formational sessions.

Meetings between officials and U.S. Ambassadors in Ghana and Senegal are also planned.

SEC universities are look ing to sub-Saharan Africa for student recruitment for a mul titude of reasons.

According to the United Na tions Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, stu dent mobility is globally high est in sub-Saharan Africa, with African students showing great interest in studying in the Unit ed States.

At the height of the COV ID-19 pandemic, international student enrollment dropped by 15%, but the enrollment num bers of students from sub-Saha

FACILITIES

ran Africa dropped by only 6%, according to an August study by the Institute of International Education.

At LSU, there were 1,464 en rolled international students, according to data from the uni versity’s fall 2021 International Services Annual Report, with the top countries represented being China, India and Bangla desh.

Samba Dieng is the senior international officer and execu tive director of the project. Di eng says that the interest in stu dent recruitment from African countries comes as an attempt to diversify the university’s in ternational student population.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted international recruit ment numbers, especially among prospective students from China. According to Di eng, at the start of the pan demic, recruitment numbers of Chinese students dropped dra matically.

“Essentially, what we learned from COVID is that we should not put all of our eggs in one basket,” Dieng said.

He cited a multitude of rea sons for looking to Africa for

potential student recruitment, including growth of youth numbers in Africa, interest in higher education and students familiarity with Louisiana.

According to Dieng, many students from Africa favor the South due to a familiar climate

with some of their countries of origin, which makes the transi tion easier.

“Some come to LSU be cause they have sort of ties to the region,” Dieng said. “Fam

RECRUITMENT, page 4

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

SG passes budget for the 2023 fiscal year

BY CORBIN ROSS @CorbinRoss5

The Student Government Sen ate passed the 2023 fiscal year bud get Wednesday with 40 in favor, two against, and four abstained votes.

According to the budget docu ment, the budget is anticipating $127,694. Of the total, $3,881 came from the summer semester, $65,102 for the fall semester, and $58,905 is anticipated for the spring, but that number will vary depending on the number of students.

“The three main things that were considered were things that we’re forced to do because of the code, things that historically we’ve done that have worked, and then what the current needs are,” said engineering senior Colin Raby, chair of the budget and appropria tions committee.

According to the document, the executive branch will receive $32,500 with $3,000 for the presi dent’s contingency and $1,500 for the vice president’s contingency.

, page

How does campus recover from Louisiana Saturday Night?

BY EMILY BRACHER @emily_bracher_

Everything from beer bottles to discarded red solo cups are left scattered around campus and in Tiger Stadium after a game day.

Still, said trash disappears come morning.

This is thanks to LSU Facil ity Services, who prepares days in advance of Saturday night to make sure all trash is taken care of before the campus opens back up for the next week of classes.

Assistant Director of Land scape Services Jeffrey Brocato, who has been at LSU for six years, explained that the school’s cleanup process has been tweaked and improved over the years.

Preparations for gameday start months in advance, begin ning with a meeting between Landscape Services and the Ath letic Department where a list of supplies, including trash bags, gloves and litter pickers, is com piled.

Trash and recycle bins are accessed and pressure washed while the broken ones are dis carded, Brocato said. In total, the university places roughly

3,500 35-gallon trash cans, 300 95-gallon trash cans and 1,500 15-gallon recycle bins outside the stadium alone.

According to Brocato, all re ceptacles are placed on campus during the day on Thursday and Friday. They are strategically placed into eight zones, with a few workers responsible for each zone.

“Some of those guys have been working in those zones for many years so they’re very famil iar with where trash cans need to go and where more of them need to be placed,” he said. “They’ve developed very good relation ships with the fans in those zones throughout the years.”

On Saturday morning, about 40 crew members arrive at 4 a.m. to put more trash cans at tail gates across campus. Once they finish, they stay in their zones to monitor the trash situation and help fans.

As fans start to make their way to the stadium, the clean-up crew does too. They stay in the stadium until the second quar ter. While there, their job is to pick up trash and swap out trash bags.

Sunday morning also starts early at 4 a.m., when 115 crew

members are dispersed into the eight zones to clean up any re maining mess from the night be fore.

