Andrew Hundley was incarcerated for 19 years.
At 15 years old, Hundley, a Eunice native, was sentenced to life without parole. When he was released in 2016 because of a landmark Supreme Court ruling on juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole, he co-founded the Louisiana Parole Project, a non-profit organization that provides reentry support to people who have served long prison sentences.
Hundley said his experiences while incarcerated encouraged him to create the organization, which helps set formerly incarcerated people up with jobs, insurance and other tools they need to reintegrate back into society.
While incarcerated, Hundley took a few classes for college credit. After his release, he finished his college education at LSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Hundley said he had the rare chance to start over and live his life after his release. Most people don’t have the support to do that, he said.
“When I came home, I had a lot of resources and the ability to build a new life for myself,” Hundley said. “So I was very cognizant, immediately after my release, that I would be fine because of opportunities that were in front of me, and I knew that other people who were coming home didn’t have the same opportunities.”
Now, his organization works directly with LSU students to raise awareness and advocate for people who have served long prison sentences.
The Louisiana Parole Project employs interns and collaborates with students from LSU’s School of Social Work, law school and Ogden Honors College. Through their work with the Louisiana Parole Project, Hundley said he hopes students gain a new out-
look on the justice system.
“We have such an incredible relationship with LSU…And there have been so many students over the last several years who leave as a volunteer, as an intern, as a student, lawyer, social work intern, who are impacting our organization, impacting our clients’ lives,” Hundley said.
Hundley said the clients students work with have been incarcerated for decades. Often, they don’t know how to use a cell phone or a debit card. Hundley said the organization teaches clients life skills and provides them with the resources to succeed so they are less likely to reoffend.
“People don’t want to be in prison, especially as people age and mature. People don’t want to live lives of crime,” Hundley said.
Robert Lancaster, the assistant dean of experiential education at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, co-founded the Louisiana Parole Project with Hundley. He teaches the parole and reentry clinic, including a class where students work with Louisiana Parole Project clients.
Through the course, students work with lawyers to prepare clients for hearings while they’re still incarcerated.
Lancaster said he hopes law students not only learn the educational aspect of assisting real people in real cases, but also gain a better understanding about the legal system and the individuals impacted by it.
“In their professional career, the goal [is for students to] keep working to make our criminal legal system better, and create a criminal legal system that, of course, protects the public, but also provides the opportunity for individuals to have second chances when they demonstrate that they’re worthy of a second chance,” Lancaster said.
Law student Kayla Meyers first started working with the Louisiana Parole Project when she was a sophomore at LSU. Through LSU’s Tiger Prison Project, a
student organization focused on criminal justice, she began participating in workshops and eventually became a sociology intern during her undergraduate career.
While working with the Louisiana Parole Project, Meyers has accompanied staff members to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where they interview clients and conduct research for legislation.
Meyers said meeting the clients face to face gave her a new perspective on the legal system.
“I got to see how your direct, hands-on experience with these people can impact them, it can impact you, it can impact the community…How people truly can change and how people really, really do deserve a second chance,” Meyers said.
Meyers still volunteers with the organization and said she hopes to eventually participate in Lancaster’s law clinic.
Graduate student Renee Hass started working at the Louisiana Parole Project in August 2022 as a social work intern. Hass said she became involved with the organization because it directly aligns with her interest to help individuals who have been incarcerated.
As part of her work, Hass assesses clients and researches resources for courses to help newly- released clients adapt to societal changes that happened
while they were incarcerated.
Hass said the most rewarding part of working with the organization is the direct impact she can have on clients. She said the work she’s done so far has prepared her for a career after graduation so she can continue working with people who were incarcerated.
“I will be very well prepared to facilitate programs, assessments, anything that would be needed for an individual who is coming into a reentry program… It’s very rewarding to see [clients] starting to make their own choices and be more confident about themselves,” Hass said.
Like Meyers, she said the Louisiana Parole Project offered insight into the criminal justice system that she didn’t previously have.
“[People who are incarcerated] are far more underrepresented…than any of the population…These are the types of social problems that people don’t think about unless they’ve been touched by it,” Hass said.
In the future, Hundley said he hopes to continue working with LSU students and expanding the Louisiana Parole Project’s impact.
“We’re giving future leaders an opportunity to better understand the unseen side of the criminal justice system,” Hundley said.
