The Daily Reveille — March 3, 2009

Page 1

SNAPSHOT

lsureveille com Log on to see Chancellor Martin reading to first graders.

NEWS Recent plane crashes increase anxiety about air travel, page 3.

FLYING HIGH

Tigers receive highest AP ranking since Dec. 2006, page 7.

THE DAILY REVEILLE WWW.LSUREVEILLE.COM

Volume 113, Issue 100

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

TECHNOLOGY

Second text test showed improved results

By Lindsey Meaux Staff Writer

Nowhere Fast

BR problems worsen as traffic congestion drops around country By Lindsey Meaux Staff Writer

Baton Rouge drivers have grown accustomed to the red glow of brake lights and blaring

horns in traffic as the sun goes down over the Mississippi River. And now Baton Rouge traffic is a nationally recognized problem. While drivers nationwide

spent an average of 13 fewer hours stuck in traffic in 2008 than during 2007, Baton Rouge saw a 6 percent increase in overall TRAFFIC, see page 5

photos by JARED P. L. NORMAND / The Daily Reveille

Cars travel through the intersection of E. Parker Boulevard and Highland Road on Monday during peak traffic hours.

In an emergency, sometimes no news can be good news. But University administrators are challenging that mindset with the help of last Thursday’s emergency text messaging test. FirstCall, the University’s emergency text messaging service, reported nearly 1,600 messages failed to deliver, and 158 messages were unaccounted for during the text message test — something Sheri Thompson, IT communications and planning officer, said marked a general improvement compared to prior tests. “Generally, we saw improvement except for in one area,” Thompson said. “We have not ever done a purge of people who are not with LSU. We haven’t cleaned anything out yet. That will hopefully make our data a bit more clean.” Thursday’s message was sent MESSAGE, see page 6

RACING

IHRA to hold first drag race in La. in 20 years Contributing Writer

Index

LSU football coach Les Miles is trading the football field for the racetrack this weekend. Miles will be the grand marshal at the International Hot Rod Association’s Mardi Gras Nationals drag race that takes place Friday through Sunday at the State

Sports ...................... 7 Opinion ................... 12 Classifieds ............... 14

7:20 a.m. 8:20 a.m. Noon 3:20 p.m. 4:20 p.m. 5:20 p.m.

er. “We wanted to bring that kind of excitement and flair to the race.” The Mardi Gras Nationals is also hosting an LSU Student Night beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. Students who show their LSU ID will get admission for $10. General admission for Friday night is $35 for adults. All tickets include free parking and a pit pass, which takes fans backstage to watch the drivers tune their vehicles and get autographs, photos and merchandise. “We know how big LSU is NATIONALS, see page 6

Weather

By Mary Walker Baus

Capitol Raceway. Stars of the three professional racing classes, Top Fuel, Pro Modified and Pro Stock, will come to the raceway to compete for an individual class purse, as well as points to become the world champion at the season’s end. The Nationals was given a Mardi Gras theme, and on Saturday, IHRA plans to have a parade with floats, beads and a crawfish boil. “Mardi Gras is such a Louisiana tradition,” said Larry Crum, IHRA media and publicity manag-

Broadcasts

LSU student night scheduled for Friday

photo courtesy of Larry Crum

The IHRA is hosting Mardi Gras Nationals at the State Captiol Raceway starting Friday.

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