After one gameday, Brocato explained how 13 out of the 15 on-campus fraternities did an “outstanding job helping” with the cleanup effort. He thanked fans who go out of their way to help clean up their tailgates and notify his team when more trash cans are needed.

“They love LSU, they love

their football team,” Brocato said. “But they also love cam pus.”

Jaida Farris, a freshman jour nalism major, said that she no tices mostly beer cans littering campus during and after game days. She explained how most trash she sees is found around the Parade Grounds as most students tend to tailgate in that area.

“It gets picked up pretty fast,” Farris said. “By the time the tents

are torn down, the trash gets picked up.”

Executive director of Facility and Property Oversight Tammy Millican said that the messi est aftermath will likely follow an SEC game with high atten dance. Millican added that night games usually have an increased amount of trash due to fans hav ing the entire day to tailgate.

“So far this year, I would say

CHLOE KALMBACH / The Reveille

Trash cans litter the campus of LSU on Sept. 9, at LSU, Baton Rouge, La.

TRINITY SUMLIN / The Reveille

CLEAN-UP, from page 3

the LSU versus Southern game because you had two local teams and so we had a tremendous number of people on campus,” Millican said.

Every year, LSU competes in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Gameday Challenge that pits the university against universities from across the country.

The competition tests who can recycle the most on gameday, with LSU winning in 2015 and 2016. The school has to use the game they used for the competi tion the previous year. This year, that is the LSU versus Alabama

BUDGET, from page 3

“So those are just funds that me and Nick can use at our discretion,” said political science senior Lizzie Shaw, the student-body president. She said the money can be used to help the president and vice presi dent to do their job and they can use it to fund their own projects.

The executive’s Programming, Event Planning and Policy account has $28,001, according to the docu ment.

The legislative branch will re ceive $19,191. The general contin gency account has $16,191. The speaker’s contingency, money the speaker can use to help them do their job, has $3,000.

game. Millican believes that be cause of this game’s intended high attendance, it will give the university the opportunity to win the competition again.

The overall initiative for the competition is to increase recy cling efforts during every game day, Millican said. She referred to LSU’s cleanup as magical thanks to planning and the relationship Facility and Property Oversight has with Athletics.

“I’ve been here for 25 years, and it never ceases to amaze me that you walk off campus on a Saturday and you see what it looks like and when you come into campus on Monday, it’s spotless,” Millican said.

The Senate Initiatives Account, which is funded by a $1 fee in the spring, has $56,185 rolling over from last year and new revenue of $26,775, totaling $82,923.

The Senate Surplus account is at $25,585, which is money that has rolled over from previous years.

The judicial branch will receive $750 under the Chief Justice’s Con tingency and Programming ac count.

Shaw said the president and vice president receive $9 an hour and aren’t allowed to exceed 20 hours a week. They are each allo cated a salary of $4,000 but Shaw said they may make less if they don’t have enough hours.

RECRUITMENT, from page 3 ily members or things like that might also be a reason why they are coming down here.”

Interest from African stu dents and the growth in num bers in the region, Dieng said, “makes Africa the clear choice as a reliable market for interna tional student recruitment.”

Ritu Ghose, a current doc torate candidate studying geo physics and the president of the International Student As sociation, said that LSU diver sifying its international student population is a step in the right direction for making campus more inclusive.

The Speaker of the Senate and Speaker Pro Tempore were each allocated $3,000 salaries. The Co ordinator of SG, Courtney Greavis, was allocated a salary of $23,588 with $10,263 in benefits.

The Freshman Leadership Council will receive $1,999. Raby said they considered reducing the amount of money FLC is allocated since they don’t always use all of their money, but it was decided against.

The Election Board will receive $1,000. Raby said that money will be used to promote the elections, providing students with informa tion. He said one of the changes to the newly amended election code

Ghose believes that diversi fying the international student population will promote inclu sion and interaction between domestic and international stu dent populations, a step she believes is important in mak ing international students feel more welcome on campus.

“I think that if LSU recruits more international students, that means that the interna tional student body will be a large one. More students will come and then that student body can work to change poli cies,” Ghose said. “The culture will change eventually, but if the number is very short, LSU is never going to be a diverse

is that the election board has to start promoting elections to the student body.

