Today in Print - October 25, 2010

College student body presidents unite, plan march on Capitol, p. 4

Reveille Student Health Center offers free flu shots starting today, p. 5

The Daily

Volume 115, Issue 43

Auburn QB Cam Newton destroys LSU defense, p. 7

www.lsureveille.com

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

BUDGET CUTS

University prepares to absorb $5.1M cut Matthew Albright Staff Writer

Associated Press Poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Poll heading into its bye week.

The Tigers’ next opponent, No. 6 Alabama, jumped two spots after drubbing Tennessee, 41-10.

Auburn, meanwhile, claimed the No. 3 spot, its highest position since climbing to No. 2 after a 7-3 home victory against LSU in 2006. It’s No. 1 in the BCS standings.

LSU’s two quarterback system of junior quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett

University administrators announced Wednesday as students left for fall break how the University will absorb a $5.1 million midyear cut.

The cut is LSU’s share of reductions the Jindal administration has mandated to fill a $108 million state budget deficit.

The School of Veterinary Medicine will lose money, the source of funds for graduate assistant tuition exemptions will be changed, and the Academic Center for Student Athletes will be moved from the University to the Athletic Department, administrators said.

The remaining deficit will be met using tuition money from an increased freshman class.

“It is clear that we’re going to have to expedite some serious cuts that will impact students and programs to address this budget crisis,” said Chancellor Michael Martin in a news release.

Instead of distributing the cuts evenly throughout the LSU System, University administrators say

AUBURN, see page 15

CUTS, see page 15

ZACH BREAUX / The Daily Reveille

Plain Ugly

LSU junior running back Stevan Ridley (34) rushes the ball against the Auburn defense Saturday during LSU’s 24-17 loss against the Auburn Tigers in Auburn, Ala.

LSU suffers 24-17 first loss at hands of Auburn’s grueling ground attack, drops to No. 12 Michael Lambert Sports Contributor

AUBURN, Ala. — LSU’s stagnant offense continued to put up underwhelming numbers Saturday night on the Plains.

This time the end result reflected the sputtering offensive output as No. 3 Auburn drew first blood on LSU’s perfect season, taking a 24-17 victory in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The loss drops LSU to No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series, No. 12 in the

CONSTRUCTION

Staring Lane road work creates issues for Highland Creek

Residents suffer traffic, new crime Sydni Dunn Staff Writer

A sea of orange cones, lines of traffic and sporadic detours are just some of the things that can be found at the intersection of Highland Road and Staring Lane as construction continues to extend Staring to Burbank Drive.

The $15.9 million extension, a project of the Green Light Plan, began road work in February 2009, and according to nearby residents, the construction has since stirred up

more than just dirt.

Rachael Barnes, Highland Creek resident and biological sciences senior, said she has to drive through the tiresome construction every day to get to class.

“Getting to my house and leaving has been very difficult,” Barnes said. “And I’m already late for school every morning.”

Barnes said her street has been narrowed to a gravel, one-lane path and has a very low speed limit.

And Kimberlie Wessman, Green Light Plan spokeswoman, said this is just one of many complaints.

“There have been several complaints filed regarding curbing along Highland Road, inquiries regarding

buffer walls and fencing, installation of sidewalks and effects of the new roadway on crime in the surrounding neighborhoods,” Wessman said.

Barnes said a flier circulated through the neighborhood earlier this semester warning residents to be “on guard at all times.”

The notice read: “Attention Highland Creek neighborhood! We have had seven break-ins and burglaries in seven days!”

Barnes said she believes the recent crime is linked to the chaos of the construction. She said before the construction, the path to Burbank was overgrown and unnoticeable.

“The neighborhood was more CONSTRUCTION, see page 15

ADAM VACCARELLA / The Daily Reveille

Construction continues Tuesday on Staring Lane as part of a project to extend the street from Highland Road to Burbank Drive, causing inconveniences for drivers.

The Daily Reveille

page 2

INTERNATIONAL Suicide bombers assault UN office in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide car bomber and three armed militants wearing explosive vests and dressed as women attacked a United Nations compound Saturday in western Afghanistan, but Afghan security forces killed the attackers and no U.N. employees were harmed, officials said.

The brazen attack began when four militants drove up to the U.N. compound in a car laden with explosives and fired a rocket toward the entrance, said Dilawar Shah Dilawar, deputy police chief of Herat province.

The militants tried unsuccessfully to blow up the gate with the rocket so they could drive the car inside the compound, he said.

When that didn’t work, three of the militants got out of the car and the fourth blew up the vehicle, killing himself. The explosion destroyed the gate, allowing the three to get inside.

Nation & World “The three attackers were wearing police uniforms covered with burqas,” Dilawar said, referring to the long, flowing garment that many Afghan women wear in public. “All of them had suicide vests and AK-47s.”

Slovenian city elects nation’s first black mayor LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia has elected its first black mayor, an immigrant from Africa known as the “Obama of Piran,” the town where he lives.

In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe.

Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a runoff election in Piran on Sunday with 51.4 percent of votes.

The candidate is a member of Slovenia’s governing Social Democrats. He was previously a member of the Piran City Council.

Afghan policemen take position after gunmen stormed a UN compound in Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday.

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

NATIONAL

STATE/LOCAL

San Diego judge unseals files of priests accused of sexual abuse

Former policeman files suit against city, parish

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Thousands of pages of documents from the sealed personnel files of Roman Catholic priests accused of sexually molesting children have been released on the orders of a San Diego judge.

Attorneys for plaintiffs in the litigation against the Diocese of San Diego made some of the 10,000 pages of files on 48 priests public on Sunday.

Retired Judge William C. Pate ruled Friday that internal church documents pertaining to priests who had been convicted, credibly accused or named in molestation lawsuits could be released.

Attorneys say the files could show how much the diocese knew about abusive priests, when they knew it and if church officials engaged in a cover-up.

A spokesperson for the diocese did not immediately return a call for comment Sunday.

NAPOLEONVILLE (AP) — A former Thibodaux police officer has sued the city and the Assumption Parish sheriff. He claims he was unfairly forced to resign in connection with allegations that he falsified a 2008 report about two Assumption inmates allowed to travel to the city in a parish vehicle.

The former officer, Rodney Rhodes, is under indictment for malfeasance because of incident, which resulted in a major shake-up at the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office.

According to Sunday’s Courier, Rhodes also alleges that the named defendants violated his civil rights during the course of their investigation into the incident.

Assumption Sheriff Mike Waguespack is named in the suit filed last week in Assumption district court by attorney Jill Craft.

Waguespack has alleged that there was a conspiracy among

Weather

TUESDAY

High:

87

Low:

69

THURSDAY

Mostly Sunny

THIBODAUX, (AP) — A Nicholls State University student who died last month in an on-campus hayride was heavily intoxicated and had an anti-anxiety drug in his system at the time of his death, according to toxicology tests done by the Lafourche Coroner’s Office.

Nathan Trepagnier, a history sophomore from New Orleans, was on a trailer being pulled east on Bowie Road as part of Nicholls’ homecoming festivities Sept. 25 when he fell forward into the roadway.

He was 19.

TODAY ON

WEDNESDAY

89 70

TODAY

Rhodes, former jail warden Mike Brown and other law-enforcement officers. The sheriff maintains the goal was to embarrass him publicly by setting up the apprehension of the inmates — one a killer and the other a sex offender — for maximum media exposure in Thibodaux rather than stopping them before they arrived.