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Two public Louisiana universities stand just 30 minutes apart, both with one major thing in common: having the lowest suspension and expulsion rates for sexual misconduct.
Louisiana Tech University and University of Monroe expelled or suspended the least number of students for sexual misconduct from 2014 to 2020 in a review of Title IX cases conducted by USA Today.
Both schools ranked last on USA Today’s compilation of data from 56 schools. Louisiana Tech suspended just two students under Title IX in seven years. ULM expelled one student.
The only other Louisiana public university on the list was LSU, which has been scrutinized for mishandling Title IX cases since USA Today’s investigative report into LSU Athletics and Title IX in November 2020.
Of its 33,760 students, LSU suspended 26 students and expelled three for sexual misconduct over the past seven years, the review found.
“I hate to say it, but I think that the Title IX issues in 2020 could’ve given Title IX attention at LSU, like more students know about it because of it and know where to file cases,” said LSU ju-
nior Autumn Siharath. “Maybe these other schools, Tech and ULM, haven’t had big breakthrough cases like that so a lot
of students don’t know about it.”
Any student can file a “power-based violence” report to
Across campus Monday afternoon, students, professors and staff alike banged their keyboards, thinking something was wrong with their computers.
But there wasn’t. Internet outages had swept campus, coming on the heels of days of lost internet at Southeastern Louisiana University.
For some, it was a headache. For others, an excuse to turn away from their emails. Some students in the Himes Hall testing center were in the middle of a midterm exam when the internet took a few hours off. They were forced to reschedule their tests—some grateful for the disruption, and others annoyed their stress had gone to waste.
Some professors took to their white boards for their lesson plans. Others received students at the door and sent them away.
Monday also brought brief power outages for some buildings on and off campus.
their university’s Title IX office. The Louisiana Legislature
All the while, Facebook pages and Snapchat group chats swelled with rumors of what caused the mysterious outages. These rumors grew when the internet briefly blipped again Tuesday morning.
The Student Government judicial court handed down two penalties on Tuesday to the Inspire ticket for violating the election code by using people in their campaign video without itsconsent.
Six penalties disqualifies a campaign from the election.
The Inspire ticket, headed by political communications junior Byron Hansley and biological sciences junior Amber Salone, had taken video footage from LSU’s social media and used it in their campaign announcement video released on Feb. 5.
The Innovate ticket, headed by political science and screen arts junior Anna Cate Strong and political science junior Gigi Powers, argued this was in violation of a part of the SG election code that prohibits the use of a student or a student organization’s image or name without their consent.
“No candidate or authorized
agent thereof may use the image or name of another student or student organization in any photo or video constituting campaign material without first obtaining the verbal or written consent of the student or student organization,” reads SG election code 810, section two, the basis of Innovate’s complaint.
SG campaigns are only allowed to campaign within a fiveday window, but they’re allowed to promote their campaigns on social media.
The court ruled the campaign video counted as campaign material but was allowed under the social media exceptions in the election code and was therefore subject to restrictions laid out for campaign material in the election code, including prohibitions on using images of people without their permission.
The hearing was presided over by two law students, chief judge Julien LeBlanc and judge Madison Latiolais, and econom -
TITLE IX, from page 3 requires public universities to share all power-based violence reports on their websites, typically listed as Chancellor’s data or complaint reports.
In their respective Chancellor’s reports from 2021 to 2022, ULM and Louisiana Tech each received four complaints about sexual harassment, stalking and non-consensual sexual contact. LSU received 182 complaints.
The bulk of LSU’s complaints were closed without any disciplinary action taken against the accused party, with 82% of them being closed for reasons such as “no response from complainant,” “complainant requested supportive measures only” and “complainant requested no further action.”
LSU’s Title IX coordinator Joshua Jones said LSU only refers to cases as open or closed, regardless of the investigation status.
“The reason we might close a case is maybe the student didn’t reach out to us, maybe the student did reach out to us and said, ‘You know what, I want you to know about what I experienced, but I don’t want you to do anything,’” Jones said. “Closed means either we didn’t
OUTAGES, from page 4
But they were dispelled concretely with an email from LSU Information Technology Services
PENALTIES, from page 3
ics junior judge Brookes Belanger.