“We actually gave them $1,000 to do more election promoting, to put up neutral signs around cam pus saying ‘hey there’s an election this day’ to do neutral outreach saying ‘hey there’s an election’ that doesn’t have a ticket’s name right on it,” Raby said.

The SG Support account, which is money donated directly to SG, is currently at $2,252.

The College Council will re ceive $12,000. SG is required in their code to give College Council between 5%-15% of the total bud get, this year was a little over 9% of

university.”

Ghose is originally from Bangladesh, and after study ing in Ohio made the choice to work on her P.h.D. at LSU. She said that more diversity amongst international students is a positive thing.

“I think that if LSU recruits more international students, that means that the interna tional student body will be a large one. More students will come and then that student body can work to change poli cies,” Ghose said. “The culture will change eventually, but if the number is very short, LSU is never going to be a diverse university.”

the budget.

For each college, 35% of the money will be divided evenly be tween all of them while 65% will be divided by the number of students in the college. They have $13,171 in their surplus account which they can use by applying to the execu tive branch’s director of finance. copy style. Body copy style.

The Senate also voted 36 yes, four no and five abstaining to put a referendum before the student body in the fall election to raise the SG fee to $4, with 50 cents going to The Reveille. The SG fee is current ly $2.20. If passed, this will give SG more money for the next fiscal year and increase The Reveille’s budget.

With the LSU Symphony Orchestra & LSU Wind Ensemble

ENTERTAINMENT

THIS WEEK IN BR

BY NYX CROOKS @voiceofnyx1

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

OCT.

MONDAY AT 4:30 3rd

“The Laughing Man” Manship Theatre

“The Laughing Man,” a feature documentary by LSU film and screenwriting professor Zachary Godshall, is playing on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Tickets are $9.50. After the 73-minute screening, Godshall and local community leaders will host a panel discuss ing homelessness and mental health, two topics explored in the film.

Pumpkin Painting Lawn near Blake Hall

The LSU Ag Student Association is hosting a pumpkin painting event from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the lawn near Blake Hall. Pumpkins and sup plies are free to all LSU students if they register in advance through the Linktree on the @lsuag studentassociation Instagram.

OCT.

WEDNESDAY AT 7:30

WEDNESDAY AT 8 5TH

OCT.

Shut Up and Sing! Karaoke Chelsea’s Live

Shut up and sing karaoke every Wednesday night at Chelsea’s Live, 1010 Nicholson Drive

Mookie Darden will be hosting the sing-along event from 8 to 2 a.m. Cover is free from 8 to 9 p.m, and admission is $5 after 9 p.m. Visit www. karafun.com to see if Chelsea’s has your go-to karaoke song.

COURTESY OF MANSHIP THEATRE

COURTESY OF LSU AG CENTER

COURTESY OF

COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT

A look inside the College of Art and Design

LSU digital art freshman Brennan Walker and art and finance freshman Cross Harris sit to gether on Sept. 29.

A sculpture sits atop its stand on Sept. 29.

A mural adorns the wall on Sept. 29.

LSU students work on their laptops on Sept. 29.

LSU art senior Brooke Overby admires paintings in an exhibit on Sept. 28.

LSU art senior Brooke Overby swings on Sept. 28.

Collages fill the wall on Sept. 29.

Photos by Chloe Kalmbach

by Jacqueline E. Mathews

SPORTS

RIPPED AWAY

LSU Football narrowly escapes Auburn with thrilling 21-17 win

NFL cares little about player safety

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus

Yet another chapter was add ed to the crazy story that is the Auburn-LSU rivalry on Saturday.

After going down 17-0 in the second quarter, LSU rallied, scor ing 21 unanswered points en route to a comeback win. It was another typical slow start for the LSU offense, failing to score an

offensive touchdown until the dy ing minutes of the first half.

The momentum started be fore then, though. Earlier in the second quarter, LSU got on the scoreboard for the first time after Jay Ward recovered a fumble for a touchdown, forced by BJ Ojulari. This was just the start of what went on to be the story of the game: turnovers.

LSU forced four Auburn turn

overs, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter. This went on to be the difference in the game with LSU finishing +3 in the turnover margin.

