MEDIA MADNESS
SCHEDULING Look up when to schedule your classes, page 3.
Tigers, Lady Tigers basketball teams visit Birmingham for SEC Media Days, page 7.
THE DAILY REVEILLE Volume 114, Issue 42
FELINE FRENZY
WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Friday, October 23, 2009
LSU 5-4 this decade against other SEC Tigers going into Saturday’s matchup
By Andy Schwehm Sports Writer
If there has been any football team in the Southeastern Conference this decade that has given LSU a solid helping of trouble, it’s another Tiger team — Auburn. The out-of-state Tigers have battled LSU to a combined 171-165 total score since 2000, with LSU holding the six-point edge. The Bayou Bengal Tigers also hold a 5-4 record against Auburn in that span. No. 9 LSU currently holds a twogame winning streak against Auburn, but the teams had gone back and forth exchanging victories with the home team winning every game until last season. The two teams will round out the decade-long battle this weekend when LSU (5-1) hosts Auburn (5-2) in Tiger Stadium on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. “The traditions between these two teams are steep,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “They are two of the more successful teams in our conference, teams that are used to playing in tight games, and this will be another great Saturday night in Tiger Stadium if history repeats itself.”
KIM FOSTER / The Daily Reveille
AUBURN, see page 19 LSU’s offensive line blocks Auburn defensive linemen in last year’s game on Sept. 20 in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. LSU won the game, 26-21.
ACADEMICS
AGCENTER
USDA relocates research unit Tuition gap could Equipment, staff mean fee increase moved to Houma By Adam Duvernay Senior Staff Writer
The United States Department of Agriculture has opted to relocate the Soil and Water Research Unit on the south end of campus after two decades of cooperative work with the LSU Agricultural Center. The unit officially closed Oct. 11, and the space will be returned to the University in November. Equipment and personnel were officially relocated earlier this month to the Sugar Cane Research Unit in Houma. The Soil and Water Research Unit building was leased from the
University by the USDA to contribute to studying fertilizer runoff from farmland and how it affects Louisiana waterways. The work done by both University faculty and graduate students at the unit contributed to studies of the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, a low-oxygen area created, in part, by agricultural runoff from the Mississippi River and surrounding watersheds. “We’re losing a valuable research partner for this kind of research,” said John Westra, professor of agricultural economics who worked with the unit. “I suspect we would have been able to continue getting some funding from that lab for future research from that lab if it hadn’t closed.” Westra said the most immediate impact of the closure of the unit will
be on economic agriculture students who will need to find other sources of funding for research. The USDA has tried to close the unit since 2006, said Doug Daigle, coordinator for the Louisiana Hypoxia Working Group, which studies the dead zone. Daigle, his group and other supporters — ranging from state congressmen to the hunting group Ducks Unlimited — lobbied to keep the unit open because of its research. The funding and research of the unit will continue in Houma, but Daigle said it constitutes a de facto closure of Baton Rouge research. He said the at least two-hour drive would make it difficult for students to continue research. RESEARCH, see page 19
LSU named ‘best value’ university By Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
University students’ wallets may feel a little fuller than those of students from other schools, but that doesn’t mean their brains are emptier. A new study by the College Board, a not-for-profit association whose mission is to help students achieve college success, named the University as one of the best value public flagship institutions, accord-
ing to a report released Thursday. The University’s tuition for instate students is $2,564 less than the average tuition at other public doctorate-granting schools, according to the report. Chancellor Michael Martin cited these numbers as evidence a potential fee increase for students is merited. “[The study] shows that the education LSU gives its students is worth so much more than we charge for it — and that we shouldn’t be afraid to ask for a fair price for the education we provide, especially if we are going to remain competitive among the top universities,” Martin TUITION, see page 19