The Reveille 9-24-20

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SEARCHING FOR REASSURANCE LSU COVID-19 experts are unsure if it’s safe to play.

A new saliva-based test could make it safer.

Read on

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NEWS

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LSU professors are using wastewater samples to detect potential COVID-19 outbreaks on campus.

ENTERTAINMENT

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“‘The Social Dilemma’ is an eye opener no matter where you stand on social media. It is 90 minutes worth watching.”

SPORTS

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A look ahead into what challenges stand in the way of LSU football conquering another national championship this season.

OPINION

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“We must make sure to explore these frontiers safely and with the utmost regard for our communities.”

L SU Re ve i l le.co m @l s u r e ve i l le

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AMID UNCHARTED WATERS

LSU football may look to University epidemiologists for COVID-19 guidance

BY REED DARCEY @byreeddarcey In March, the pandemic was young, fears were mounting and Stephania Cormier was in trouble.

“We ran out of swabs,” Cormier said. “We couldn’t find any.”

Cormier is a respiratory immunologist and an LSU biological sciences professor. With her colleague Rebecca Christofferson, a virus expert, she set up the River Road Testing Lab at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, where the pair processed COVID-19 tests, relieving overburdened local hospitals and expediting turnaround times.

In March, they fought through 16- to 20-hour work days, quickly exhausting their supply of swabs needed for testing. The team needed an inexhaustible resource guaranteed to contain genetic material.

“That’s when we started playing around with saliva,” Cormier said.

They began work on the new test, and by June, were successfully finding patients who tested positive both with the traditional swab and their saliva test. Today, Cormier estimates that her team is one of five across the country to develop a saliva test that meets the accuracy of nasal swabs.

“They’re ready for use on campus,” she said. “Whenever campus tells us to go.”

While the rest of the world waits for developments in testing, the football world is looking for innovations. Shelly Mullenix, the LSU football trainer who’s leading the Tigers’ defense against the coronavirus, said the team yields test results in 24-48 hours. Cormier said her saliva test is highly accurate, with results appearing even faster.

“We can return results easily within six hours for about 380 samples,” Cormier said Mullenix said the Southeastern Conference recently updated its protocols, which now call for athletes in “high risk” sports to undergo three PCR tests each game week on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. The SEC previously planned to test its players on Fridays with an antigen test, a diagnostic test that is cheaper, faster, but significantly less accurate than the PCR. Presumably, LSU football could begin to use Cormier’s saliva test. The SEC announced on Sept. 23 that it has partnered with PAE to provide COVID-19 testing at an independent lab for in-season sports this fall across all 14 campuses, which Mullenix said will help alleviate the strain that additional testing could put on a community.

Mullenix also said the team is not under contract to use only one medical center for testing, and it has engaged a number of local facilities in search

of suppliers.

A testing advancement lies right in the team’s backyard, whether the team will use it or not.

“Dr. Cormier’s test would be the way to go,” Ed Trapido said.

Trapido is a professor of epidemiology at the LSU School of Public Health.

“If you can be tested daily,” he said, “and then, based on the results of the test, the individual isolates if they test positive, then yes, it could be contained. It’s not going to be easy, but it could be contained. The problem is that people aren’t going to be tested every day, and even the best of tests will miss some.”

The testing debate widened a rift among the Power-Five conferences, when the Pac-12 and Big 10 decided the only safe path forward was through daily testing. The Big 12, ACC and SEC disagreed, insteading concluding that three tests per week will be sufficient. Those three conferences are forging ahead, while the Big 10 punted its season to late October.

“Well, I’m a college football fan,” said Frank Smart, chief cardiologist at the LSU School of Medicine. “And because of [the canceled seasons], I was disappointed. I certainly understand that these young people are volunteers and you can’t necessarily jeopardize their health.”

The Pac-12 cited three reasons for canceling its season: lack of adequate testing, community prevalence of the coronavirus and myocarditis.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, often caused by a virus. A recovered patient’s immune response may mistake the heart for a virus protein, Smart explained, and begin attacking the vital organ. Myocarditis is treatable, but it can lead to long-term cardiac issues, and in the most severe cases, sudden death.

“We’re ready,” Catherine O’Neal, SEC medical adviser, told The Athletic in August. “We’re prepared to look for myocarditis and feel comfortable in the knowledge of what happens to somebody who does get it and what we need to do. There is some really good evidence in sports medicine behind how to recover from myocarditis as an athlete. Our plans reflect that.”

SEC athletes are required to undergo cardiac screening before they take the field. Players who test positive for COVID-19, Mullenix said, will receive additional, extensive cardiac testing. Once cleared, the players complete daily check-ins with their medical team and eight weekly evaluations to catch any abnormal cardiac symptoms.

Smart struggles to estimate a rate at which myocarditis develops from COVID-19. He and

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Postdoctoral researcher Luan Dinh Vu assists Cormier and Christofferson at the River Road Testing Lab at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

Trapido both agree that the rate is likely very low, but they each acknowledged many unknowns.

“We can’t even tell you how many people have the coronavirus,” Smart said.

