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Five Years Later
Friday, February 1, 2013 • Volume 117, Issue 82
Indian-American students’ deaths remembered
Daily Reveille Exclusive
UREC
Expansion to bring leisure pool, trail Gabrielle Braud Contributing Writer
Ferris McDaniel Senior Investigative Reporter
On the cusp of two University students’ seemingly bright futures, tragedy struck. On Dec. 13, 2007, international Ph.D. students Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam were tailed by two or three men to the latter’s home at the Edward Gay Apartments near the Tiger Band Hall. The stalkers followed the two men upon entering the apartment — binding Komma with a computer cable as Allam possibly attempted to escape. They were both shot dead. The five-year-old case is still alive today, though, as the University dedicated a remembrance garden to Komma and Allam in December and motion hearings for their two suspected killers will begin this month. “I didn’t know about it until the next day,” said Maureen Hewitt, manager of LSU’s International Cultural Center. “It was a terrific shock. You don’t like making generalizations about these things, but [Indian-Americans] seem to be an extraordinarily gentle people. So, it was just
MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille
GARDEN, see page 4
The International Cultural Center dedicated the Komma and Allam Remembrance Garden in December, five years after the deaths of the two international students from India. See photos from the 2008 vigil at lsureveille.com.
The University Student Recreation Complex is about to undergo a makeover that will result in a lazy river in the shape of the LSU logo, the longest indoor running trail in any collegiate recreational facility and a CrossFit course complete with an indoor turfed ramp. Despite the UREC’s ability to attract approximately 50 percent of the University’s student population, LSU’s 20-year-old student recreational facility is considered to be one of the worst in the Southeastern Conference, according to LSU Director of University Recreation Laurie Braden, who said Auburn is just behind LSU. With the majority of planning for the UREC Expansion and Redesign finalized, LSU University Recreation is set to undergo the first phase of its two-part renovation in late April or early May of 2013. Phase two of the renovations has a target completion for the 2015-16 UREC, see page 11
CRAWFISH
Prosperous season expected Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez Staff Writer
When most people eat crawfish, they’re used to seeing the bright red crustaceans sprinkled with spices and cooked to perfection. But some University students, alumni and faculty members see the other, less glamorous side of crawfish. They say that after getting off to an early start, Louisiana is in for a successful crawfish season. Every spring, renewable natural resources senior Benjamin Brackel partakes in his family tradition and harvests crawfish. He said his
grandfather taught him everything he knows, and he harvests crawfish recreationally. “I like being out in the swamp and seeing everything the swamp has to offer — everything from alligators, to turtles, and sometimes crawfish,” Brackel said. When the weather and river are right, Brackel will set off to the Honey Island Swamp at sunrise and set 25 deepwater nets. He said he will then make four to five rounds, bring the critters home, and clean and boil them for family and friends. On the other side of the coin, University natural resources and
ecosystem alumnus Josh Fogarty harvests crawfish commercially. He explained there are two parts to the season: Pond crawfish season, which is already in full force, and wild crawfish season, which begins at the end of February. For a prosperous season, the winter in Louisiana cannot be too harsh, but for the north, the more snow the better, said Fogarty. He explained the snow from the north floods the river just enough for the critters to come out. “A mild winter and a lot of CRAWFISH, see page 11
MARY LEAVINES / The Daily Reveille
Floating traps float in a crawfish pond Wednesday, located at LSU’s Aquaculture Research Station on Ben Hur Road.