The Reveille 3-7-22

Vo lum e 132 · N o. 12

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Mond ay, M a r c h 7, 2 022

DRIVING CITY How a lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure impacts LSU students

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille

A Gotcha bike sits on its side March 6, on Burbank Drive.

NEWS

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Inadequate broadband access in rural Louisiana presents issues for college students adjusting to online learning.

ENTERTAINMENT

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The “Layers” exhibition in the Student Union provides artistic students with a chance to display their work.

SPORTS

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In a tense, nail-biting season finale, LSU overpowered the Tide of Alabama to secure a five seed in SEC tournament.

OPINION

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“Corruption, questionable ethics and underhanded pursuits are the trinity that flavors our state’s government gumbo.”

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

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AUTO CITY

B-16 Hodges Hall Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, La. 70803

Life without a vehicle becomes difficult in car-centric Baton Rouge

BY DOMENIC PURDY & JOHN BUZBEE @Tigerdom16 & @thebuzzbuz Whenever French junior Ali Redmann’s bike was stolen, she was left without any reliable transportation to get to LSU’s campus from her apartment off Nicholson Drive.

“There are several blocks by my apartment complex that don’t have any sidewalks at all and you’re walking through people’s yards,” Redmann said. “My apartment is walking distance in theory, but that is really just hypothetical.”

Even when she did have a bike, navigating Baton Rouge streets with no bike lanes or cracked sidewalks was dangerous. She was once nearly hit by a car while riding her bike on East Boyd Drive.

Using her hand as a turn signal, Redmann began to turn and was interrupted by a swerving car which nearly knocked her off her bike in the middle of the road.

Despite choosing to live at University View because of its proximity to grocery stores and campus, living without a car has also presented health issues to Redmann, who takes prescription medicine. The nearest pharmacy that supplies her medications is down a busy highway and across streets without crosswalks.

“I have to take my life in my hands and run for it if I want to get my prescription medication,” she explained. “Or I have to wait for a friend with a car.”

Life without a car in Baton Rouge is difficult and dangerous given the cities’ lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. If LSU students don’t live in a handful of nearby apartment complexes with sidewalks or safe bike lanes leading to campus, college life without a car can become a dangerous game of “Frogger” in the car-centric city.

This reality is especially noticeable in the areas around LSU’s campus, where only a handful of off-campus apartments realistically allow pedestrian accessibility to campus.

Those living in apartments on Burbank Drive past the intersection with Lee Drive or in the student living complexes along the treacherous Nicholson Drive, life as a student without a car is more difficult than expected.

Outside of on-campus apartments and dorm life, just six apartment complexes are close enough to campus to allow for walking or biking options for students. The university bus system reaches some off-campus apartments, but some students have complained about the unreliability of the system.

Left without any other option, some students have adapted to the quirks of the bus system.

Music education freshman

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille

A sidewalk ends March 6, near the intersection of East Boyd Drive and Burbank Drive.

Lily Espinoza explained that she has adapted to using the Campus Transit transportation system to alleviate life without a car. The on-demand system is available between 5 p.m. and midnight and moves students to and from locations they choose, as opposed to a route-based system.

“As for the buses, I will say I am a strong supporter of the buses and I’m surprised more people don’t use them, specifically the on-demand,” Espinoza said.

But even the services designed to assist in life without a car can be troublesome.

“I tried using the on-demand buses once,” said biochemistry freshman Anna Montgomery. “It was such a bad experience I actually haven’t tried again. I do in fact just walk across campus after dark, which isn’t a super safe decision, but it’s the one we’re working with.”

For Espinoza and others, the transit system is flawed, but they’ve gotten used to the quirks and even know which bus drivers to count on.

Sociology sophomore Brian Castanza joined the military in between freshman and sophomore year to pay for college. He wants to make sure he’s financially stable before purchasing a car.

“It’s hard being a college student these days. Everything’s so expensive,” he said.

Castanza generally relies on the buses. He describes inconsistency in the TransLoc app, as well as the buses themselves.

“I’m running to the bus stop because I’m 15 yards away, and they literally do a touch-and-go, they don’t even stop,” Castanza said. “The bus should wait at the bus stop for at least 30 seconds or 10 seconds.”

Castanza wakes up two hours before his classes start so he can go to physical therapy and catch a ride to LSU on the buses. Still, he likes the options LSU’s buses of-

fer; he just wishes that the system was more predictable.

“The campus proper has about average walkability with sidewalks and crosswalks,” civil and environmental engineering professor Brian Wolshon said. “Once you get off campus, I think it’s not really that good.”

Fatal incidents—like the one that killed LSU professor Norimoto Murai last year—result in calls for bike lanes and more pedestrian friendly infrastructure, but the calls fall on deaf ears at the university level, Wolshon explained.

Once the sidewalk transitions away from campus property, it becomes an issue of the city-parish. A large part of this issue, particularly on Burbank and Nicholson, he explained, is a result of archaic planning for when the area was less residential.

“The problem is, once it’s built, we are kind of stuck with it,” Wolshon said. “These developments are coming in because they provide convenience but what the city hasn’t been doing a good enough job at is making sure there are walkable routes with connectivity in its sidewalks.”

Once something is built, like the multiple strip malls along Burbank with very little pedestrian access, it’s hard to go back and update things, Wolshon said.

The rapid development of the area around campus during the last several decades is a primary culprit for why it is so hard to access campus from most off-campus apartments.

“There’s no sidewalks. No nothing. If you don’t have a car, you can’t get there,” said computer science freshman Donovan Brown.

Brown doesn’t have a car because he and his family can’t currently afford the finances that go with owning a vehicle. He’s saved the money needed to buy one, but things like gas, insurance and

regular maintenance is currently too much for his budget.

“I could get one right now, but there’s just so many fees attached, I just can’t,” he said. “I’m working minimum wage right now.”

Brown holds a job on-campus as a desk assistant to his residence hall. Like many jobs at LSU, the pay orbits minimum wage and isn’t enough money to cover the fees driving would include.

Not having a car limits the capacity to find a higher paying job — Brown is stuck with options nearby LSU and therefore the pay that goes with it.

Even students still living on campus struggle if they are without a car. Despite more access to campus’ facilities, freshmen living in dorms still feel the reality of Baton Rouge as a driving city.

Montgomery shares a car with her sister and says that it’s simply not her turn to have it for this year. She’s from Lafayette and usually can get a ride home from her sister, also a student at LSU. Generally, Montgomery finds that day-to-day on-campus without a car isn’t so bad. She walks through campus all the time so it’s usually just groceries and odd tasks that are especially inconvenient.

“Whenever I’m trying to do random errands, like I’m trying to get a scholarship and for it, I need a single picture of myself printed out and there isn’t anywhere on campus where I can do that,” Montgomery said. “So I have to schedule a time when my friends or sister can drive me. It’s just those weird, specific errands that show I don’t have car access.”

Burbank, home to multiple apartments including the Legacy, the Lark and the Oliver, is an example of the failure to coordinate development, said Jamie Setze, Executive Director of the Capital Region Planning Commission.

Burbank was built over 40 years back and has taken that time to develop to the state it is now, the early development of which did not foresee the need for bike lanes and pedestrian crosswalks.