The flow of this game kept with the trend of LSU’s Power Five games so far this season. LSU got off to a slow start, before be ing propelled by a big second half performance. Like the Mississippi State game, LSU was able to get

on the board in the second quar ter to build momentum going into the second half.

Offensively, LSU could never get much going until the end of the half. That late momentum seemed to have an effect in the third quarter, though. John Em ery Jr. broke off an impressive 20-yard touchdown run, to give

During Thursday Night Football, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took a hard sack that knocked his head into the ground and resulted in his departure from the field on a stretcher.

Four days prior, Tagovailoa took a hard hit against the ground and looked visibly dis oriented when he got up and tried to walk. Despite this, an independent evaluator from the NFL cleared him from con cussion protocol.

When the NFL and the Dol phins commented on Tago vailoa’s injury status Sunday, they claimed he had a back

Column: Last Saturday night’s game was peak LSU-Auburn

BY HENRY HUBER @HenryHuber_

The initial feeling of many LSU fans, new and seasoned, regarding this game was one of confidence, as Auburn was seemingly one of the easier games on the Tigers’ schedule. But from time-to-time, uneasiness reared its ugly head. Not enough to change minds, but enough that an unexpected out come wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Auburn was written off as an easy opponent by most college football fans, and to be fair, why wouldn’t they be? The War Eagles’ previous feats included nearly los ing to San Jose State, getting blown out by Penn State and avoiding an embarrassing loss to a terrible Missouri team by way of its oppo nent’s own failures.

That isn’t the track record of a team I would’ve expected to chal lenge LSU, who was coming off an impressive win over Mississippi State (who defeated No. 17 Texas A&M by 18 points earlier in the day) and a shutout of New Mexico, and I’m sure most of you reading this felt the same way. Whether it was LSU fans, Auburn fans, LSU media or Auburn media, most ex pected this to be over early.

So, why the sense of uneasi ness?

Well for those who’ve wit nessed even a few of these match

ups, you know its outcome is rare ly what it should be.

In 2012, an LSU team that lost two games during the regular sea son and nearly beat the eventual national champion in Alabama al most lost to an Auburn team that went on to finish 3-9. Les Miles was fired after LSU’s loss to Auburn in 2016 and the next two matchups featured multi-score comebacks by the purple & gold. LSU’s 2019 national championship team came closest to losing to Auburn, not to Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma or Clemson.

For the most part, LSU-Auburn is destined to be absurd and un predictable. And the 2022 rendi tion may be up there with some of the greats.

Despite low expectations, Au burn came out of the gate firing and seemed to catch LSU by sur prise. Robby Ashford, who wasn’t seen as a great passer heading into the game, moved the ball down the field with ease against the Bay ou Bengal defense, one that had previously been effective against the pass, most notably against the air raid of Mississippi State.

Ashford almost doubled the pass yardage he had garnered in Auburn’s game against Missouri after just the first half against LSU. While that was partially due to struggles in communication within the secondary, according to Head Coach Brian Kelly, that

didn’t make LSU fans feel much better. Just over five minutes into the second quarter, the Auburn Ti gers had a 17-point lead and a winprobability of 80%.

That number creeped up for the next few minutes, peaking at 82.3% after LSU punted to Auburn. But when a team starts to feel se cure in this matchup, that’s usually when the game flips upside down.

On the first play of the posses sion, Ashford attempted to avoid the rush of BJ Ojulari and failed in the worst way possible, having the ball stripped as he tried to throw it away. Jay Ward picked it up and before you could blink, LSU was on the scoreboard. It would then add another touchdown just before the half ended.

Just as each fanbase had pro cessed the onslaught Auburn had put on, its results had been all but nullified.

The third quarter was relatively normal, featuring some question able decisions by Auburn Head Coach, Bryan Harsin, that screwed his team and a great drive run ning the ball for the LSU Tigers. Harsin’s lack of situational aware ness would reach its peak when a decision to have Koy Moore throw the ball on a trick play within ten yards of the end zone led to a Har old Perkins interception. While the game wasn’t over, the few LSU fans present in the stands were relieved to have the ball with the lead.

A few punts later and that re lief had grown, reaching its peak when Auburn muffed one of those punts, giving LSU the ball in Au burn territory with less than five minutes remaining and increasing its win probability to 92%. If you ended it here, fans would have considered this an average LSUAuburn game, looking ahead to a more predictable matchup against Tennessee.