Nicholls State student killed in hayride accident was intoxicated

lsureveille.com

87 66

Read a blog rating the city of Auburn, Ala. Check out a music blog on Kanye West’s new short film.

Check out our Bobby Jindal tracker.

FRIDAY 77 47

81 53

REZA SHIRMOHAMMADI / The Associated Press

ON THE ROAD AGAIN @ lsureveille, @TDR_news, @TDR_sports

Multicultural Student Leadership Conference FREE! SIGN UP NOW! www.lsu.edu/aacc Saturday, October 30th 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE? Call Michael at the Student Media Office 578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or E-mail: officemanager@lsureveille.com

Follow breaking news at facebook.com/ thedailyreveille

SARAH HUNT / The Daily Reveille

Log on to lsureveille.com to see a Snapshot of instruments being repaired.

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The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

page 3

POLITICS

Jindal responds to Facebook comments on higher education Gov. seeks input on improving efficiency

Matthew Albright Staff Writer

Gov. Bobby Jindal responded via Facebook on Thursday to comments about how state officials are handling higher education.

“This conversation has been very helpful to me, and I hope I can keep your attention a little longer, because I believe this is a very important discussion to have,” Jindal’s post said.

The post comes in response to a flood of comments on a previous post written last Tuesday seeking input from students about how to get better value out of higher education.

“To Louisiana College Students: Our government is spending more than we can afford, and I believe our universities are delivering less value than you deserve,” Jindal wrote in that post.

The post elicited more than 200 responses as of Sunday.

Comments ran the gamut from harsh criticism of Jindal’s leadership and out-of-state travels to criticisms of higher education officials for huge salaries and inefficient leadership.

Commentors proposed a wide array of solutions, including cutting administrative salaries, eliminating underperforming programs and

SHEILA DE GUZMAN / The Daily Reveille

Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks Aug. 31 at the Choppin Hall Annex ground breaking. Jindal sought input on higher education on Facebook and received more than 200 responses.

institutions, focusing on online degrees and increasing admission standards and TOPS standards.

Most of the comments complained about cuts to higher education.

In his response, Jindal thanked the commentors for their input.

“There were several very good ideas, such as, cutting administrative costs and salaries, requiring professors to spend more time in the classrooms, protecting centers of excellence,” the post said.

No comment in the original thread focused on requiring professors to spend more time in the classroom.

The response did not mention a constitutional amendment that would allow removal of restrictions on other parts of the budget to relieve some pressure to higher education.

The post also said the higher

education budget crisis is being blown out of proportion.

“Even though it is common to hear that higher education has already received massive budget cuts, it’s not entirely accurate,” the post said.

Jindal said higher education — and LSU — were not facing catastrophic losses.

“Higher education’s total budget has decreased by 4.57 percent since the beginning of 2008, while the state’s overall budget has decreased by almost 26 percent – nearly six times as much. LSU’s main campus, in fact, has seen a reduction of 1.5 percent in funding.”

The post also criticized higher education institutions for spending too little time on instruction and for poor graduation rates.

Jindal’s original post came the day after LSU Student Government

President J Hudson made national news by sending letters to papers where Jindal was traveling. Those letters criticized Jindal for taking several out-of-state trips while higher education suffered drastic cuts in Louisiana.

Hudson responded to Jindal’s post, disagreeing vehemently with the assertion that LSU might not be delivering value to its students.

“First off, I have received a quality education from LSU A&M,” Hudson said. “But now that the 32 percent budget cut may be implemented in fiscal year 2012, I do not believe that statement will be upheld

by students for years to come.”

Hudson specifically stood up for the main LSU campus in Baton Rouge, arguing it was a “superior University.”

“Please create a plan that will save the flagship university,” Hudson posted. “I understand that you may not be able to fix it all with a snap of your fingers, but we need you to put your foot down and say no more cuts to higher education and health care.”

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

Monday October 25

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The Daily Reveille

page 4

SG

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

BUDGET CUTS

Hudson joins Agriculture combats cuts with new classes Two courses now student under consideration presidents for council Kate Mabry

Contributing Writer

Matthew Albright Staff Writer

Student body presidents from across Louisiana’s public higher education system will soon have a joint message for state government, according to LSU Student Government President J Hudson.

Hudson attended a two-day meeting of the Council of Student Body Presidents during fall break.

That body, composed of the student representatives of the state’s 30 public institutions of higher education, is working on a letter to state legislators.

The letter, which would represent all inJ HUDSON stitutions, will LSU SG president pose a list of questions about higher education. Hudson said it should be released this week.

“You’re actually seeing tangible results,” Hudson said.

The council also discussed a march at the state Capitol planned for the first day of the legislative session in early March.

Hudson said there was a “consensus that people are going to participate” in the protest. He said he would lobby for an official gesture of support at the council’s February meeting.

Another unaffiliated march is planned for Nov. 10.

“The ultimate goal is to have them join us on the march,” Hudson said of the presidents.

Hudson has previously complained that divisions among the different systems have hamstrung efforts to put up a cohesive front.

The council represents the eight 4-year universities in the LSU System, the four universities in the Southern University System, the eight universities and colleges in the University of Louisiana System and the 10 colleges in the Louisiana Technical and Community College System.

Hudson said the number of people on the council and the differences in the types of universities they represent have previously caused divisions that have prevented sending a single message.

“There’s a huge divide between the four-year institutions and the community colleges,” Hudson said. “But the community colleges are all lumped together with ours.”

Hudson said only one representative from the Southern System — representing the New Orleans campus — attended the meeting.

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

With University budget cuts in full force, the College of Agriculture prepares for even more cuts in the future.

The college has already lost 22 faculty positions, and this year could be the breaking point with a potential 15 percent cut hanging over the school’s head, said Kenneth Koonce, dean of the college.

For funds, the school is “scraping the bottom” and trying to “make ends meet” as as pos‘I have much sible, Koonce students in said. Many promy office grams are seegrowing deall the time ing mands, and with asking why the current cuts, classes we don’t some may not be able have an to continue, he equine said.

To meet the program.’ demand of the students while Laura Gentry also preparing animal sciences for more cuts, instructor the school is considering adding two new courses, equine science and a master’s advanced analytics course, which would bring in outside money, Koonce said.

The equine course is a sciencebased program for students to learn the biology of horses as well as working in the equine industry. The course would be supported on a student lab fee each semester, and in comparison to other schools with a similar program, the University’s fee would be considerably less, said Gary Hay, animal sciences director.

The fee would primarily be used to fund horses and certified riding instructors. The department is attempting to partner with BREC for students to have hands-on experience with horses, Hay said.

“In a recent survey of over 200 students enrolled in three freshman animal science courses, over 60 percent indicated they would be

7:20 a.m., 8:20 a.m.

Noon, 3:20 p.m.

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interested in enrolling in an equine program study if one were available,” said animal sciences instructor Laura Gentry in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.

Many students have shown interest in the potential course, but even though the department is confident the course will be approved, there is no way to be 100 percent positive, Hay said.

“I have students in my office all the time asking why we don’t have an equine program within the School of Animal Sciences to offer students,” Gentry said.

Louisiana has a $3 billion horse industry, and the department is expecting private donations will help

support the course in addition to the course fee, Hay said.

The second potential course, advanced analytics, is a master’s program that would include several other colleges as well as the College of Agriculture. The students enrolled in the course would start together and complete the course within 10 months, said Luis Escobar, experimental statistics professor.

“This course would be very intensive and involve lots of work,” Escobar said.