“Right now, we consider it to be a relatively low risk for myocarditis,” Trapido said. “But the bottom line is, nobody knows the answer. It’s too soon.”

“If you don’t understand something, and you don’t know the degree of transmission and how serious it is and what the long term effects are, is it okay to put somebody at risk?” Smart asked.

“The answer is probably not.”

Smart believes the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are comfortable taking those risks. The medical community has made attempts to better understand the rates of myocarditis in recovered COVID-19 patients. A German study that found myocarditis in 60 out of 100 participants floated around a few months ago, but many experts, including Smart, refute its methodology.

The latest study, by Ohio State, surveyed 26 athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 and felt either mild or no symptoms.

The research found myocarditis in four of the players.

“COVID-19–related myocardial injury in competitive athletes and sports participation remains unclear,” the study concluded.

In early September, Penn State’s director of athletic medicine made headlines when he said cardiac MRI scans revealed

that approximately a third of Big Ten athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 appeared to have myocarditis. That statement prompted Smart to send a lengthy email.

“The bottom line is we, the medical community, don’t know what the incidence of myocarditis is in COVID-19 infections,” he wrote. “We also don’t know what the consequences of COVID-19 myocarditis are. We don’t know how long an infected person with myocarditis should be held out of athletic activity. Is it a day, a month or forever? We honestly have no clue.”

“That degree of uncertainty is unsettling to the general public who believe modern medicine has all the answers,” he continued. “The media and our politicians want to sum everything up into a sound bite. As it relates to COVID-19, such simplification is akin to summing up a Hemmingway novel in three words.”

Later that day, Penn State walked back the claim, saying that the incidence of myocarditis was much lower. It was a perfect news cycle, the college football offseason in a nutshell, with its chaotic, disjointed series of statements, decisions and actions as the sport grappled with the many problems that a pandemic presents.

Smart reacted to the school’s retraction in another, much shorter email.

“I guess it supports my contention that we don’t have a clue.”

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NEWS UCWLA LSU INFECTI US WATERS urges to halt on-

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SAFETY

LSU professors testing water around campus to predict COVID-19 outbreaks

BY MADELYN CUTRONE @madelyncutrone The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and the department of engineering department have been commissioned by the University and the city of Baton Rouge to track COVID-19 outbreaks through wastewater samples. This method is being used throughout universities in the U.S. as well as internationally.

COVID-19 can be detected in wastewater up to 10 days before an individual begins displaying symptoms of the virus and a clinical diagnosis can be made. This method is primarily used to detect potential outbreaks and prevent circulation of the virus, according to pathobiological sciences professor Konstantin Kousoulas.

“That’s the power of this technology, that it can be a predictive tool to project where the problem may be and perhaps take measures to limit further spread,” Kousoulas said.

Some of the research team’s predictions have already been proven.

Kousoulas said the team predicted a surge of infection that has been confirmed by case studies both in Baton Rouge and at the University with incoming students.

Environmental engineering professor John Pardue said they first pasteurize the samples.

“Just like milk is pasteurized, it kills anything in the sample that could cause you to get sick,” Pardue said.

Then, the team uses a chemical

to extract the virus from the water and perform a genetic test looking for the RNA from the SARS CoV-2 virus.

“We’re looking for how many copies of that virus are floating around in the water we’re sampling,” Pardue said.

Based on how many millions or billions of RNA fragments are in the sample, the researchers can determine the approximate amount of individuals who have the virus in the building that was tested.

This is especially useful in dorm complexes.

The VetMed school also has technology to decipher which strain of COVID-19 is present in

the samples.

“We have the capacity to analyze and track down which strain is circulating,” Kousoulas said. “We don’t do that now, but we can do that.”

Kousoulas said anyone who has previously contracted COVID-19 should be “resistant or at least partially immunized against any subsequent infection.”

The research team is testing every area of campus once a week, monitoring ciral RNA levels and detecting potential outbreaks. If it a large outbreak occurs, everyone in the dorm or workspace will be tested and appropriate actions can be taken based on the results.

ELIZABETH SULLIVAN / The Reveille

Dr. Nithya Jambunathan tests water samples Sept. 18 for COVID-19 research in the LSU Vet School.

“The prediction is, because a lot of these cases are asymptomatic, the number of asymptomatic cases will increase and the result of cases at the student clinic will increase,” Kousoulas said.

This surveillance technique allows researchers to report findings to the appropriate venues and test the effectiveness of certain COVID-19 regulations. If a large surge in cases is noticed in advance, the researchers can warn hospitals in the surrounding area so they’re prepared for an influx of patients.

The data also demonstrates the effectiveness of certain regulations such as mask mandates. Shortly after East Baton Rouge implemented the guideline parish-wide, cases steadily dropped. The same result was seen after Gov. John Bel Edwards implemented the mask mandate state-wide.

“We’re trying to provide another piece of information for the people making decisions,” Pardue said.

Kousoulas said knowing in advance when outbreaks may occur gives LSU an important advantage.

“Any detection mechanism as an early warning of what may be coming is important,” Kousoulas said.

