The Reveille 11-14-22

NEXT STOP: ATLANTA

LSU clinches SEC West with Arkansas win.

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UP LSU reclaims Golden Boot en route to SEC Championship

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LSU running back Josh Williams (27) celebrates with teammate Mason Taylor (86) after scoring a touchdown against Arkansas during the second half of an NCAA college football game Nov. 12, in Fayetteville, Ark.

No matter the circumstances, winning on the road in the SEC is never easy.

him to just 24 passing yards and 37 rushing yards before being pulled out for Cade Fortin in the third quarter. The Tigers also held SEC leading rusher Raheim Sand ers to just 46 yards on the game.

“I could go through a laundry list of things that I have to do bet ter. But the fact of the matter is, our guys wanted to win,” Brian Kelly said.

On a cold afternoon in Fay etteville, LSU, a team coming off a season-defining, emotional win over Alabama now had to keep that same focus against a 5-4 Arkansas team. Like many other games this season, LSU got off to a slow start offensively, but the defense played well from the start.

LSU’s defense did an impres sive job limiting Arkansas quar terback Malik Hornsby, holding

Though LSU’s defense was stringent throughout, the offense was never able to create much separation. The Tigers went into halftime up 6-3, and from there were able to hold onto that lead until the end. LSU finally got its first touchdown with 5:25 left in the third quarter, and it felt as if the Tigers would easily pull away from there.

However, the quarterback switch seemed to give the Ar kansas offense some new life, as the Razorbacks put together a 94-yard drive at the beginning of the fourth quarter to cut the LSU lead back down to just three. This made for an entertaining finish, and one where the defense would be called upon to win the game for LSU.

Led by Harold Perkins, the de fense did exactly that.

After trading stops through

out the fourth quarter, Arkansas had one final chance to win or tie the game, getting the ball at its own 23-yard-line with 1:35 left in the game. On just the third play of the drive, Perkins made his fourth sack of the game, knock ing the ball loose and giving the LSU offense the ball back where it could then run out the clock.

Perkins was the story of the game for LSU, finishing with eight tackles and four sacks along with two forced fumbles.

“I don’t think there’s enough superlatives to talk about this young man as a true freshman,” Kelly said of Perkins. “Eight tack les, four sacks, two forced fum bles, all over the field impacting the game, obviously, to the level where we win the game because of his final play.”

The defense as a whole had one of its best games of the sea son. The unit tallied a collective five sacks and nine tackles for loss while holding Arkansas to just 249 yards of total offense.

Offensively, LSU was able to establish some sort of rhythm

running the ball. The Tigers rushed for 198 yards, an effort led by Josh Williams who contributed 122 yards. That total sets a new career high for Williams, who continues to impress for LSU on the ground this season. With the weather conditions having an im pact on the game, Williams said he was expecting there to be a fo cus on running the ball.

“It’s cold, it was snowing ear lier this morning, so we knew it was gonna be a nasty, physical running game,” Williams said. “We wanted to get the run a little bit more established early in the game, but it ended up being well.”

With that win and the Ole Miss loss, LSU now officially secures the SEC West in year one under Kelly. The Tigers improved to 8-2 on the year, a win tally many thought was this team’s ceiling by the end of the season.

LSU now has a break from SEC play as the Tigers return home next weekend to face UAB for senior night. The game is set for Saturday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. and will be streaming live on ESPN2.

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

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MAGIC & MEDICINE

LSU alumna learns from ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ actor as med student

BY GABBY JIMENEZ @gvjimenezz

LSU alumna Calli Nguyen grew up watching “Wizards of Waverly Place” on Disney Channel. Now, she’s learning how to act from Da vid Deluise, who played the funloving father, Jerry Russo, on the show.

Along with acting, Nguyen is a first-generation full-time medi cal student. She graduated from LSU in May 2022 and went on to a one-year biomedical and health equity program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where she’s studying to become a pedi atric cardiologist.

While studying for her finals during her last semester at LSU, Nguyen learned about AGB Stu dios, an acting program where students can learn from former Disney and Nickelodeon stars. The program, founded by Delu ise, is based in Los Angeles and holds virtual classes with some in-person workshops.

Despite having no formal act ing experience, Nguyen decided to apply and was accepted into the program.

“I started doing acting more and turns out I loved it, because I’m literally living childhood Cal li’s dream…I never really thought that I would have a passion for acting because my entire life

ACADEMICS

has just been healthcare, medi cine, science, taking care of other people, but I felt like acting was something I could really do for myself more and put myself first,” she said.

Two of her family members died within a short time frame during her last semester at LSU, which Nguyen described as a dif ficult few months. She was left struggling with her mental health but found that acting helped her get through the pain.

“I was going through such a depression, a lot of stuff with my mental health…trying to graduate and finish up my classes, and act ing was really kind of that escape from it all, like ‘oh, maybe I can have another passion,’” Nguyen said.

After only a few months of training, Nguyen participated in an AGB Studios showcase, where dozens of talent agencies watched her self-tapes. Nguyen received eight callbacks – the most of any one in her program. Shortly af ter, she signed with AEFH Talent Agency, which she described as “one of the top talent agencies in California.”

