Men’s Basketball: Harris reunites with John Brady at Arkansas State, p. 7
Football: LSU, Miles part of volatile offseason coaching carousel, p. 7
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Food: Frankie’s Dawg House offers unique eats, p. 11 Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 • Volume 115, Issue 72
It’s not easy being Campus community efforts help improve LSU’s recycling in 2010 Logan Leger Contributing Writer
Thanks to community-wide efforts, the University got much greener in 2010. The University averaged 122 tons of recycled material per month in 2010, a nearly 400-percent increase from 2005’s monthly average of 26 tons. Recycled material doesn’t just include paper, aluminum cans and plastics placed in one of almost 4,000 recycling bins around campus. Composted organics, cooking oil and construction waste are among newer recycling programs the Office of Sustainability has started, said Denise Scribner, campus sustainability manager. “We have a lot of different programs going on all over campus,” Scribner said. One of the newest initiatives requires all contractors to recycle construction material, Scribner said. Concrete is recycled at an offcampus facility and is used as base material in new projects like road construction, said Andres Harris, recycling and solid waste manager in the Office of Facility Services. In 2010, 367.78 tons of concrete were recycled, according to University statistics. In 2010, 177.54 tons of scrap metal were recycled, an increase of more than 570 percent from 2009. The University gets paid for all recycled concrete and metal, Harris said. Contractors also donate other materials back to the University. Trimmings, which are
GREEN
used as mulch in landscaping across campus, are given to the University after contractors clear-cut for construction, Harris said. Another major part of recycling on campus is providing appropriate receptacles. The program is funded partly from proceeds of selling scrap metal and concrete, Student Government appropriations and other grants, Harris said. The University placed an additional 899 bins across campus in 2010, according to the Office of Sustainability. The goal is to put one in every office and classroom across campus, Scribner said.
“It’s important that recyclables are put into the recycling bins since trash isn’t sorted, so we’re always open to suggestions for bin placement,” Harris said. Harris encouraged students to write on the LSU Recycles Facebook page to suggest new locations for bins. In addition to recycling bins, 99 green recycling dumpsters are available across campus for University and personal use, Harris said. The University encourages members of the
graphic by CAITLYN CONDON / The Daily Reveille
Jindal proposes bill to protect TOPS Staff Writer
Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday his plans to preserve the future of the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, scholarship program despite state budget reductions. “We are proposing a constitutional amendment in the upcoming session that proposes to protect more TOPS dollars by capping the Millennium Trust Fund at $1.38 billion and dedicating funds in the excess of that amount toward TOPS,” Jindal said. “What that means is that will increase the amount of protected dollars going into TOPS by $43 million per year for the TOPS program.”
Staring extension to finish March 1 Sydni Dunn Staff Writer
The long-winded construction to extend Staring Lane to meet Burbank Drive has been delayed until March 1, nearly five months after its original projected completion time. The $15.9 million extension, a project of the Green Light Plan, originally aimed to finish construction in late November but encountered issues with the installation of sanitary sewer systems. The failed installation near Highland Road created a type of domino effect on the remaining steps of the process, pushing the deadline back, according to Brad Ponder, GLP program manager. “The contractor chose to change installation methods, order new pipe material, change installation crews and equipment and coordinate with other utilities in order to complete the sewer line installation,” Ponder said. “This
Read a blog about the congestion at lsureveille.com.
TUITION
Sydni Dunn
RECYCLING, see page 6
CONSTRUCTION
Jindal said the state currently receives $58 million each year from the Tobacco Settlement, with 25 percent going to the Louisiana Fund for health care expenses and 75 percent going to the Millennium Trust Fund. He also said these TOPS dollars will increase between the years of 2018 and 2030 as the state pays off the current tobacco bonds. “Once those [bonds] are paid off, there will be another increase, in terms of protected TOPS funding, in an excess of $70 million,” Jindal said. Jindal expressed the importance of the amendment to the future of the program, education and the students. “TOPS has provided nearly 500,000 students the opportunity to
STARING, see page 6
CONSTRUCTION DOWN UNDER
get a college education,” he said. “That’s why we must protect this viable program.” Phyllis Taylor, widow of TOPS founder Patrick F. Taylor, said it remains her mission to fulfill their promise to young people in Louisiana. “As time goes on and I get older, it is delightful to see that a concept is evolving, as you have been hearing today, that would ensure this program would go on and continue,” Taylor said. SHAINA HUNTSBERRY / The Daily Reveille
Contact Sydni Dunn at sdunn@lsureveille.com
Construction workers have been waterproofing the Middleton Library basement. Karen LeBlanc, Middleton Library administrative services coordinator, said the library has had leaks for many years into the basement, where some materials are kept. LeBlanc said the first phase of the project will be finished in April.