The Daily Reveille 06-20-2018

@lsureveille

The Daily Reveille Est. 1887

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Volume 127 · No. 3

lsunow.com/daily

on on the the

REBOUND REBOUND Will Wade provides insight on how he plans to transform LSU basketball into an elite program in his second season, page 2

NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

OPINION

LSU’s video game design program ranked top 10 in the South, page 3

See what events are happening in Baton Rouge through the rest of June, page 4

“Americans must recognize suicide for what it is — a public health crisis,” page 8

page 2

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

COVER STORY

Will Wade hopes focus of LSU basketball will shift onto players in his second season

BY GLEN WEST @glenwest21 Despite the basketball season ending in March for LSU, there are no days off for coach Will Wade, particularly this summer, while he and the Tiger coaching staff are working hard in anticipation of the highly touted 2018 basketball season.

The summer, Wade said, is one of the most important times of the year for the club as new faces are arriving on campus to gel with the returning players.

A typical summer day for the players consists of an early morning workout followed by a team breakfast, which Wade attends as regularly as possible. While the players are off at summer school, Wade’s morning consists of administrative business, then a shift to recruiting in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, players will return for scheduled workouts with some basketball activity on the courts, followed by a film session. Wade will usually stay and eat dinner with the team in a full 12-hour day.

“Then you wash, rinse and repeat,” Wade said. “This is where you lay the building blocks and groundwork for your team, so it’s very important, even though it may not be the most exciting stuff we do.”

Year two of the Wade brigade will see returning players joined by new additions at the forefront while the organization also tries to make improvements to the PMAC experience on gamedays. Last season, LSU basketball brought in a student section DJ as well as an outdoor tailgate where students could eat.

The ‘I Will Wade For You’ t-shirts became synonymous with LSU basketball. Wade was comfortable being at the forefront in year one but looks forward to what the marketing team can do with the players, both returning and new to sell the program.

“We’re still going to be aggressive, but fans now have a better sense of our players,” Wade said. “I think it’s much more about them, they’re the ones that make the plays and make things happen. Our returners will be featured, you’ve got Tremont, Skylar and Wayde [who] are all guys that fans are familiar with. Everybody is also aware of Ja’Vonte, so it’ll be more player focused, which is how it should be and our guys deserve it.”

A big goal of Wade’s was to improve the facilities at the PMAC and practice facilities. Wade said the program is behind schedule of where he’d like to be.

Immediate adjustments will come in the locker room, where Wade said there will be a little tinkering as well as some touch up work in the offices.

“We need massive renovations to the PMAC and practice facility,” Wade said. “We’re a

ways behind, but we’re having discussions and in the process of getting plans.”

Of the returning players, sophomore guard Tremont Waters was the first player out of Wade’s mouth as somebody poised for a big year two leap. Waters had an electric freshman campaign, averaging 15.9 points and six assists per game.

Waters elected to enter his name to the draft but didn’t sign an agent, which allows him to come back to school. Waters had workouts with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics before deciding to some back to LSU. “I think going through the NBA process has given him a much clearer picture of what he needs to be great at,” Wade said.

“He’s really been a phenomenal player since he’s been back.”

Other players Wade mentioned were sophomore forward Brandon Rachal and junior guard Skylar Mays. Rachal was a late bloomer for LSU last year, but it’s his defense that Wade is most impressed with, while Mays has been a model of consistency for other players to look at.

“Rachal really came on for us towards the end of the year,” Wade said. “I want to see what jump he can make. Skylar is a real steady worker, so I expect him to improve just like when I got here last year.”

Joining Waters and Mays in the backcourt will be home-grown freshman guard Ja’Vonte Smart.

Smart was a three-time state champion at Scotlandville High and was the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year for three consecutive years.

Wade sees all three guards being able to coexist very well together along with returning senior Daryl Edwards.

“We’ve got a lot of options,” Wade said. “It’s no secret that I want to play a little bit bigger on the wings, particularly the two and the three spots. I think we’ll see lineups with three guys like that, who can all play off and onball screen, and handle the ball, and make plays with the ball in their hands.”