“Where we came from was basically 100 years of growth that wasn’t well coordinated,” Setze said. “There have been incremental improvements over time, but there’s also been incremental failures to improve as well.”

Setze explained that the solution to such a problem around LSU is a simple one, specifically as it relates to high speed car routes like Highland and Burbank.

“Eighty years ago, before cars were running up and down Highland, it was actually a very walkable road. But it turned into this high speed car route,” he said. “It really doesn’t handle that many cars. We built Burbank just to the south of it with four lanes so that Highland, other than local road access, really could be deemphasized.”

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NEWS BROADBAND ACCESS Pandemic drove students to online learning, but many lack internet

BY PIPER HUTCHINSON @PiperHutchBR As the pandemic swept through rural America, millions without reliable internet access at home were suddenly unable to keep up with work and school, forcing people to get creative.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, about one fourth of the nation’s rural population, or about 14.5 million people, don’t have access to broadband.

As the COVID-19 pandemic drove people out of schools and workplaces, that meant that millions of people were left in the cold, forcing some LSU students to do schoolwork in the parking lots of any establishment that had free Wi-fi.

That phenomenon keenly impacts Louisiana, where at least 400,000 households don’t have broadband access.

While LSU’s main Baton Rouge location, an urban campus, may not experience the pinch of inadequate broadband access to the same degree as more rural areas, other LSU campuses do. LSU Eunice, located in a town of 10,000 in rural Acadia and St. Landry parishes, had a harder time adjusting to online learning.

Nancee Sorenson, the chancellor of LSU Eunice, deals with the realities of the rural broadband crisis on a day-to-day basis.

“The subject of rural broadband is very near and dear to my heart, because of the negative im-

page 3 STUDENT RESOURCES

Disabled students report pushback

BY PIPER HUTCHINSON @PiperHutchBR

to pay multiple times to take an exam. In other cases, students had to drive to campus to do their

Many LSU students have reported pushback from both faculty and disability services staff when receiving disability accommodations from the university.

Natasha Landrum, a pre-med and psychology freshman, has had problems with two different professors who took issue with her accommodations.

One of Landrum’s accommodations is consideration for absences, meaning she is able to miss class for reasons related to her disability.

“I hadn’t gone to two out of the three days of his class and he emailed me and he goes, ‘I’m gonna have to start questioning the days that you’re out,’” she said.

Professors are not permitted to ask students details of their disabilities. LSU’s disability services website clearly states, “For those students with documented disabilities, faculty do not have the right to ask the nature of the disability.”

Another time, a professor pushed back on Landrum’s request to take an exam in the disability services testing center, where students with the proper accommodation can take their tests in a distraction-reduced en-

see PANDEMIC, page 4

see PUSHBACK, page 4

JALEN HINTON / The Reveille

Computer engineering sophomore Bernardo Espinoza works on his laptop on Oct. 13, 2021 at Patrick F. Taylor Hall on LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge, La. pact that has on our students, on our employees and for the citizens of these very rural communities,” Sorenson said.

Soren said said that about a

fifth of the school’s students experienced connectivity issues.

In many cases, students were unable to use online proctoring tools like ProcturU, forcing them

STUDENT LIFE

LSU NAACP, Black Law Students Association host book drive

BY CHANDLER MCINTOSH @GeauxChandler18 LSU NAACP and the Black Law Students Association gave back to the youth of Baton Rouge through a book drive from Feb. 15-28.

The donations were distributed to the Baton Rouge Detention Center and the Baton Rouge Advocacy Center for children and teens.

LSU NAACP juvenile justice chair Jordan Williams, an LSU psychology junior, was interested in starting a donation drive for children in juvenile detention centers.

Tiger Prison Project held a prison book drive in previous years. The NAACP was inspired by the Tiger Prison Project and started a book drive during Black History Month.

Williams, who gained the juvenile justice chair position this

semester, has been exposed to various opportunities within the NAACP to help underresourced people in the Baton Rouge community. She wanted the book drive to be able to give children a physical item that they can keep and cherish throughout the years.

“I knew the joy of receiving a new book and falling in love with it. I believe that every child should experience that,” Williams said.

The Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center is a resource where children who have been abused or have witnessed malicious acts can be assisted. Williams believes that giving books to the advocacy center can allow children to calm their emotions and speak openly to the counselors within the advocacy center.

“Books can help these children with whatever they are going through,” Williams said.

“These donations could help a

child who normally does not open up to others find a safe space to share their past experiences.”

Williams has created a barcode on each of the donation boxes for donors to scan. A website pops up that gives facts and statistics on youth in the Baton Rouge community. The barcode also provides a link to delve deeper into the raw statistics of what children face in detention centers.

One of the facts listed on the website is the following: Youths who are detained or incarcerated may be subject to overcrowding, physical and sexual violence, trauma, suicide and even death.

LSU NAACP chair of committee on education Justin Martin, an African and American studies junior is making sure that each child in Baton Rouge has the op-

see LAW, page 4

FRANCIS DINH/ The Reveille

The LSU Law Center sits March 2, on East Campus Drive.

Monday, March 7, 2022

page 4 PANDEMIC, from page 3 assignments in the parking lot.

Sorenson said that the school addressed the issue by dedicating $2 million in federal pandemic relief to solving student’s and faculty’s connectivity problems.

Documents provided to The Reveille by Sorenson show that the school spent $41,306 on internet services and $291,298,29 on hardware for students, faculty and staff, which ranged from laptops and Ipads to internet hotspots.

Unfortunately, hotspots can only do so much in a rural area.

“If you don’t have the connectivity to begin with, it doesn’t help you to be able to work from home or study from home,” Sorenson said.

That investment has helped to ease the digital divide at a school where as many as 40% of the courses are regularly taught online. But Sorenson said it’s not enough. She said that what the community really needs is the fiber optic cable that brings broadband access to an area.

“It’s just fundamental to the economic and workforce development of having great broadband

connectivity,” Sorenson said.

The recently created Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, part of the Division of Administration, is tasked with closing the digital divide in Louisiana, both in terms of access and digital literacy.

Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of the office, also known as ConnectLA, said that the pandemic shined a light on an existing problem.

“I think what we learned during the pandemic was that the amount of internet that was required to even facilitate an on-

line educational platform was inadequate,” Iyengar said. “When​​ we say inadequate, we’re talking about data transmission speeds, we’re talking about the quality.”

Iyengar said that while some experienced problems due to a complete lack of access, others suffered from inadequate internet quality.

“What we learned during the pandemic was that online learning severely impacted everyone though in different stages, but it was especially acute for folks that didn’t have it,” Iyengar said. “And when you didn’t have it, you sud-

missing too many classes.”

“No one contacted me about the problems she had but they sent text messages to my father, which is against the law.”

Michaelson has not been able to receive confirmation about who at the university reached out to her father, although she has reached out to several departments for answers. She’s considering taking legal action against the university due to the emotional damage she experienced.

Kimsey Stewart, a mass communication junior, said she was encouraged by a professor to drop out of school after using her accommodations.