The counselor for the Innovate ticket, political science junior Drew Prude, argued the video should be considered a form of campaign material that is subject to the section of the election code. Prude argued that campaign material isn’t subject to the social media exception for campaigning, and therefore 810 section 2 applied to it.
Prude said that even if the social media exception was to be applied, he didn’t think it affected their case, saying that 810 section 2 would still apply to the video promoting the Inspire tick-
move forward in the case, or we did move forward in the case and the investigation and everything is complete.”
Jones said cases may take longer to close depending on whether the student requests for a formal investigation or an informal resolution, but LSU’s Title IX office strives to close cases within 60 to 90 days.
While 165 of LSU’s complaints are closed cases, most of ULM and Louisiana Tech’s cases share a different status: pending.
Only one report from either school during the 2021-22 academic year was listed as closed. It was a sexual harassment report to Louisiana Tech, which was closed within 10 days.
Louisiana Tech’s Title IX Coordinator Mortissa Harvey did not provide a comment due to “ongoing litigation.” The university is currently being sued for allegedly failing to take action against a serial sexual assaulter and violating Title IX.
“Early in my time at Tech,” said Louisiana Tech senior Lauren Shirley, “I heard about a situation regarding reports from multiple girls for the same male student, but when he was made aware that he would be expelled, he transferred schools
Tuesday afternoon.
“There is no evidence at this time to indicate this was a cybersecurity/ransomware incident,” a campus-wide email read. “This was
et if it was considered campaign material.
“If you were to not allow this to apply, simply because it was not campaign material, really then when is 810-2 applicable?” Prude said. “Is it only during campaign season, during that five days those are the only days you’re not allowed to use anybody’s image?”
Prude argued the Inspire campaign committed nine violations throughout the video, eight for the students whose likeness was used and one for the baseball team as a whole. Biological and agricultural engineering senior Alex Basse, counselor for the Inspire ticket, argued the video should be considered campaigning, not campaign material.
beforehand.”
Louisiana Tech was one of three Louisiana universities to allow Victor Silva to attend its university despite sexual misconduct reports. Silva was accused of assault by six different women from 2014 to 2020. He was never expelled or suspended from any of the universities he transferred to.
From 2014 to 2020, Tech only had a 0.2 expulsion or suspension rate. Shirley believes the university avoids punishing its students.
“They seem to give students a ‘warning’ after a report rather than moving forward with suspension or expulsion,” Shirley said. “When my friend filed a report against another student accusing him of sexual assault and stalking, it was immediately acted on – but when it came to further action, it fell short. The other student was talked to and he was told that if she came to Title IX office again regarding him, he would be expelled. Other than that, no safety measures were put in place.”
While Tech and LSU struggle with Title IX lawsuits and criticism from students, ULM students feel differently about their university.
“The school has tried to work
an Internet connectivity issue.”
LSU students are “perfectly safe” to use myLSU, Moodle and other parts of the university network, the email said.
She argued that the video would fall under the campaigning exception for social media and 810 section 2 could not be applied to it since it only references campaign materials.
Basse argued that if their video was to be considered campaign material, meaning it would fall under 810 section 2, then the others’ campaign videos would also be considered campaign material and would violate the election code prohibition against distributing campaign materials outside of the campaign season .“If this social media is a campaign material and is campaigning, then every single one of us are disqualified, because we have all posted multiple times outside the campaign period,”
with people to find the best option, whether that’s switching classes without an added fee or switching dorms,” said ULM alumna Madison Hernandez. “There is always room for improvement, but largely I think they do well.”
Hernandez said that ULM’s Title IX office had a quick response time during her attendance from 2018 to 2022, and the university provides classes with information on how and who to report sexual misconduct incidents to.
Meanwhile at LSU, students struggle to understand Title IX.
“I didn’t even know what Title IX was before coming to LSU,” Siharath said.
LSU’s Feminists In Action president Myrissa Eisworth said FIA works closely with the Title IX office to educate students and improve its services.
“They do a pretty good job of being self-aware about their shortcomings, and a major one we’ve discussed is just making the office more robust,” Eisworth said.
LSU’s Title IX office has expanded to 12 full time staff members, fostered a more active social media presence to spread awareness about its services and includes positions for stu-
Connection remained stable Tuesday, and the university said it has identified the problem and doesn’t expect further issues.
Southeastern isn’t as lucky. The
Basse said.
