Eggs said to be safe after recall, p. 3
Reveille Former Tigers play for Dallas Cowboys, p. 7
The Daily
Volume 115, Issue 4
www.lsureveille.com
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Students participate in open mic nights, p. 11 Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010
University to increase energy efficiency Rachel Warren Contributing Writer
SHAINA HUNTSBERRY / The Daily Reveille
Construction workers repair a damaged water pipe Wednesday on Nicholson Drive.
lanes to make the repairs while work is being done. Even when the lanes are open, commuters are encountering problems making it through. Workers are milling and overlaying the road, meaning they are stripping and replacing the asphalt. The road is still unfinished, causing traffic delays as
The state of Louisiana has received about $75 million in the form of an Energy Reduction Grant, with $25 million being set aside for higher education. Executive Director of the Office of Facility and Utility Operations Bobby Pitre said he worked with the University to initiate the process and gave the state a list of projects they thought the money could be used for. Pitre said the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources applied for the grant in March 2009, and the state has secured the money. The University will soon be awarded the money from the state. Pitre said Facility Services is planning to complete eight projects around campus that will improve the University’s energy efficiency and save money. The most expensive project — which costs about $1 million — will have to do with insulation on pipes that have failed or fallen apart in the utility tunnels that run underground across campus, Pitre said.
NICHOLSON, see page 6
ENERGY, see page 6
ADAM VACCARELLA / The Daily Reveille
Traffic congests Nicholson Drive on Wednesday as construction projects continue.
Nicholson Drive construction projects hindering student commuters, causing headaches Matthew Albright Staff Writer
Cars bounced roughly Wednesday as students drove to and from campus on a grainy, unlevel Nicholson Drive. Student commuters may face construction delays for the next few weeks while workers with the state Department of Transportation and Development make repairs to
Nicholson Drive. The repairs stretch from downtown to the west stadium parking lot next to Tiger Stadium, into one of the main entrances to campus. DOTD spokeswoman Lauren Lee said the road was supposed to be finished before school started, but “weather and other unforeseen circumstances” delayed the work. Lee said the work should be
completed Sept. 15 before the first LSU home football game against Mississippi State. “That’s a pretty hard date,” Lee said, indicating the construction will be finished on time. Work is being done outside peak traffic periods — weekdays from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. and on weekends from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. Workers will close off
LITERATURE
Author Dave Eggers speaks at Honors Convocation ‘Zeitoun’ chosen as shared read Parker Cramer Contributing Writer
Within days of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, author Dave Eggers came to the University to discuss his book “Zeitoun,” based on the storm. Eggers talked about “Zeitoun,” a story of heroism and injustice, at the Honors College Convocation on Wednesday night. Eggers co-wrote the screenplay for the 2009 movie “Where the Wild Things Are” along with
the director of the film, Spike Jonze. His first book, Pulitzer Prize finalist “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” is based on his real-life experience of losing both his parents to cancer in his early 20s and then inheriting the duty of raising his young brother. “Zeitoun” was chosen as the Honors College’s shared read. “Zeitoun” is the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian immigrant and father of four who chose to wait out the storm to protect his home and contracting business. After the storm passed, he roamed the flooded streets in a canoe handing out supplies to help those he could.
Six days after the hurricane, Zeitoun was arrested by a group of six police officers and national guardsmen while on his own property, according to British newspaper The Guardian. He was held for almost a month before being released. As Dave Eggers rose to begin his speech, he was greeted with heavy applause. “The main thing [the book] is about is personal responsibility, personal courage, personal heroism,” he said. Eggers told how Zeitoun rescued a woman from her home after the storm. EGGERS, see page 6
DAVID LYLE / The Daily Reveille
Former Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers spoke at the Honors Convocation on Wednesday night in the Student Union about his book “Zeitoun.”