Advanced analytics would bring in outside money from several sources, including additional tuition and donations from relevant companies, Escobar said.

This new course would project the University into the community and benefit the students in the current job market, Escobar said.

“Hopefully, more courses will be added due to the high level of interest, which has exceeded our expectations,” Gentry said.

Escobar said the new course additions could both meet high student demand and raise faculty morale, which, he said, dropped after termination letters were issued.

Contact Kate Mabry at kmabry@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

page 5

HEALTH

Student Health Center now offering 2,600 free flu vaccines Shots to be available through Friday Grace Montgomery Contributing Writer

The Student Health Center begins offering free flu shots today.

The inoculations will be available through Friday or while

supplies last.

The Health Center currently has 2,600 flu shots to administer, according to Julie Hupperich, associate director of finance and administrative services at the Health Center.

Hupperich said orders for the injections are based on the need from the previous year.

She said the Health Center ordered 3,100 inoculations this year,

500 of which will be used for athletes while the rest will be administered to students.

The flu shots are free to students, $10 for part-time students and $20 for faculty, staff, retirees and non-student spouses.

“This year is different because it is the first year we do not charge full-time students or those who paid the Student Health fee,” Hupperich said.

Hupperich said though flu shots will be available while supplies last, the Health Center has the ability to order more and receive the shipment over night.

The inoculation also protects from both seasonal flu and H1N1, a change from last year when a separate vaccine was required for each.

The Health Center has seen no cases of seasonal flu or H1N1 this season, Hupperich said.

“This is a welcome break for the campus community because we were inundated with H1N1 cases at this time last year,” Hupperich said From January 2009 to January 2010 the Health Center treated 1,335 cases of both seasonal flu and H1N1, Hupperich said.

Contact Grace Montgomery at gmontgomery@lsureveille.com

LGBTQ

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ remains a hot issue for students

Federal judge passed injunction Oct. 12 Kate Mabry Contributing Writer

Though U.S. Military recruiters can now accept openly gay applicants, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is still a hot topic among University students.

A federal judge granted an immediate injunction Oct. 12, prohibiting the policy’s enforcement. The 17-year-old policy banned openly homosexual men and women from serving in the armed forces.

For years, LGBTQ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer — students in ROTC have been apprehensive about their future in the military, said Kat Barry, English senior and president of Spectrum, the University’s LGBTQ student organization.

Barry said LGBTQ ROTC students feel conflicted about protecting their country, because they’re excluded for sexual orientation.

Spectrum has members who were in the military as well as those planning to go into the military once they graduate, Barry said.

Clay Curry, international studies freshman, said he believes Americans willing to put their lives on the line to fight for freedom need to be recognized.

“A soldier’s sexual preference does not have any bearing on his or her ability to perform great deeds,” Curry said.

Trever Thibodeaux, fashion merchandising senior, also said he believes the policy is unfair.

“Sexual orientation should not matter,” Thibodeaux said.

“The military is scrapping for servicemen and have no right to discriminate anyone for their sexual orientation.”

According to Cpt. William Conger, Army ROTC enrollment officer, recruitment numbers for all services have met their mission for the 2009-10 year. Acceptance into the armed forces is exclusive, and applicants must meet several standards, including particular test scores, height, weight and legal and financial background checks, Conger said.

Barry said the University’s

ROTC program makes it clear “A repeal of the policy would there is no place for openly gay energize the LGBTQ community students in the program, and they on a national scale,” Barry said. are often encouraged to quit.

“Public opinion polls have been But Conger said he is “con- encouraging, and we are noting fident no one has been kicked the change the younger generaout of the ROTC tions are making.” program for their The anxisexual orientaety generated by tion” since his “Don’t Ask, Don’t arrival at the Tell” isn’t limited University seven to cadets in the years ago.

ROTC program The Univerbut extends to any sity’s ROTC proLGBTQ person or gram has never straight ally planClay Curry done anything to ning to dedicate exclude anyone, international studies freshman their career to and there has military service, never been a problem or argu- and the situation is even more ment about the program’s poli- stressful for LGBTQ students cies, Conger said. wishing to join the military as a “ROTC follows military pol- way to pay for school, Barry said. icies, and changes in these poliWith a state judge and two cies would be reinforced through federal judges agreeing the poliROTC,” Conger said. “I have cy is unconstitutional, many hope taken an oath to the president of the repeal of the policy will ring the United States and the Consti- in a new era of LGBTQ rights, tution to uphold orders.”

Barry said.

Barry said the eliminaJarod Mardis, political scition of the policy would be a ence freshman, said he believes monumental victory. the government should take

‘‘

‘A soldier’s sexual preference does not have any bearing on ... ability to perform great deeds.’

action now against the law.

“I believe we cannot hope to end the unfounded hate and discrimination directed toward the LGBTQ community until our government takes a definite stand against ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

and other laws and policies like it,” Mardis said.

Contact Kate Mabry at kmabry@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveille

page 6

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

PHILANTHROPY

CMDA collects instruments for donations to local schoolchildren Pamela Matassa, CMDA live on,” Matassa said. “Each communications director, said instrument will have a story.”

One woman donated her fathe college will coordinate with the East Baton Rouge Parish ther’s trombone from when he School Board to determine which used to play for the University’s schools will be receiving the in- band in 1917.

Sarah Eddington Laurence Kaptain, dean of struments.

Staff Writer “It will likely be nearby pub- the CMDA, said the next step The College of Music and lic schools with band or music is providing these children with Dramatic Arts is launching a new programs,” Matassa said. “There music lessons. campaign to encourage music is definitely a need.”

Kaptain said while many education by collecting and reMatassa said she hopes to other universities have music vamping old inencourage future academies that give up to 2,500 struments people musicians while lessons per week, LSU only avermay have lying they are still ages about 90 per week.

‘They want their young. around the house “Right now we have a music to be donated to “There are academy that’s microscopic,” he music to live on. new opportunities said. “We are going to make this local schoolchildren who want to Each instrument will arising at LSU for a priority.” learn to play.

Kaptain said the school is in young artists, but have a story.’

The college how can we pro- the planning stages of a state-ofwill accept inmote those if we the-art Performing Arts Academy Pamela Matassa struments in just don’t start from that would include a team of facabout any condi- communications director, College of the ground up?” ulty, experienced graduate stution, according she said. “What if dents and certified local profesMusic and Dramatic Arts to Mark Vanderwe caught the stu- sionals who would be instructing mark, instrument dents earlier and local students who want to learn repair technician in the LSU De- were able to help them when they to play an instrument. partment of Band, who has been were first choosing their instru“It’s about high-quality prorepairing instruments for the last ments?” grams and giving back to the 30 years and teaches an instruVandermark said instruments community,” he said. ment repair class.

The instruments will start can teach children valuable les“An instrument can’t be be- sons. being distributed yond repair,” he said. “If we need Nov. 1 in con“Musical into, we can even use the best parts struments teach junction with the of an instrument to build a new kids goal achieverecording of the one. There isn’t really anything ment “From the Top” without we can’t fix.”

National Public them even knowVandermark will have his ing it,” he said.