Along with attending medical classes at Baylor, she participates in virtual classes with various ac tors. So far, she said she’s learned from Deluise; Jennifer Stone, who played Harper Finkle on “Wiz

ards of Waverly Place”; Anneliese van der Pol, who played Chelsea Grayson on “That’s So Raven” and Amber Frank, who played Taylor Hathaway on the “Haunted Hatha ways.”

Nguyen also maintains a fol lowing on TikTok, where she posts vlog-style videos about her life and study routine. Her ac count has nearly 648,000 likes, with one of her most recent vid eos receiving 1.7 million views.

Nguyen said her time at LSU has prepared her for the ability to manage a busy schedule and per

severe.

“I’m able to balance all this and really push through because of… my mindset...I was still able to ba sically push through, finish up my classes, graduate with all As, and I wouldn’t have been able to have that mindset had LSU not helped me gain those resources and basi cally pushed me,” she said.

While it can be difficult man aging both acting, content cre ation and medicine, Nguyen said her passion keeps her motivated.

Lack of rain to affect seafood industry

BY CHANDLER MCINTOSH @GeauxChandler18

As Louisiana’s seafood indus try rebuilds after previous hur ricanes, a lack of rain and low Mississippi River water levels may impact the seafood industry, ac cording to Director for Louisiana Sea Grant Julie Lively.

Lively works with commercial fishing species such as shrimp and blue crabs by developing value-added shrimp products to increase profit for Louisiana shrimpers. She said Louisiana has the second-largest commercial fisheries in the United States.

“Only Alaska lands more sea food,” Lively said. “Seafood is vital to Louisiana’s economy and culture.”

According to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Market ing Board website, one in every 70 jobs in Louisiana is attributed to commercial fisheries.

The United States hauls around 3.6 billion pounds of seafood on average, while more than 1 mil lion total pounds come from Loui siana each year, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and

see SEAFOOD, page 4 see EDUCATION, page 4

LSU researcher partners with Amazon on app to fight obesity

BY PAYTON MANUEL @Payton_Manuel04

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center has partnered with Amazon to help further develop and improve Halo an artificial intelligence application device designed to fight obesity and diabetes.

The primary researcher on the collaboration is Pennington’s Steven Heymsfield, Louisiana’s only Amazon Scholar and among some of the first scientists to define body mass index, a tool used to measure an indication of nutritional levels and determine whether a person has obesity or not.

The Halo app utilizes smart phone photography AI to act as a wellness tracker for a person’s health. The app, launched in 2020, tracks multiple body func tions, including sleep and move ment; Heymsfield focuses pri marily on the body composition of the app. This mainly consists of measuring fat percentages.

Heymsfield explained that the purpose of the Halo app is to re construct a 2D image of the hu

man body and transform it into a 3D image after taking a photo.

With the support of AI technol ogy and photography, the Halo can help provide a diagnosis concerning obesity and diabetes.

“We are going to be able to get much better predictions of health earlier,” Heymsfield said.

“Once we can estimate a person’s risk, we are going to be able to prevent diseases, not just treat them but prevent them.”

Heymsfield said that another benefit of the app is how afford able and easy the fight against obesity and diabetes will be within clinics or even homes.

“I think it’s going to allow us to reach many more people who need this support,” Heymsfield said.

Although Heymsfield said that lab testing worked positive ly, he defined the challenges of using Halo as a “technological obstacle,” and said that lighting, distance and clothing are all fac tors to consider as a hindrance for the app.

For example, he said bad lighting can disturb the quality of the picture, distance causes

interference in the photo and poor choice of clothing may not be reliable for the technology to function properly.

“Ideally, a person should be wearing tight-fitted clothing like spandex or swimsuits,” Heyms field said. “If you wear your best suit, it won’t work because the photograph needs to capture the person’s actual shape.”

The Amazon Halo app must be purchased for consumer use. The app and monitor band com bination costs $99.99 but there is also a six-month membership available for $64.99. The mem bership gives access to all fea tures of the app including step count, sleep time, heart rate and overall wellness.

Heymsfield said that Halo’s influence on people is expected to be a “big milestone” and will be capable of fulfilling major gaps that are commonly over looked within the health field. He said that this iteration of the technology is just the beginning.

“Better technology will lead to better analysis,” Heymsfield said. “What you see now is just the start because we are going to

be able to see things we could never dream of.”

Others are unsure of the app.

LSU law student Milani Villar ruel said that she would not put her trust in the Halo app despite its positive lab results.

“I played college sports dur ing my undergraduate years, and I still run sometimes,” Villarruel said. “I don’t support it because I don’t feel like the BMI data rep resented would do an accurate job of telling or helping people become healthier.”

Villarruel said that health can be displayed in many ways, gym results only being one of them, and that this app may just be an other “money-grabber” tactic.

She also expressed her opin ions on AI technology being in the position to influence others on their own body. Improper dieting, liposuction surgery and Brazilian butt lifts are all ex amples of the negative influence culture already has on people’s perceptions of their bodies, Vil larruel said.