Basse argued that if the video is to be considered in violation of the code, it should be considered as one violation due to precedent in the Supreme Court case Wooden V. United States. In that case, where a sense of ambiguity surrounds the facts of a case, then the court should be more lenient to the defense. The court ultimately took this approach and considered it one violation.
Strong said she was happy to see the court provide more clarity for the upcoming campaign season.
“I’m just excited to see things defined more clearly in the code,” Strong said. “‘Cause it’s gonna matter a lot, especially the definitions of campaign versus
dents to work as peer educators.
“The office is full of really good people who are actively trying to better themselves and the office. They want student input,” Eisworth said. “Title IX tries. LSU upper administration does not.”
In addition to partnering with student organizations, Jones said he regularly meets with other Southeastern Conference schools’ Title IX coordinators to discuss sexual violence issues and the Title IX staff holds tabling events and training programs to help prevent power-based violence.
“If folks have suggestions, we always want to hear it,” Jones said. “We want to be there for students when and where they need us.”
Despite the Title IX office’s attempts, LSU students like Siharath are still skeptical about the process.
“I would contact the police, I wouldn’t contact the university. That’s probably the last thing a victim needs, for someone to say ‘Okay, I’ll file that for you,’ only for nothing to happen,” Siharath said. “Some of them might’ve loved their university at some point, and then it’s just all tainted...that’s the last thing anyone would want.”
university reported its outages to the Louisiana State Police, which is now conducting an investigation, according to a tweet from the university.
campaign material later in the campaign season, so the fact that we can get those defined now is really nice.”
Hansley said their ticket respected the court’s decision on the case and would continue to push their campaign forward.
“We respect the court’s decision. It’s really not gonna stop anything. When me and Amber got into this, it was never to fight against another campaign; it’s to fight to make sure that the student body progresses and moves forward with a new vision and direction,” Hansley said. “So, at the end of the day, this does not stop anything at all. If anything, it fuels us to want to continue going and making a bigger impact on campus.”
Written and directed by LSU graduate student Alice Wilkinson, “To Stand in the Water” is the next LSU theater production that will blow viewers out of the water.
The play takes place in southeastern Colorado and revolves around the disputes between Colorado native Hugh and city-man Tom.
Based on Supreme Court case Hill v. Warsewa, the play tackles the issue of defining public property versus private property. “To Stand in the Water” will make audiences think about where they stand on the issue.
“I believe we are living in a world where the next crisis will be a water crisis, not just out west, but globally,” Wilkinson said when asked what she wanted audiences to take from the play. “I hope people walk away from the play with a better understanding of this urgent, complicated issue, because time is running out.”
The play covers a dark topic, but the narrative is written in a way that won’t leave viewers feeling miserable; instead, they’ll leave with a new outlook on climate issues.
The brilliant writing of Wilkinson along with the talented cast, stage crew, set designers and tech crew evokes this feeling.
The cast consists entirely of LSU undergraduate students with a wide array of experiences. Some have been in several productions, but for others, this is their first time on stage.
To add to their talent, these students have only been rehearsing for a little over a month. In this short time, the production has come to life.
The show, the talent and the amazing setting draw audience members into a new world. You might forget that it’s only a play because the emotions feel so real.
Part of the reason behind the intense emotions is that Wilkinson
grew up in New York City, and she moved out west to live on ranches similar to the setting of the play.
Wilkinson said that “living with the land was a well of inspiration.”
From the dialogue to the set design to the actors’ movements, every detail is exact; they come from a place of experience.
For those looking to experience something brand new and one of a kind, tickets are available online at universitytickets.com for $12.
The show runs for about an hour and 15 minutes, and every second draws viewers in more and more.
Opening night is Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. There will be showings for March 1 through March 5. Shows will be each day at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a matinee at 2 p.m.
For those who are interested, there is a strobe light effect. Be wary if you are sensitive to light.
When Maameefua Koomson graduated from LSU, she had many plans for her future career; becoming an influencer was not one of them.
With over 18,000 followers on her TikTok, Koomson is one of the most notable food influencers in Baton Rouge.
“Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about [being an influencer],” Koomson said. “I think it’s something I’m still growing into.”
Despite the glamour in her videos, the life of a food influencer goes far beyond the bright photos and enticing cinematography of their social media accounts. Behind the camera, there is a world that still hasn’t been completely unearthed in Louisiana.