Wade also expressed his desire to recruit at a junior college level in an attempt to bring experienced, tough minded players that have performed at a college level.

Entering this year as JUCO transfers are junior guards Marlon Taylor and Danya Kingsby, along with sophomore forward Courtese Cooper.

Taylor comes from Panola College in New York, where he was a phenomenal athlete, averaging 17 points and over nine boards a game a season ago.

“He’s really picking things up and working hard,” Wade said.

“He can make threes, he’s athletic [and] cuts hard, but he needs to pick up some nuances of the game because he’s only been

The Daily Reveille B-16 Hodges Hall Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, La. 70803 Newsroom (225) 578-4811

Advertising (225) 578-6090

Editor in Chief

EVAN SAACKS Managing Editor

ABBIE SHULL Production Editor

HA-VY NGUYEN News Reporter

NATALIE ANDERSON News Reporter

BRITTNEY FORBES THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU freshman guard Tremont Waters (3) during the Tigers’ 74-71 loss to Kentucky on Jan. 3 in the PMAC.

Sports Reporter

GLEN WEST Entertainment Reporter

CLAIRE BERMUDEZ Opinion Columnist

HANNAH KLEINPETER Opinion Columnist

RACHEL MIPRO Copy Editor / Page Designer

RAMSINA ODISHO Copy Editor / Page Designer THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU sophomore guard Skylar Mays (4) runs towards the goal during the Tigers’ 7471 loss to Kentucky on Jan. 3 in the PMAC. playing since he was a sophomore in high school.”

Cooper came in at 195 pounds and the team is hoping to get him around 225 by the end of the summer, to compete for minutes in a rotational role. Wade said Kingsby is fast with the ball and has solid instincts.

“They’re all good, solid players but now it’s on us to develop them and put them in a position where they can help us in games,” Wade said.

One big man that will finally be able to help the Tigers in some games is senior Kavell Bigby-Williams. Bigby-Williams was forced to sit out a year after transferring to LSU from Oregon last season and will help in an area Wade penciled as an area of concern last season, rebounding.

Joining Bigby-Williams are five-star freshmen Emmitt Williams and Naz Reid. The combination of the three, Wade said, will solve many of the rebounding issues the team had.

“They all have a presence to them,” Wade said. “Emmitt is just a ball-getter. There’s two or three rebounds in practice where I’ve [said] ‘Oh my goodness.’ Certainly in terms of enforcing inside the paint, Emmitt’s a world class rebounder, Naz is a great rebounder and Kavell has an active body.”

Wade said a big answer to the rebounding issues will be playing bigger at the three.

Wade envisions Taylor as well as Rachal, Wayde Sims and freshman Darius Days.

“We need to be bigger at the three where we can crash the glass and put a little resistance up so we can block guys out,” Wade said. “Days is a really good offensive rebounder. He led the Under Armour circuit in offensive rebounds, and he’s translated it to practice.”

LSU also released the non-conference schedule for this season. Wade said it accomplished everything he wanted to get done.

Wade said he’s looking forward to getting the ball rolling on the season with away games at Houston, a game against St.Mary’s in Las Vegas and the tournament in Orlando, which features defending national champs Villanova.

Wade emphasized how big the upcoming season’s non-conference schedule is for the program.

“We’ve got some good ball clubs,” Wade said. “It’s a challenging non-conference schedule, but it’s hopefully one we can navigate through.”

Wade takes detail to the extreme, and that’s how he wants his players to think as they head into the season, knowing it takes just one or two different outcomes that change a season.

“I think our guys understand every game is important,” Wade said. “Every little thing can be the difference between being in the NIT or the NCAA [Tournament], or the difference between the NCAA and seeding and the type teams you play and hopefully our guys understand that.”

JENNIE DELATTE Photographer

DILYN STEWART

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure its readers the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes that may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified, please contact the editor at (225) 5784811 or email editor@lsureveille.com.

ABOUT THE DAILY REVEILLE The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University.

The Daily Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free. To purchase additional copies, please visit the Office of Student Media in B-39 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published weekly during the fall, spring, and summer semesters, except during holidays and final exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, LA, 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscriptions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-39 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803.

