The Lion's Roar 09/30/2014

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September 30, 2014 Volume 86, Issue 8

’ THE LION S ROAR S O U T H E A S T E R N L O U I S IA NA U N I V E R S I T Y

A Student Publication

Campus Life Page 2

Opinions Page 3

Arts & Entertainment Page 4

Sports Page 6

News Page 8

LionsRoarNews.com

Lions roast Cardinals in conference play By Sara Patrick Editor in Chief

Courtesy of Public Information / Randy Bergeron

Senior quarterback Bryan Bennett had an outstanding performance in the Lion’s 63-7 victory over the Cardinals. This outing earned Bennett Offensive Player of the Week honors for the Southland Conference.

After facing two backto-back losses on the road, the Lions started Southland Conference play on the right foot this weekend. The No. 11 Southeastern football team took the lead in the first quarter and surged forward to win the game against the University of the Incarnate Word. The Lions (3-2, 1-0) took on the Incarnate Word Cardinals on Saturday night at Benson Stadium, earning a 63-7 conference win on the road. The team earned the most points the Lions have ever posted against a league opponent by scoring a singlegame school record with seven rushing touchdowns. The Lions rushed for 337 yards, which is the third highest single-game total in Lion history. Southeastern jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game when junior running back Rasheed Harrell completed a 75-yard drive

with a one-yard touchdown. After the Lion defense held back the Cardinals, the Lion offense made a quick six-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Senior quarterback Bryan Bennett ran 21-yards to complete the second Lion touchdown. Bennett, a Walter Payton Award candidate, rushed for 89 yards, and his second touchdown of the game gave the Lions a 21-0 lead with 9:50 left in the first half. A short punt gave the Cardinals the ball deep in Lion territory, and a wide receiver pass by Cardinal freshman Kody Edwards to junior Cole Wick from 24 yards out gave the opponent their only touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 21-7 with 1:40 remaining on the clock. This left just enough time for the Lions to squeeze in their fourth touchdown. Junior wide receiver Jeff Smiley caught a four-yard pass from Bennett, bringing the score to 28-7 seconds before halftime. Junior running back Kody Sutton was another standout of

the game, rushing for a careerhigh 104 yards and scoring a touchdown on the Lions’ first drive of the third quarter. The Incarnate Words were unable to stop the Lions’ offense and defense from powering through the second half. Continuing the third quarter, Bennett connected with senior wide receiver Devante Scott for a 29yard touchdown, and then senior quarterback Jordan Barnett rushed for a one-yard touchdown. Incarnate Word’s offense struggled to move the ball on nearly every drive of the game, and the Cardinals defense proved to be no match for the Lion offense. Upon getting the ball back, Lion freshman running back Eugene Bethea made a 10-yard run, recording the Lions’ eighth touchdown and bringing the score to 56-7 at the end of the third quarter. Last but not least, senior wide receiver Marquis Hayes made a 19-yard run, bringing the score to 63-7 and sealing the Lion win in the fourth quarter.

cessation State budgets more for employment, education Smoking classes offered By McKenzie DeSandro Staff Reporter

The Department of Administration constituted a state budget that has issued many significant financial changes regarding the life of an average college student. The budget holds $25,519,773,405 for the fiscal year. “Our top priority must be making sure we have the resources to prepare our students and train them for the jobs of the future,” said Governor Bobby Jindal. To prevent issues from arising in the future, $29 million will be devoted to Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy, a program designed to promote research and training for graduates with jobready degrees. The funds are designated for credible state research facilities and state colleges and universities that provide degree programs for high-demand jobs. While higher education institutions will not be seeing any increases in funding from the state budget, “the difference this year is that we didn’t have any cuts for the first time since 2008, and now we can keep the difference in tuition,” said Executive Director Erin Cowser. This was made possible by the LA GRAD Act of 2010, which enables colleges and universities to control tuition

rates within certain criteria as well as granting them limited operational autonomy with the agreement that the institution will uphold certain standards. “The money Southeastern gets from tuition will hopefully go to a faculty pay raise. We want to be sure students are getting the best education they can get, and our teachers, who are well qualified, are getting the salary they deserve,” said Cowser. The budget is still well in favor of promoting postsecondary education. Funding for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, commonly known as TOPS, was increased by $32.5 million, totaling at $250 million, to ensure that all eligible students can receive the scholarship. In contrast, other departments will be facing decreases in funding this year. $444.1 million of the state budget will go to Public Safety Services. The department suffered a $58.4 million decrease in funds largely due to the Deepwater Horizon Event, also known as the BP oil spill, in 2010. As stated in the budget, “At this level of funding, the department will continue to perform core missions and activities that are vital to public safety.” However, his could result in the cutting back of public safety personnel and the use of technological replacements

