Technology: Electronic Arts looks for summer interns, p. 3
Football: Miles says Ware, Mathieu and Simon likely to return, p. 6
Reveille The Daily
www.lsureveille.com
Basketball: Seven-footer Justin Hamilton ready to fill big shoes, p. 5
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 • Volume 116, Issue 45
Obama proposes student loan changes
Andrea Gallo Staff Writer
MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille
Radio Bar, owned by Brian Baiamonte and Dave Remmetter, allows patrons to select songs they want to hear from a music library of more than 20,000 tracks.
Sip, Collaborate and Listen Mid City bar allows patrons to select tunes Morgan Searles Staff Writer
Baton Rouge’s newest bar is off to a rockin’ start with about two weeks of business under its belt. Radio Bar, located on Government Street, is catering to the 21-and-over crowd, serving drinks, cocktails and patron-selected tunes to the city’s young professionals. Owned by locals Brian Baiamonte and Dave Remmetter, the bar is the first of its kind, allowing guests to select and rearrange the night’s set list through an iPhone app.
The pair said they have been planning the bar for about a year, organizing the concept, acquiring zoning permits and nailing down every detail from drink specials to light bulbs. Baiamonte and Remmetter said they walked the Mid City neighborhoods surrounding their current location several times, gathering support and petitioning to allow the bar to open on Government Street, before standing before a vote from the Metro Council. Rezoning for Radio Bar was approved by a close vote, and Remmetter, who also owns Chelsea’s Cafe and Cuban Liquor, said they have already seen many community members support the business. “It’s important to the neighborhood because they wanted it,” he said. “The community around here rallied for us to get rezoned. They wanted it, and we were happy enough to
give it to them.” Baiamonte, who is also a local freelance photographer, said the idea snowballed into reality. “We want to give ownership to people in the bar,” he said. “It can still be this mini subculture when we’re not even open.” The bar works like a high-tech jukebox, allowing guests to select songs they want to hear from a list of about 1,500 more “approachable” songs taken from Remmetter and Baiamonte’s personal libraries, using the smartphone app. Baiamonte said people can also choose from a selection of songs from the entire music library that contains more than 20,000 songs.
President Barack Obama’s administration will enact a series of reforms to help college students manage their loans, the White House announced Tuesday. Obama’s three main proposals will let students cap their student-based loan payments at 10 percent of their expendable income, consolidate loans and increase knowledge about financial aid for students leaning toward taking out loans. Currently, student loan borrowers can cap monthly payments at 15 percent of their expendable income, but Obama and Congress enacted a plan last year to reduce that amount by 5 percent as part of a “Pay As You Earn” proposal. That will decrease monthly payments for an estimated 1.6 million student borrowers and go into effect next year, according to the news release. The government plans to let students consolidate their direct loans with Federal Family Education Loans to save money on interest and reduce payments to one per month. “Putting a college education within reach for every American has never been more important,” Obama said in the release. The government’s proposed “Know Before You Owe” project will create a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet that outlines loan coasts before students enroll at universities.
RADIO BAR, see page 11
Contact Andrea Gallo at agallo@lsureveille.com
CULTURE
University students reflect on the essence of Hinduism Kate Mabry Staff Writer
In a predominantly Christian region of the United States, many students may be unaccustomed to religious practices outside of their home, but Hinduism, which is often referred to as “the oldest living religion,” continues to be the world’s third-largest faith after Christianity and Islam. According to Abhishek Bharad, agricultural economics graduate student and president of the University’s Indian Student Association, there was no official name for Hinduism before the Arab people settled
in India around the 13th century. The local name for the Indus River, the Sindhu, was mispronounced by the group as You gotta “Hindu,” and the stuck have faith misnomer with the native A series looking at religions people. of the world at LSU Hinduism contains thousands of sects within each community, all of which follow a different theology. These theologies have developed over time and depict several different ways to practice. Hindus are people who practice
the Vedic religion, which follows the four Vedas, or ancient manuscripts written by scholars thousands of years ago. In addition, the 18 Upanishads, or collection of parables, guide Hindus in their search for the answers to their lives, Bharad said. Ritu Roy, psychology junior, described Hinduism as more than a religion. “It’s very much a society and culture intertwined with the beliefs and religious doctrine,” Roy said. Roy said she experiences Hinduism as a spiritual connect with a higher power, and she strives to acknowledge the greater good in all she encounters.
“I try to focus on the good while interacting with others or the world in general,” Roy said. Within Hinduism, she said there is a desire to supersede all physical limitations and reach a higher enlightenment, or nirvana.
“Hinduism is ... a way to reach the supreme soul through selfrealization Srikanth Earpina and achievfood science ing dharma.” graduate student
For Roy, the goal of Hinduism is to be liberated and to reach true enlightenment, which can only be achieved through relinquishing materialist pleasures and HINDUISM, see page 11
Girish Yajurvedi
electrical engineering graduate student
“Hinduism is a set of social practices derived from ... the book of Vedas.”