“I don’t think the app can benefit people here because BMI might cause people to think that

they need to change their body,” she said. “Just because someone is rounder doesn’t mean you’re out of shape or unhealthy. “

LSU graduate Levi Slack said that he thinks the app would be helpful to those who are interest ed in learning more about their bodies. Slack, who studied ath letic training, said that it’s hard to tell right now, but he is lean ing toward saying no to support ing the app due to some personal concerns.

“I’m cautious of the things that would be tracking me and how much information is secure because it seems like you would need a lot of information for the app to work properly,” Slack said.

However, Slack said that the Halo app could be a great ben efit to LSU students, particularly freshman and out-of-state stu dents living on campus.

“At LSU, it’s harder for stu dents to find doctors so if some one isn’t able to find help from the Student Health Center or isn’t able to go off campus, then I feel like this app would come in handy,” Slack said.

COURTESY OF CALI NGUYEN

Calli Nguyen poses with “Wizards of Waverly Place” actor David Deluise.

“I’m a firm believer that your passions will move you and they will drive you to whatever you want to do in life, and that has really been my motivation – is my passions – and so for me…it’s re ally all about the balance,” she said.

While Nguyen is open to a ca reer in either acting or medicine, she knows that both would be full-time jobs. If it came down to it, Nguyen said she would choose a big role over school because while medicine and healthcare would always be there, she be

lieves acting is a once-in-a-life time opportunity.

“I’m just going wherever my passion takes me…Whichever one gives me the most opportunities and whichever one opens more doors for me, that’s the path I’m going to take,” Nguyen said.

Deluise believes dedication and hard work were the reason Nguyen was able to receive so many callbacks at their showcase.

“Calli took this seriously –that’s very important. She invest ed in her craft and it paid off,” Deluise said.

Deluise said he sees “lots of success” in Nguyen’s future with

both medicine and acting.

“It’s good to follow all of your dreams. We are all very proud of her,” he said.

Michelle Tran met Nguyen at Baylor College of Medicine, where they’re both in the same program. Over the past few months, Tran has seen firsthand how Nguyen balances her busy schedule.

“She’s one of the most hard working people I’ve ever met, honestly. She’s been through a lot and she has been so gracious enough to share that to me, and I can see through her hard work is going to pay off,” she said.

Tran said she and Nguyen

bond over being content creators and often talk to each other about the stress that comes with being a student while managing a social media following.

“It’s been nice having someone to talk about things with, espe cially because not a lot of people that we know are in the same position as we are…We just had a test today and our group basi cally stayed up until like 2:30 this morning, and it’s really nice hav ing people that are equally moti vated and determined to do the same,” Tran said.

Nguyen’s mom, Phi Oamh Nguyen, said her daughter has al

ways wanted to pursue medicine. When she started to express an interest in acting this year, Phi Oamh Nguyen fully supported her daughter and wanted her to have another passion, so she doesn’t focus on school all the time.

“I support [Calli] 100%. I know that she still studies…She’s the first one in the family [to go to college], so we know how deter mined she is,” Phi Oamh said.

Phi Oamh said she’s never worried about her daughter pur suing acting while being a fulltime medical student and that no matter what, she knows she’ll be successful.

Marketing Board’s website.

Lively said that Louisiana’s seafood industry has taken major hits to infrastructure, such as fish ing boats and fishing docks, in the last few years. While Louisiana’s seafood industry is still recover ing from the damage from Hurri cane Ida, Lively said that the lack of hurricanes during 2022 is good news for Louisiana’s seafood in dustry.

“Most of our coast is still re covering from Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida,” Lively said. “This year has given the industry a chance to start rebuilding without disrupt ing evacuations and hurricane preparations.”

Consequently, the lack of rain in 2022 created a drought within lakes and rivers which Lively said could impact fishery populations such as shrimp and crawfish.

Rex Caffey, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Eco nomics, said that 2022 has been a dry year for rain nationwide, es pecially on the Mississippi River. Lower levels of water that flow into the Mississippi River can dis rupt living conditions for craw fish.

Crawfish, a Louisiana staple, is always in demand. Louisiana has more than 1,000 crawfish farmers and more than 800 commercial fishermen who catch wild craw fish, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing

Board. The 110 million pounds of crawfish harvested each year have an annual economic impact of $120 million.

Caffey said that estuaries, where freshwater and saltwater meet, are where fishing is most productive. Freshwater from rain and rivers drains into the Missis sippi River and mixes with the Gulf of Mexico’s salt water. Even though estuaries such as the Atch afalaya Basin receive saltwater from the Gulf Coast, a drought in the Mississippi River can cause a saltwater imbalance, causing few er nutrients for crustaceans such as crawfish.

“This [imbalance] can nega tively affect the catching of craw fish in the coming year,” Caffey

said.

Lively said crawfish are still nested down in burrows and will need more freshwater to rise out. If Louisiana returns to more normal rain amounts before the winter and spring seasons, Lively said that the future crawfish sea son should produce appropriate amounts.

Louisiana’s shrimp industry accounts for 15,000 jobs and an annual impact of $1.3 billion for Louisiana, according to the Louisi ana Seafood Promotion and Mar keting Board website.

Since shrimp growth depends on water temperature and sa linity, Lively said that low river levels could reduce water levels in shrimp’s nursery areas. She

said that excess saltwater slows growth.