Fans turning to their families and friends to react to what just happened likely felt dread when the crowd went wild again just two plays later. Within enemy territory approaching the end of the game, John Emery Jr. fumbled the ball, giving it back to the War Eagles with plenty of time left.

Like Bo Nix in their previous matchup, Auburn would not go down. A few big runs later and LSU’s win probability had de

creased to 68% and its opponents had made it into its territory. Au burn was effectively running the clock down as well, so this was it.

It was Bryan Harsin’s moment to shine.

After getting stuffed on first down, a short pass to decrease the distance between them and the line-to-gain wasn’t a bad move. The pass from Ashford wasn’t bad either but if you’re an Auburn fan, this was probably the last time you felt any hope during this game.

Greg Brooks Jr. ripped the ball out of Moore’s hands, forming a ‘U’ on the game’s win-probability chart with the fourth quarter’s fourth turnover, and the third in the last eight plays.

A perfect end to a woefully im perfect game, and a solid rendition to add to the list of absurd match ups between the two teams. Here’s to many more.

JOHN BAZEMORE / Associated Press

LSU safety Greg Brooks Jr. (3) intercepts a pass intended for Auburn wide receiver Koy Moore (0) in the second half of an NCAA college football game Oct. 1, in Auburn, AL.

JOHN BAZEMORE / Associated Press

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (27) breaks away from LSU safety Jay Ward (5) after a catch in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Oct. 1, in Auburn, AL

ADAM BURRUSSS @AdamDBurruss

LSU

page

LSU the lead. Emery and Josh Williams both stepped up for LSU in the backfield, and Williams talked about the shift in the sec ond half.

“There was a lot of confusion and a lot of stuff going on in that first half, but when we came back at halftime, we reset,” Williams said. “We refocused and we came back with a better mindset. We came back and we felt like in the second half the emphasis was to get the running game going.”

That Emery touchdown would be the last points scored by either team in the game. From there it was a battle of defenses, and who could avoid turning the ball over. That was a battle that LSU won.

LSU’s offense continued to stall in the fourth quarter, but every time Auburn got a chance, there was a costly turnover. Among those turnovers, two stuck out and will likely stick with Auburn for a while when as sessing this game.

The first came when Auburn was driving early on in the fourth quarter and decided to run a trick play near the sideline. Wide re ceiver and former LSU player Koy Moore got the ball on a toss and rolled out to make a pass, but threw the ball directly into the hands of Harold Perkins. That killed what would’ve been at least three valuable points for Auburn.

The second notable turnover, and the subsequent dagger, once again involved the aforemen tioned Moore. As he caught a pass on a curl from quarterback Robby Ashford, he had the ball ripped away by LSU safety Greg Brooks Jr. Brooks’ heroics allowed LSU to run out the clock and secure the win, also earning him the game ball from Head Coach Brian Kelly.

“It meant a lot,” Brooks said, describing his performance. “My dad told me right before the game to make big time plays. So I made the play and I was very grateful.”

This was by no means a pretty performance from LSU, but still a crucial road win. This was the first road win for this young team, and one to build on as SEC play continues.

“At the end of the day, there’s a saying in golf, ‘there are no pic tures on the scorecard, it is just what you score.’ Tonight, there’s no pictures on the scorecard for us,” Kelly said.

“We just found a way to win this game. That’s what you are re ally trying to do in the SEC West. It’s tough competition going on the road with the crowd you have to overcome. Is that our best per formance? I hope not. But, it was gutting. It was gritty. It was one that I was proud of how our guys hung in there after being down 17-0. That’s a program win, where you are doing the right things to win a game like that.”

NFL, from page 10

ailment. Despite being marked as questionable all week, Ta govailoa still played Thursday.

I set all this up to spell out one thing: the NFL cannot be trusted to adequately protect its players.

The Miami Dolphins got a lot of deserved criticism for playing Tagovailoa, and they should re-evaluate their medi cal staff. With that being said, an independent NFL doctor cleared Tagovailoa to continue playing in that Sunday game.