Stewart, like Michaelson and Landrum, receives consideration for absences. After using her accommodation, her professor expressed concern that she was enrolled in school but still needing to use accommodations.

“He encouraged me to consid-

er taking time off of school, that it would be okay if I wanted to do that for my health,” she said. “I think it was intended to be like, ‘Oh, nobody’s gonna be mad at you if you have to take time off of school.’ But in my opinion, it is not the correct way to respond.”

Stewart said she didn’t think that a professor would respond the same way if a nondisabled student had to miss a single class due to food poisoning or another mundane illness.

She encountered the same problem with the professor again later in the semester, when she asked the professor not to call on her during a class, as she had a sinus infection and lost her voice.

“He again told me that I should consider taking time off of school,” Stewart said. “I just felt like he would not be encouraging me to drop out if he did not know that I had disability paperwork.”

Stewart said that while her accommodations have been what she needs to succeed, actually getting them was too difficult.

To receive accommodations, a student needs to provide documentation of their disability. Students must have their doctor fill out a form provided by LSU, an action that may require students to pay out of pocket.

According to a 2009 survey from the Medical Group Management Association, 64% of doctors charge a fee for paperwork.

Patients report that the fee can range from as little as $5 to as much as $100.

Stewart paid $25 to have her paperwork done, a fee she thinks the university should reimburse for.

“I have parents who have good health insurance and are able to help me with health insurance costs like that,” Stewart said. “I know college students

who $25 means whether they eat that week or they don’t.”

Stewart said she worries for students who don’t have parents who are in a position to help them with fees or guidance in the process.

“I’m very strong willed and I know my rights, but most students don’t,” Stewart said. “And that’s why I’m very vocal about this because there are students who are going to drop out of school. There are students who are going to give up on [getting] these accommodations and not do well in school.”

Richard Godden, an English professor, tries to structure his class with empathy, setting them up to be preemptively accommodating to all students.

“An accommodation is something that you are reacting to that you’ve set up your class in a way that doesn’t accommodate all students,” Godden said. “So you’re reacting to a situation whereas thinking about different learning styles, maybe being a bit more flexible with deadlines, allowing things like laptops in the classroom, etc.”

“You can plan for that diversity as opposed to creating a situation that is going to increasingly require accommodations.”

Godden said he doesn’t require in-person exams, meaning students don’t need to request extra time on tests. He tries to be flexible on deadlines, meaning students don’t need to have a formal disability to get the help they need. If students learn differently, he encourages them to come to him to have a dialogue on how he can improve their experience.

“I try to work with them and try to be very flexible and forgiving,” Godden said.

Godden said he would like to see the university be more accommodating for students.

“To be honest, few universities do enough. It’s certainly an evolving situation. But there are things that we can do better,” Godden said.

tion centers,” Martin said. “Most think that these underprivileged children don’t need educational items that a child regularly needs, but they really do.”

He believes that children in detention centers need a chance to find an interest that increases their learning and grows from their past mistakes.

“Books are like a portable

world, you can take them anywhere you go,” Martin said. “For these children that are physically at the detention center, these books will have a positive outlet to involve themselves in during their challenging situations.”

Angel Puder, a junior majoring in political science and African and African American studies, is the vice president of the

LSU NAACP. She assisted the NAACP in planning this drive and believes that books will positively influence children.

“These books should help them have a space to escape from their daily challenges. That’s what I love about reading,” Puder said. “You can go into a different world and live in the characters’ lives if you don’t like how your

life is a the moment.”

Puder wants donors to realize that the smallest donation of a book can make a positive impact on the receivers.

“If you had a certain book that impacted you as a child and donate it, the child can receive the same experience you received,” Puder said. “The book may help them just like it did for you.”

PUSHBACK, from page 3 vironment.

“He goes, ‘I don’t understand why you can’t just do that in my class, this is an excuse. I hope that you know that you’re taking [the test] in Johnston [Hall] isn’t going to be easier, like they’re not going to allow you to cheat,’” she said.

Landrum didn’t take kindly to the insinuation that she was using her accommodations to cheat.

She elevated the situation to the dean, who allowed her to use her accommodations and take the exam in the testing center.

Once, a professor even outed her to the class as having a disability. Landrum said that the professor addressed her during class, letting her and the class know that the professor had received her accommodation letter and would be giving Landrum the extra time she is entitled to.

“One of the kids goes, ‘Why does she get extra time?’ and then she’s like, ‘Oh, because she has a letter,’” Landrum said.

Just 6% of all LSU students, about 2,400 students, receive accommodations for a disability, according to Benjamin Cornwell, director of disability services at LSU. The Reveille was unable to contact Jennie Stewart, the university’s ADA coordinator, for this story.

Marin Michaelson, an interdisciplinary studies sophomore, said that she also has had her privacy violated.

Michaelson also receives consideration for absences. When she tried to exercise her right to miss class due to her disability, she said that her professor reported her, leading to somebody at the university contacting her estranged father without her consent, a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. “I had to miss a couple of classes because of my personal stuff that falls under my accommodations,” Michaelson said.

“She reported me, I guess for

LAW, from page 3 portunity to receive a better education. Martin notices the stigma that comes with detention centers and advocates for juveniles to have access to learning materials.

“One of the things that makes this book drive really special is getting rid of people’s negative mindset about children in deten-

denly saw people parking at McDonald’s or going through their local libraries to try to get access to basic broadband.”

One of the ways that ConnectLA addressed this problem was by pushing the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which provided $50 a month to help people pay their broadband bill.

In tandem with the Board of Regents, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and other stakeholders, they signed up 215,000 households for the program.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

An automatic door sits open on Jan. 24,at the LSU Student Union on South Campus Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

ENTERTAINMENT

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THIS WEEK IN BR

Want to see your event in The Reveille?

Email information to editor@lsu.edu.

MONDAY AT 7:30

BY REVEILLE ENTERTAINMENT STAFF @Reveilleent

MARCH

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Fiddler on the Roof Raising Cane’s River Center Broadway’s longest-running musical production gets its own Baton Rouge rendition directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher.

There are still a few tickets available for the 7:30 p.m. show.

COURTESY OF TICKETMASTER

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COURTESY OF BLACK STUDENT UNION

MARCH

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This weekly event from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. is the perfect opportunity to test your trivia skills while snacking on some tacos.

TH Open Mic Night The Station

MARCH

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TUESDAY AT 6

WEDNESDAY AT 9

LSU’s Black Student Union is finishing a successful streak of Black History Month events with the Black Business Exposition in the student union from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Come to expand your professional network and stay for the “Shark Tank” style competition.

TUESDAY AT 5

MARCH

Laughter is the best medicine and it is free every Wednesday at 9 p.m. at The Station Sports Bar & Grill. Enjoy the show and the drink specials, or you could participate in the fun yourself. New and seasoned comedians alike are welcome to sign up for sets at 8 p.m.

COURTESY OF THE STATION

COURTESY OF VISIT BATON ROUGE

Monday , March 7, 2022

page 6 FILM

Entertainment staff weighs in on Reeves’ hit ‘The Batman’

BY CONNOR MCLAUGHLIN @connor_mcla

BY DOMENIC PURDY @tigerdom16

Batman and I have a complicated relationship.