Lively also said that the lack of seafood commerce also impacts businesses that produce fishing gear.

Many of Louisiana’s coastal communities rely on commercial fishing either directly or indirectly with seafood processing, gear and vessel manufacturing and mainte nance and the many other indus tries that support the commercial fishing industry, Lively said.

Lively believes that the lack of precipitation from hurricanes will not be the resulting factor of less seafood catching and production.

“The drought might impact fishery populations, but not the lack of hurricanes,” Lively said.

THIS WEEK IN BR

BY MADELON DAVIS @madelondavis

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

T Swift Night

The Revelry

Paws for Finals

LSU Library

The Student Health Center, LSU Libraries and the LSU Communication Across the Curriculum program is hosting an event to help students destress before finals. The event will be held at the LSU Library front lawn from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students can let the stress melt away while playing with dogs and learning study techniques.

Goat Yoga LSU UREC

The UREC is hosting a goat yoga event. Sessions are available from 5 to 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This event is free and open to all stu dents, faculty and staff. You can register for this event on the UREC’s website.

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SOCCER PLAYOFF

hP h

SLSU soccer advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating Lamar University 3-1 on Friday, Nov. 11, in the LSU Soccer Stadium.

Players fight for control of the ball after a corner kick.

An NCAA banner hangs on the bleachers.

LSU fans scream and cheer.

LSU soccer 5th-year senior Shannon Cooke (8) passes the ball.

LSU soccer freshman forward Angelina Thoreson (11) takes a shot at the goal.

LSU soccer 5th-year senior defender Tilly Wilkes (22) takes on a free kick.

The LSU soccer team huddles up.

‘SUPERHERO’

Harold Perkins carries Tigers to victory with flu, ties sack record

BY HENRY HUBER @HenryHuber_

Harold Perkins has become a household name in just a few short weeks, going from the freshman everyone was wonder ing about to one that fans pre dicted would become one of the LSU greats by the end of his col lege career. But heading into the game, his coaches and teammates likely wondered why he wanted to suit up.

He had come down with a classic case of the flu, a virus that makes people unable to get out of bed, much less playing in a col lege football game at the highest level.

Michael Jordan did it in 1997, Magic Johnson in 1988 and Joe Montana while at Notre Dame in the 1979 Cotton Bowl. But Jordan and Johnson were well into their careers and playing in the post season and Montana was playing in the last game of his college career. Perkins was a freshman playing in a regular-season game with temperatures he wasn’t ac customed to, growing up in Tex as.

But no news came out on an injury designation. In fact, no one outside of the team knew what was going on. No one had any reason to speculate that was the case either.

Top players against Arkansas

BY GRANT CHACHERE @ChachereGrant

LSU won in nail-biting fashion as it defeated upset-minded Ar kansas 13-10. In a game that had little fanfare, it did bring back the nostalgia of the old SEC with stout defense for both teams.

LSU’s first drive ended with quarterback Jayden Daniels throwing an interception. Howev er, LSU was able to force Arkansas to punt, thwarting Razorbacks’ chances to capitalize off the inter ception. Arkansas would end up taking the lead 3-0 late in the first quarter on a 28-yard field goal booted by Arkansas kicker Cam Little.

LSU would again turn the ball over when Daniels got hit be hind the line of scrimmage and fumbled the ball, leading to Ar kansas recovering it at LSU’s 10yard line. However, LSU would again stall Arkansas’ offense once again. When Arkansas went for it on fourth down on the goal line, they were stuffed and the Tigers would take over.

LSU kicker Damian Ramos would end making two field goals to give the Tigers the lead 6-3 go ing into the half, one of which was set up by a Harold Perkins

LSU secures win over Arkansas despite half court struggles

BY JASON WILLIS @JasonWillis4

In its second game of the sea son, LSU once again battled to the end with a team that most would have considered a lesser oppo nent.

However, for a team with a new head coach and an almost entirely retooled roster, the major takeaway will be the incremental improvements the Tigers make in each game.

From its Wednesday match up with Kansas City to tonight’s game against Arkansas State, LSU made major strides in its defen sive intensity and discipline. The Tigers did a better job of stopping the ball in transition defensively and also didn’t commit many fouls. On Wednesday, Kansas City was given 27 free throws off LSU fouls compared to only four for Arkansas State.

Still, the game was tight well into the second half. With nearly 10 minutes left in the game, an Arkansas State layup cut its defi

cit to only two points, with the score standing at 45-43.

From there, LSU went on an 11-0 run and didn’t allow the Red Wolves to score again until there were two minutes left in the game. A three-pointer by KJ Wil liams put an end to a brief Arkan sas State rally to effectively ice the game, making it 59-49 before the final score of 61-52.

“I thought during that stretch our energy was really good. We eliminated some of the self-in flicted wounds that were hurting us, just poor decisions in transi tion, and we did a better job of screening and getting the ball where it needed to go,” said Head Coach Matt McMahon.

What kept Arkansas State within arm’s reach of LSU was the ineffectiveness of the Tigers’ half court offense in the first half.

