Administrators told to brace for mid-year budget cuts, p. 3
Reveille Close-knit recruits committed to LSU call themselves ‘The Fam,’ p.5
The Daily
Volume 115, Issue 33
www.lsureveille.com
Solidarity
UNO students take action against budget cuts, call for LSU to get involved in protests, demonstrations
Mobile restaurants gather for BR Food Truck Showcase, p. 9 Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010
‘Funeral’ for higher ed. starts at noon
Catherine Threlkeld Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This story contains language some may consider offensive. Matthew Albright Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — At the hillside amphitheater at the University of New Orleans on Wednesday, hundreds of students took action against budget cuts. On stage at UNO, local hip-hop artist Truth Universal performed in front of a backdrop of banners
reading “Jindal’s Helicopter Rides Cost More than My Education,” “Stop Cutting, Start Investing” and “Who Dat Fighting Against Budget Cuts? WE DAT!” Students flocked to the field Wednesday as part of the Block Party for Higher Education, an event hosted by the Save UNO Coalition and UNO’s Student Government. The event, publicized via Facebook, on-campus fliers and posters and professor encouragement, was PROTEST, see page 15
photos by BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille
[Left] UNO interdisciplinary studies student Helen Larry, right, copies down phone numbers of legislators supplied at the booth manned by UNO urban studies graduate student Lauren Lastrapes, left, Wednesday at the Save UNO Block Party for Higher Education. [Right] Rapper Truth Universal performs at the protest.
Faculty Senate is holding a jazz funeral procession today at noon on the Parade Ground to raise awareness of proposed budget cuts. A news release from geography graduate student Ryan Orgera encourages attendants to wear funeral attire. “The jazz funeral procession draws on a sacred Louisiana tradition to celebrate the resilience and solidarity of the LSU community and commemorate what will be lost and its impact on students and on the future of Louisiana’s economy,” the release says. Proud Students, the LSU Graduate Student Association and LSUnited are co-sponsoring the event. A news release from Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope says the jazz funeral is meant to make sure the governor and legislators know the University is paying attention. “Our state has turned its back on publicly-funded higher education,” Cope said in the release. “If having educational opportunities for you or your children cut by 35 percent concerns you, if you think this is bad for the state’s economic development, if this affects you in any way directly or indirectly, you have only one option — make noise.” Contact Catherine Threlkeld at cthrelkeld@lsureveille.com
PHILANTHROPY
Alumnus teaches in Pakistani school Romero calls for LSU contribution Julian Tate Contributing Writer
Despite the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education in Pakistan, a school tucked away in the hills flanking the northern Pakistani village of Aliabad has pledged to provide young women with a safe environment to learn. University alumnus Christen
Romero discovered the academy while studying abroad and hopes to start a student initiative to help the remote institution. Shadow Girls Academy is a small school that consists of a guardhouse, a small library, two classrooms, a dining area, an administrative office and four 12-person dorm rooms in the distant hills of northern Pakistan. “I want LSU to play a bigger role there,” Romero said. “We’re 30,000 people strong.” Romero would like University students to set up an organization to
fundraise and gather books to send to the academy, as he will not be able to return there once he begins graduate school. “Female education in Pakistan is under constant scrutiny from various conservative sectors of the population. Moreover, fathers are often afraid, unwilling or too poor to send their daughters to the centers of education in the larger, more dangerous cities,” the academy website reads. The Taliban took control of the area in early 2009 and issued an orPAKISTAN, see page 15
photo courtesy of CHRISTEN ROMERO
LSU alumnus Christen Romero, left, teaches a class of girls at Shadow Girls Academy in Aliabad, Pakistan. Romero hopes LSU students will start a group to help the school.