Food influencers grew in popularity around a decade ago. They used platforms like Instagram and Twitter to share photos of food and review popular restaurants.
Now, food influencing is considered one of the most “profitable Instagram niches,” according to Sellfy.
This may be true for food influencers in states like California or New York, where influencers are common, but Louisiana is much different.
“Every time I work with somebody, it’s almost like an education session,” said Jordan Basham, owner of WheretoGeaux225, a food review Instagram account with over 18,500 followers.
Like Koomson, Basham has built a large following in Louisiana from her Baton Rouge-based food reviews. Despite Basham and Koomson starting their accounts three years ago, many
Louisiana business owners still struggle to understand how influencers work.
“Some people have this big misconception that influencers [are] some very pretty girl in California that’s posting about mascara or something,” Basham said.
“In Louisiana, it’s just so much harder to get people to grasp how influencer marketing can help them. Especially if they’ve never heard of it.”
Many businesses are beginning to notice the notoriety that can come from collaborating with influencers, though. Basham is often approached by small businesses with requests to be reviewed on WheretoGeaux225. However, before Basham reviews them, she has a thorough vetting process.
“For me, I really just try to see what the restaurant’s goals are and how I can help them best,”
Basham said.
While Basham does view WheretoGeaux225 as a business, profit is not a priority for her. She doesn’t require payment in exchange for a review when working with small businesses.
“They’re like, ‘hey, tell me a number and I’ll pay it’ and I’m like, ‘no, don’t screw yourself out of that,’” Basham said. “A lot of these mom-and-pop shops can’t afford to pay some of these influencers three to $500 a post or whatever.”
If Basham enjoys the food offered to her, she does allow restaurants to comp her food in exchange for the review.
This is a common practice for many food influencers in Baton Rouge.
Laura Ann Settoon, the coowner of Hi Foodies, a popular food Instagram account run by
three friends, does not expect payment or free food in exchange for a review, however.
“We pay for everything,” Settoon said. “We don’t do it for money, we just do it because we enjoy it.”
While this does lead to extra costs for the influencers, it helps them with making honest reviews and building trust among their followers.
Although all three influencers have had some less-than-positive experiences at restaurants they’ve reviewed, they all make a conscious effort to avoid posting negative reviews of local restaurants.
“I never want to tear down a business or see them fail,” Koomson said. “There’s a way to go around saying, ‘Hey, this wasn’t for me.’ I always try to make sure I watch how I say things to where it’s the most objective.”
Ordinarily, posting an honest review would not be challenging. However, a new issue arises when considering the size of these influencers’ followings.
With all three influencers gaining large amounts of engagement on their posts, they are being recognized in public more often.
“I’ve maybe posted like seven pictures of me ever,” Basham said. “And I get noticed all the time and it’s so freaky. It is a weekly occurrence.”
Although it’s flattering to be recognized, Koomson and Basham admit that it can sometimes affect the service they receive at restaurants.
“I want to be real honest [in my reviews],” Koomson said. “Now it’s getting a little harder because people are recognizing me. [I’m] like, is this really just great service, or is it because they might
watch my videos and they decided to put in a little extra work?”
Basham, Koomson and Settoon’s followings on social media grow with each post. While their success benefits each influencer personally, it has an even larger effect on Baton Rouge.
To Lance Porter, director of the Social Media Analysis and Creation Lab at LSU, influencers’ work helps to build a ‘creative class,’ or population of people with art and entertainment-related careers, in Baton Rouge.
“I know that people in Baton Rouge and the state are trying to build some sort of creative class here,” Porter said. “If you have a creative class, you have a better culture, you have better content, you have more interesting food and more interesting events that are happening around the city. That tends to draw young people here who want to participate in those things and actually build a life here. So not only is it good, it’s necessary.”
Koomson and Basham started their food review accounts to spotlight the exciting foods and cultures that can be found in Baton Rouge. Now, they’ve realized the greater purpose their accounts serve: It has built a community.
When Koomson posts videos on her TikTok, she always uses the hashtag BRTok to encourage other residents to post videos of local restaurants. Dozens of other local creatives now flood the hashtag with businesses and restaurants to try.
“[I] always want to emphasize [#BRTok],” Koomson said. “I probably will try to do that more this year. This is a community hashtag. I want other creators to get involved.”