News

page 3

Got Any Games?

LSU’s Digital Media Arts and Engineering Program ranked in Animation Career Review’s Top 10 Game Design Schools and Colleges in the south

BY BRITTNEY FORBES @itsbritforbes

The University was named one of the Top Ten Game Design Schools and Colleges in the south

by The Animation Career Review. The University has ranked ninth place and is the only university in Louisiana and in the Southeastern Conference to be ranked in the top ten.

The program director of the University’s Digital Media Arts and Engineering Program (DMAE), Marc Aubanel, was not expecting to be ranked within the Top Ten. “We never actually submitted an application to be ranked,” Aubanel said. “This was done on their behalf in regards to our video games.”

According to the DMAE

website, their goal is “to be one of the top graduate-level interactive, media and entertainment technology programs in the world.” The program is designed to teach students leadership skills, creativity and “technical prowess and design excellence in digital media.”

The program is located in the LSU Center for Computation and Technology. There are about one hundred students in the minor and nine hundred students in the major for DMAE. Aubanel said he’d like to see more students become involved with DMAE and take an interest in computer science.

The DMAE has been hosting the Red Stick International

Digital Media Festival for the past three years. In 2018, it had guests such as the creators of Fortnite, famous Twitch streamers and people involved in Electronic Sports.

“It’s an incredible amount of work, very rewarding, to have met over 25 video game professionals from as far as New Zealand,” Aubanel said. “We’re hoping to host a fourth. We usually host an annual tour of Game of Studios, and we’ll maybe expand that to neighboring cities, as far as Lafayette and Shreveport.”

The DMAE has a diverse range of professors and doctors, that provide support to their students throughout their

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU is named one of the Top Ten Game Design Schools and Colleges in the south, making it the only university in the Southeastern Conference to rank.

see GAME DESIGN, page 6

ACADEMICS

Engineering students partner with Baton Rouge EMS

BY BRITTNEY FORBES @itsbritforbes University engineering students have been using their skills to gain experience in an engineering field that can help save lives.

Since 2011, the LSU College of Engineering’s industrial engineering program has been a partner of East Baton Rouge’s Department of Emergency Medical Services.

Dr. Dan Godbee, formerly an engineering student at Mercer University, reached out to University engineering professor, Craig M. Harvey about a partnership back when Godbee was at the now-closed Earl K. Long Medical Center.

“We were looking for better ways to improve the way they

provide medical care,” Harvey said. “[We wanted to improve] the processes by not necessarily medicine, but the process by which it went by.”

Harvey said he and the other industrial engineering professors spoke to Godbee about ways the students could help the hospital. When the possibility of a capstone course was brought up, the two sides agreed that would be the most beneficial way to work.

“The students like the projects because it’s real world, they can see an impact where they’re helping the community...and it’s medical related” Harvey said.

“One of the focus areas in industrial engineering right now is medical-type work, medical improvement, and medical process improvement. The students

come back, and they always say it’s the best experience they’ve ever had. They get a really good experience out of it and a really good educational piece as well.”

During the duration of one of the projects, there was an incident where the decision of not building an extra EMS facility would reduce travel time. Harvey explained how the students decided that investing in a new facility would have been a waste of money because the new building would not have improved the workspace. Harvey said this was the most memorable thing any of his teams of students have ever done.

“The fire chief at the time told [me] that he’s never been told not to do something,” Harvey said.

see ENGINEERING page 6

courtesy of CRAIG HARVEY

College of Engineering’s industrial engineering students partner with Baton Rouge’s Department of Emergency Medical Servuces to improve medical care.

Entertainment LAZY, HAZY, CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER Baton Rouge plays host to a variety of events to fill your summer days and nights

BY CLAIRE BERMUDEZ @claireebermudez

As the month of June comes to an end, Baton Rouge is hosting an array of activities over the next two weekends. Residents and visitors have the opportunity to enjoy their summer by attending musicals and festivals.

page 4

TOAST UNDER THE OAKS BEER FEST Nottoway Plantation & Resort is hosting Toast Under The Oaks Beer Fest on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendees can sample a variety of commercial and home-brewed beers, as well as rum and daiquiris from a local distillery.