Although Kousoulas and Pardue predict an uptick of cases in the coming weeks, their goal is to help keep everyone on campus. “[We’re] not trying to close the campus with this, we’re trying to do the opposite,” Pardue said. “We’re trying to keep it open longer if we can break the transmission.”

campus activities

BY CAITIE ZEILMAN @caitiezeilman

One higher education union is calling on LSU to put an immediate halt to face-to-face activities to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The United Campus Workers describes itself as a united “wall-to-wall” union that gives a voice to higher education employees throughout the South. The organization has chapters in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky.

The Louisiana chapter, UCWLA, released a statement Sept.

3 encouraging the LSU Board of Supervisors to end in-person activities, citing concerns over rising cases and a lack of effective protocols.

“For the safety of the LSU community and the state at large. United Campus Workers of Louisiana calls on the Louisiana Board of Regents to act in accordance with its ‘constitutional mandate to serve the educational, healthcare and economic development goals of Louisiana’ and immediately halt face-to-face activities on campus,” the statement read LSU English professor and

see UCWLA, page 4

HEALTH

LSU alumnus uses brewery to produce hand sanitizer during COVID-19 pandemic

BY JACOB LOFTON @jacobalofton LSU Honors college alumnus Jacob Landry found an interesting way to supplement his company’s income during the height of the pandemic.

Landry is the founder of Urban South, the largest craft brewery in New Orleans. With the closure of restaurants and taprooms in New Orleans, Landry needed to find a way to continue to pay his staff.

“About 45% of the beer we were sending out was going out in kegs, what we call on-premise,” Landry said. “When they shut down, 45% of the beer we made was completely shut off.”

Those losses were exacerbated by the closing of taprooms with COVID-19 restrictions, which accounted for an additional 30% of Urban South’s revenue.

With over 75% of revenue cut off, Landry’s top concern became his employees.

“It was a pretty scary moment, particularly because we employ close to 40 people,” Landry said. “My number one concern was, ‘how do we ensure that these people’s livelihoods are not impacted, and how do we keep our really great team together and not lose people?’”

That opportunity arose shortly after the shutdown of taprooms and restaurants in New Orleans when Landry’s state representative forwarded him the information about the bid.

“I think it was maybe a week or two after the shutdown happened that the opportunity for the state bid on hand sanitizer came through,” Landry said. “My state representative forwarded a letter to me and I said ‘Hey we’ve never done this before,

but we certainly know how to put liquid into bottles.’ So I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations on what it would cost to do that, and what kind of bid we could put in.”

Employees of Urban South benefited from many outside of the production staff had no work.

“It was huge for us because we have a pretty big staff that was slowed down a lot on beer production,” Landry said. “We had no taproom visitors, so we had bartender staff that didn’t have any work. It was a good opportunity for us to repurpose some people and keep them employed.”

Landry said his time in the Ogden Honors College prepared him for the challenges not only of COVID-19, but of running a

see BREWERY, page 4

COURTESY OF JACOB LANDRY

Urban South shifted from beer to hand sanitizer production during COVID-19.

Thursday, September 24, 2020

page 4 UCWLA, from page 3 UCWLA spokeswoman June Pulliam told Business Report she fails to see a way the University could remain open safely in the heat of COVID-19.

“We’ve all been very concerned about returning to campus for a while,” Pulliam said. “And I’m not blaming the students. It’s that we don’t know how LSU could make any building on campus safe enough for in-person instruction.”

The University implemented several changes around campus to encourage social distancing. Masks are required at all times while inside buildings, and signs encourage students to stay to the right

BREWERY, from page 3 business.

“I’d say first and foremost that the challenge of the Honors College was really valuable,” Landry said. “From a personal working perspective, that was certainly helpful in my development. I think more broadly that liberal arts foundation coupled particularly with the mass communication focus on really being able to communicate clearly and effectively has been incredibly valuable.”

Though the project helped to keep Urban South in business

50%

o % 0 -8

while walking in hallways.

Despite these efforts, cases within the LSU community continue to rise. The University reported a total of 853 cases within the community as of Sept. 23.

In a press briefing on Sept.

2, interim President Thomas Galligan told reporters he was concerned.

“I’m monitoring the situation and looking at it carefully because if it keeps going up, we’re going to go remote,” Galligan said.

At the time of the briefing, the total number of cases was 366 within the LSU community.

It is not clear if the University has a threshold of cases for a complete online transition.

Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said the LSU Board of Supervisors is aware of the letter.

“They would be happy to meet with them to walk them through all of the various factors [it is] keeping an eye on,” Ballard said.

Ballard said the UCWLA has not yet accepted the offer; however, Faculty Senate representatives are present at every board meeting.

“They spoke at last week’s meeting and I don’t believe it came up to go fully online,” Ballard said.

LSU holds weekly press briefings every Wednesday to provide the public with the latest updates on COVID-19.

through the pandemic, Landry expects to return to solely beer production in the near future as restrictions are lifted.

Despite Louisiana’s move into Phase 3 of its reopening plan Sept. 11, New Orleans remained in Phase 2. Bars stayed closed and restaurants, gyms, stores and other businesses are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.