Most things don’t occur in a single instant. They happen in stages.
This series shows the stages of various daily occurances on LSU’s campus
After winning the Round Rock Classic title, top-ranked LSU baseball remained in Texas and traveled to Austin for a Tuesday night matchup with the Texas Longhorns.
Texas played three SEC opponents in its first seven games to start the season and struggled to a 3-4 record with losses to Arkansas, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Indiana, but the Tigers knew they were still in for a tough midweek battle.
Texas’ starting right-handed pitcher Lebarron Johnson Jr. did his part in preventing an easy LSU win. Johnson threw five shutout innings and nine strikeouts while only allowing three hits and two walks.
Starting right-handed pitcher Thatcher Hurd kept LSU in the game early on defense. He lasted 4.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and silenced the Longhorn fans at Disch-Falk Field by only giving up three hits.
Left-handed reliever Nate Ackenhausen made his second appearance on the mound this season in the fifth inning and was credited with his first win. He worked through 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, one
hit and one walk.
Beginning the final inning of the ballgame, the scoreboard was knotted at zero. Each team had one more chance to score and LSU took advantage.
Texas’ closer Chris Stuart
entered the game and walked his first two batters, catcher Brady Neal and shortstop Jordan Thompson. Stuart struck out Ben Nippolt for the first out of the inning and then closer Andre Duplantier II came into the game.
Hitting out of the first position in the batting order and in front of projected top pick Dylan Crews, senior second baseman Gavin Dugas smacked a clutch,
see SHUTOUT, page 10
LSU men’s tennis continues its stream of success with a double header sweep over the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and the University of New Orleans this past Sunday. The Tigers have improved to an impressive 8-1 record.
No. 34-ranked LSU started the day off along the bayou against the No. 58-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns, jumping out to an early lead after securing the doubles point. Newly-ranked No. 24 duo Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson eased through their match, defeating their opponents 6-0.
Pair Chen Dong and Welsh Hotard followed with a victory of their own, taking their match 6-4 and clinching the doubles point to put the Tigers up 1-0 overall. Ronnie Hohmann and George Stoupe rounded out doubles play, but their match went unfinished as they were up 5-4 on the Ragin’ Cajuns.
In singles, Latinovic won his second match of the day, mak-
see SWEEP, page 10
Sunday evening marked a positive ending to LSU women’s basketball’s regular season.
The Tigers pulled off a 74-59 win over Mississippi State on senior night, a win that put LSU at 27-1, matching the program’s best regular season record.
During the senior night ceremony, Alexis Morris, LaDazhia Williams, Jasmine Carson and Emily Ward were all honored at center court at halftime. In addition, Sunday’s game held the largest crowd in PMAC history of 15,721, breaking a record set earlier this season.
“I was emotional for all four of them, before the game and after the game,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “Because they will never play another regular season last game in their home arena.”
The win was led by the Tigers’ two post players in Angel Reese and LaDazhia Williams. Reese secured her 27th double-double of the season with 23 points and 26 rebounds. With that double-double, she tied Sylvia Fowles’ record for most double-doubles in a season. But Williams was her “partner in
crime” in Sunday’s game, finishing with 16 points and four rebounds.
“I think it’s just me being aggressive and knowing that I can score also,” Williams said. “Just playing my role and doing whatever my team needs me to do.”
With the team’s veteran player, Alexis Morris, being honored during senior night, it was fitting that she’d make her mark in the game. The fifth-year senior scored 23 points along with five rebounds.
“Thank you to coach Mulkey for giving me the opportunity to receive this day,” Morris said. “I’m just thankful to see and celebrate this moment with people who have known me since I was a kid.”
For Mississippi State, Jerkaila Jordan led the Bulldogs with 16 points along with four rebounds and two assists. She also shot five for six from the foul line. Jessika Carter added 10 points and six points.
“We just played, in my opinion, the hottest team in the SEC,” Mulkey said. “Those guys take you off the dribble as good as anybody. They played South Carolina to within eight. They had beaten a lot of teams as of late. They’re playing good.”
The end of the regular season means one thing: the much-anticipated postseason for LSU is ahead.
Mulkey and her team learned a lot about themselves as of late, especially since their loss to South Carolina. Reese is a player the team can always depend on, and Morris’ experience will be something the team uses to their advantage, but other pieces have been filling in as well.