There will also be a cash bar and food available, along with music and entertainment. General admission tickets are $35 and VIP tickets are $75, which are available to purchase at NottowayBeerFest.com. Nottoway is also offering designated drivers for $10. This is a 21 and older event, though, so make sure you leave the kiddos at home.

‘MAMMA MIA!’ Theatre Baton Rouge is presenting “Mamma Mia!” an adaptation of the musical that has been running for nearly 20 years. This weekend is your last chance to catch it. Shows are running Thursday- Saturday 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. You can order tickets at theatrebr.org for $30 or $19 for students.

‘BRING IT! LIVE’ Raising Cane’s River Center Arena is hosting Bring it! Live on Saturday. This off-Broadway show is touring around the country and delves into the elite world of hip-hop. Tickets can be found on Ticketmaster and range from $42.75 to $49.75. The show is also offering a VIP meet and greet at 5 p.m. on the day of the show.

BATON ROUGE OYSTER FESTIVAL On June 30, Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar is hosting the inaugural Baton Rouge Oyster Festival at the Galvez Plaza from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The festival is free and will feature performances from Spin Doctors, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Werewolf, The Legendary ‘80s Cover Band and Parish County Line. There will be eating, cooking and shucking competitions for those who dare to enter. Not a fan of oysters? The festival will also offer other foods from local vendors.

WINE WALK SUMMER KICK OFF This white-linen edition of the Wine Walk kicks off at the the LSU Museum of Art on Wednesday, June 20, at 5:30 p.m. Each Wednesday, attendees of the Wine Walk visit about five downtown locations, receiving two gasses of wine at each location. The event is $10 and you must be 21 or older to attend.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The Daily Reveille

REV R ANKS

page 5

‘Youngblood’ falls flat, one-dimensional, tonally confusing

BY HA-VY NGUYEN @havy_nguyen Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer’s third full-length studio album, “Youngblood,” was released June 15. The album is a drastic but not well-executed departure from the band’s previous cheeky pop-rock, almost punk style.

I’ve been following the band, called 5SOS for brevity, almost since the beginning. Although they got their claim to fame from opening for One Direction on two world tours, their sound was closer to that of early Fall Out Boy and All Time Low than the traditional boy band pop that One Direction peddled.

5SOS was at its peak when the members were very young. As a freshman in high school, I fell in love with their charming senses of humor and how earnest and real they seemed.

Their music felt just as authentic as their personalities, with the band members writing most of their own lyrics and playing their own instruments. They were as raw and real as a garage band with the fun and boyish charm of a typical boy band.

5 Seconds of Summer’s genre of music was always a little hard for me to nail down, but “Youngblood” is the epitome of an identity

courtesy of CAPITAL RECORDS

crisis. It sounds like the band is caught between its pop rock/emo/ punk past and the alt pop band it wants so badly to be.

The band’s newest release has a decidedly more mature sound than the carefree anthemic pop rock it’s put out in the past. There’s more production on this album in

general, with more effects applied to the vocals and an ‘80s glam pop feel at times, namely in “Talk Fast” and “Valentine.”

Their desire to move away from their association with One Direction has been clear since the beginning. In their earlier stages, 5SOS cited bands like Green

Day, My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 as some of their major influences — all definitely more emo and punk than what One Direction was doing.

Personally, I thought pop rock/ punk was a great niche for 5SOS to settle into. It suited their voices and their personal style really well, and they had plenty of support from other pop punk artists like Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low and the Madden brothers of Good Charlotte.

I like the melodies and beats on most of the tracks, but where this album suffers is its subject matter and lyrics. As a whole, the album is tonally confusing and doesn’t have a good range of emotion. Almost all of the songs are breakup songs that come off as whiny at best and emotionally abusive at worst.

The sixth track “Moving Along” has a catchy chorus and an honestly enjoyable melody, but the lyrics in the first and second verses are just not good. Luke Hemmings, lead singer and guitarist, sings in the second verse, “Is it bad if I ask you to come over? / Is it wrong if I tell you that I love you / Even though I’d never do it when I’m sober?”

