Aw yeah, kick it
NEWS Green Crawl promotes environmentally friendly businesses, page 3.
Jasper sees early kicking start with soccer, page 5.
THE DAILY REVEILLE Volume 114, Issue 37
WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Friday, October 16, 2009
SCHEDULING
Hip-hop poetry new to winter session By Brianna Paciorka Contributing Writer
photos by KRISTEN M’LISSA ROWLETT / The Daily Reveille
THE VISITING TEAM
President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting Thursday in the University of New Orleans’ Recreation and Fitness Center about recovery in the city and country.
Obama inspires hundreds on first visit to New Orleans as president
NEW ORLEANS — On his first visit to the for the event, only several hundred were By Adam Duvernay Crescent City since taking office, President awarded tickets through a lottery. Others waitSenior Staff Writer Barack Obama spoke to throngs of Louisiana ed outside to catch a glimpse of the president. residents about the continuing recovery of both the city and the Once he took the stage, Obama often had to break his country. speech when drowned by the sound of applause and cheers. Obama spoke to the packed Recreation and Fitness Center A cast of Louisiana characters attended the event, including at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus on Thurs- Sen. Mary Landrieu, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. day as part of a nearly four-hour tour of New Orleans. OBAMA, see page 15 Though thousands of Louisiana residents requested seats
lsureveille.com Log on to see photos of Obama in New Orleans.
An English course focusing on the poetic foundations of hip-hop is among the 46 courses offered to students during wintersession 2009. The poetry class — English 2027 — will look at the style, lyrics and beats in hip-hop music and how major movements in African-American poetry influenced hip-hop. Wintersession will be the first time the course is offered to students. “Using hip-hop is a way to draw in some people who may be intimidated by poetry as it often seems hard or scary for people,” said Sue Weinstein, assistant professor of English and course instructor. “It’s a nice way to help people to see the value in rap when it’s sung really well and a way to bring people into poetry in a way that’s not as intimidating.” Weinstein said the course will look at lyrics by artists Mos Def, Nas, Lupe Fiasco and early artists like Grandmaster Flash, as well as other student favorites. “I’m going to walk them through like, ‘Well, let’s look at this Nas lyric, and then let’s look at this poem from the 1920s and see what we notice with the overlaps,’” Weinstein said. Weinstein — whose research area is literacy studies and who works with teenagers who write poWINTERSESSION, see page 15
HOLIDAYS
University to locally purchase tree Students hoping for equality at ceremony By Kristen M’lissa Rowlett Contributing Writer
The University will purchase this year’s Candlelight Celebration “Giving Tree” from a local vendor for the first time since the celebration began in 1995,
said Nancy Little, University public affairs coordinator. The tree will be purchased from Two Roosters Tree Farm, located in Ethel, La., Little said. “We really wanted to celebrate Louisiana,” Little said. “I really wanted to focus on Louisiana vendors and companies that can help us put on the event.” Previous trees were purchased from tree farms in Washington and Oregon for about $6,000, but this year’s tree
will only cost about $500 after delivery, Little said. The hunt for the right tree was difficult because a lot of larger trees were taken by hurricanes, she said. The tree, a 15-year-old red cedar, is relatively native to Louisiana and will grow about 25 feet tall, said James Cox, owner of Two Roosters Tree Farm. A campus arbor crew will care for TREE, see page 15
GRANT GUTIERREZ / The Daily Reveille
Last year’s tree stands in front of Memorial Tower.