With the NFL’s recent his tory of Chronic Traumatic En cephalopathy and the effects of repeated head trauma com ing to light, Tagovailoa’s injury is a black mark on the league as a whole.

How could they let this happen?

The NFL cannot be trust ed to protect its players from themselves.

Every star athlete wants to keep playing. We see it every year with players called brave for playing through back inju ries in Jameis Winston’s case or a torn labrum in Baker May field’s case.

When Tagovailoa wanted to keep playing, someone needed to tell him no. Someone need ed to prioritize his health over his desire to be on the field.

The NFL and Dolphins failed him Sunday and Thursday.

Even in the instance that Tagovailoa suffered a back injury on Sunday rather than a concussion, why did the team let him play on a short week? Why did no one on the Dolphins’ staff prioritize his health?

In the aftermath of all of this, though, the most impor tant thing is how this may affect Tagovailoa’s life and health more so than his ca reer. The signs he displayed on the field after his hit Thurs day were sickening, and two concussions in four days may neurologically impact him for the rest of his life.

Unless he is advised not to do so by a medical profes sional, he will continue to start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

We may not see the impact of this until years in the future.

With that being said, I hope he’s fine. I hope he suffered no neurological damage and I hope his life isn’t impacted by the injuries.

However, don’t expect the NFL to be fully transparent about what happened here. Don’t expect the Miami Dol phins to take responsibility for what happened here.

The NFL plans to inves tigate an NFL team, which

means in all likelihood, the NFL will choose to preserve its own image over anything else. Admitting fault would be bad for the league’s image.

What does this mean, then? Be skeptical. Be skeptical of any wrongdoing the NFL clears itself of doing. Be skep tical of the actions taken by league doctors and the Miami Dolphins medical staff. Ques tion why Tagovailoa didn’t re ceive a second opinion on his hit Sunday.

Question how the team im mediately let Tagovailoa get on a plane with his teammates right after suffering a brain in jury on Thursday.

At the end of the day, may be nothing happened here. Hopefully, Tagovailoa escaped neurological damage that af fects him for the rest of his life, and he has a long, suc cessful career with a long, suc cessful life.

Until then, though, this situation shows how the NFL doesn’t value its players’ safe ty. This situation shows that teams will prioritize avail ability over their players’ own health.

This situation shows that the NFL cannot be trusted. Don’t trust their public rela tions and faux attempts to pre tend like nothing happened here.

We criticize LSU because we want to see university’s potential

YOUR CONSIDERATION

HAINES @bphaines

LSU President William Tate IV got himself into trouble when he criticized student media at a Board of Regents budget meeting on Sept. 20.

“Every student newspaper article in all the systems, if you pick them up, 95% of the infor mation is negative,” he said. “The negative instinct is overwhelming in journalism. They cannot help themselves.”

Professional journalists, par ents, LSU professors and The Reveille editorial board quickly responded to Tate’s comment, rightly recognizing the vital role that journalism plays at the na tional, local and university levels: to help people grasp a clearer pic ture of reality.

Two days after his comments, the president apologized to The Reveille staff, pledging his “un wavering support” to the paper as “an independent voice in pursuit of truth.”

Undoubtedly, the public was right to be angered with Tate, just as he was right to apologize.

Tate’s comment, though, brings up important questions: Why is it that the news seems to be so critical? Why is it that, seemingly everywhere we turn, there’s yet another negative story

featured in the news at the local or national level?

There’s a cynical answer: Neg ativity sells. The advertisementbased business model followed by any number of American newspapers, magazines and tele vision networks force companies

to cater to their respective audi ences.

Why is it, for example, that Ja cobin Magazine, named after leftwing, radical French revolution aries, almost exclusively features radical socialist opinions? Or why is it that The Daily Wire, founded

by conservative pundits Ben Sha piro and Jeremy Boreing, seems to only run news articles that would interest Republicans and “own the libs?” Greed, it seems, gets in the way of honesty.

According to public percep tion, however, a lot of this politi cal bias is washed out at the level of local news. According to a 2019 Gallup Poll, “53% of U.S. adults think their local media is ideolog ically ‘just about right.’” Compare this to the 39% of people who think the same of national news. And while 42% of people think national media to be “too liberal” and 13% “too conservative,” only 26% think that their local news is “too liberal” and 15% “too conser vative.”

