OPINION: Don’t count on LSU winning SEC Tournament, page 3 SATIRE: LSU President turns to TigerDroppings to close budget gap, page 5 lsunow.com/daily
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016
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Volume 121 · No. 39
GET B U DHIGHER EDUCATION CUTS
UNDER
FIRE
Additional cuts loom after end of session BY SAMUEL CARTER KARLIN @SamKarlin_TDR
photos by JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ / The Daily Reveille
Simmons’ time at LSU shrouded in hype, scrutiny BY CHRISTIAN BOUTWELL @CBoutwell_TDR LSU coach Johnny Jones hates what surrounds Ben Simmons. The hype; the perception; the pressure; the play. All of the things that have become concrete landmines to Simmons’ 19-year-old, college freshman life, Jones hates them. He’s hated it from the
first day until Friday when LSU will face Tennessee at approximately 2:30 p.m. in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. “It’s unfortunate for Ben,” Jones said. “People have targeted him and really gone after him. He obviously has a lot of exposure and good press. I certainly feel for him because the kid is trying to be a normal kid and be on the campus like others.
… It’s unfortunate, and I hate it.” First, the hype. Before the season began, Simmons, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, was held to thousands of one-way promises from Tiger nation to be the best player in LSU history. Has he been that? No. Does he care? No.
see SIMMONS, page 7
The Louisiana State Legislature, after hearing its goal for a “best-case scenario” was to cut higher education $70 million statewide during the special session, reduced that number considerably while bridging a nearly $1 billion mid-year budget shortfall. The shortfall was left at $30 million for this year, and will likely fall on higher education and healthcare, the areas of the budget not protected by law. While the exact amount of cuts are unknown, any cut taken by higher education will be added to a roughly $26 million reduction in TOPS funding. Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to outline the specifics at a news conference early Friday morning. Higher education leaders can breathe a sigh of relief, avoiding a potential $200 million cut that could have shuttered many campuses, while some wish the legislature had avoided cutting
see SHORTFALL, page 7 RESEARCH
Nonhuman Rights Project advocates for justice of chimpanzees
BY KATIE GAGLIANO @katie_gagliano Nonhuman Rights Project president Steven Wise spoke to members of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and Law School faculty members Thursday about the NhRP’s legal efforts on behalf of chimpanzees. The mission of the NhRP is to fight for the legal rights of animals, beginning with cognitively complex animals such as chim-
panzees, elephants and whales. The organization’s long term goal is to break through legal boundaries to redefine what constitutes personhood, according to the Nonhuman Rights Project’s website. Wise highlighted the case of Hercules and Leo, two chimpanzees owned by the New Iberia Research Center, a research outlet of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. NhRP first became involved in Hercules and Leo’s case while the two chimpanzees were
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on loan to Stony Brook University’s Department of Anatomical Sciences for locomotion research. While undergoing research at Stony Brook University, Wise said the chimpanzees were subjected to repeated rounds of general anesthesia, had wires thrust into their muscles and were isolated in a basement. Though chimpanzees aren’t human, they are cognitively
see CHIMPANZEES, page 7
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Nonhuman Rights Project President Steven Wise spoke at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center on Thursday.
KATIE GAGLIANO / The Daily Reveille
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