According to a press release from the Office of the Governor, bars in parishes with a positivity rate of 5% or lower for two consecutive weeks may opt in for on-site consumption under Phase 3. Bars can reopen at 25% capacity, up to 50 people.

Urban South shifted from beer to hand sanitizer production during COVID-19.

COURTESY OF JACOB LANDRY

il a t e ff R

4800 Hwy 19, Zachary, Louisiana 70791 225-572-4233

Call or Text 225-572-4233 www.boxdropzachary.com

COURTESY OF UNITED CAMPUS WORKERS

ENTERTAINMENT

REV R ANKS

Head to Head THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME MOVIE

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‘The Social Dilemma’ reveals how we are all guinea pigs for Silicon Valley

NETFLIX

Let me start off by saying weird does not always mean bad. However, this movie took me on a rollercoaster of mixed emotions that entailed confusion, shock and discomfort. The stories of the religiously corrupt characters are very well written but are still disturbing. This made me question how someone who believes they are one with God can make choices that reflect the opposite of their faith, but I am guessing that is part of the point of the film. Overall, the film is very unique and makes you question people’s moral beliefs when it comes to religion.

Caroline Hebert | @sister_carols “The Devil All the Time” based on the book of the same title by Donald Ray Pollock is a beautifully executed dive into some dark—though realistically fictional—instances mostly occurring in 1960s Bible Belt small towns. In nearly all cases, residents’ extreme faith and its manipulation by others proves to be their downfall, instilling a lifelong aversion to religion for Arvin despite its prevalence in his life. In this sense, the film is certainly dated and represents an American culture bygone except in microcosms of the same smalltown madness portrayed in “The Devil All the Time.”

BY ARIEL BAISE @arielbiancaa

Taner Morgan | @taner_morgan

MOVIE

I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS

Netflix

Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is a bleak and miserable experience. I don’t mean that it’s a bad movie, but it’s a hopeless one. It’s mind-boggling and depressing. Kaufman sure does know how to set a mood.

Britney Young @byoun99

VIDEO GAME

FALL GUYS Mediatonic

It’s a wholesome game until you come face-toface with one of the trolls at the finish line. You will have your favorite courses and the courses that you despise. The jellybean creatures will make your day or make it worse. Anything goes in “Fall Guys” but being the victor is the only motivation that you will need.

Britney Young @byoun99

Read the full reviews online at lsunow.com/entertainment

“The Social Dilemma” forces you to open your eyes to what is going on in the social media and tech worlds. Minutes in, I started looking at my phone differently. Without getting 20 minutes into this documentary my hair on my arms raised. I had to pause the documentary every 30 minutes.

Ironically, I knew most of the information discussed prior to watching it. My curriculum this year is all about social media, branding and advertising. However, social media and I have always had a love-hate relationship. I believe firmly in accountability on our usage of social media. We should control social media and not allow it to control us. Social media is essentially an ‘upgrade’ from us playing Webkinz, Club Penguin and Neopets, but the virtual currency equates to likes and comments.

I see social media and tech companies as being in their Wild West phase. Companies are able to do whatever they want, and our laws simply cannot keep up.

Our lawmakers don’t know what is going on. The average age of a member of the House of Representatives is 57.6 years and for Senators, it is 62.9 years, according to the Congressional Research Service.

I applaud “The Social Dilemma” for being so frank and to the point. The first 30 minutes gives a solid rundown of how we are the products. Our attention and

the slight changes in us are what companies are paying millions for.

“Social media isn’t a tool that’s just waiting to be used. It has its own goals, and it has its own means of pursuing them,” Tristan Harris, a former Google Design Ethicist said around the 29 minute mark.

There is a culture of manipulation among us. Companies use the same things we love and turn them against us as a test for AI. One of the eeriest moments is when the same people who created these algorithms and programs said themselves that they could not stop using them.

“The Social Dilemma” also highlights the effect social media has on Generation Z. Our generation’s self-worth and selfesteem have been manipulated by this virtual reality created by tech designers. Yet, “The Social Dilemma” only focused on social media’s effect on mental health.

They fail to acknowledge the other issues teens and young adults face outside of technology in the past decade.

The documentary also examines the effects that social media platforms have had on our political system. One take from it is that we are now more separated and divided than ever due to our feeds never prompting anything we disagree with. We are rarely challenged. This point goes back to the idea that we craft our identities online with everything we like from our hobbies to people.

Social media is feeding us our favorite things in a gluttonous,

subtle way. “The Social Dilemma” slowly shows its audience how we are test subjects for tech companies to gain enormous amounts of money. Advertisers want our attention. The longer they have us on the app, the better.

It was difficult to critique this documentary due to my interest in it and its uncanny storytelling. But the dramatic scenes are when you can take a bathroom or snack break.

These PSA-esque scenes that played in between the tech experts and other casts members’ dialogue reminded me of the 2009 movie, “Cyberbully.” Honestly, the documentary could have done without the drama.

There wasn’t much logic within these scenes.

Why didn’t Ben’s mom hide the phone or turned it off completely? Or stop Isla from smashing the Kitchen Safe container?