Another explanation for ex cessive pessimism is biology. As Tate has cited, there are multiple studies demonstrating humans’ natural attraction to the negative. From a young age, people dem onstrate a “negativity bias” that causes them to skew their atten tion toward the bad rather than the good.

In all likelihood, these two factors play a role in any nega tive coverage that LSU receives. No one is totally without bias, no matter how hard they try, and our biological predispositions cer tainly play a role in our decision making.

But there are also two other, simpler answers as to why we in the opinion section are often crit

ical of university administration: First, that LSU has a lot of prob lems, which requires us to find the most important, unknown stories and report them.

Second, and more positively, we criticize the school because we cherish it and want to see it thrive – not just for ourselves, but also for those who come after us.

This sentiment is the essence of responsibility – and even love. To be responsible for something is to cherish that thing above one’s immediate, felt needs; it’s to look toward that object’s future good. To love something, in a similar way, is to elevate it above one’s own benefit, for the sake of the thing itself, independent of potential rewards.

All this isn’t to make Tate the villain of this story. If there is one, it’s the years and years of past negligence by university leaders, well before he came to Baton Rouge.

It’s also not to further pile on the criticism he’s received. Rath er, it’s to highlight that if The Rev eille is critical of the university, there are reasons for it – reasons alternative to Tate’s own negative interpretations.

Columnists criticize LSU to an end. I’m sure Tate can appreciate: the improvement of LSU and the realization of its potential.

page 11OPINION Benjamin Haines is a 24-yearold history graduate student from Shreveport.

Navigating college without a car is hard. Here’s some tips

CRADDOCK’S CORNER

KATHRYN CRADDOCK @kcradd4

Having a car in college can make life much simpler — espe cially in a city like Baton Rouge, which isn’t particularly friendly to bikers or pedestrians. Getting to campus, finding work and buy ing groceries are all complicated without the help of a car.

Still, you can do college carfree. Here’s some tips for how I’m navigating life without a car.

1.) Acknowledge that food in security exists. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help if you need it.

In 2021, I visited rural ar eas like northern Minnesota and other midwestern states like Iowa

and Missouri. I also spent time in urban areas like Chicago, New York City and Boston.

In 2022, I spent six months living in Europe. I saw places like London, Prague and Amsterdam.

After seeing all these places and returning to Baton Rouge, I can confidently say that main taining a stocked kitchen with healthy groceries is 100% harder here than any other place I’ve lived.

Something that has helped me deal with food insecurity in a carcentered city is to accept that I’ll inevitably eat at off-campus fast food places, convenience stores and restaurants. I have to forgive myself for not ordering a full bas ket of healthy fruits, vegetables and groceries from Walmart or Whole Foods each week.

My advice to other students

without cars is to not be afraid of eating alone and to try out local food places. And if you’re strug gling with food insecurity, don’t be afraid to use local resources –that’s what they’re there for.

Students can visit the LSU Food Pantry, located on the first floor of the Student Union, up to twice a week. Patrons can fill out an online form and pick up food Monday through Friday at times specified on the pantry’s website.

There are also local mutual aid efforts like the Baton Rouge com munity fridges, which are open to the public at 2303 Government St. and 1600 Government St.

2.) Invest in good walking shoes. You’ll need them.

Living without a car, you’re probably going to be walking a lot.

I have two sets of shoes that I

switch out when it comes to walk ing to class.

I have my regular tennis shoes, which are plain black and work well with issues I have with walk ing on my toes. These are good for days that I go to the UREC be fore class.

The second pair of shoes I have for school are Doc Martens. Doc Martens are good for rain, snow, sun and mud, and they’re also super cute.

Two pairs of versatile, highquality shoes make it easy for me to get the energy to walk to and from school each day. If you don’t have a car, you’d benefit from making a similar investment.

3.) Look into remote, on-cam pus or near-campus options for work.

In past semesters, I worked off-campus jobs as a desk assis

Editorial Policies and Procedures

tant in downtown Baton Rouge and a server at a restaurant. Now that I’m without a car, jobs like those aren’t accessible to me.

