PSYCHEDELIC
ONLINE View a slideshow of how much students paid for books.
Woodstock Festival celebrates 40th anniversary, page 9.
THE DAILY REVEILLE WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Volume 114, Issue 4
FREE FOR ALL
Thursday, August 27, 2009
BOARD OF SUPS
Agenda includes budget approval
By Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
photos courtesy of THE GUMBO
[From left to right] University students campaign in Free Speech Alley during Student Government elections in 1965. A student hands out anti-war fliers in 1972. Then-University student Ted Schirmer attracts a crowd while making his views publicly known in 1976. Brother Jed debates with a student about faith in 1983.
Free Speech Alley rich with history, creating legacy for student discourse, debates By Ryan Buxton Staff Writer
University students are familiar with the cornerstones of Free Speech Alley — buzzing tables of student organizations passing out flyers, the easy demeanor of the kind man offering “Jesus Talk” and the violent messages of damnation from the
Consuming Fire Fellowship. But there was a new sight in the Alley Wednesday. The newest addition to the Free Speech Alley community is The Vieux at LSU. Sponsored by the Student Activities Board, it will serve as a place for students to come together and exchange ideas on issues like the economy and health care, said Sheela
Chockalingam, chair of the SAB Ideas and Issues Committee. Though Chockalingam said it wasn’t her intention, the program’s format as an organized discussion, rather than the freefor-all promotion that takes place in the Alley today — similar to the original intention when the first group of students spoke there in 1964.
IN THE BEGINNING When Free Speech Alley began, it took place in an actual alley between the Union book store and theatre, said Jeff Duhe, a 1988 University alumnus who became moderator of the Alley during his time. “Cruelly and ironically, the ALLEY, see page 18
photos by KRISTEN M’LISSA ROWLETT / The Daily Reveille
[From left to right] Various organizations try to grab the attention of students Wednesday in Free Speech Alley. A University student grabs a granola bar in Free Speech Alley. A crowd gathers while a speaker gives money away for answering trivia questions. Masses of students walk through Free Speech Alley.
The LSU Board of Supervisors will hold its August meeting today to discuss approval of the LSU System’s $3.5 billion budget proposal. The budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year includes spending cuts totaling more than $71 million for LSU institutions across the state. These cuts — the outcome of a 19.1 percent reduction in state funding — include 69 layoffs and the elimination of 420 vacant positions, according to a Board news release. Also up for review is capital outlay for the next five years, which includes $661 million in projects like renovations and new construction. Some of the higher-profile projects include a $63 million new residence hall, a $38 million building for the College of Engineering, $36 million in renovations in the east wing of Laville Honors College and $42 million for a new math and lecture hall. Also among the capital outlay needs is $30 million for a new parking facility, which will be built across Highland Road from the Student Union. The new facility will feature a 62,000-square foot BUDGET, see page 18
TECHNOLOGY
Two students launch online textbook exchange Site allows students to compare book prices By Mary Walker Baus Staff Writer
Two University students have invented a cure for expensive textbook woes. Hunter Thompson and David Allain recently launched TigerBookMarket.com, a new Web site for Baton Rouge college students to sell and buy used textbooks. “Basically, it’s an online textbook
exchange [and] a price comparison service, too,” said Thompson, business administration senior. “We were tired of the whole process. There should always be a direct student exchange.” TigerBookMarket.com is in “Craigslist” format and compares textbook prices with other online bookstores, such as Amazon, eBay, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. Thompson said the Web site does not compare prices with local bookstores like the Co-Op Bookstore or Chimes Textbook Exchange. “We would love to get the Co-Op and CTX’s prices up on the Web site,”
Thompson said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. “Right now, the larger online companies have data feeds that are already set up for an application such as ours. We would just need to work out some of the technical issues, and those companies would also have to be willing to do it.” Thompson said their goal and initial mission is to make as much possible information about textbook prices available for students. “We were fed up with ... the difficulty of the whole bookstore scene in general,” MARKET, see page 18
MAGGIE BOWLES / The Daily Reveille
Biology junior David Allain, left, and business senior Hunter Thompson discuss their Web site, TigerBookMarket.com