Like most kids who grew up since Bill Finger created the Dark Knight with Bob Kane in May 1939, I thought Batman was the coolest hero imaginable. A vigilante who instills fear into the bad guys in a city where everything had a shade of grey over it? What’s not to love?

I read all the classics, from the bombastic mystery that is Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s “Hush” to the legendary origin in “Year One” from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. I obsessed over the Tim Burton films for their absolute insanity and fell in love with the ‘90s animated series.

Still, my love affair with Batman eventually faded.

But alas, Batman has withstood for over 80 years for reasons beyond just his kickass aesthetic—which hasn’t hurt his lasting popularity—namely the exploration of a Bruce Wayne as a man, a detective and the protector of Gotham city.

Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” understands these reasons and embodies them. This movie just feels right. It feels like Batman.

“When that light hits the sky, it’s not just a signal. It’s a warning.”

This line is one of the first spoken by Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, in his journal-like narration. And it instantly lets the audience know what kind of film this is.

From the first moment we see and hear the titular Caped Crusader, the film shows us the psychology of both Wayne and his prey. Pattinson doesn’t blink much in the cowl, focused on his mission to instill fear with a soulful devotion.

And his prey, they turn their heads, slipping up, expecting to see him in the shadows when the BatSignal shines.

More so than any Batman film before, this film is also tactile.

Both hero and villain take a beating in this movie and it is felt with ferocity. The action here is something out of the “Batman: Arkham” video game series, visceral in all the nice ways. But at the same time, it doesn’t forget the two rules of Batman: No guns and no killing.

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It’s been nearly 10 years since a new standalone Batman film has been projected on a silver screen.

The night was still young when I arrived at the theater for the Fan First Event. It was a packed house. I could feel the swell of energy pulsating throughout the crowded IMAX auditorium. Everyone, including myself, was ecstatic. But no one, including myself, was prepared for what ensued in the following three hours.

Perpetually grimy, ferociously angry and soaked in raincoated angst, “The Batman” by Matt Reeves is nothing short of unforgettable. Since the character’s creation in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, audiences worldwide have seen countless cinematic incarnations of the character, ranging from campy fun to brooding moodiness, but this version, starring Robert Pattinson, is more vicious and desolate, delving deep into the true ethos of what it takes to become Batman.

Inspired by gritty works of Alan J. Pakula and David Fincher, this film earns its stripes almost immediately by heralding the long-awaited arrival of “The World’s Greatest Detective” in stunning fashion.

From its chilling Halloween-night opener to its triumphant finale, “The Batman” features a bruised macrocosmic cesspool of crime and head-to-toe corruption in Gotham City which is being plagued by a series of grisly murders committed by The Riddler (arguably the film’s best character). In his second year of crimefighting, Batman, partnered with Lt. Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and Selina Kyle (Zöe Kravitz), must use his wits and unbreakable will to solve the haunting case, but also to fully understand why he puts on the mask.

This superhero noir is thrilling, engaging and entirely worthy of praise.

Smashing all the stout and skeptical expectations, Pattinson is phenomenal as the perfect rendition of an obsessive, emo and vampiric Batman. I never had a doubt in my mind that he could pull it off.

Monday, March 7, 2022

page 7 ART

LAYERS MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Artwork fills the room March 3 as part of the “Layers” Group Exhibition in the LSU Student Union Art Gallery in Baton Rouge, La.

LSU student group showing marks the first exhibition of 2022

BY MATILDA SIPP @SippTilly All students come to this university in search of a higher education, but a select few stumble upon their higher purpose in the form of art. The new “Layers” exhibition in the Student Union has helped those students to express their newfound or existing love for art, regardless of major.

Featuring pieces ranging from a dress made entirely of soda tabs to a more traditional oil painting on wood, the exhibition is an impressive and eclectic display of the talents possessed by LSU artists.

Since the Union Art Gallery has been previously unable to feature new exhibitions due to COVID-19, “Layers” is the very first student exhibition of the year. The exhibition was made possible by the leadership of Exhibition Curator and Juror Cecelia Moseley, president of the LSU Society of Sculptures, who organized an opening reception on Feb. 23.

“This has been a really awesome opportunity to bring commu-

nity and artists together,” Moseley said. “Every student in this exhibition, it’s actually the first exhibition that they’ve been a part of. That’s been really awesome to hear them get super excited.”

The Society of Sculptors, The Painters League and The Printmaking Guild all put together the exhibition in a matter of only 21 days.

Exhibition Jurors Moseley, Amanda Farris and Paul Gomez chose from 68 submissions and narrowed the selection down to an exclusive 32 pieces to be displayed.

For Moseley, it has been extremely rewarding to be able to create a space for young artists who are still looking to prove to themselves and their loved ones how hard they will work to pursue their passions.

“For a lot of these students, it’s hard to become an artist because it’s hard to talk to your families about becoming an artist and changing from a biochem major or an accounting major and really pursuing art,” she said. “So them being proud of what they made and being able to tell their parents is a really

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Chloe Smith’s “Pretty Advice” sits in its frame on March 3 as part of the “Layers” Group Exhibition in the LSU Student Union Art Gallery.

exciting thing.”

Mark Muguga, a sports administration sophomore, has his artwork featured in the exhibition entitled “In Black,” which is a charcoal drawing on paper piece. Muguga worked on his piece for over a semester, completing nearly 14 sketches along the way.

“In darkness, sometimes things seem to be more still,” he said.

“What I wanted to create in this piece was that stillness. That was my aim, just to try and create a balance” Muguga uses his artistic abilities to reflect on his culture and identity. Art grants him the ability to expand his voice and reach other people like him who feel like their identities are being repressed.

“If I’m working on my pieces, I am able to create things that I feel are not being expressed: my moods, my feelings and what I feel society needs to know about,” he said.

For Muguga, art is an extremely powerful form of self-advocacy and empowerment. It can bring representation to individuals and their cultures, bolstering communities with pride and celebration. He said it is essential that someone speak out and advocate for themself, rather than have someone else speak on their behalf. By finding their voice and using it to speak out for their community, a person will be able to grow more as an artist and have a greater impact.

Studio art major Sophia Morstead had her oil-on-canvas piece, entitled “Shadow Self,” on display, to showcase the edgier side of human fragility.

“Your shadow self is someone that has faults, like a darker side,” she said.

For Morstead, art has always been her primary outlet of expression. Like many of the other artists at the exhibit, she turns to it when looking to make sense of her emotions and conflicts.

“I’ve always grown up doing art, it’s just a way for me to escape any struggles. It’s almost like therapy for me,” she said.

Graphic design major Jaden Degeyter created one of the most stand-out pieces in the exhibit. Degeyter’s free-form sculpture is also a wearable dress made with 2,789

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

Cecelia Moseley’s artwork hangs from the ceiling on March 3 as part of the “Layers” Group Exhibition in the LSU Student Union Art Gallery. soda tabs, weighing nearly four pounds.

“The inspiration behind it is kinda just taking trash and elevating it to an artistic standard,” Degeyter said. “I was inspired by pop art with a twist of a 1920s flapper girl dress. I just wanted to elevate the idea of reusing and recycling, so it’s kind of bringing awareness to environmental issues.”