It was only an hour and a few notifications. Cassandra fits into the ‘I’m-not-on-social-media-at-allsuperiority-complex’ trope that anyone over the age of 35 seems to like in a young person.

“The Social Dilemma” is an eye opener no matter where you stand on social media. Even at the end of the documentary, the cast doesn’t say it’s evil.

There needs to be a system of checks and balances and better ethical practices for social media. It is 90 minutes worth watching.

Remember if you are not paying for the product, you are the product.

Thursday, September 24, 2020

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

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An empty campus sits Sept. 20 from the top of the Barnes & Noble at LSU parking garage on E Campus Drive.

Louie’s Cafe signs shine bright Sept. 19 on Lake Street near LSU’s campus.

When the sun goes down and the students are gone, what does LSU look like?

The Varsity neon sign shines with two letters missing next to The Chimes Sept. 19 on Highland Road near LSU’s campus.

Tiger Stadium and Memorial Tower stand tall Sept. 19 from the top of the Barnes & Noble at LSU parking garage on E Campus Drive.

Tiger Stadium shines bright Sept. 15 at night on Nicholson Drive on LSU’s campus.

Memorial Tower stands tall Sept.

19 from the top of the Barnes & Noble at LSU parking garage on E Campus Drive.

Tiger Stadium makes the sky purple Sept. 19 from the top of the Barnes & Noble at LSU parking garage on E Campus Drive.

JL’s Place sits vacant Sept. 19 on Bob Pettit Boulevard in Tigerland.

Fred’s and Reggie’s sit empty Sept. 19, on Bob Pettit Boulevard in Tigerland.

Mike’s sits empty Sept. 19 on Bob Pettit Boulevard in Tigerland.

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SPORTS COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI STATE ATHLETICS

RB Kylin Hill

COURTESY OF VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

LB Dimitri Moore

page 9 COURTESY OF MIZZOU ATHLETICS

LB Nick Bolton

COURTESY OF UF ATHLETICS

TE Kyle Pitts

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS

CB Jaycee Horn

FIVE MOST NOTABLE Game 1: Mississippi State RB Kylin Hill 2019 Season: 242 atts, 1350 yds, 10 TDs; 18 recs, 180 receiving yds, 1 receiving TD The senior running back for the Bulldogs returns after a stellar season as the SEC’s third leading rusher behind Kentucky’s allpurpose weapon Lynn Bowden Jr. and LSU’s beloved Clyde Edwards-Helaire. His combination of speed, power and agility makes him a strong bet to be a force in the NFL, and his passing-catching ability combined with that athleticism will suit him well in firstyear head coach Mike Leach’s air raid offense.

LSU all but put Hill in a straitjacket in their meeting last season, holding him to just 34 rushing yards on 15 attempts. But, with a lot of new pieces on offense, including a multi-dimen-

sional QB in Stanford transfer KJ Costello, expect Hill to have a bit more room to run with the Tigers having to be wary of the Bulldogs’ passing game.

Game 2: Vanderbilt LB Dimitri Moore 2019 Season: 48 solo tks, 99 total tks, 6.0 TFLs, .5 sks Senior Dimitri Moore returns for one more season to Vanderbilt’s defense, after leading the team in tackles by nearly a 40-tackle margin. Moore also finished in the top-10 in the SEC’s tackle leaders.

The 6-foot-3 234-pound defensive leader had originally opted out of the 2020 season after losing a family member to COVID-19, but ultimately changed his mind.

Moore will make an LSU win difficult because of his versatility as a defensive player. His speed and strength make him a force at the line of scrimmage, but he can also drop back in coverage well, making it hard to pinpoint where he plans to attack. Look for him

to disguise himself a lot to try to sneak around Myles Brennan’s pre-snap reads.

Game 3: Missouri LB Nick Bolton 2019 Season: 74 solo tks, 103 total tks, 7.5 TFLs, 1.0 sk, 2 ints, 1 defensive TD A common candidate in the discussion for the best linebacker in the SEC, Nick Bolton was second in tackles last season only to LSU’s Jacob Phillips. He developed a notoriety for being one of the hardest hitting linebackers around, and his season was highlighted by a two-interception game against West Virginia, one of which he ran back for a touchdown. He landed on the first AllSEC team and was the conference’s highest graded linebacker with a ProFootballFocus grade of 91.1.

The junior now gets ready for one more campaign before surely heading off for a professional career. But Bolton is ready to lead

LSU soccer drops season opener to Arkansas

BY MORGAN ROGERS @morgan_rogers

at Missouri before he goes, after having to fill that role in the middle of last season after AllAmerican Cale Garrett suffered a season-ending injury.

“I feel like I’m a leader of our football team,” Bolton stated in an interview with the Columbia Daily Tribune. “I’m not really a vocal guy; [I’m] a more-by-example guy, just come in early, stay late type of guy. I just do that, demonstrate it the best way possible each day in practice, off the field, trying to be a great man and a great team member for my teammates.”

Look for LSU to be especially wary of Bolton’s playmaking ability when Missouri comes to Baton Rouge Oct. 10. Bolton will make stops, but it will be Brennan and the offense’s job to make sure he does not cause too much havoc.

