T.O. TOPPLED
NEWS Flu vaccinations to be ready next month, page 3.
Saints defense breaks Terrell Owens’ reception streak, page 6.
Volume 114, Issue 25
THE DAILY REVEILLE DOG FIGHT WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM
Monday, September 28, 2009
BUDGET CUTS
Jones’ punt return touchdown propels LSU to 30-26 road victory against MSU By David Helman Sports Writer
STARKVILLE, Miss. — LSU junior safety Chad Jones is not Billy Cannon, but he certainly did his best impression Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium. Clinging to a six-point lead in a wet and wild shootout, Jones delivered both the game-winning points and the game-saving goal-line tackle for LSU (4-0, 1-0) in a sloppy 30-26 win against Mississippi State (2-2, 1-2). Even with a messy victory, LSU moved up to No. 4 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top 25 national polls. “I’m glad to see our players rally late, but we cannot make mistakes like we did today,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “The team better show up Monday ready to work.” It all started for Jones, like Cannon, with a booming punt deep into LSU territory. Jones fielded a bouncing ball on the Tigers’ 7-yard line, slipped a tackle and was off — streaking, snaking and stumbling to a 93-yard touchdown. “If he didn’t run out of gas, I ran out of gas for him,” Miles said.
MAGGIE BOWLES / The Daily Reveille
LSU junior safety Chad Jones (3) runs from Mississippi State defenders Saturday to return a punt 93 yards for a touchdown during the Tigers’ 30-26 victory.
lsureveille.com Log on to see a slideshow from Saturday’s game.
By Kyle Bove Senior Staff Writer
“Daggone it, it seemed like he made more rights and lefts than he should have, but I’ll tell you one thing — he was not going down, and that team that was running alongside him was certainly going to support him.” With the Bulldogs lined up at the LSU goal line with 1:08 to play, Jones struck again, batting down a sure-thing touchdown pass on third down and assisting on a fourth-down tackle to keep Mississippi State senior quarterback Tyson Lee out of the end zone. “The play worked out like it was supposed to — the linebackers took out the fullbacks, and I came and tackled the quarterback for the fourth down,” Jones said. “I was hoping the play was coming to my side. I wanted to make the big play, and it definitely came.” The late-game heroics were just HEROICS, see page 15
“I’ll tell you one thing - [Chad Jones] was not going down, and that team that was running alongside him was certainly going to support him.” Les Miles, LSU football coach
Lombardi supports raising tuition
LSU System President John Lombardi asked members of the Baton Rouge Rotary Club on Wednesday to walk through the University’s student parking lots. There, they will find one of the fundamental problems in Louisiana’s higher education system, he said. “There are a significant number of students who attend LSU who are capable of paying a higher tuition rather than buying a fancy car,” Lombardi said. Lombardi suggested tuition be raised and TOPS be restructured as ways to combat higher education budget woes. Public colleges and universities went through about $146 million in budget cuts this summer. The Postsecondary Education Review Commission, headed by state House Speaker Jim Tucker, RTerrytown, meets for the first time today. The commission’s goal is to identify problems and inefficiencies in higher education and report back to the Legislature. “Commissions are devices designed to recognize that we don’t have a clue,” Lombardi said. He said commissions ultimately suggest expensive measures, TUITION, see page 15
TRANSPORTATION
Area residents sell parking spaces for extra cash University offers about 35,000 spaces on campus By Lindsey Meaux Contributing Writer
Elliot Westphal, State Street resident, has allowed people to park in his yard on University football game days for three years. He has made as much as $1,200 during more popular games by selling each space for between $20 and $60.
Gary Graham, Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation director, said there are between 30,000 and 35,000 gameday parking spaces available — a number which has proven inadequate for larger games, including the game against Florida in 2007. “For the most part, [the 35,000 spaces] handles the crowds,” Graham said. “When it’s off campus, that’s between the property owner and the person buying the parking space there.” When parking gets short, Graham said football attendees sometimes choose to pay to park off campus in areas like State Street, East Boyd Drive and Aster Street.
If a car would be damaged while its owner is paying to park in a business’s parking lot or a person’s yard, LSU law professor Bill Corbett said tort law would come into play when determining who is responsible for the damages. “The question would be whether by letting [people] park in their lot, they have taken under the responsibility to protect it,” Corbett said. “Tort law steps in where there are no contracts.” Tort law deals with civil wrongs not arising out of contractual obligations. PARKING, see page 15
BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille
State Street resident Elliot Westphal, right, sells parking spaces Sept. 19 in his front yard during the Louisiana-Lafayette game.