Radio program at students assist in the instrument “They are basithe Student Union restoration process, and the most cally setting a Theater on Nov. common repairs these instru- goal and working 2. The program Mark Vandermark ments will need include polishing through it, but it’s recognizes distininstrument repair technician, and chemical cleans. guished child munot the same as LSU Department of Bands “A lot of what I do is car-re- working a math sic prodigies. lated,” he said. “If a car sits up for problem. Music People who a year, it’s not going to run really doesn’t seem like work, which want to donate can call Matassa well. I clean the instruments up, is why they call it ‘playing’ an at 225-578-8436 to arrange an take the dents out and make them instrument and not ‘working’ an instrument pickup, or they can look nice.” deliver them directly to the Band instrument.”

So far, the college has colMatassa said each instrument Hall. lected two trumpets, three trom- comes with its own story, like a bones, two guitars, a violin and woman who donated several of two clarinets since the campaign her husband’s instruments after Contact Sarah Eddington at was announced last week, Van- he passed away three months ago. dermark said.

“They want their music to seddington@lsureveille.com

Campaign designed to encourage play

‘‘

‘‘

‘An instrument can’t be beyond repair. ... There isn’t really anything we can’t fix.’

SHAINA HUNTSBERRY / The Daily Reveille

LSU Department of Bands instrument repair technician Mark Vandermark polishes a donated trombone dating to 1917. The instrument originally belonged to the donor’s father who played in Tiger Band during his time as a student at LSU.

Sports

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

page 7

Battering Cam

VOLLEYBALL

Tigers win both weekend matches New-look offense sets pace for victory Mark Clements Sports Contributor

the third quarter with the game tied at 10.

After a faked handoff, Newton weaved his way through the LSU defense, making four defenders whiff before beating the ultra-fast Peterson in a race to the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown. “[In] that particular play the offensive line did their job,” Newton said. “And I guess it was up to me to do my job. A lot of missed tackles, and I just tried to make the most of it. It’s just a play that is in my job description to make.”

The touchdown, Newton’s second of the game, gave him 14 rushing touchdowns on the season and nine in his last three games.

After the scheduling gauntlet of four Southeastern Conference games in just eight days, the LSU volleyball team took advantage of a weeklong break to prepare for the second half of the SEC slate.

LSU (19-2, 10-2) got back on track Friday night, winning a five set duel (25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 2628, 15-10) against Georgia (11-12, 3-9) in Athens, Ga. The Tigers continued the winning efforts Sunday, taking care of Auburn (16-8, 7-5) in straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 29-27).

Bouncing back from the loss, four Tiger hitters struck for double digit kills in the first match of the weekend, as the Tigers flashed signs of a new, high-powered offense.

“This was a big weekend for us,” said senior outside hitter Angela Bensend. “Coming off a loss, we really wanted to prove ourselves to the coach, to the team, to everyone else that we’re here to win, and we really picked it up this week.”

After what LSU coach Fran Flory called weak performances in recent matches, she said the girls came ready to play this weekend.

“This is a great win for us,” Flory said. “I am very, very proud of this entire weekend for our team, especially today. We came with a new level of intensity, a new

NEWTON, see page 11

VOLLEYBALL, see page 11

ZACH BREAUX / The Daily Reveille

Auburn junior quarterback Cameron Newton (2) runs past LSU defensive tackle Drake Nevis (92) on Saturday during LSU’s 24-17 loss in Auburn, Ala.

Auburn junior quarterback Cam Newton hands LSU its first loss this season Luke Johnson Sports Contributor

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn’s game plan against LSU’s defense was simple — Cam Newton, followed by some Cam Newton and then a little more Cam Newton.

The junior quarterback added to his already impressive Heisman portfolio by slashing his way through an LSU defense that was ranked No. 6 nationally in rushing defense before kickoff. “[Newton’s] a great player, about the best in the country,” said LSU senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. “Plain and simple, he’s the best quarterback in the country.”

Everyone in Jordan-Hare Stadium knew Newton was going to get the ball

— including LSU’s defense. But Newton seemed to be an unstoppable force on an uncharacteristic night for the defense.

“The most frustrating thing trying to stop him was that we knew he was going to run, and we couldn’t get enough hats around the ball to corral him,” said junior cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Newton racked up a career-high 217 rushing yards on 28 carries and added 86 yards through the air. The performance was record setting for Newton, who now holds the Southeastern Conference record for single season rushing yards for a quarterback — and Auburn still has at least four games to play. He now stands at 1,077 rushing yards.

Newton’s signature dash came early in

NFL

Cleveland Browns shock Saints, 30-17 Bowens returns two interceptions for TDs

Brett Martel The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A few days after Drew Brees welcomed a son named Bowen, his game was ruined by Cleveland linebacker David Bowens.

Bowens returned two of Brees’ four interceptions for touchdowns, and the Browns took a stunning 30-17 victory over the defending champion New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Rookie Colt McCoy passed for only 74 yards but got his first win as an NFL starter — a desperately needed one for the struggling Browns (2-5). Peyton Hillis rushed for a 4-yard score for Cleveland’s only offensive touchdown.

Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown also had interceptions for Cleveland. Brees was sacked three times, once by Fujita, a defensive leader for the Saints last season.

The Saints (4-3) never led and got no closer in the second half than 20-10 on Brees’ 11-yard pass to David Thomas early in the fourth quarter.

Brees, who was intercepted 11 times last season, has thrown 10 already. It was the first time Brees had four interceptions in a game since New Orleans lost to Tennessee in September 2007.

The Saints outgained Cleveland 394-211, but the Browns made all the big plays in building a 20-3 halftime lead that had the Superdome crowd booing the defending Super Bowl champions as they went to the locker room.

Cleveland produced a pair of field goals with trickery on special teams. First, Joshua Cribbs passed across the field early on SAINTS, see page 11

BILL HABER / The Associated Press

Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (92) tackles New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) after a hurried pass Sunday. The Browns won, 30-17.

The Daily Reveille

page 8

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

SOCCER

Tigers drop both weekend matches Ryan Ginn Sports Contributor

For the LSU soccer team, the song remains the same.

One year after finishing one point shy of a regular season Southeastern Conference championship, the Tigers (6-8-4, 3-4-3) have strung together near misses of a different kind.

LSU’s season of discontent continued with back-to-back losses to No. 10 Florida and No. 15 South Carolina this weekend, bringing their record against ranked opponents to 0-7-1.

The lone positive result — a scoreless draw against BYU — once might have signaled a light at the end of the tunnel now appears to have been a mere flash in the pan.

After dropping Friday’s match to Florida (14-2-2, 8-1-1), the Tigers battled South Carolina (14-2-3, 8-1-1) evenly for 80 minutes before allowing the game-winning goal from South Carolina senior defender Brittiny Rhoades.

Only minutes before, LSU senior defender Courtney Alexander

found herself in a one-on-one situation with South Carolina goalkeeper Mollie Patton but chose to chip a shot rather than dribble around Patton. The shot sailed off the mark and kept the match level.

The loss to the Gamecocks was LSU’s sixth 1-0 defeat of 2010.

“I thought we were very good defensively again, but at some point you have to score it on the other end,” LSU coach Brian Lee said in a news release. “We are still struggling to finish the chances we create for ourselves.”

Thursday’s match against Florida was another in a long series of missed chances for the Tigers. Despite being the Gators’ equal in both shots (11) and shots on goal (5), it was Florida who capitalized on its opportunities in a 2-0 win. LSU has yet to beat Florida on the pitch, going 0-12-2 in 14 meetings.

The Gators wasted no time in salting away their latest victory, as freshman midfielder Taylor Travis rocketed a 35-yard strike past LSU freshman goalkeeper Megan Kinneman just four minutes into the match.