Degeyter worked on the dress over a seven-day period, putting in eight hours of work each day. To help push through the pain she listened to two audiobooks in their entirety.

“I wanted to give up so many times. My fingers would hurt and bleed and I was like, ‘It’s not going to come together,’” she said. “But I knew that in the end, it would be beautiful. It was in my head and I wanted it to be out in public so other people could experience it.”

Although the payoff of creating this dress has been immensely rewarding, Degeyter’s journey on the way to making the piece was no straight shot. Like many of the other students featured in the ex-

hibit, a passion for art is something she didn’t initially lean into.

“I was originally in nursing and I rediscovered my love for art,” she said. “My second year into nursing, I dropped it and went to art school and totally immersed myself in everything art. I took sculpture classes and digital design classes, just to figure out what I wanted to do.”

Once she decided to commit to pursuing art, she was able to fully appreciate it as an extension of herself. While wearing a gorgeous wide-brimmed black hat complemented by a pair of earrings mimicking cigarettes, Degeyter explained that she utilizes art in every aspect of the way she presents herself. With every accessory and every bold eyeliner look, she is artistically expressing herself on an everyday basis.

“I just think that to express yourself is the way to live. You’re not actually living if you’re not expressing yourself,” Degeyter said.

“Layers” will be on display in the Union Art Gallery until Tuesday, March 22.

SPORTS FINISHED THE JOB

LSU caps off season with a momentous overtime win over Alabama

BY HENRY HUBER @HenryHuber_ Though the Tigers had already been a tournament lock before their game against Alabama, they still desperately needed a proveyourself victory before the regular season concluded. They hadn’t defeated the SEC’s elite since a January win against Tennessee, and it was starting to look like this team didn’t have it in them.

They had a great performance in their previous game against Arkansas, but like many times before, they could not finish the job. That loss further validated their reputation of choking at the end of games, as they had won just 37.5% of close games entering their matchup against Alabama.

It also marked their fifth straight loss against the top-five teams in the SEC, and the fact that LSU hadn’t beaten Alabama since January 2020 added to the magnitude of this battle.

Just like their previous matchup, the game came down to the wire. LSU was given one last chance to prove themselves and during crunch time The Tigers weren’t about to let it go to waste.

Then,... they nearly did.

In the final possessions of regulation, Tari Eason missed a layup that would have given The Tigers a four-point lead with 20 seconds to go before fouling Alabama’s Keon Ellis out of frustration. He made both his free throws, and Darius Days couldn’t

DYLAN BOREL / The Reveille

LSU men’s basketball junior forward Shareef O’Neal (24) dunks the ball March 5, during LSU’s 80-77 win against Alabama in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. close out the game with a lastsecond jumper, sending the game to overtime.

“I sold,” Eason said regarding his final plays of regulation. “I knew I didn’t want to have a bitter taste in my mouth, especially with this being our last time in the PMAC.” Overtime was tight from the get-go with each team doing whatever they could to get an edge. Then, with a minute and a half left in the game, Alabama

had that edge.

The Crimson Tide held a threepoint lead and had just scored five straight points on top of playing solid defense. With LSU’s margin for error being nonexistent and time not being on their side, Eason stepped up when it mattered most.

He made two clutch free throws before blocking aforementioned Keon Ellis’ three-point shot, getting the ball back and finishing the play with an em-

phatic dunk to give the Tigers a one-point lead with 38 seconds to go in the game.

That play turned the Tide in LSU’s favor, as the Tigers would finish their top-25 opponent off with a pair of free throws and strong defense.

“I did whatever I could to just get it back,” Eason said about his bounce-back play in overtime.

After losing to Arkansas on Wednesday, the Tigers desperately needed this win if they wanted to remain where they were in tournament seeding. They have currently secured the fifth seed in the SEC tournament.

The win wasn’t perfect, with the team still illustrating its tendency to make mistakes and commit unnecessary fouls late in games. Head Coach Will Wade was quick to point this out, stating that it’s something they still need to work on.

“We still made quite a few mistakes,” Wade mentioned. “We’re an aggressive team so it’s hard to kind of dial it back.”

“We’ll keep working on it.

There are some things we can do to get better, and we’re going to keep plugging away and keep working at it.”

With this victory, the Tigers finish off a shaky latter half of the season on a positive note, obtaining a solid win behind tremendous performances from their leaders on senior day, and entering the postseason having garnered some momentum.

page 8 GYMNASTICS

LSU Gym snubbed by Kentucky

BY MORGAN ROGERS @morgan_rogers Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, 12,838 LSU fans left the arena not only feeling disappointed, but frustrated and cheated as The No. 5 LSU team lost to the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats by a very slim margin (197.500197.450), to make matters worse, several fans thought the night ended unfairly for the Tigers.

The controversy began during the final rotation of the night with the Tigers in the lead. While LSU was on beam, the Wildcats took to the floor. Kentucky’s third gymnast in the lineup, Isabella Magnelli, originally scored a 9.825 for her performance but later had it changed to a 9.875 after Kentucky Head Coach Tim Garrison made a protest about the given start value of her routine.

“I don’t fault Kentucky for fighting for their gymnasts,” LSU gymnastics Head Coach Jay Clark clarified later on. “That’s what they’re supposed to do. Whether the rule is applied correctly is up to the meet referee.”

With the alteration, the Wildcats were only a quarter point ahead going into the last event.

The Tigers put up a 49.250 score on floor with Sarah Edwards anchoring in Kiya Johnson’s spot.

see GYMNASTICS, page 9

ESPORTS

Top ‘Smash Bros.’ player talks experience as a trans player

BY ADAM BURRUSS @AdamNFLDraft As LSU alumna Sasha Sullivan improves at the video game that gave her a career, she is breaking gender barriers within the “Super Smash Bros. Melee” and greater esports community.

Sullivan, who goes by the name “Magi” within “Smash Bros. Melee,” placed seventh overall at the Summit Tournament in December. Additionally, she ranked as a B-tier player in Panda Global’s Melee Contenders Tier List, which effectively ranks her as a top-20 player in the world.

However, Sullivan stands out due to her unique position within “Super Smash Bros. Melee” and esports as a transgender woman from Louisiana. She explained how she had a lot of pride for the Louisiana “Melee” community, especially since the people who taught her the game

came from the community. “‘Melee’ is a very regionbased game, so I try to make the people in our scene proud,” Sullivan said. “I strive to represent them in the best way I can.”

When it comes to her standing out as a transgender female in a male-dominated space, Sullivan expressed appreciation that her local scene accepted her as it helped her focus on the game.

“As a newer player, I did struggle with the idea that maybe I wouldn’t be able to be successful in the community due to the lack of other trans players in the scene at the time,” Sullivan said. “I thought it was maybe an indication that you can’t find success in the scene as a trans player.”

Sullivan said watching other transgender players within the esports community such as “Street Fighter” player Ricki Ortiz and “StarCraft II” player Sa-

sha Hostyn, known as Scarlett helped change her perspective.

Sullivan also considers herself lucky, as she said many women dealt with less safe conditions than what is around today. She also said she felt glad that communities are becoming more aware of the steps necessary to become safer and more accessible.