Game 4: Florida TE Kyle Pitts 2019 season: 54 recs, 649 yds,

Despite putting up an impressive fight against the preseason favorite, the Arkansas Razorbacks, LSU suffered a 2-0 loss in Fayetteville.

The team kept possession of the ball during most of the first half of the match, attempting three shots on goal. Shannon Cooke created a few opportunities during the first half, but the team wasn’t able to capitalize.

Another opportunity presented itself in the final minutes of the match when Maddie Moreau gave a through-ball to Jordan Johnson whose shots was blocked by Taylor Beltz.

“We were able to create four to five big chances that we didn’t capitalize on. If we score one or two of those chances we had in the first half, I think it shifts the game in a big way,” Head Coach Sian Hudson told lsusports.net. “It was great for us to finally get a chance to compete with somebody besides ourselves. There were plenty of positive signs in terms of fight, belief and playing our style of soccer here at LSU.” Arkansas struck first in the 35th minute when Reagan

see PLAYERS, page 10

see SOCCER, page 10

Key opposing-team players to keep an eye out for each week

BY JARED BRODTMANN @_therealjarbear

SOCCER

FOOTBALL

Tiger fans reminded to complete screening before kickoff

BY HARRISON VALENTINE @HValentineLSU Before heading to Tiger Stadium on Saturday, LSU football fans are reminded to complete a COVID-19 screening on their smart phones.

All ticket holders 18 years or older are required to complete the CDC Facilities COVID-19 screening. The screening may be completed on the LSU Sports Mobile app. The screening process will be available in the app starting at 12 a.m. CT on Saturday morning.

The screening asks fans to answer four questions before entering the stadium. Once those questions have been answered, they will receive either an approved pass displayed in green or a denied pass displayed in red on the mobile screen.

Here are some more reminders to ticket holders from LSU Athletics as they prepare for Saturday’s game in Tiger Stadium: • Add your tickets and parking passes to your mobile wallet with the LSU Sports Mobile app or by logging on to your account at www.LSUtix.net through a mobile browser.

• Face masks covering the nose and mouth are required on campus and at all athletic venues.

• Plan to leave your home early to allow plenty of time to enter the stadium. If you feel sick, please stay home.

• All gates of the stadium will be accessible to ticket holders.

• When arriving at the gate checkpoint, display your approved COVID-19 screening

to the gate attendant on your smart phone.

• Clear bags smaller than

12” x 6” x 12” are approved but not encouraged to prevent long lines. Bags will

be checked by the gate

see SCREENING, page 10

ABBY KIBLER/ The Reveille

Tiger Stadium shines bright Sept. 15 at night on N Stadium Road on LSU’s campus.

page 10

Thursday, September 24, 2020

SOCCER, from page 9

PLAYERS, from page 9

Swindall capatliazed on a free kick from near midfield. The Razorbacks increased their lead in the 56th minute.

Goalkeeper Mollee Swift made her debut at LSU. Swift registered seven saves during the match. Diwure-Soale, Jordan Johnson, Savannah Mills and Taylor Dobles also played their first match.

“Overall I was really pleased with our performance today,” Hudson told lsusports.net. “Arkansas is a team that poses a lot of hard questions in terms of the way they press and put balls into the box. I thought we built out of the back well at times, stretched them defensively and competed well in the aerial battle.

Despite the loss, the Tigers are looking forward to coming back home and playing against Ole Miss at 1:00 CST on Sept. 27.

5 TD, 12.0 YPC Florida will have many players able to make an impact this year, but Pitts was chosen specifically because of his matchup last season with LSU. The Saturday night “game of the week” showdown last year between LSU and Florida is remembered fondly by Tiger fans for LSU getting the win, but it was Pitts who led the Gators in receiving with five receptions for 108 yards, gashing the middle of the LSU defense. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 239 pounds, the first team All-SEC tight end is a physical specimen and has become a favorite target of quarterback Kyle Trask. He is projected to be a firstround draft pick, but that hasn’t deterred the junior’s focus for the upcoming season.

“This guy is a complete guy,” Florida tight ends coach Tim Brewster said last week via media availability. “He’s had an amazing training camp. Each day he’s working his tail off.”

“I think if I had one adjective to describe Kyle Pitts right now, this is a tough guy, man. He’s a tough-minded guy, a physical guy. There’s nothing not to like about him.”

If LSU is to slow down the Gators’ offense when they travel to Gainesville for their annual brawl, athletic pass defenders like JaCoby Stevens and Jabril Cox will have to be called upon to stop

SCREENING, from page 9 attendant.

Ticket holders are permitted to bring a 32-ounce or 1 liter (or smaller) factory-sealed bottle of water into stadium.

• Proceed to the entry gate and have your tickets open on your smart phone. Your tickets will be scanned by a guest relations team mem-

MITCHELL SCAGLIONE / The Reveille

LSU soccer players celebrate after a goal during the Tigers 2-2 draw against Mississippi State on Oct. 24, 2019, in the LSU Soccer Complex. ber directly from your smart phone.

• After entering the stadium, you will notice that all concession stands are cashless.

Cash-to-card machines are available at select locations throughout the stadium.