Florida sophomore forward Natalia Torosian sealed the victory in the 71st minute, slotting the ball past Kinneman after receiving a pass in the middle of the penalty area.

Kinneman, who has supplanted junior goalkeeper and career shutout leader Mo Isom as the starter, allowed two goals in a match for the second-consecutive time after holding opponents to one or fewer in her first eight starts.

If the Tigers’ demanding nonconference schedule didn’t ready them for the gauntlet of SEC play, it certainly gave them an unprecedented amount of chances to rebound from disappointing outcomes.

Their last opportunity will come Friday against Arkansas, a team the Tigers haven’t lost to since 2003. LSU can still clinch its fourth consecutive SEC Western Division championship depending on the results from rivals Alabama and Auburn.

Contact Ryan Ginn at rginn@lsureveille.com

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Ladies get first SEC win since ’08 Katherine Terrell Sports Contributor

The LSU swimming and diving teams have been waiting a long time to get back into competition mode.

They finally got a chance to show what they could do with meets against Auburn, Notre Dame and Alabama on Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Tigers (2-1) opened up the new season with a 155-142 win over Notre Dame but fell Saturday to Auburn, 175-123. They got their first Southeastern Conference win since the 2008 season in Tuscaloosa the next day with a 198-101 win over Alabama.

The Tigers (0-2) didn’t fare so well, falling 212-88 to Auburn, the reigning SEC champions. They kept it closer against Alabama but lost 161-139.

The Tigers haven’t participated in a meet since they finished 16th in the Men’s NCAA Championships on March 28. It’s been even longer for the Lady Tigers, who finished in a tie for 30th in the Women’s NCAA Championships on March 20.

It’s been quite an offseason with the resignation of former head coach Adam Schmitt and the promotion of David Geyer and Doug Shaffer to head coaches.

“The Lady Tigers pulled one through in the end against Notre Dame, and we had some good results,” Geyer said in a news release.

“On the men’s side, we had some first-meet jitters and got behind early, but we fought back and did the things we needed to compete and showed some heart and desire throughout the meet.”

LSU’s All-American senior Jane Trepp had three victories, winning the 50-yard freestyle twice and the 100-yard butterfly. Sophomore Amanda Kendall won the 200-yard freestyle twice and the 100-yard freestyle.

Freshman swimmer Torrey Bussey had a successful start to her career, winning the women’s 200yard individual medley twice, along with the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events.

Sophomore diver Rebecca St. Germain, last season’s SEC Freshman Diver of the Year, picked up right where she left off with two wins in the one-meter springboard. Her score qualified her for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional.

On the men’s side, sophomore Craig Hamilton won the men’s 500yard freestyle and the 1,000-yard freestyle on Friday.

The Lady Tigers won 13 of 16

events on Saturday to emerge victorious against Alabama, while the Tigers won seven events in their loss.

“The Lady Tigers came out from the beginning and raced well throughout the meet to take the victory,” Geyer said in a news release.

“The men had another great battle with Alabama. We knew it was going to be a slug fest, and we were in a position to win in the end but came up short.”

Junior diver Brian Gemberling and freshman Daniel Helm joined St. Germain with qualifying scores for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional.

Contact Katherine Terrell at kterrell@lsureveille.com

DAVID LYLE / The Daily Reveille

Allysha Chapman, LSU junior midfielder, dribbles past Vanderbilt players during LSU’s 0-1 loss Oct. 10. The Tigers lost to Florida and South Carolina this weekend.

The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

page 9

SCHWEHMMING AROUND

Miles should have stuck with Jefferson in second half Les Miles has consistently said for the past few weeks that he was going to stick with the hot hand at quarterback.

That was his modus operandi, and he was sticking to it. It wasn’t going to be a sharing, cooperative enterprise like we learned in kindergarten.

It was going to be a “he who plays best plays most” system.

Andy Schwehm And, for the Sports columnist most part, it was working. Jarrett Lee was taking a lot of snaps because he was playing well. If you are going to work a twoquarterback system, that’s the way it should run, and I was completely behind Les’ decision to do it.

That is, as long as he stuck with what he said.

But he veered away from his own game plan in LSU’s 24-17 loss to Auburn on Saturday.

Miles should have stuck with Jordan Jefferson in the second half.

Instead, he worked both quarterbacks into the game in the deciding drives. On the final offensive possession for LSU, it was Lee who was under center.

That was a mistake.

Call me a Monday morning quarterback all you want, but I was saying it the entire second half. I

even had it up as a Facebook status.

Book it.

Jefferson had an early interception when he slightly overthrew wide receiver Rueben Randle (arguably a catchable ball, since he did get two hands on it).

But he was effectively moving the ball down the field. On that drive with the interception, Jefferson took the LSU offense 51 yards down the field. It was the most effective Jefferson looked in quite some time.

All told in the first half, Jefferson helped the Tigers score 10 points with drives of 51, 40 and 69 yards.

The Tiger offense was moving the ball with Jefferson at the helm.

Lee, on the other hand, was not.

That’s fine. Everyone has bad games, and Lee sprained his wrist in the second quarter.

Miles should have kept him out of the game. But for whatever reason, he just didn’t.

Lee had drives of 14 and nine yards before coming out with the injury. Jefferson would later finish that drive, leading LSU 69 yards down the field and finishing it off with a short touchdown scamper.

In the second half, Jefferson didn’t do that well with drives of 9, 18, 50 and negative 5 yards. But Lee wasn’t much better. He had drives of 4 and negative 2 heading into that final drive. Let me do the math. That’s 2 yards. Yet he was in for the final drive.

ZACH BREAUX / The Daily Reveille

LSU junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson (9) rushes the ball against the Auburn defense during the game Saturday.

What’s worse is that on that last offensive play for LSU, Lee ran the ball. The reason Lee was supposed to be in was to throw the ball. But he didn’t.

On that last play, the offense was confused coming out of a timeout, which is completely uncalled for. Lee didn’t know what to do, and nobody was open, so he ran. Bad play call, bad decision.

I get that Les was likely

thinking that Lee could remake the Florida game from earlier this season and lead the Tigers down the field for a last minute score. But the way he had been playing throughout the game, that just wasn’t going to happen.

Miles has stuck behind his own call to keep a two quarterback system to much criticism. Fans wanted Jefferson gone just as much as they wanted Lee gone two years ago. Yet

Les stuck with his man.

But when it came down to it, he went against what he had been saying, and he kicked to the curb the man he had been ardently defending.

The “Mad Hatter” must have left some of his magic back in Baton Rouge.

Contact Andy Schwehm at aschwehm@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveille

page 10

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

TENNIS

Tigers, Lady Tigers advance players to quarterfinals Erin Henley Sports Contributor

The LSU men’s tennis team advanced three players to the main draw singles quarterfinals and one doubles pair to the main draw doubles semifinals on the second day of the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships.

The LSU’s women’s tennis team sent two players to the ITA singles quarterfinals.

Senior Sebastian Carlsson and juniors Mark Bowtell and Neal Skupski all won two matches to capture a place in the

quarterfinal round.

No. 78 Carlsson crushed Hren Hakeem of Mississippi State in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Carlsson then went on to defeat Jarryd Botha of Alabama, 6-3, 7-6.

Skupski defeated Samford’s Zac Dunkle in a three-set match, 6-7, 7-6, 6-1. He played a second three-set match against Malte Stropp of Mississippi State, winning 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.