Sullivan discussed what tournaments have taught her, as she keyed in on her preparation habits. Sullivan ran a 10-day streaming marathon to raise money so she could attend The Summit Tournament, but the marathon led to sleep deprivation. Sullivan said she felt prepared to compete regardless, but the experience reinforced her need for good sleep habits.

“Tournaments are always difficult because you will be playing under conditions where you

see ESPORTS, page 9

COURTESY OF SASHA SULLIVAN

page 9

Monday, March 7, 2022 GYMNASTICS, from page 8 The junior was originally slated for the floor, but her achilles tendon injury took yet another opportunity away from her. Edwards dominated the floor, matching her career high of 9.925 and registering the highest floor score of the night.

“I was glad I was able to help my team,” Edwards said. “It was my goal to anchor something. I’d never done that. It was a senior moment. I started crying.”

However, the Purple and Gold’s success was still trumped by a rarely-seen technicality.

A frenzy of anger erupted amidst the crowd after the judges announced that they would give Kentucky’s Josie Angeny another attempt on her beam routine. The senior’s original performance was thwarted by an equipment malfunction.

ESPORTS, from page 8 may be uncomfortable, but it’s still your responsibility as a competitor to try and set yourself up to be the most comfortable you can be,” Sullivan said.

However, one consequence of Sullivan’s competitive success comes from the community she built. Her Twitter, @SSBMagi, accrued about 23,000 followers.

She also regularly streams on

The night wasn’t all so bad though, especially for star gymnast Haleigh Bryant. The sophomore topped every event except for floor, where she was only a quarter point away from the highest score. She scored a 39.750 in the all-around, breaking her career high in only a few weeks.

She won the all-around title while competing against Kentucky’s Raena Worley, who began the season with the highest all-around average in the nation.

On the night LSU won the vault and all-around events while sharing the title in bars, floor and beam. Bryant scored a 9.95 on vault while she and Sami Durante matched that score in the next rotation on bars. Bryant also scored a 9.95 on beam with Christina Desiderio and freshman Aleah Finnegan following with a 9.90 each.

With one meet left in the season, the Tigers’ record stands 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. As far as rankings go, the Purple and Gold will still improve because Friday night’s score will cancel out a lower score from earlier this season.

LSU’s worries lie elsewhere for now though. Johnson is once

again battling a chronic injury she’s endured since her freshman year. Compensating for the pain in her Achilles tendon, she has now strained the calf muscle on her opposite leg. The 2021 SEC floor champion decided to step out of the final two events after scoring uncharacteristic 9.825s on vault and bars.

“We were in the locker room after warmups when our trainer said, ‘I don’t think she can go.’

[Johnson] came out and said she thought she could go.” Clark spoke in the post-meet interview.

“But I could see it in her eyes. I said, ‘Do not feel like you have to do this. I need you to be honest about where you are.’ ” The purple and gold will close out the season at home next Friday against Utah at 7:30 p.m. The team will then prepare in the following weeks for the SEC Championship and NCAA Regionals.

grow on social media. Despite the growth, she said the number does not feel bigger.

“I have tried my best not to reinforce the ‘bigger number does not mean better person’ idea, which has made it a lot easier to see the bigger social media presence as an objective thing I’m just trying to work on for my job,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan talked about the balance between content creation

and competing. Though she said she feels she mainly focuses on competing, she also explained that competing felt far too frugal to actually make a career out of it.

“At the end of the day, content creation is my job and “Melee” is supplementary to that,” Sullivan said. “The teams that sign you as a player are usually looking for you to produce content more than get results.”

Despite Sullivan’s success, she never felt like a role model.

She said people told her previously that she acts as a role model for them but she finds the idea hard to process. Despite these feelings though, she’s still happy to take on that role for others.

“I do strive to inspire hope in others, so I think I try my best to act as a good role model to the people who see me as one.”

While landing her dismount, the gymnast fell to her knees after supposedly pushing off the rubber stopper at the end of the beam.

When the stopper came loose, the Kentucky coach once again made an objection.

Do-overs are rarely seen in collegiate competitions, and the fact that she fell before the malfunction created more controversy from Tiger fans. When gymnasts fall during a beam routine their scores usually only reach a maximum of 9.0. Without her second attempt, which she scored a 9.825 on, the Tigers would have garnered the win instead.

Of course, Clark disagreed with both rulings that were made in the Wildcats’ favor.

“That’s not a functional part of the beam,” a frustrated Clark said after the meet. “It’s cosmetic.

It’s not something you dismount off of. She either hit it or it just

popped out. I didn’t see it.”

The LSU gymnastics team and staff did not appear too disheartened after the meet though. Clark said he believed the technicality wouldn’t have mattered if they performed like they were supposed to.

“For me, that (ruling) is not the story,” he said. “The story is even with that, if we’d done what we were supposed to do, we wouldn’t be talking about that. We’d be talking about a win. I’m not mad at Kentucky and I’m not mad at the officials. They caught a break.”

her Twitch, SSBMagi, which has around 19,500 followers. Her social media presence allows her to make a living off of her content.

“Once you establish an audience, it’s pretty easy to snowball it with small stuff like jokes and short form video pieces,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also described keeping her ego in check when it comes to watching her followers

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THE Daily Commuter Puzzle ACROSS 1 Gigantic 4 Sugar __; Vermont’s state tree 9 Sheet music symbol 13 Long bone 14 As crazy as __ 15 Make well 16 Swedish auto 17 Loathing; disgust 19 Top file drawer 20 Fatigued 21 __ go; very active 22 Be “it” in hideand-seek 24 Journal 25 Head topper 27 Tough fibrous tissues 30 Goods for sale 31 Sits down ungracefully 33 Flock member 35 As strong __ ox 36 Shines 37 __ bargain; defendant’s deal 38 Take a load off 39 Twelve dozen 40 “Dead men tell no __” 41 Deodorant brand 43 Powerful 44 Unrefined 45 Traditional Sioux home 46 Strip of leather 49 Lugs 51 Watch 54 Like a better choice 56 Boston __ chowder 57 Polly, to Tom Sawyer 58 Jane Curtin’s sitcom role 59 Business review website 60 NBA team 61 Marshmallow Easter chicks 62 JFK’s predecessor DOWN 1 Tell another’s secret 2 Wrong 3 Chatter

by Jacqueline E. Mathews

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

4 Armed forces member 5 Open-eyed 6 Leo XIII or Pius X 7 Deafening 8 Jamaica’s official lang.

9 Coins in your pocket 10 Current church season 11 Every 12 Get away 13 Neighbor of Mex. 18 Midday mealtimes 20 Part of every wk.