LSU had difficulty penetrating on drives and there was very little off-ball movement, leading to the Tigers settling for difficult shots

CHYNNA MCCLINTON / The Reveillie

LSU football freshman linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (40) celebrates after a defensive stop Oct. 22, during LSU’s 45-20 win against Ole Miss at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La

FRANCIS DINH/ The Reveille

LSU basketball sophomore guard Adam Miller (44) searches for a way through Arkansas players Nov. 12, during LSU’s 61-52 victory over Arkansas State at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on N. Stadium Drive.

in the paint and coughing up turnovers.

By the end of the game, only three players on LSU’s roster scored a field goal: Murray State transfers KJ Williams and Justice Hill and junior guard Adam Mill er. Freshman forward Jalen Reed and reserve guard Trae Hannibal also notched points, but those came via free throws. The im balance in scoring demonstrated LSU’s issue with half court cre ation and ball movement.

In the second half, LSU came out with much more intentional ity on offense. The off-ball move ment seemed more purposeful, and screens were being set with precision and force. Even though LSU shot a field goal percentage of 36% in the second half com pared to 41% in the first, the pro cess by which it generated shots was much more effective. The looks the Tigers were creating were better and put the players in position to make easier shots.

“We kind of sped ourselves up and obviously Coach recognized that,” Hill said regarding the first half offensive struggles. “Just not trying to play too fast, coming in and slowing the game down, get ting a good shot every time. Usu ally when we run our sets, we get the shots we want.”

“At the end of the first half, I noticed they had troubles guard ing off-ball screens, especially when I set a screen and then I came off a screen, or KJ coming off an off-ball screen, so I told Coach heading into halftime. We got better shots. I think we had a better half that second half. It worked once we ran what we had

to run,” Miller said.

In addition to the improved offensive scheme execution in the second half, LSU was able to pull out the win thanks to fantas tic efforts by Williams and Mill er. Despite two early fouls that limited Williams to five minutes in the first half, he finished with 15 points and three timely threepointers. Miller was there when needed consistently, playing 39 of the game’s 40 minutes and mak ing nine of his 15 shots for 26 points, just below his career high of 28.

“Tonight I think our for wards especially did a great job of screening for [Miller] and free ing him up, and Ace doesn’t need much time or space to get a shot off. I thought he did a really good job reading screens today. He curled a couple, got all the way to the rim for finishes. I thought he was just incredibly efficient of fensively for us,” McMahon said.

LSU has a lot going for it at this point in the season. The de fensive effort that was shown will keep them competitive in a lot of games, and the Tigers have also demonstrated an ability to shoot from distance at a high level, making 16 of their 41 attempts from three so far this season for a 39% shooting percentage.

However, the level of success the Tigers have this season will likely come down to how well they can manufacture points in running their half court offense. If Saturday’s game is any indi cation, LSU has work to do in perfecting the consistency with which it runs its system, but it’s clear that it has the capability to be a dangerous team with their level of talent.

Against Arkansas, he didn’t just look electric as ever, he looked even better than he had against Ole Miss and Alabama. In a game where the offense could barely crack the scoreboard, with the pass game never getting it going and the play calling being questionable at best, LSU needed its defense to step up to remain on its path to the SEC Champion ship.

It did just that, with Perkins serving as its catalyst.

It started early in the second quarter, with a short field at the LSU defense’s back and a threepoint deficit. Facing a third-andlong, Arkansas quarterback Ma lik Hornsby scrambled left with Perkins trailing him. Hornsby is one of the quicker quarterbacks in the SEC and is known to be a shifty, effective runner, but Per kins was faster than him on the play. He tracked the quarterback down, accelerating at the point of attack and forced a fumble on the tackle.

LSU wouldn’t have the best ensuing drive, but with the team starting on Arkansas’s 37-yard line and Daniels breaking off a 20-yard run to place the Tigers in the red zone, it was finally able to crack the scoreboard, tying the game with a field goal. From that point forward, Perkins was every where.

Through the second and most of the third quarter, he would ter rorize Hornsby, likely resulting in his eventual benching late in the third quarter, as the Arkan sas coaching staff opted to put in third-string quarterback, Cade Fortin. With each offense remain

ing stagnant, every possession mattered, and it seemed like ev ery time the team needed him, Perkins delivered.

His teammate, linebacker Mi cah Baskerville, even called him a superhero.

“When somebody needs him to save the day, he’s there,” Baskerville added.

That rang true late in the fourth quarter. Fortin had pro vided the Razorbacks with a brief spark that had them very much in the game heading into the final few minutes. Trailing 13-3, he led by far the longest drive of the day for either team, a 10-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that had them within three with nearly an entire quarter left to go.

After a few more stagnant drives from both teams, Arkan sas received the ball with 1:35 remaining in the game. Fortin completed a pass for 14 yards, got set to throw another one, then never received the ball again. By

GAME

the time he had set to throw, Per kins was already on him, forcing his second fumble of the game, which was recovered by Mekhi Wingo to ice the game.

The freshman finished with eight tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles on the day, all done while battling flu symptoms. In a game where LSU played terri bly and could not afford to lose, a freshman with the flu essentially saved its season.

“We win the game because of his final play,” Kelly said on Perkins. “I don’t think there are enough superlatives to talk about the young man, as a true fresh man coming into to his own. As you can imagine, he was awarded the game ball.”