Bowtell beat Samford’s Scott Foster, 6-2, 6-2. He then continued his winning streak taking down the 79th-ranked Artem IIlyushin of Mississippi State 6-7, 6-0, 6-3.

Doubles partners, Carlsson and Skupski, also earned a spot in the doubles semifinals.

The 16th-ranked duo started by defeating University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Brandon Farine and Yanick Mandl, 8-2, then clinched a spot in the semifinals with a victory over Roamin Bocaert and Lucan Viel of South Alabama, 9-8(4).

LSU coach Jeff Brown said he was impressed with the team’s success.

“We had another strong day,” Brown said. “Those players that advanced will get a chance to play

against some tough competition tomorrow, and we look forward to coming out and competing.”

Junior Whitney Wolf and sophomore Keri Frankenberger advanced to the singles quarterfinals on the women’s side.

Wolf clenched a spot in the quarterfinals after defeating Alabama’s Alex Clay, 6-4, 7-5. Frankenberger defeated Auburn’s Olivia Bennett in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Lady Tigers coach Tony Minnis was pleased with the success.

“I was very impressed with Whitney and Keri,” Minnis said.

“Keri played as good as I’ve ever seen her play, and Whitney was at another level today. Hopefully, they’ll continue to play well tomorrow.”

The action concluded for both teams today.

The winners of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in New York.

Contact Erin Henley at ehenley@lsureveille.com

FOOTBALL

Auburn up to No. 3, LSU drops to 12 in AP poll Ralph Russo The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The other team from Alabama surged toward the top of the AP poll while another set of Tigers has emerged as the Big 12’s unexpected national title contender.

Auburn jumped two spots to No. 3 behind top-ranked Oregon and Boise State in the media poll Sunday, and Missouri vaulted 11 spots to No. 7.

Oregon, which moved to No. 1 for the first time last week and followed up with a 60-13 victory against UCLA on Thursday night, received 44 first-place votes. Boise State had 11, Auburn received three and No. 4 TCU received two.

Auburn has its highest ranking since the Tigers were No. 2 in 2006 after beating LSU 24-17 on Saturday in a matchup of the Southeastern Conference’s last unbeaten teams.

Quarterback Cameron Newton ran for 217 yards, cementing himself as the Heisman Trophy front-runner.

The Tigers started the season No. 22 and have been climbing steadily since.

Michigan State is fifth and Alabama, last year’s champion and the preseason No. 1, is sixth.

The Harris and USA Today coaches’ polls had the same top six as the AP, and the BCS standings had Auburn on top, with Oregon second and Boise State third.

Missouri’s big move came after

the Tigers beat previously undefeated Oklahoma 36-27. The Sooners dropped eight spots to No. 11. Missouri was last ranked this highly in 2007, when the Tigers reached No. 1 and finished the season No. 4.

The rest of the top 10 is Utah, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

No. 25 Baylor (6-2) is ranked for the first time since Sept. 5, 1993, when the Bears were No. 24 for a week.

“It’s certainly a step in the right direction, you know,” third-year coach Art Briles said Sunday. “Important thing is to be in it when the season’s over, that’s the important thing, but it’s definitely a positive step perception-wise, no doubt.”

The Bears beat Kansas State

47-42 Saturday behind quarterback Robert Griffin III to become bowl eligible for the first time since joining the Big 12 in 1996.

“It is a growing point for our football team and for Baylor nation in general,” Briles said.

The last time the Bears were ranked for more than a week was 1991, when they were still part of the Southwest Conference. To match that, they’ll likely need to win at Texas this Saturday.

Texas fell out of the rankings for the second time this season after being upset at home 28-21 by Iowa State. The last time the Bears and Longhorns played with Baylor ranked and Texas not was Nov. 22, 1986. The Bears beat the ‘Horns

18-13 in Waco.

West Virginia also dropped out of the rankings this week after a surprising 19-14 home loss to Syracuse.

Southern California moved back in the poll at No. 24, just in time to play No. 1 Oregon at home.

LSU’s first loss of the season dropped the Tigers six spots to No. 12. Stanford, Nebraska, and Arizona rounded out the top 15.

Florida State is 16th, followed

by South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas and Oklahoma State, which lost for the first time this season, 51-41 to Nebraska.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

NEWTON, from page 7

“It was just another great run that [Newton] does a lot on his own,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “He’s going to make somebody miss usually in there.

Usually when he gets to the second level, he has the ability to make a guy miss.”

LSU coach Les Miles was miffed by Newton’s ability to keep the play alive.

“We kept letting them out,” Miles said. “Every time Newton dropped back he’d end up scrambling, and he can run with a lot of power. The passing game is not what beat us today, it was Newton’s ability to run.”

The LSU defense was constantly beaten down by the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Mack truck of a quarterback, who wore down the defense for 139 yards on 16 carries in the second half.

LSU defenders hadn’t seen anybody with the combination of size and speed that Newton possesses, not even in SEC legend Tim Tebow.

“He’s bigger. Obviously he’s more physical than Tim Tebow,” Peterson said. “I tip my hat off to the kid. He came out here and played hard.”

Even when Newton wasn’t toting the ball, he was having an effect on an LSU defense that was

SEC West rivals Mississippi State and Alabama to the PMAC. As the Tigers get deeper into commitment to play and execute at a the second half of their SEC schedhigher level.”

The new-look attack also pro- ule, they begin playing teams for the duced five attackers with six or more second time in the season. Flory said kills in the Sunday match at Auburn, these second round games are key to including a season-high seven kills capping off the SEC. “It’s hard when you play teams for senior outside hitter and midthe second round dle blocker Tania in conference beSchatow on just 10 cause everybody swings. has a great scouting “For the first report on everytime tonight, we body else,” Flory created for her, and said. “Then, it truly she did a great job comes down to who creating for heris going to play and self,” Flory said. execute at the high“When those two Angela Bensend est level, and certhings match up LSU senior outside hitter tainly we’re going then she can be to have to continue very successful.

So that’s a [great], probably career to do that. We did it this weekend.

We’ll see if we can do it Friday night night for Tania tonight.”

The Tigers have spent the ma- in the PMAC.” jority of the season on the road, Contact Mark Clements at traveling for 13 of their 21 games.

The team said making the journey mclements@lsureveille.com through hostile environments early in the season helped keep them composed in times of trouble this weekend.

“I think we’re all really good at focusing on winning on the road,” Schatow said. “We played against TCU and Texas A&M at their house, and they were really loud. So we were already used to this environment, and I think that we handled it perfectly.”

LSU gets a break from road play this weekend as it welcomes

VOLLEYBALL, from page 7

SAINTS, from page 7

his punt return to Eric Wright, who bolted up the sideline for 62 yards to the New Orleans 19.

That set up Phil Dawson’s 23yard kick.

Late in the half, punter Reggie Hodges shocked the Saints by darting through a huge hole up the middle for 68 yards to the Saints 9. Soon after, Dawson hit from 21 yards.

Hillis’ short scoring run was set up by a pass interference call against Malcolm Jenkins on a long attempt to Cribbs.

Bowens’ first interception return made it 20-3 shortly before halftime.

Brees did not have to miss any work for the birth of his second son last Tuesday, which was a day off for the club. He still was not nearly as sharp as usual. He finished 37 of 56 for 356 yards and two touchdowns, the second score coming on a throw to Marques Colston in the final minutes when the game appeared out of reach.

McCoy was 9 of 16, but was sacked only once and was not intercepted. He also had a 13-yard reception on a halfback pass from Hillis, setting up Dawson’s 48yard field goal.