23 Many a golf tournament 24 Hot __; role on “M*A*S*H” 25 Poet’s contraction 26 Fertile desert spot 27 Plants 28 Rich 29 Word with pickle or potato 31 Make secret plans 32 __ Angeles 34 Effortless 36 Expanded

3/7/22

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

37 Book leaf 39 Small fruit 40 Parts of icebergs?

42 Summer camp activities 43 Free-for-alls 45 Bulb flower 46 Extend across 47 Word of agreement

3/7/22

48 Monthly expense 49 Healthy 50 Suffix for consider or honor 52 Ivy League school 53 Napoleon’s title: abbr.

55 Jay-Z’s music 56 Actress Charisse

OPINION

page 11

Legislator blasts Louisiana’s tradition of corruption DRAKE’S TAKES DRAKE BRIGNAC @drakebrignac Rep. Barry Ivey, a Republican from Central, lambasted the state legislature for its endemic defects in a Feb. 16 speech. Ivey’s frank assessment of state politics was a rare moment of reflection in the Louisiana Capitol and a long-overdue expression of how everyday Louisianians feel about our government.

The speech came after the state house cowardly tabled—rather than voted on—Ivey’s Supreme Court redistricting bill. After 25 years with unchanged maps, the bill proposed creating a second majority-minority district that followed the state’s northern border, stretching from East Baton Rouge to Caddo.

Instead of conforming to conventionality or minimizing Louisiana’s plight, Ivey’s eight-minute moment acknowledged reality, emphasized risks and laid blame where it was due.

“We’re playing the politics, we’re too busy focusing on the things that don’t matter,” Ivey said.

“It’s about keeping the status quo that’s the most failed status quo in the nation because we don’t want

to upset the apple cart.”

Playing politics is as Louisiana as Mardi Gras and Tony Chachere’s.

Corruption, questionable ethics and underhanded pursuits are the trinity that flavors our state’s government gumbo.

Former Gov. Edwin Edwards faced federal charges twice and served eight years in prison tied to the legalization of gambling. The FBI found thousands of dollars hidden in pie boxes in former Congressman William “Bill” Jefferson’s freezer before he was convicted on bribery charges.

A century ago, Huey Long and the Old Regulars before him enriched themselves and their allies through government. Politicians and industrial interests vied for control over state power. The list goes on, and it’s never stopped growing.

Although, today, Louisiana is less flagrant as it continues its most favored—or hated, depending on whether it hurts you—tradition.

There is a fully-stocked arsenal of tools to wield.

“We don’t debate issues—we have everything pre-planned, organized,” as Ivey put it. “We’ve got the political machines operating full throttle all the time.”

Just as they influenced the redistricting session, these political

machines will wield their power in much the same way, except across an even wider variety of bills. With the regular session fast approaching, the political machines are already in overdrive. But there is also another powerful structure at work—one that Ivey also denounced directly.

“Look at every bill that’s passed in this last year,” Ivey said. “What you’ll find is if it isn’t backed by deep-pocket, corporate special interests, it didn’t have much of a shot, but that’s okay—we’re Louisiana, we’re going to keep on keeping on.”

It’s not unreasonable to think that the story of special interests this year will be the same. In fact, it will only be magnified. The redistricting session offered the Legislature a loophole to work with monied interests—and what legislator doesn’t enjoy a loophole?

In regular sessions, legislators cannot fundraise. Except, the redistricting occurred in special session—a distinction lawmakers willingly exploited. In total, 57 legislators held events sponsored by at least nine special interest groups, though there may be more because eight fundraisers did not have a listed sponsor.

Even still, when there is no loophole, the Legislature makes one—

or eliminates the rule it seeks to circumvent altogether. This willingness exemplifies yet another woe of the status quo. Ivey described the broader issue as legislators’ interest “in making this state better for the people who have been here and it’s been going great for.”

Last year, as a permitless concealed carry bill and a transgender athlete ban dominated the veto conversation, Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a lesser-known bill that acted as a near-literal “get out of jail free” card for a select group of political officials.

Senate Bill 203 would’ve amended state ethics rules to allow groundwater commissioners to collect salaries from the industries they regulate. Current rules prohibit this activity, and, in 2020, the Ethics Administration charged five commissioners in Baton Rouge for violating the rule. The bill not only would’ve made any future actions permissible, but also absolved them retroactively.

Despite the obvious fact that the bill would permit conflicts of interest, legislators—particularly state senators—found this insufficient to reject the bill. It passed the senate on a vote of 34-1. Interestingly, during the veto override session, 11 senators seemingly changed their position.

There are only two reasonable possibilities as to why this occurred. Either the legislators were lazy and inattentive—another issue Ivey called out—or, upon seeing negative press about the bill, they changed their position to save face or provide a cover.

Regardless, both outcomes show—in recent terms—that Ivey’s ire was not just limited to an issue as consequential and widelyknown as redistricting.

Ivey’s speech was necessary, well-placed and noteworthy, especially as a member of the state’s majority party. Some say Ivey’s speech lacked self-reflection, and, while his vote on the state’s Congressional maps shows he’s not a flawless messenger, the heart of his message holds true.

With a surplus of funds and opportunities for change at the regular session, his colleagues will hopefully take his evaluation in stride.

If they don’t, at least the citizens of Louisiana know that, come election season, there’s room in the Legislature for voices that confront the status quo instead of falling in line with it.

Drake Brignac is a 21-year-old political communication and political science senior from Baton Rouge.

LSU investment gift more business than philanthropy CHARLIE’S ANGLES CHARLIE STEPHENS @charliestephns The university announced recently that it had received a $245 million gift from two Louisianabased hospital systems, LCMC Health and Our Lady of the Lake.

This donation was billed by the university as the largest gift in its history.

Philanthropy plays an ever-increasing role in the funding of public institutions of higher education, especially in Louisiana. An article from the Reveille in 2021 noted that “Louisiana’s state-spending per student dropped 37.7%, the second largest decrease of any state” in the years following the Great Recession.

Philanthropic donations help fund everything from scholarships to campus infrastructure, and there

SAVANNA ORGERON / The Reveille

LSU president William F. Tate IV speaks at the Our Lady of the Lake and LCMC Health investment press conference Feb. 11 at the LSU Foundation Center for Philanthropy in Baton Rouge, La. is never enough to go around. But certainly the largest donation in the university’s history would have a real, tangible impact on the student experience, right?

Well, it seems to be a mixed bag.

In the university’s breakdown of the donation, they lay out a

highly restricted, structured gift spread over 10 years, which breaks from usual pledge terms traditionally ranging anywhere from one to five years.

The gift provides private matching funds for the university to make a strong case for the new interdisciplinary science building to be in-

cluded in the Legislature’s annual capital outlay plan. Construction is expected to begin on the building later this year and conclude by the fall 2024 semester.

It also provides $40 million to “develop an end-to-end healthcare experience within the LSU Student Health Center and provide in-kind care to uninsured and underinsured LSU students”—something that is desperately needed, as emphasized in a Reveille column earlier this semester. This portion of the gift is being distributed to the university in yearly $3 million portions over the next decade.

However, philanthropy is often self-serving, and this gift is no different considering that a vast majority of the donation from these two health systems will eventually flow straight back to their coffers.

LCMC Health and OLOL are both structured as non-profits, but that distinction is minimal at best in the realm of healthcare.

The return on investment for these healthcare systems will come

Editorial Policies and Procedures EDITORIAL BOARD Lara Nicholson

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Claire Sullivan

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 editor@lsu.edu 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.

in a multitude of different ways: Referrals from the SHC, grants from the National Cancer Institute designation the university is pursuing and investment in training the next generation of medical professionals are just a few examples.