The answer is yes.

And that’s not the only song that has this vibe. “Want You Back,” “Why Won’t You Love Me,”

“Meet You There,” “Lie to Me” and the title track “Youngblood” all have a cloying, mournful whine to them despite some deceivingly upbeat rhythms.

I love a good breakup song as much as anyone, but most of these aren’t … good. There’s so many of them that it makes the album repetitive and, to be honest, a bummer to listen to. While listening to some of these tracks, I found myself thinking, “Wow, I feel bad for the girls they’re writing these songs about, and I don’t want these guys to ever talk to them again.”

“If Walls Could Talk” and “Monster Among Men” are probably my least favorite in terms of lyrics. The songwriting on these and a few other songs just seem trite and full of played out platitudes. I think the band experimented with lyrics the most on album, and it was a risk that didn’t pay off, in my opinion. My favorite song, lyrically, is “Ghost of You” because it’s the most raw and simple.

Really that’s what this whole album boils down to. There are too many effects and some of the songs feel overproduced, while I feel like 5SOS shines the best when it’s just them and their instruments. This is a callback to one of their older songs that many probably won’t get, but they’re trying too hard again.

Christina Aguilera makes comeback, hits big with ‘Liberation’

BY CLAIRE BERMUDEZ @claireebermudez Pop diva Christina Aguilera blessed the world with “Liberation” last week, making another mark in the music industry. After the commercial failure of her last two albums “Lotus” and “Bionic,” some fans feared it would be the end of her career. Since her last album, Aguilera has gone through a lot of changes —leaving “The Voice,” becoming a mother of two and getting engaged for a second time — which caused her to grow not just as a person, but as an artist.

The most need-to-listen-to song is “Maria.” Produced by Kanye West, the song samples The Jackson 5, giving it an old and funky vibe. The track is a power ballad proclaiming her own liberation.

Aguilera made her first debut as a star when she was 13 years old

on “The Mickey Mouse Club.” This reflective track blasts her longtime identity crisis and explains how being thrown into stardom so young ultimately made her low and cold.

The sixth track on the album “Fall in Line” is a powerful duet with Demi Lovato. The song’s opening track “Dreamers” is 37 seconds of girls saying what they want to be when they grow up.

“Fall in Line” begins with Aguilera warning girls of societal pressures.

“Little girls, listen closely ‘cause no one told me, but you deserve to know that in this world, you are not beholden. You do not owe them your body and your soul.”

In the face of the “#MeToo” movement, Aguilera and Lovato, two artists who constantly speak out on behalf of women, beautifully belt out about the exploitation

that women constantly experience.

“Shut your mouth. Stick your ass out for me ... Who told you you’re allowed to think?”

Listening to these two vocal powerhouses duet restores my faith in today’s pop music. I imagine the walls were rattling in the recording studio as they belted the chorus.

The album features many other artists besides Lovato. 2 Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign make an appearance in another Kanye-produced song “Accelerate.” Also featured on the album are GoldLink, XNDA, Keida and Shenseea.

Even if the lyrical content wasn’t as good as it is, Aguilera’s voice is so strong and powerful, it makes the album an absolute knockout. “Liberation” may just be one of the best albums we will hear this year. In face of her struggles, Aguilera rose up and became a musical force to be reckoned with.

courtesy of RCA RECORDS

The Daily Reveille

page 6 GAME DESIGN, from page 3 educational journey. Aubanel said the staff at DMAE are very “student centric” and care about where their students end up after graduation.

“We’ve got a good mixture where we’ve come from the industry of thirty plus years in visual effects and twenty plus years in video games,” Aubanel said.

“We’ve got researchers who work in the field as well who are looking at visualization.”

Aubanel said he thinks the field has grown beyond just entertainment for children, and now serves people of every age

We never actually submitted an application. This was done on their behalf in regards to our video games.

MARC AUBANEL

DMAE program director group and interest.

“Video game techniques are now being used in feature films, virtual reality projects, in design firms projects such as billboards and building cars.” Aubanel said.

“The skills we teach in the pro-

gram really reach out to so many different programs, and I think that it’s just growing. I think that the people applying are going from entertainment to launch some serious websters to really create something.”