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to find on-campus work for this semester — besides my job here as an opinion columnist for The Reveille, I work as a news reporter at KLSU and as a desk assistant at the Center for Aca demic Success.

For college students without a car looking for work, I recom mend looking for jobs that are on line, near campus or on campus.

These three tips have helped me navigate college life without a car — and hopefully, they’ll help you, too.

Kathryn Craddock is a 22-yearold mass communication senior from Patterson.

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.

Andre Gide

author

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

MADALYN CUNNINGHAM / The Reveille

Clouds pass over Memorial Tower on Sept. 8 on Tower Dr on LSU Cam pus.

Rising college costs leave Gen Z discouraged from higher education

JEMIAH’S JUSTIFICATIONS

JEMIAH CLEMONS @Miclemah

Gen Z is turning away from col lege at record numbers. Only 51% are considering a four-year degree — a whopping 20-percentge-point drop from May 2020, according to data by the nonprofit Educational Credit Management Corporation.

The unsustainable growth of college costs is likely the driving cause. Tuition costs have jumped nearly 7% annually since 2000, with the current average student paying an average of $35,551 in tu ition a year, according to the Edu cation Data Initiative. If this trend continues, the U.S. could be left in financial and academic shambles.

Inflation has made headlines for months, but the multi-year skyrocketing in higher education is a long-running story. Because of growing rates, families rely in creasingly on loans to send their students to college, leaving 43 mil lion Americans with student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Internationally, most under graduate tuition rates don’t rise above $20,000. Meanwhile, Ameri can tuition sometimes soars to $75,000 and above. The capitalistic

traditions in the U.S. are worsen ing, and poor people will continue to suffer the brunt of the impact.

Graphic design junior Brooke Ransome worries that rising costs at LSU could keep out low-income students.

“If the cost of attending LSU continues to increase, it could mean that low-income students wouldn’t be able to attend,” she said. “This means only wealthy students would be able to pursue a higher education, which is sim ply unfair.”

The Free Application for Fed

eral Aid, FAFSA, can only allot a certain amount of funds for each qualifying student. Because of this restriction, tuition will contin ue to rise, while federal support remains stagnant.

The Education Data Initiative found that while 83% of under graduate students qualify for fed eral financial aid, this resource is often underutilized. And even when students take advantage, the support often isn’t enough.

“Although students like me who come from low-income households are eligible to receive

aid, it doesn’t fully cover the cost of attendance…and just because the cost of attendance rises, that doesn’t mean the aid will too,” Ransome said. “I’ve seen students drop out because they could not cover the cost of attending LSU, and it’s sad.”

Covering college costs can take years of planning from families. North Cobb High School senior Erinn Gardner, located in Ken nesaw, Georgia, said that her par ents have been putting away mon ey for her college education since before she was born.

“They did this so that when I graduate [from high school] I will have enough or at least a large amount of my tuition paid for,” Gardner said.

Research by the National Cen ter for Education Statistics found that high school students are more likely to attend college if they think their families can afford to send them. Young people are, understandably, afraid to saddle themselves with debt early in their adulthood.

“Thinking about loans is a big stressor for me,” Gardner said. “I know people that are 20 to 30 years post-graduation and are still paying off their student loans. Paying for loans is actually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about college.”

Loan companies like Sallie Mae and College Ave may take a huge hit or see profit increases in the future. With rising costs, students may avoid college all together or borrow more money than ever. This economic pendulum can swing to two extremes.

For many career fields, a bach elor’s degree is no longer an ad equate level of education for an entry job. If fewer people decide to attend college, the value of a bachelor’s degree may increase dramatically.

Professional development may also suffer as a result of rising tu ition. If fewer people attend col lege, the hiring pool may shrink. On the flip side, this could also cause employers to lower their employment requirements.

If college tuition continues to rise, this could do damage to the economy and education system. The costs may even sway young people in directions other than college and create an influx of new professional possibilities.

The new generation of college students are becoming less toler ant of high costs. The education system must adapt or see itself crumble.

Jemiah Clemons is an 18-yearold kinesiology freshman from Miami, Florida.

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CHLOE KALMBACH / The Reveille

History senior Alexander Dunaway studies on Aug. 29 in the LSU Quad in Baton Rouge, La.