• Face masks may be temporarily removed while consuming food and beverages at your seats, provided phys-

ical distancing is observed.

To learn where concession stands are located, explore the interactive venue map on the LSU Sports Mobile app.

• Cover your coughs and sneezes at all times. Wash your hands regularly and often, and avoid touching your face. Maintain physical distancing from others, and be aware of social interactions.

Pitts from destroying the Tigers in between the hash marks like he has done to many SEC defenses.

He will be a force in the redzone as well, using his big frame to muscle off tight coverage. With so many other weapons to worry about, it will be interesting to see how the Tigers’ defense rises to the challenge of defending one of the best passing attacks in the conference.

Game 5: South Carolina CB Jaycee Horn 2019 Season: 29 solo tks, 40 total tks, 2.0 TFLs, 1.0 sk, 9 PDs, 2 FFs Jaycee Horn returns for his junior season, coming off a successful sophomore campaign.

The versatile cornerback was the Gamecocks’ top pass defender and will be expected to take a bigger step as he becomes an upperclassman. Head Coach Will Muschamp noted that the secondary was still being pieced together as to exactly where and how each defensive back would play, but he expects Horn to use his flexibility as a man corner or as a nickel back to his advantage.

Expect Terrace Marshall Jr. to draw Horn’s attention on the edge. The matchup should be fun to watch as one of LSU’s top offensive weapons goes up against South Carolina’s best member of its secondary.

See lsunow.com for the key opposing-team players for games 6-10.

OPINION

page 11

Rules for virtual classrooms largely unnecessary, ‘irrelevant’ GOING SOUTH TAMIA SOUTHALL

@Tamiabrem_

As coronavirus cases increased over the summer, many school districts decided to continue the fall semester online despite parents’ hopes of shipping their kids back to school.

Since then, social media posts from angry parents have emerged as many are finally getting an inside look at the audacity of the rules their children are being subjected to, which some teachers are implementing as if their students are still in the classroom rather than own homes.

I completely understand the desire to maintain a classroom atmosphere during online instruction. While there needs to be a foundation of rules to prevent students from misbehaving, teachers need to be more rational when it comes to their other expectations.

“This is a scary time, and students need reassurances from their teachers, not punishment and extra rules, said Dave Austin, a seventh grade social studies teacher in Marlton, New Jersey” This pandemic is forcing elementary school kids to sit still in front of a computer screen for hours. Teachers should be more lenient; students are still trying to adjust. I’m still trying to adjust as a college student, so I know this transition has to be a lot more complicated for younger students.

Yet some primary schools require students to be in full uniform during their remote classes, meaning parents are having to buy new uniforms for their children just so they can sit for virtual lessons at the dining room table.

Many teachers also forbid students from eating snacks or drinking during their virtual classes. How are you going to tell a student not to eat in his own home? These teachers need to be

reminded: the dictatorial control you had on campus is irrelevant on Google Meet.

Some schools are even considering virtual suspension and expulsion as a form of discipline.

In places like Shelby County, Tennessee, schools are requiring students to participate in virtual classes with a clear background.

Isaiah Elliott, a seventh-grader, is one victim of these absurd regulations. School officials were notified of Elliott and another student playing with a toy gun during online class and notified police. Elliott, who suffers from ADHD, was suspended; because of this incident, he now has a record with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

Students should not have to be subjected to this emotional drain. Moreover, teachers should not feel they need to control students in their own homes. They should focus more on delivering instruction and compassion and less on trivial things that do not concern them.

CARTOON BY BRANDON SHEPERD

Teachers need to be conscious of the rules they develop for students in virtual classes. Children across the country are already stuck on a computer when they would much rather be at school with their friends; their teachers should not be working to make

it harder on them. Education should be the ultimate priority, whether or not nine-year-old Katie is eating Oreos during class.

Tamia Southall is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans.

Defunding the police should be a more common sense stance KEVIN WONDERS OF THE WORLD KEVIN DOUCETTE

@kgdouce

In the past few months, you’ve likely heard the term “defund the police.” But what does it mean, exactly?

Simply put, it’s a political stance intended to not only reduce police violence and misconduct but fundamentally reassess the role of the police in America.

I’m not arguing for purging police departments of their resources completely, but rather reducing and redirecting the excess funds to other, underfunded public institutions.

At this point, it is common knowledge that police in the U.S. have a race problem. An institution borne from slave patrols is bound to have skeletons in the closet.

Police violence is a public health crisis specifically for our marginalized populations. According to statistics, one in every 1,000 Black men can expect to be killed at the hands of an officer. To put that in perspective, the University currently enrolls 1,869 Black male students, myself included.

Surely diverting more money towards the murderers and their enablers will not bring justice to their victims, nor supply any confidence to the public that conditions will change.

The epidemic of systemic racism in law enforcement cannot and will not be healed by sensitivity training. Officers, like civilians, seek out and create political enclaves at their whim—and, disturbingly, American police culture seemingly tends toward white supremacist movements.

Proponents of heavy policing may squawk at the idea of a social worker or civilian, subduing a “crackhead” rather than a policeman. However, calling in armed officers is generally not the ideal response to someone having a medical emergency.