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

The DMAE has a diverse range of professors and doctors that help students obtain useful skills for the growing entertainment industry.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 ENGINEERING, from page 3 “That kind of thing stood out at the time. It influenced people, but also didn’t impact anyone badly.”

Harvey also spoke about a graduate student who designed a model for ambulances to more effectively map and time out their routes. He said the different types of projects the students are participating in helps make it a growing, interesting partnership.

“I think [the EMS project] will continue to grow,” Harvey said. “We’re up to forty-five different projects a year, at least.

It’s a pretty substantial number of projects they’re doing with [the students]. We try to have a diversity of projects because students tend to want to do different things as well, so we try to keep everything mixed.

There’s never a shortage of

projects with them.“ The industrial engineering program traditionally has dealt with manufacturing in the service industry and recently has shifted its attention to the healthcare field. Harvey said engineers are the key to significantly improving healthcare, and the partnership with EMS is the first step for aspiring engineers to contribute.

“We lead in medical cures, but where we have the biggest challenges in is in health care productivity,” Harvey said.

“How do you make the delivery of health care more effective?

How do we make sure the patient goes through the process in the most efficient and effective way, and that’s where industrial engineers talents are – is how do you improve processes – and we’re trying to address that in the healthcare arena.”

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU facilities, such as the Patrick F. Taylor Hall, provide the perfect academic environment for industrial engineering students to succeed.

The Daily Reveille

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Announcements

Employment

Housing

Merchandise

page 7

Transportation

Classif ieds

To place your ad, visit www.lsureveille.com and click classifieds

Help Wanted CANTERBURY SQUARE APTS - 343-2466 3003 RIVER ROAD SOUTH 1 BR $550-$600, 2 BR $650-$700 canterberysquare@ aol.com WANT TO ACE THAT INTERVIEW? I CAN HELP! Applying to Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, Nurse Practitioner, Physician’s Assistant School, I CAN HELP! Call me today to get started 337852-0335.

Services

Costs: $.40 per word per day. Minimum $5 per day. Personals free for students Deadline: 12 p.m., three school days prior to the print publication date

For Rent 3 Bdrm 2 bth $1600 Gonzales 225-939-7627

Boil Up

make a

splash with YOUR business!

Some Interest!

NOW HIRING The Chimes East online thechimes.com or 10870 Coursey Blvd Previous Puzzle Solved

place a classified at

Let Your Business Bloom Place a Classified

LSUNow.com

lsunow.com!

Place a Classified today! lsunow.com

FIND YOUR BUSINESSS SOME NEW

PEEPS

Pla ce a cla ss ifi ed tod ay by v is itin g LS U Now.com

Don’t let your sales go on vacation!

Opinion

page 8

Suicide a public health crisis, should not be stigmatized, ignored HAN-SPLAINING HANNAH KLEINPETER @0728hannah A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported suicide rates rose 28 percent between 1999 and 2016.

Roughly 13.4 out of 100,000 individuals commit suicide in the U.S. These numbers might seem shocking, and they should.

Why are we still treating suicide like an isolated phenomenon when it’s the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.?

Americans must recognize suicide for what it is — a public health crisis.

We must first rid our culture of the stigma surrounding suicide.

Suicidal thoughts are not uncommon – nearly 4 percent of the adult U.S. population reports having them, according to the CDC. It’s imperative we stop treating suicide and suicidal tendencies as unmentionable tragedies, too scary to face. Portraying suicide as shameful only increases the likelihood a person will suffer

in silence. Roughly 90 percent of those who commit suicide had a diagnosable mental illness, further proving suicidal thoughts are more of a symptom than a disease.

Contrary to popular belief, studies show asking someone whether he or she experiences suicidal thoughts does not increase the likelihood of suicide. Being afraid to inquire only perpetuates the idea that suicidal thoughts are disgraceful and should be kept hidden.

Because of the stigma surrounding suicide, it’s not given the weight of other public health crises. While millions of dollars are funneled into reducing the rates of heart disease, diabetes and other similarly lethal diseases, suicide and mental health are continuously and routinely neglected.