Fans should probably get used to hearing his name called many, many times throughout the next three seasons of LSU football. Af ter that game, there’s no question he’ll have a vital role on this LSU defense.

BALLS

, from page 9

forced fumble that was recovered by BJ Ojulari.

After two and a half quarters of a defensive gridlock, a touch down was finally scored in the third quarter. LSU would extend its lead when running back Josh Williams scored on a three yard touchdown to make the score 13-3 with 5:26 left to go in the third quarter.

However, later in the fourth quarter, Arkansas would respond with a touchdown of their own.

Arkansas quarterback Cade For tin would throw a 40-yard touch down pass to wide receiver Matt Landers to make the score 13-10 with 13:17 left to go in the final quarter of play.

However, LSU’s defense would hold strong and true as Perkins would again force another fum ble, as he strip sacked Fortin in the final two minutes of the game to win it for the Tigers.

Here are the top performances from Saturday’s game against Ar kansas.

Harold Perkins

Obviously, the first game ball goes to the freshman phenom at linebacker, Perkins, who had a historic day. Perkins has arguably, been the best linebacker not only the SEC but college football as a whole. Perkins earned National Defensive Player of the Week for

his performance in LSU’s thrilling victory over Alabama last week.

Perkins may have a strong case to be the best linebacker in the country after his performance for the ages against Arkansas. Per kins had eight tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles, both of which changed the momentum of the game.

Perkins’ four sacks tied the school record for sacks in a game. This was also Perkins’ third straight game with at least one sack.

At this rate, Perkins has a chance to win the SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a true fresh man, which is something that is unheard of.

Josh Williams

The next game ball goes to running back Josh Williams. Wil liams, the former walk-on, had another impressive day.

Williams ran the ball for a ca reer-high 122 yards on 19 carries along LSU’s only touchdown. Wil liams has been reliable for the Ti gers all year as he fights for extra yardage on every carry, catches the ball out of the backfield and even has been a reliable blocker, whether it is run or pass.

Williams was recently named a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, an award given to the most outstanding player who started out his career as a walkon.

MICHAEL WOODS / Associated Press

Arkansas running back Raheim Sanders (5) is tackled by LSU safety Joe Foucha (13) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Nov. 12, in Fayetteville, Ark.

CHYNNA MCLINTON / The Reveille

LSU football freshman linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (40) pressures Ole Miss football sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) Oct. 22, during LSU’s 45-20 win against Ole Miss at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

Positive changes to LSU are leaving the humanities behind

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

BENJAMIN HAINES @bphaines

While it’s too early to bring down a definite verdict on LSU President William Tate IV’s tenure in Baton Rouge, one thing is sure: LSU is changing.

Deans, department chairs, professors, instructors and vet eran students across campus have been listening and waiting intent ly to see how Tate will change the makeup of their daily and profes sional lives. Will funding be cut? Will there be raises? What about that leaky roof in the library?

Some things are already clear. Newly hired LSU Executive Vice President and Provost Roy Hag gerty has shown what some of the school’s new priorities are, including increasing graduate as sistant stipends, a subject that has been on the minds of graduate students for years.

Haggerty announced this plan in a recent Senate Faculty meet ing, where he proposed increas ing graduate stipends from ap proximately $15,000 to $23,000 – an almost 50% increase that is fantastic news for a seriously overworked and underpaid work force.

What’s especially interest ing about Haggerty’s proposal, though, is the way in which he framed it: not in financial, busi ness terms, but in moral ones.

“We need to make sure we increase our graduate stipends to a level … where students are not having to eat from the food bank or wait to have wisdom teeth pulled until they can save up enough money,” he said. “… [W]e need to provide stipends that are livable [with] basic health benefits.”

He continued, “We should not be paying graduate students a stipend that they cannot afford to live on in Baton Rouge, Loui siana…We have to increase this, ok? Morally, we have to do this.”

Though the plan isn’t without its concerns, Haggerty’s presenta tion of this significant financial relief as an ethical necessity is a welcome change from the cold penny-pinching reasoning that was a feature of the Bobby Jindal administration from 2008 to 2016.

For his part, Tate has also con tributed significantly to the new direction of the university when he announced in March 2022

his “Scholarship First Agenda,” which focuses on STEM-related endeavors, specifically procuring grant money for funding energy, defense, costal, biotechnological and agricultural projects, which is supposed to help both LSU and the state.

So far, the plan has been a suc cess, garnering millions in invest ments from Shell, the legislature and Our Lady of the Lake.

Noticeably absent, however, from both the Scholarship First Agenda and the growing list of donations given to LSU in recent months, is funding or any sub stantive mention of the humani ties disciplines.

It’s not necessarily surpris ing. There’s been a significant decrease in humanities majors dating back to the late 1960s. Benjamin Schmidt, an assistant professor of history at Northeast ern University, conducted a study in 2018 that found that humani ties degrees had dropped by 66% from 1969 to 1985 – a trend that continued, albeit at lower rates, into the 2010s.

Of all majors affected, his tory was the hardest hit, falling by thousands of students over the past two decades, Schmidt re ported.