People with disabilities, struggling with addiction and experiencing mental crises make up between one-third and one-half of total police killings. Keep in mind police in the U.S. commit almost 10% of annual homicides.

And what about body cameras?

Well, they serve two purposes: 1) to encourage officers to follow procedure on the scene and 2) to allowpossible misconduct to be

properly investigated after the fact.

Simply strapping a camera onto an officer may ease public concerns regarding transparency, but it does little to address the real problem.

Besides, the system’s efficacy is reliant on narrow margins: when an officer chooses to activate the camera, whether the footage is reviewed internally and whether the footage is released to the public.

The takeaways from reviewing body camera footage seem to be minor penalties and calls for harm reduction— kicking the can down the road, essentially If police departments across the country face charges of misconduct, why must we unquestioningly give them our tax dollars? Any federal, state or local agency that regularly abuses its constituents is likely not effective, or even necessary.

Police are taught to approach an variety of situations with one key notion in mind: in certain instances, they are permitted to use lethal force. Certainly, not every officer is itching to shoot —but every officer is promised impunity in the form of qualified immunity, shielding them from any legal scrutiny in the event that they do.

Sensitivity training is a policedriven solution to a problem they

CARTOON BY BRANDON SHEPHERD

themselves exacerbate. Teaching officers to respect differences and avoid microaggressions will not prevent a dirty cop from planting drugs, undo a lifetime of implicit biases nor remove the firearm from one’s grasp.

We fundamentally want to preserve our communities, but our over-reliance on policing means funneling countless individuals and resources into our prejudiced and convoluted criminal justice system.

Prioritizing punishment over rehabilitation has incarcerated entire generations of Americans, reduced their livelihoods to slave labor and redirected our limited community funds toward state violence.

Editorial Policies and Procedures EDITORIAL BOARD Bailey Chauvin Brittney Forbes Anna Jones Katherine Manuel Grace Pulliam

Editor in Chief Managing Editor News Editor Deputy News Editor Opinion Editor

The Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

We tolerate police violence in the name of “preserving the peace” against the vague criminal threat.

Yet truthfully, crime is not random or unpredictable but resultant of combined sociopolitical failures.

Consider reframing criminality, poverty and even violence as symptoms of economic turmoil and public health concerns. Through defunding the police, we can attempt to reform a stagnant justice system and adequately fund other vital services in our communities.

It’s not only necessary. It’s common sense.

Kevin Doucette is a 20-year-old political science junior from New Orleans.

Quote of the Week “Time is but the stream I go afishing in.”

Henry David Thoreau Essayist 1817-1862

Thursday, September 24, 2020

page 12

Please stop partying, we are still in the midst of a pandemic DOM’S UNCANNY DISCOURSE DOMENIC PURDY

@tigerdom16

This pandemic is not over.

As of Sept. 23, the University has reported over 853 total cases of coronavirus on campus.

If the number of active cases is clearly on the rise with no sign of slowing down, why are there so many Snapchat stories featuring typical college parties of 50+ people crammed into small venues?

Even before the return to campus, when lockdown was more widespread, many college students seemed to instinctively disobey health and safety guidelines. As early as July, students in Alabama were accused of throwing “COVID parties” that became virus-spreading hubs.

The reopenning of campus is when the real issues started, however. The week before classes is typically considered open season for college parties.

These parties, including ones on our own campus, regularly break the capacity limits on social gatherings. Until our recent move into phase three on Sept.

11, phase two regulations stated that “settings of more than

50 people... may not be practical.” Many parties operated over capacity within the phase two window.

Videos of these parties are horror shows for anyone who remotely cares about slowing the spread of the virus.

Such events are generally characterized by crowded apartments, communal drinks, a distinct lack of masks and a general disregard for the health crisis at hand.

The University has “pledged to do its part” to uphold regulations for these gatherings, but its “part” mainly consists of empty gestures, like advising students to adhere to capacity limits.

Simply asking college students to stop doing something, especially something as ingrained in their culture as partying, is futile, even during a pandemic.

While the University is partially to blame for its lack of accountability and proactive attitude towards these gatherings, a larger portion of the blame falls on the attendees of these parties.

It doesn’t just affect the campus environment. Anyone these individuals interact with after attending regulation-breaking events could be put at risk, and at no fault of their own. Throw-

CARTOON BY BRANDON SHEPERD

ing parties in the age of a global pandemic is not only dangerous but selfish and inconsiderate of one’s entire community.

While it may be impossible to completely stop these gatherings from occurring, we can all do our part to ensure we attend them in a safe and responsible manner. Only go to parties if you are confident in the health

status of the attendees; even then, try your best to limit attendance to a manageable number.

College is a time to explore new frontiers of social and intellectual enlightenment, but in our current era, we must make sure to explore these frontiers safely and with the utmost regard for our communities.

Stop the spread, follow regulations and, most importantly, don’t be stupid. Try using some of that newfound intellectual enlightenment to make the right decision, and avoid those large, irresponsible parties.

Domenic Purdy is a 19-yearold journalism sophomore from Prairieville.