The NFL’s recent crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits

page 11

‘‘

‘Coming off a loss, we really wanted to prove ourselves ... to everyone else that we’re here to win.’

GERALD HERBERT / The Associated Press

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) looks sullen and dejected during the Saints’ 30-17 loss against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in the Superdome.

seemed to have minimal effect on this game. Cleveland linebacker Eric Barton was penalized for unnecessary roughness for hitting Brees’ helmet during a sack, but both teams’ defenses were in control for much of the game.

The worst injury during the game involved not a player but a member of the chain crew on the sideline.

Paramedics rushed to the aid of Al Nastaci Jr. after he was

leveled by the Saints’ Courtney Roby, who was sprinting down the sideline on punt coverage.

Nastaci was given intravenous fluids, carted off the field and taken to a hospital for further evaluation. His condition was not immediately known.

tricked by Auburn’s use of the read-option several times.

“We came in here and did exactly what we couldn’t do,” Sheppard said. “We missed tackles, and guys getting out of their gaps trying to do too much. We emphasized that all week, and for some reason, we couldn’t come in here and execute the game plan.”

The LSU defense was caught out of position on multiple occasions, including a 70-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Onterio McCalebb.

Auburn tallied 440 yards on the ground using a combination of Newton, McCalebb, freshman

Michael Dyer and sophomore Mario Fannin. All four averaged more than 6.6 yards per carry against the vaunted LSU run defense.

“We weren’t in position to make the plays we needed to,” said junior linebacker Ryan Baker, who led the team with 12 tackles.

Auburn’s 440 rushing yards were the fifth-highest total in school history, and their most ever against an SEC school.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at sports@lsureveille.com

Contact Luke Johnson at ljohnson@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveille

Opinion

page 12

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Mr. Davis states that every American citizen has a responsibility to vote because our countrymen fought for that right.

The point Davis misses, however, is that our founding fathers fought for the basic right of choice and the ability to exercise that right freely.

Most Americans believe that voting is their inherent right, whether they use it or not.

You cannot say someone must vote any more than you can say they must always assert their freedom of speech.

The absence of a vote — whether consciously done or

Voting is a reserved right, not a privilege As a student of this University, I find it utterly ridiculous that a column like “Failure of Diplomacy” could be chosen to represent the voice of our student body.

Mr. Davis, who is not even from the United States, advocates the exact opposite of American values in the name of civic responsibility.

not — still reflects an opinion.

That reflection of political opinion is each person’s right, even when that right inconveniences the state.

What’s more, the idea Davis proposes of qualifying tests for such rights as voting is ridiculous. This leads me to the question: Who, then, in Mr. Davis’ reality, would be an American citizen, everyone who pays taxes or just the people who voted on those taxes?

It is illogical and unconstitutional to think that one can live in a democracy where

people are denied our natural rights until proven otherwise by a trivial test.

I truly hope that Mr. Davis’ stance does not reflect that of the greater student body, and that perhaps in the future he will better analyze the spirit of American ideologies before forming an opinion.

Kelly Eisworth Photography junior

Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at opinion@lsureveille.com

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

The Jindal Count

Days Bobby Jindal has ignored our concerns:

13

Will higher education hold any priority with the administration in the coming budget crisis?

Would the governor support a constitutional amendment to protect higher education and allow for more “across the board” cuts?

What message would the Governor’s Office have for students, faculty and administrators faced with this crisis?

FAILURE OF DIPLOMACY

O’Donnell isn’t a witch, and it shouldn’t matter if she were

“I’m not a witch.”

Those now regrettable words, spoken by Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, will probably go down as one of the most interesting starts to any political ad ever. Close behind it, however, would have to be Jack Conway, run- Zachary Davis ning for senate Columnist in Kentucky, using the phrase “Aqua Buddha” in an ad questioning opposing candidate Rand Paul’s belief in Christianity.

In both cases, these political ads boil down to one basic concept used in politics for far too long: a person’s faith, or lack thereof.

This is not an attack against religion. Despite my own views, I do not look down upon those who profess faith. Instead, this column is aimed at the belief being a good Christian will make you a good politician.

It does not guarantee it in the slightest, and ads like these have only served as an easy way to smear opponents and cause uproar. These politicians sound as if they have nothing of substance to put in a commercial, so they take the easy, distasteful way out.

To be fair, this method of thinking seems to describe the way most politicians deal with events these days, so I guess it’s wrong for us to expect anything more.

While these ads have been

pretty bad this year, as it is during most election years, they still pale in comparison to those which aired around the 2008 election. Ridiculous does not begin to describe it.

For those who don’t remember — or simply didn’t care — the months leading up to the election were filled with attacks toward candidates’ faith, most of which were aimed toward Barack Obama. These messages ranged from accusations of secretly being a Muslim (which some people still believe to this day) to attacking his attendance of a church lead by controversial pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Unsurprisingly, people started believing Obama was a Muslim who listened to a radical pastor. Beyond the absurdity of the claims, it begs the question: So what?

Despite how much I disagree with their politics, this standard also applies to O’Donnell and Paul. As long as a politician doesn’t let his or her religious views color and shape their politics, it really shouldn’t concern the public at all.

Should it matter if a politician is Muslim, Wiccan, Catholic, Protestant, Atheist or Pastafarian? In a country that claims to tolerate people of all faiths, and where religion and politics are meant to be kept separate, the answer should be no.

Unfortunately, things aren’t always as they should be, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

In today’s world of religious intolerance of politicians, one has to wonder if some of our founding

The Daily Reveille Editorial Board Sarah Lawson Robert Stewart Stephanie Giglio Steven Powell Andrew Robertson

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor, Content Managing Editor, Production Managing Editor, External Media Opinion Editor

fathers would have been able to find seats in today’s government.

Even back in his time, Thomas Jefferson was called a heathen and an infidel and thus unfit for office because he did not hold traditional Christian beliefs. If he, or some who seemed to share similar views like James Madison, were running for office this November, you can be assured their faith would be attacked.

While anyone professing belief against the norm is facing an uphill battle, it seems those who openly admit no faith commit political suicide.

A statement from Mitt Rom-

ney, a politician who faced his own problems because of his religious beliefs, sums it up best: “I think people in this country want a person of faith to lead them as their governor, as their senator, as their president,” Romney said in an interview in January 2006.

Simply put, Americans don’t want atheists in office.

Yet, we can all see cases where “good, Christian politicians” have gone wrong. Whether it’s Mark Sanford using state money to visit his Argentinean mistress, David Vitter and his prostitutes or Richard Nixon’s wiretapping, we can see faith does not necessarily

make one a good politician.

In the end, it shouldn’t matter what a candidate’s religious views are. Politicians should stop utilizing such a disruptive smear tactic against their opponents and actually talk about the issues at hand.

Can I get an amen?

Zachary Davis is a 19-year-old history sophomore from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter@ TDR_zdavis.

Contact Zachary Davis at zdavis@lsureveille.com

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

Editorial Policies & Procedures The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author.

Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired every semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

Quote of the Day “We don’t need whining; we don’t need complaining. We need leaders to provide vision”

Bobby Jindal Louisiana Governor June 10, 1971 — Present

The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

VIEW FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL

Opinion

page 13

Nelson Mandela: the most overrated person in history

Dominic Mhiripiri Brown Daily Herald

PROVIDENCE (UWIRE) — I was present at Brown University in May when thousands of people gave Nelson Mandela a rapturous standing ovation in absentia. Alongside Morgan Freeman and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Rohde, the former president of South Africa was receiving an honorary degree from Brown.