From a pragmatic point of view, these statistics may show why LSU hasn’t demonstrated much, if any, interest in support ing the humanities. In business terms, why invest in something that won’t yield a sufficient re turn?

But from another perspective

– one that has the historical uni versity in mind – the benefits of a robust humanities program are more tangible.

Once upon a time, the hu manities were the foundation and lifeblood of universities. Study ing them cultivated in a person an understanding of the good things, the true things, the beau tiful things.

This idea persisted for centu ries, up until around the end of World War II, after which came a focus on engineering, math ematics and the hard sciences. Cast aside was the study of the human spirit and embraced was the apparent belief that all that was needed for complete hu man knowledge were empirical “proofs” about reality that could only be found in the physical world.

Tate and the new LSU admin istration seem to have taken this new perspective to heart, largely leaving the humanities alone to fend for themselves.

And fending for themselves they are. LSU’s College of Human ities and Social Sciences, or HSS, is creating a strategy to develop new directions for all the depart ments under its authority and to articulate the special place and role that the humanities have in today’s university system.

A key part of this strategy has been increasing interactions with all members of the HSS constitu ency – faculty, graduate and un dergraduate students. Lines of communication have been opened from HSS Dean Troy Blanchard’s

office, where members of the HSS community have been invited to send in their thoughts and con cerns about the good and bad of the academic and professional ex periences at LSU.

Another aspect of communi cation has been a series of “lis tening sessions” with faculty and students, where they’re asked similar questions about what they think is and isn’t working well in the college.

In one of these meetings on Oct. 21, HSS dean’s fellow and associate professor Chris Barrett shared five aspects of the col lege’s new strategy, which were primarily aimed at professional and academic development.

Barrett said that the HSS wants to advance and emphasize “schol arship, teaching, diversity and inclusion, community outreach, and shaping leaders.” At the heart of all of these is a single, unified goal: to “advance student success in and beyond the classroom.”

HSS graduate students at the Oct. 21 meeting seemed to be gen erally receptive to this plan – they all seemed to agree that reshap ing the trajectory of the college is a worthy pursuit. Most of their concerns were, instead, aimed at things outside of the college’s control, namely stipend increases, deferred building maintenance and streamlined communication between departments and the graduate school, which has his torically struggled to convey bu reaucratic policies to departments across the university.

While Barrett said that such

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concerns would be relayed to higher ups at LSU (i.e., Tate and his office), the college is limited in what it could actually do about them. Its control is largely limited to academic affairs and agendas.

This begs an interesting ques tion: If most of the problems that exist at LSU are only under the control of executive offices, who is left to defend the interests of the humanities?

The answer, simply, seems to be: not anyone with actionable authority.

Blanchard and his staff can suggest certain policies that could advance the cause of non-STEM fields, relay concerns of faculty and students and defend, to the degree that they can, the vitality of a humanistic education – but ultimately, they’re left to Tate’s fancies.

Tate’s focus, he’s made clear, is the hard sciences and those fields that bring in the most money for the school.

“We’re invested in the sea and understanding our coast,” Tate said in an Oct. 21 interview on the Paul Finebaum show when asked about some of the uni versity’s development priorities. “We’re invested in the land. We’re invested in space.”

Tate did mention “the humani ties and social sciences” in the in terview – but these rang as a qui et afterthought; the real focus, it seemed, is the sexy, cutting-edge fields that bring in piles of cash.

And while Tate’s interview could very well be a one-off com ment, it’s difficult to see a bright future for the humanities in Loui siana higher education, given Tate’s (albeit short) track record.

It’s discouraging to see the heart of the historical university being cast by the financial way side.

It also spells danger for LSU more broadly. The humanities are those subjects that inform our science. Without the human ele ment, which the humanities pro vide, STEM fields are reduced to simple data points devoid of feel ing or qualitative analysis.

Let’s hope that the Tate admin istration has something substan tive planned for the humanities. Without that, it may prove dif ficult to celebrate the otherwise positive changes that are coming to LSU.

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Josh Archote Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Hannah Michel Hanks

Deputy News Editor Domenic 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.

George Carlin American comedian 1937 —

“Weather forecast for tonight: dark.”

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

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

LSU Associate Professor of English Chris Barrett speaks with those in attendance on Oct. 21 at the Humanities and Social Sciences strategic meeting inside Hodges Hall on Field House Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

TV doctor Mehmet is everything wrong with American politics

SERIOUSLY KIDDING FRANK KIDD @FK446852315

Dr. Mehmet Oz was defeated in his Pennsylvania U.S. senate race against John Fetterman on Tuesday. This decision by the people of Pennsylvania saved them from electing one of the worst candidates in recent his tory.

Oz is everything wrong with American politics. Politicians can often be inauthentic, but Oz has raised the bar for fraudulence with his campaign.

To start, Oz isn’t even from Pennsylvania. He only went to university there and was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. He moved to Pennsylvania in 2020 with the 2022 Senate race in sight.

Politicians’ inauthenticity of ten takes the form of lying to people about what they’ll do if elected. For doing this, they are maligned as hucksters. In Oz’s case, this is a legitimate descrip tion of him given that his career before politics revolved around him selling products by exagger

ating or lying about their effects.