As seen on Sunday, Williams can be a threat to partner with Reese. For a team that doesn’t have many post players, Reese and Williams have shown on multiple occasions that they can work together well and still dominate in the paint.
Carson has also displayed her great shooting ability. She scored a career-high 25 points with seven made three-pointers against Florida last Sunday and 20 points with four made threes in late January against Alabama.
The three-point shot wasn’t hitting for her against Mississippi State, but Carson has shown that once she finds her shot, it’s hard for her to lose it.
Flau’jae Johnson has also shown her growth in maturity as conference play has gone on. This was
most evident against Tennessee when she locked down Jordan Horston, who is a projected top-10 WNBA Draft pick.
She held her to just 11 points. Kateri Poole, Last-Tear Poa and Sa’Myah Smith have also become reliable players off the bench that LSU can rely on in the long run.
LSU has proved itself as the regular season comes to an end. With one of the best regular season records in program history, the Tigers have a lot to be confident about. They’ve had bumps in the road, but they’re now in the spot they expected to be in as the SEC Tournament is upon them.
SHUTOUT, from page 9
three-run home run over the left field wall for LSU’s only runs of the game.
“That was awesome, a great at-bat by Gavin,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson. “To win games like this against a good team in an environment like this, your dudes have to be dudes,
SWEEP, from page 9 ing quick work of his opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. No. 30 ranked Hohmann completed his singles match in straight sets as well, winning 6-3, 6-3.
Julien Penzlin brought the overall score to 4-0 for the Tigers as he won his match 6-3, 6-3, which would be the last full match of the meeting between LSU and Louisiana-Lafayette. The remaining three singles matches all went unfinished, giving LSU the win with a 4-0 score.
Following the win against Louisiana-Lafayette, LSU took on the University of New Orleans Privateers. In the first match, Latinovic and Watson completed their second 6-0 victory of the day.
Dong and Hotard followed with a win of their own, securing the doubles point with a 6-3 win. Hohmann and Penzlin paired up for the last doubles
and he was in that moment. Gavin is tough-minded; he had some setbacks last year and going into this year, but he got himself ready to play, and he’s playing better now than he ever has. All credit to him for his determination.”
The pitch was intended for him to hit into a double play because Texas did not want LSU’s
match that unfortunately went unfinished.
The Tigers led 1-0 going into singles play as Benjamin Ambrosio took the first singles win in straight sets 6-3, 6-0.
Dong followed Ambrosio with a straight set win of his own, completing his match 6-0, 6-3. Hotard improved LSU’s overall score to 4-0 after a 6-3, 6-4 finish.
After Hotard’s match, the rest of the singles play went unfinished, with Hohmann, Latinovic, and Penzlin all having unfinished matches.
With the two wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and New Orleans, the Tigers improved to 8-1, as well as bumping LSU up to No. 34 in the ITA College rankings as of Feb. 28.
On Thursday, the Tigers will look to improve that ranking as they begin SEC play in College Station and take on Texas A&M on Thursday.
most consistent hitter, Crews, to have a chance to win the game as he was up to bat next.
LSU called on Vanderbilt transfer Christian Little to close out the final half inning and ensure they left Austin with a 3-0 victory. Little retired the side in order, putting a cap on dramatic win for LSU.
“This was a great experience
for our team,” Johnson said. “Going into SEC play in a couple of weeks, we’re going to see the same environments we saw tonight. It won’t be new to us the next time we play on the road in front of a big crowd in a great atmosphere. The players were energized throughout the game, and it was a blast.”
This game is only the 10th
time since 1933 that LSU has played in a scoreless game through the first eight innings.
LSU’s record in such games is 7-2-1.
LSU baseball will return home to Baton Rouge and be back in action on Friday at 6:30 p.m. when it begins a four-game weekend against Butler and Central Connecticut State.
College students often think that to succeed, they need the latest piece of technology, whether that be the newest computer or the latest iPad, and this reliance has slowly but surely eroded the technical skills necessary for students to succeed.
As technology continues to grow and evolve, this problem will only get worse. This problem is not the fault of the students but rather the fault of societal forces. It’s the fault of consumerism.
Consumerism is the “theory that individuals who consume goods and services in large quantities will be better off,” ac-
cording to Investopedia.