at Pennington Center By William Schmidt Staff Reporter

accomplishments are his improvement of the community build project as well as his adoption of the Comprehensive Classification and Comprehension Plan. “Our parks and recreation equipment afforded the community a well-built park area,” said Severan. “[Before that] some parks were missing swings and other equipment. Now they’re up to par. [Another great accomplishment was] the adoption of the Comprehensive Classification and Comprehension Plan, so employees in Hammond are paid within the market value of their job and classified properly for their job.” Severan feels Foster’s other noteworthy accomplishments

With the non-smoking policy in effect on campus, the university provides a weekly free class for those who wish to quit. “The class is for them,” said Tammy L. Swindle, M.A., C.H.E.S. executive director. “My goal is to help them to become smoke-free on campus or to quit.” According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, nine out of 10 smokers started at age 18, and 99 percent started by the age of 26. 17.3 percent of smokers were ages 18-24 and 21.6 percent were ages 25-44. One of the problems with smoking is it is not only a physical addiction, but it is a mental issue. “Many people think addictions are physical, and it’s really not,” said Swindle. “It’s more emotional. People smoke when they’re stressed or when they’re bored. The physical aspect is only a very small part of it.” The class offers an environment where you are able to work at your own pace, not forced or pushed to quit, as well as provide discussions on why you may want to quit and ways to reach this goal. “People come, learn and work at their own pace,” said Swindle. “I don’t have expectations that they quit by the fourth, fifth or 10th week. Hopefully they do end up quitting. Some of the reasons some of the people in the class are choosing to quit smoking is for money, health, family and the new laws coming into Southeastern.” One of the other problems that smoking may cause for college students is that it can possibly cause mental disorders. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also released a 25year old study which concluded that “smoking is connected with

see MAYOR pg. 7

see SMOKING pg. 2

Graphic by Fernanda Chagas

whenever possible. The Department of Health and Hospitals will also experience a decline in funds. Florida Parishes will see a net decrease of $855,256 including a $1.6 million decrease of attainable Medicaid. $1.7 million were added to the State General Fund to help compensate for the loss. $490,000 is attended to provide funding to Individual and

Family Support Systems. While these departments must undergo decreases, this year’s budget puts a great deal of emphasis on workforce training and education. $239.5 million are to be used for the leveraging of jobseeker services. $26.7 million are provided for Louisiana business to have customized work training available through the

Incumbent Worker Training Program. Additional funds will be given to Louisiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Helping Individuals Reach Employment and to the Louisiana Employment Assistance Program, all of which are to assist in lowering the current unemployment rate. For more information on the 2014 Louisiana state budget, go to doa.louisiana.gov.

Mayor Mayson Foster wraps up third term for Hammond By Emily Stephan Staff Reporter

After three terms of leading the community, Mayor Mason Foster, who has been in office since 2003, will not be running for re-election. Born and bred in Hammond, Foster graduated from Southeastern with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and then attended several graduate schools. Before being voted in as mayor, he also served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Citizens National Bank until 1996 and Division Manager with the Hancock Bank of Louisiana. According to the rules of local politics, Foster is only allowed to serve the position of mayor for three terms.

Though he will miss the position since he “loves [his] job,” he has a positive view of his contributions to the management of the city, citing the improvement of the downtown area since he took office over a decade ago. He is especially proud of the local mall and airport. “I think we have been very successful,” said Foster. “When we took office in 2003, we literally had buildings falling down in downtown Hammond. The mall was having a difficult time, and there were a number of issues. Now we have a thriving downtown Hammond with 500 people living there. We have a thriving Hammond Square Mall and our airport is second to none in general aviation facilities.” Loretta Severan, director of human resources in Hammond, agreed. She believes Foster’s greatest

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Weather Tuesday H 88 L 70

Reminders Wednesday H 88 L 73

Grad Fair will be held at the Alumni Center on Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Oct. 9 from 9 a.m. til 3 p.m.


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