The disgrace of the medical practice that he calls a TV career began with a segment on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” before he started “The Dr. Oz Show” in 2009.

Throughout his two-decadelong run on television, the snake oil salesman promoted ineffective and sometimes harmful products from companies—ones he was often invested in. Oz’s career be fore his political candidacy was essentially corruption training, so it’s not hard to imagine he could easily be paid off in office.

Oz went on “The Dom Giorda no Program,” a Philadelphia radio show, and talked about Big Phar ma, saying, “I’ve taken these guys on. I have the scars to prove it.” This would be true if he meant that he’s taken them on as busi ness partners and if by “scars” he meant “money.”

Oz has been paid to speak on behalf of pharmaceutical compa nies, hoping to leverage his repu tation for profit. Voters were right to question the authenticity of a man claiming that he would do a heel turn while in office and bite the hand that feeds him.

The slimy grifter has often at tempted—and failed—to relate to Pennsylvanians.

In a speech at a rally with for mer President Donald Trump, he

confidently told voters, “Tomor row morning when you awaken, I want you to contact 10 people, do it before church, do it before the [Pittsburgh] Steelers game.”

He was referring to a nonex istent football game. The Steel ers were on a bye week, meaning they wouldn’t play again until the following week.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a small meaningless slipup, but it’s comically poetic. He chose to pander along the lines of football because it’s the quint essential American sport and the Steelers have one of the most pas sionate fan bases of any team in the NFL. Shouting out the home team is an easy way to score points—that is, unless you pick the only week in the entire fall when the team doesn’t play to ref erence their game.

Oz had a wide-open layup, but he slipped, fell and threw the ball 94 feet back into the other team’s basket.

Oz exemplifies the biggest problems in American politics. He’s a phony who uses his deceit ful nature to obscure the puppet strings behind him, and he should be kept as far away as possible from any public office.

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

Fans should stop rushing fields for safety, legal concerns

TAYLOR’S TALKS

TAYLOR HAMILTON @taylorhami04

As an avid football fan, I’ve loved the stellar atmosphere that LSU provides.

But people storming the field? I’m not a fan of that.

LSU fans have stormed the field at two home games so far this sea son — one against the University of Alabama and another against the University of Mississippi. The university was fined $250,000 by the Southeastern Conference each time.

The SEC policy states that “the safety of participants and specta tors alike, at no time before, dur ing or after a contest may specta tors enter the competition area.” And it’s the “responsibility of each member institution” to ensure compliance with this rule.

While I understand the enthu siasm that comes from big wins during a rebuilding season, the consequences of storming the field out way the few minutes used to take photographs and to see the team up close.

Safety issues that come with field-storming aren’t just theoreti cal.

In the 1983 Harvard-Yale game, a Harvard freshman was struck in the head by a goalpost and left paralyzed on her left side after fans knocked down a goalpost, according to the United Press International Agency. At least three fans went to the hos pital after some rushed the field at the 2013 University of Southern California vs. Stanford game, CBS News reported. And a New Mex

ico State player was punched by multiple Utah Valley State fans in 2014 after fans came on the field after the game, the Sports Litiga tion Alert reported.

These are just a few of many instances where fans rushing the field left people hurt. All of this harm could’ve been avoided if fans just stayed in their seats. I hope all the fans who rushed

the field after the Bama game had good health insurance.

Even in Death Valley, Ala bama’s assistant director of player development Evan Van Nostrand had to be escorted off the field by police after fans aggressively got in his face.

That behavior can become vio lent and shows a lack of sports man-like conduct, which is some

thing that the football world so desperately needs. Let’s celebrate a win by going over to Tigerland instead of picking a fight with someone whose livelihood de pends on the outcomes of football games.

All in all, people running onto the field can lead to violence, inju ries and lawsuits — all things any university would want to avoid.

Even if people fail to neglect the damages that can arise from rush ing football fields, some would be startled at the potential legal ramifications that can come with trespassing.

The SEC policy states that “[i] nstitutional penalties against indi viduals who improperly enter the competition area must include, but are not-limited to, expulsion from the facility, arrest for tres passing, and the loss of future ticket privileges.” Students could face additional disciplinary conse quences.

Fans need to demonstrate some self-control. Look at the sit uation from a logical standpoint: Could this harm me? Could this harm others? Could I get arrested? Those are some of the many ques tions field-rushers should con sider before acting out possible childhood dreams of standing on a college football field.

And maybe people don’t care about individual consequences, but they should care about what their actions cost the university.

LSU has racked up half-a-million dollars worth of fines from fans rushing the field this season.

Do you hear how utterly ri diculous that sounds? I don’t care who’s signing the check to the SEC. That could be used to bet ter the university. But, no, people throw that money down the drain.

I’m not trying to be a kill joy. All I’m saying is that people should consider the many legal, safety and financial consequences of their actions before they rush the field.

Taylor Hamilton is an 18-year-old mass communication freshman from Tallahassee, Florida.

CHRIS PIZZELLO / Associated Press Mehmet Oz, the former host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” poses atop his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a ceremony on Feb. 11, in Los Angeles.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

LSU fans storm the field in celebration on Nov. 5, after LSU’s 32-31 victory over Alabama in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.