This is not to say that the gift is a loss for the university, but the messaging behind the donation has been misleading. Though this is categorized as a philanthropic donation, it is, in reality, a down payment from LCMC Health and OLOL to increase their bottom lines, not university outcomes.

If the funds from this gift are used correctly, students will benefit from this investment. But, despite the university’s messaging of a transformational gift, that is not guaranteed. This was not structured as a philanthropic donation, but merely a business proposition with the flagship as a partner.

Charlie Stephens is a 21-year-old political communication junior from Baton Rouge.

Quote of the Week “Gray skies are just clouds passing over.

Duke Ellington American composer 1899 — 1974

Monday, March 7, 2022

page 12

Men should learn about the struggles of birth control THE STABILER SCOOP LURA STABILER @lstabiler3 It takes two to make a baby, yet the pressure of birth control and preventing pregnancy fall mostly on women.

For women, options range from IUDs, birth control pills, skin patches, injections, creams and even a rod you can get inserted in your arm. For men, there is currently only one main option: condoms.

Condoms are the simplest and most widely available birth control method and the most effective option in preventing sexually transmitted infections. However, some view condoms as unnecessary, with one in five men assuming that all sexually active women are on some form of birth control, according to a survey from the Pill Club.

“While not necessarily fair or equitable, I think the responsibility often falls on women because they are the ones who can get pregnant and will be the ones who have to navigate a pregnancy,” Summer Steib, director of the LSU Women’s Center, said.

I was in class last week when the topic of abortion came up, which could be another column in itself. The conversation led to almost everyone in the class brain-

cartoon by EMILY TRAN / The Reveille

storming ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

One man raised his hand and suggested that someone should invent a device similar to an on-off switch that could be inserted into the human body. He did not elaborate on which gender the device was intended for, but what he suggested pretty much already exists.

His suggestions were met with groans from all the women in the room.

“Yeah, it’s called birth control,” they shouted.

One woman raised her hand and said that his comment just shows the lack of education and awareness around birth control. She was right.

In a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, one in five men said they know little to nothing about birth control options or the side effects that come with them.

Birth control pills require a prescription, and it can be difficult to

find the right hormonal match for your body. Another survey from the Pill Club found that 52% of men did not even know that a prescription is required for birth control. On top of this already difficult process, even if you find your perfect birth control match, your insurance could refuse to pay for it.

Common side effects of birth control pills are weight gain, depression, nausea and headaches.

And let’s not forget the extreme

potential side effects such as blood clots.

Even with other forms of birth control like IUDs and the rod, you’re not escaping pain and agony.

A lot of women experience extreme pain while having an IUD inserted. A friend of mine was in so much pain she passed out during the procedure. Another friend was in bed for days struggling with cramps after the procedure. Even the rod a doctor can insert into your arm can lead to skin infections.

I decided to ask a male friend to name as many birth control forms as he could. After minutes of thinking, all he could come up with were birth control pills and condoms.

“Men should also be able to have conversations with partners about birth control and what shared responsibility looks like for pregnancy prevention,” Steib said.

If more men were educated on the topic, this could be a huge step in preventing unwanted pregnancies. School sex education programs, parents and even romantic partners should take steps to inform men.

But more importantly, men, especially sexually-active college men, need to make more of an effort to educate themselves about birth control.

Lura Stabiler is a 21-year-old journalism senior from Baton Rouge.

University must take drink-spiking more seriously MISSING IN ACTION MIA COCO @MiaMarieCoco1 Your head is pounding, and you still can’t remember how you got home last night. Your last memory is of some guy you don’t know tapping you on the shoulder, trying to get your attention.

You’ve blacked out from drinking before, but you barely drank last night. You don’t understand why you have no recollection of your night out. As you sluggishly try to piece your memories together, the uneasy realization that you may have been slipped a date rape drug churns in your mind.

Date rape drugs like rohypnol (roofies), GHB (liquid ecstasy) and ketamine are sometimes called “club drugs” because they are typically slipped into alcoholic drinks at clubs and bars.

On college campuses, these drugs are used more frequently than most realize. Eight percent of American college students surveyed by University of South Carolina researchers thought they had been given a spiked drink at some point in time. The exact frequency of these druggings can be difficult to determine, as many victims are unaware that date rape drugs can be detected by a urine or hair test, and people often do not report or remember the attack.

However, confusion and amnesia are not the most dangerous ef-

cartoon by EMILY TRAN / The Reveille

fects of a spiked drink. Rohypnol slows down the central nervous system, leading to slowed reaction time and feelings of drowsiness. It takes effect within 15-20 minutes of use, and the effects can last up to six hours. The state of confusion and impaired judgement of the victim make them more susceptible to sexual assault and rape. Victims’ amnesia might prevent them from remembering the assault, potentially protecting the attacker from punishment. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report that less than a third of of sexual assault victims report their attack-

ers to the police, and this number gets even smaller when victims have been unknowingly drugged.

Coming into college at LSU, I knew the basics of protecting yourself from getting “roofied:” Watch your drinks, stay away from strangers and be aware of your surroundings.

But these simple precautions did not prepare me for the reality of this danger.

No matter how closely you watch your drink, no matter how careful you are, you can still be a target for attackers. I had no idea how often college students expe-

rienced drink spiking, and now it has happened to some of my closest friends. The morning after being drugged, they all asked the same question: “How did we not notice anything was wrong?”

Tigerland in Baton Rouge is a prominent target for drink spiking, due to the high concentration of unsuspecting college students, which gives students even more reason to be more careful on nights out. Raising awareness is the first step to protect potential victims. Making sure people know how to report attacks, where to go to get tested and how to take care of themselves after being drugged can change the way students protect themselves from attackers.

There are small things you can do that make a big difference: Stay together.

Attackers are looking for easy targets. If you are surrounded by a group of people, they are less likely to slip something in your cup.

Have a designated sober friend.

Not only should your friend be sober, but they need to be aware of how you act when you have been drinking, so that they can recognize when you are displaying symptoms of a date rape drug rather than just drunkenness.

Listen to your friends if you are drinking and they are not.

If your friends are telling you it is time to leave, do not argue.

They may have noticed something you have not.

Pay attention to your body.

Know your limits and pay attention to how your body reacts after each drink. If you know it usually takes you a few drinks to feel a buzz, but you are stumbling after the first, it is most likely time to leave.

Cover your drinks and do not let them leave your sight.

Known as “the claw” by some, holding your hand over the lid of your drink may seem silly, but uncovering it or looking away for even a second can give an attacker the opportunity to spike it.

Get tested.

If you think you may have been drugged, go to the Student Health Center to get tested as soon as you can.

Report it.

If you can establish the fact that someone slipped something in your drink, report it to LSUPD and provide as many details as possible.

The university should do a better job providing information about drink spiking precautions to students. Not many students know you can get tested on campus, and some aren’t aware of symptoms or effects of being drugged. Because this is a such a prominent issue on campus, the university should recognize the importance of teaching preventative measures, as well as retrospective care for victims.

Mia Coco is a 19-year-old political communication student from Alexandria.