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Reveille The Daily
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 GREEK LIFE
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IN THIS ISSUE • Thomas’s biceps the butt of jokes among football team, page 5 • Opinion: Donald Trump equivalent to Kim Kardashian West for politics, page 9
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Volume 120 · No. 3
thedailyreveille
Violence, fraternity rivalry mark fall 2015 boys’ bid night
BY QUINT FORGEY AND ROSE VELAZQUEZ news@lsureveille.com Tuesday morning, countless members of the LSU Greek community attempted to piece together far-off memories of the previous night, thumbing through GroupMe accounts. LGBT
LGBT study explores barroom aggression
Instead of fun recollections, they were met with a disturbing image: construction management student Brandon Roy — arms limp at his sides, turning the crisp white sheets of a local emergency room a bright crimson as his blood flooded the tiled floor. Roy was one of the many attendees of the unofficial boys’ bid
night — a much-anticipated LSU Greek tradition commonly accompanied by fights and drunken stupors. Though fraternity members received their official bids Sunday, many celebrate at bars Monday. “It’s boys being boys,” Roy said. While celebrating with Alpha Gamma Rho Monday night, Roy was hit over the head with
a beer bottle by a member of another fraternity. The resulting gash sent him to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center where he received stitches before returning to New Orleans to recuperate with family. In a Facebook message obtained by The Daily Reveille, Theta Xi brother Brian
Her finest hours
Norman, Jr. wrote, “...these pictures showed up in a GroupMe that I’m in with guys from a bunch of different chapters as well as guys that are on [Interfraternity Council] exec,” Norman wrote. “They know it was a Theta Xi.” When reached for comment
see BID DAY, page 4 CONSTRUCTION
UREC renovations extended to spring 2017
BY TRENT PARKER @TrentParker_TDR
BY KEVIN MINER @KevinMiner_TDR
Fighting, intimidation and harassment are not uncommon when alcohol and crowds combine. But research on barroom aggression is usually conducted on heterosexual respondents, with LGBT people often under-represented in the data. A study cofounded nearly five years ago by an LSU professor collaborating with researchers from universities across the country attempts to close the information gap by gathering experiences from LGBT individuals. Started by LSU assistant professor of sociology and women’s and gender studies Sarah Becker and sociology assistant professor Justine Tinkler of the University of Georgia, the study expanded to include interviewing LGBT people as far away as China. “Incidents of aggression basically are conflicts or things that look like they could have led to a conflict,” Becker said. “It could be ... things that have happened to a person, it could be things that they’ve witnessed.” Becker is studying incidents of aggression in clubs, parades and tailgating events — anywhere where drinking takes place in public. She refers to these experiences collectively as “barroom aggression.” Textile and apparel merchandising sophomore Arianne Guidry, witnessed multiple acts
Due to more than 40 “weatherrelated events” since the start of the third and final phase of UREC renovations in October 2014, the new UREC will debut a semester later than planned, said UREC director Laurie Braden. The previous end date was projected for fall 2016, but now the project will be completed in spring 2017. “There are legitimate days where we cannot work because of the rain” Braden said. “We need dry weather to get out of the ground.” Demolition of the UREC for the third phase of renovations began in late spring 2015. Once portions of the UREC had been destroyed, crews poured grade beams and began laying down the foundation. But due to unfavorable weather, only three-fourths of the foundation have been laid. Following a wet spring, the months of June and July were filled with sunshine and ideal conditions for construction, Braden said. “The progress that was made in that window of time catches you back up” Braden said. Though Braden said the construction contract accounts for such weather delays, the rain created a “push, pull” time frame due to the weather-dependent nature of the renovation. “Are we on time? Sometimes it’s yes and sometimes it’s
see LGBT, page 4
HASKELL WHITTINGTON / The Daily Reveille
BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON @carriegraceh
LSU Libraries Special Collection purchases book in memory of late professor
I
n memory of beloved English professor Elisabeth “Lisi” Oliver, who died in a bicycle accident in June, LSU Libraries Special Collections purchased a facsimile of “The Black Hours,” an ornate medieval manuscript admired by the late professor. When Italian bookseller Giovanni Scorcioni visited Special Collections in the spring with several books for sale, Oliver was taken with “The Black Hours,” said Michael Taylor, curator of books and history subject librarian.
see HOURS, page 4
see UREC, page 11