Consumerism leads to us relying on technology more because we feel that we are behind if we don’t have the latest piece of technology, as if we are functioning less efficiently without it. With young adults being much more likely to utilize the internet, according to data from the Pew Research Center, it’s no wonder college students fall into this trap.
It’s being subconsciously engraved into the minds of students through consumerism that technology is a necessity and it’s the only way we will succeed.
When companies begin to market a new electronic, they designate a specific demographic to target. The specific demographic typically is college students. For example, Apple is
one of the main companies that focuses on college students buying their products. Apple realizes that most college students are on a strict budget and cannot afford to buy their products at retail prices. This is one of the main key reasons why Apple offers a college-student discount.
This is an example of the law of diffusion of innovation.
This theory was created by professor Everett Rogers to further explain how companies market their products to customers, according to Boston University. He explained that consumers are categorized into five groups when it comes to marketing.
The groups are the innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.
Each group is given a specific market strategy to ensure that the consumers will buy the
company’s products. In the example previously given, college students would be the innovators of Apple products. Innovators are more likely to try a product when it first comes out. Young adults are more likely to try a new product than the older population, and companies recognize this.
It’s not just Apple that does this. Companies such as Best Buy, Amazon Prime, Samsung, and Dell all offer a type of student discount on their products. This idea is simple and effective for these companies.
Growing up, there was a shift in how technology was used in school. Technology used to be a learning tool, but eventually, it became the main learning tool used in school. Teachers begin incorporating technology into the curriculum. All the course -
work began to be posted online rather than given on paper.
In the past 10 or so years, it has become apparent that having access to technology has become a crutch for us. No longer do we need to have knowledge or our own skills.
As a society, we especially saw this shift post-COVID but gradually, from middle school until college is when the shift started for me.
Too much of anything is not good for you. Consumerism is one of the biggest issues that we face today as a society. It’s up to us to put a stop to it before we can no longer function without technology, but some fear that it’s already too late.
sion stand food is all you need to take your mind off of impending assignments. Tickets are free at most events, and there are other incentives offered to attend such as free t-shirts or free food.
Imagine going to LSU in 1989 and missing the chance to see young Shaquille O’Neal play basketball.
Now, many students are missing out on watching some of the best athletes in college sports play in an electric atmosphere.
Football season isn’t the only time to go out and support our student athletes; with basketball, gymnastics, tennis and baseball, LSU spring sports offer students a variety of opportunities. However, many students don’t attend any athletic events in the spring, opting to wait until the fall when the football season returns.
“I think it’s a great way to be involved and support your fellow students,” said Zhaniya Liddell, a sophomore majoring in social work. “It’s like football but less rowdier, and there’s AC,” she said about LSU basketball games.
Hundreds of thousands of fans fill Tiger Stadium throughout the fall. That same enthusiasm and support should spread to other LSU sporting events. The Pete Maravich Assembly Center, or the PMAC, can hold over 13,000 fans; it’s where basketball games and gymnastics meets take place.
“School spirit was definitely there,” said Whitney Ohazurike, a sophomore majoring in biology who attended an LSU women’s basketball game this semester.
Led by coach Kim Mulkey, Women’s basketball finished the
regular season with a 74-59 win over Mississippi State on Sunday. The win put LSU at 27-1, matching the program’s best regular season record. Missing out on the electric environment in the PMAC this semester would be a
crime.
Furthermore, sporting events are an excellent opportunity to destress from classes or work and hang out with friends. Sometimes screaming until your voice is gone and munching on conces -
“More students should go to support our team,” said Chanira Dorsey, a freshman majoring in sports administration. “When there’s a lot of students they play better.”
The LSU gymnastics team has also had a great season, ranking in the top three of the SEC and sixth in the nation. In 2022, LSU won first place in the nation for average attendance to gymnastics meets, according to LSU Athletics.
“It was super fun and everybody had a lot of energy,” said Anna Fuselier, a freshman majoring in nursing. “We’re about to start going to baseball games now.”
With baseball season having just started, LSU is still ranked in first place.
Whether it’s basketball, baseball, gymnastics or softball, the spring is full of opportunities to make memories on LSU’s campus by supporting student athletes. So don’t wait for fall to roll around; rally your friends and go support our student athletes.
Isabella Albertini is 23-year-old mass communications major from Lima, Peru.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
