Men’s Basketball: Tigers try to come back from losing streak, p. 6
Technology: Study says Internet helps with group communication, p. 3
Reveille The Daily
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Football: Daniel Graff looks to NFL for future career, p. 5 Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 • Volume 115, Issue 77
Gay parenting higher in South
Most same-sex parents raise biological children from previous relationships
Percentage of same same-sex parents raising children by region
Claire Caillier Contributing Writer
graphic by STEPHANIE GIGLIO / The Daily Reveille
BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
Digital art sophomore Katherine Satana talks about having gay parents. Same-sex couples raising children is more common in the South than the North, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey.
Council votes against fare raises
At age 15, Katherine Santana discovered something that forever changed her family dynamic. The Atlanta native was surprised to find out the reason her parents had been divorced since she was 9 — her father was gay. Though Santana, digital art sophomore, has a loving relationship with both her fathers, Santana said she hesitates when telling people about her parental situation because of opposition toward same-sex parenting existing today, especially in the conservative South. “It’s hard to live in a society where people are constantly putting you down about it,” she said. “I would hate for anyone else to have to keep a secret. I hope I’m the last generation to go through this.” Despite living in the South, Santana is not alone in her unique family situation. Same-sex couples raising children younger than 18 are more common in the South than in northern, more liberal areas, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The nation’s highest percentage of gay couples raising children is in the East-South-Central region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, where 26.3 percent of same-sex couples are raising children. The West-South-Central region, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, follows closely with 26 percent, the nation’s second-highest total. The New England region, including Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, came in behind the southern states. Census data shows 24.4 percent of gay couples in that area are raising
Bus service faces $1.2M budget deficit
PARENTS, see page 4
BUS, see page 4
“It’s hard to live in a to live in a society where people are constantly putting you down about [having gay parents]. ... I hope I’m the last generation to go through this.” Katherine Satana
TRANSPORTATION
digital art sophomore
Matthew Albright Staff Writer
Baton Rouge bus rides won’t be more expensive after all. Baton Rouge’s Capitol Area Transit System, better known as CATS, will not reduce services or raise fares, the Baton Rouge Metro Council voted Wednesday night. The Council rejected plans proposed by the system’s leadership in what CATS CEO Brian Marshall called “a desperate attempt to save money” by a margin of 7-5. The issue drew a crowd of concerned citizens that packed the Council chambers to the walls. Marshall hotly defended the plan to the council. “We don’t want to cut these services,” he said. “We don’t want to leave these people out to dry. But we just don’t have enough money.” CATS faces a budget deficit of $1.2 million. Marshall said that without the cuts, CATS will likely run out of funds entirely by the end of the year. Voters rejected a
MEDICINE
Student researches affordable way to grow new bones New method uses organic solutions Meredith Will Contributing Writer
New University research is being developed to grow back bones — and it’s not magic from a fantasy novel. Bone scaffolds, which provide a base for stem cells to produce new bone, currently cost thousands of dollars for a single gram, making them difficult and nearly impossible for average people to buy.
But James Hollier, biological engineering senior, is conducting research to create bone scaffolds that are cheaper but still compatible with the body. To make the scaffolds, Hollier first makes a solution of organic materials, such as collagen or cellulose, and then freezes it vertically. The porous scaffold is created by this freeze-drying because the water in the solution is removed. Hollier then puts the scaffold into an Instron machine, which tests scaffolds by compressing them. He said this process shows if the scaffold can withstand loads like a normal bone.
“We’re trying to get close to loads that actual bone stands up to,” Hollier said. Real bone must withstand hundreds of megapascals of pressure and weight. Hollier said his scaffolds have reached seven megapascals. “Realistically, we wouldn’t be able to have the same strength and be biocompatible,” he said. Hollier said he aims to reach the resistance of 100 to 150 megapascals. He said the main reason for his experiment is to repair cortical bone structure. BONES, see page 4
BLAIR LOCKHART / The Daily Reveille
Biological engineering senior James Hollier holds a synthetic bone scaffold, which he is conducting research to develop. Bone scaffolds can cost up to thousands of dollars.