“It’s shameful. We would never tolerate that in other areas of public health and medicine,” said Dr. Thomas Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

To make matters worse, the majority of resources allocated to mental health go toward

pushing antidepressants, rather than high-quality and consistent treatment. Studies show a combination of psychotherapy and antidepressants is more effective than antidepressants alone.

However, psychotherapy is often excluded as it requires more time and resources.

A better understanding of the complexities surrounding suicide and suicidal tendencies is imperative in combating it. Associating suicide with weakness or selfishness is as dangerous as it is inaccurate. For some individuals dealing with severe mental illness, depression, anxiety or addiction, suicide appears to be the only way out.

“If you were in a room full of open doors, depression could convince you that there’s no way out,” the Rev. J.C. Austin said.

“It drapes your world in deepening shadows until you can no longer see the possibilities that are obvious to everyone else.”

Ignoring America’s mental health problem because it’s an uncomfortable conversation is not an option. Addressing the issue head-on is a matter of life or death.

courtesy of WIKIMEDIA

Author and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain died by suicide on June 8, just days after fashion designer Kate Spade also died by suicide.

Be brave enough to ask.

Remember to check in with those close to you year-round, not just when news of another celebrity suicide surfaces. Do more than posting the Suicide Prevention Lifeline number on your social media. Listen to what those close

to you have to say, and don’t ignore the warning signs. We can’t stop fighting until there are no more suicide statistics to report.

Hannah Kleinpeter is a 20-yearold mass communication senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Piercings, tattoos healthy form of expressing yourself EVERY DAY THE RACHEL WAY RACHEL MIPRO @remroc15 Piercings in all the forms and places one can pierce, have become increasingly popular, especially with college-age people. Daiths, septums, noserings, rooks ­— you name it — there’s someone proudly displaying it. Despite what older generations may think, the profusion of metal in people’s faces is actually kind of beautiful.

It’s a wordless statement of self-expression, something that showcases people’s style and creativity. It also used to be one of the biggest forms of youthful protest. Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, piercings other than the earlobe were seen as “punk piercings” because they were mostly brought from India to America by enlightened hippies and then popularized by the punk scene as part of their

SOPHIE GRANZOW / The Daily Reveille

Johany Howard showcases her piercing and tattoo artwork in her very own Bubble Art Body Studio on Feb. 1. rebellious image. Back then, if you had a septum piercing, you were almost certainly a diehard Sex Pistols fan.

In 1999, the American

The Daily Reveille EDITORIAL BOARD Evan Saacks Editor in Chief Abbie Shull Managing Editor

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry even declared tattoos and multiple piercings a possible form of self-injury. Over the years though, as

piercings were gradually more accepted, they became a part of mainstream culture, instead of being a bastion of the radical counter-culturist. Among middle-aged women, getting more ear piercings became a way to reassert themselves, a less permanent replacement for tattoos. Belly button rings became the calling-card of sorority girls, multiple ear piercings became a cool way to accessorize and even eyebrow rings get some respect now. The more hardcore go for gauges, slowly stretching out their ears in a painstaking, months-long process, or corset piercings, puncturing their backs and lacing up the holes.

The old saying “beauty is pain” is particularly applicable here. There is no painless piercing. Despite this, piercings have a solid place in fashion and in our culture now, to the horror of grandparents everywhere.

And this is understandable.

There’s an undeniable

Editorial Policies and Procedures

The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Daily Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

allure to them, a feeling of reinvention. To get a piercing, you are voluntarily causing yourself pain, taking a chance with scarring and the possible judgement and disapproval of parental and authority figures.

Despite the increasing popularity of piercings, it’s still a small rebellion, an assertion of personality, almost a kind of rite of passage.

Piercings are an experimentation with your body and all the different forms your selfimage can take. It’s a process of change that can just as easily be undone. You can wear your piercing for an hour, or for years, and then take it out with no discernible change.

For college students still figuring themselves out, piercing can be the best form of self-expression.

Rachel Mipro is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Quote of the Week “I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood. We just knew the rule was you’re going to have to work twice as hard.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda composer Jan. 16, 1980 — present