The award recognized Mandela’s efforts in “leading South Africa toward truth, reconciliation, justice and multiracial democracy.”

Similarly, those who have showered Mandela with more than 250 major awards in addition to his 1994 Nobel Peace Prize have harped on the same string of his supposed super-human work in establishing the “rainbow nation” that is South Africa today.

My personal favorite, though, is the United Nations’ decision to take Mandela worship to an unprecedented level — by declaring a global “Mandela Day” every year on his birthday (July 18), calling him “a living embodiment of the highest values of the United Nations.”

After a very successful World Cup tournament this summer, the

spotlight returned again to the 92 year-old “Madiba.” Last Tuesday, Mandela’s foundation released “Conversations with Myself,” a memoir made from excerpts of letters he wrote during his 27 years in prison. In advance of that release, the web went abuzz; all the commentary eulogizing Mandela perfectly resembled pages taken out of some religious holy book.

But one needs no expertise on contemporary African history to know that the deity of Mandela is merely a construct of the media without any root in actual accomplishment. I feel it would do no harm to probe the realities behind the cult of South Africa’s deified statesman, Nelson Mandela.

To be fair to Mandela, playing chess over morning coffee with Robben Island prison guards for 27 years is a tremendous loss. Separation from his wife and family was not a joke either — especially when, like the notorious Robert Mugabe, Mandela was forbidden to leave his colonial jail cell and bury his dead son.

This, I’m pretty sure, makes Mandela’s the longest and most painful term in the history of jail terms.

Or if this isn’t true — if, in fact, others like Walter Sisulu had the

exact same jail experience as he — then post-jail Mandela should easily justify why the likes of U2’s Bono and former President Bill Clinton piously recite the name “Mandela” three times before they go to bed each night.

The truth, of course, is that Mandela is hilariously overrated.

Mandela did not better the economic welfare of the African peasants he supposedly embodies. Income disparity remains staggeringly high 16 years after independence — embittering blacks who also have to grapple with the biggest AIDS infection load in the world. Mandela’s exwife, Winnie, recently caused a huge stir after quotes, attributed to her, blasted Mandela for “letting down black South Africans.”

In comparison, a very small black elite continues to acquire massive personal wealth — harnessed by controversial economic laws from way back, during Mandela’s presidency. Today, corruption and nasty bickering punctuate the battle for influence within the ruling African National Congress.

Meanwhile, what little contributions he made to end colonial rule in South Africa from his jail mat are easily matched, in fact dwarfed, by

the work of his contemporaries elsewhere on the continent. Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana easily come to mind.

Mandela did contribute to reconciliation and racial integration in South Africa, yet today, big uncertainties loom ahead of the “rainbow nation.” Sharp economic inequalities exacerbate racial tension, while inflammatory rhetoric from political leaders like Julius Malema adds to the uninspiring reality of a president like Jacob Zuma. Opponents of the ruling ANC party have been equally irresponsible — worsening fears that the racial tension and suspicion that pervade South African politics today could be a harbinger of future disintegration into “another Zimbabwe.”

Speaking of Zimbabwe, the grave situation of South Africa’s northern neighbors underlines Mandela’s glaring double standards more than anything else. I grew up in Harare, and watched first hand as Mugabe presided over the demise of my country, known as “the jewel of Africa.” Yet as thousands of innocent men and women perished amid economic collapse in Zimbabwe, Mandela famously said no single word to acknowledge or condemn the 10-year inferno behind his own

backyard.

The myth of Mandela is best explained by the “looking-betterby-comparison” effect. He fought against an evil political system, and in comparison, he looks like a saint.

Without the apartheid system to stand out against, zero political accomplishments while in office and a lackluster defense of human rights would be the more realistic making of Mandela.

When the Western liberal media pounced and made Mandela a Hollywood brand, politically correct white groups in South Africa resonated, as did the oft-disappointed blacks yearning for a colossal hero of their own.

But facts still say Mandela’s only accomplishments are a 27-year excursion from the heat of nationalist political struggle and a 1995 clownish display in a borrowed rugby jersey in front of a worldwide television audience. These two, in all fairness, fall short of the man’s messianic status and make his cult a sheer accident of world history.

Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at opinion@lsureveille.com

THE C-SECTION

‘The 99’ covers religious agenda with haunted house When people hand out coupons in the Quad for “The 99,” students are bound to take interest.

And when these coupons only say to go to “whatisthe99.com,” the vagueness is bound to lure them in.

It seems many University students are being targeted as a potential audience by em- Chris Grillot ployees of “The Columnist 99” who, since the beginning of October, have been generously passing out coupons for their productions in the Quad and Middleton Library.

I was handed one of the coupons earlier in the month, and after searching the website, I found “The 99” is “a walkthrough theater that graphically reenacts the five leading causes of death in teenagers and young adults,” which has made its way to Baton Rouge until the end of October.

Such a production seems appropriate during the Halloween season and in light of the recent college suicides in the last few weeks.

I attended the production with an open mind, awaiting whatever message “The 99” had to get across to me.

As I waited in line with what seemed to be an endless amount of high school kids, screams emanated from the tent in front of me.

Once inside, my group was led through a handful of rooms. One was a car crash, another a drug overdose and then a gang fight and then a suicide. Each room seemed relatively realistic, and when I figured the message of the production was something like “all actions have consequences,” my group entered the last 4 rooms: Hell, the scourging of Jesus, the crucifixion and a nice group prayer session.

I was deeply confused — nowhere did I read “The 99” had an agenda to scare teenagers into religious conversion. The website even states, “the production is not based on fear or scare tactics.”

And even before we were allowed to leave, we had to navigate through a minefield of intolerant religious zealots. Just for laughs, I sat down with one.

When I told my newly found “brother in Christ” I didn’t agree with their tactic of using religion in the production, he told me hell is real and all bad actions lead there. I proceeded to ask how he knew such information. He said he knew because he loved Jesus with all his heart — sheer brilliance, I must admit.

He went on to tell me I wasn’t going to be saved if I refused to go on the religious retreat he was advertising — which was downright creepy.

In the end, I wasn’t disappointed because I was apparently going to hell — I was disappointed that such a high-quality production would pull such a ballsy move.

The idea I was getting from The 99 before the religious turn made me believe the production could open up teenagers’ eyes to what can happen if they make poor decisions.

But making them believe a poor decision will lead to hell is just absurd.

Religious or not, all people make stupid choices once in a while.

Telling people they’re damned to hell (At “The 99,” hell was a dark room with screaming sex slaves) may scare some people into actually believing it, thus causing them to live in fear.

“The 99” also seemed to prey on

a younger crowd, feeling undoubtedly lost and plauged with insecurities.

And if these kids began to believe they had to make excellent choices 24/7 and worship Jesus, “The 99” has achieved its goal: to impose fear of hell to influence good decisions.

If “The 99” depicted the leading causes of death in teenagers by realistically portraying them for an audience, then simply leaving them with the idea of “some actions may have bad consequences” or “if you do stupid things, you could die,” the production could have been vastly

more effective.

Instead, the idea left in my mind was that I should make good choices based on my fear of a sex-slave hell.

Then again, religion and scare tactics have always gone hand-inhand.

Chris Grillot is a 19-year-old mass communication and English sophomore from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.

Contact Chris Grillot at cgrillot@lsureveille.com

BEST AND WITTIEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

Classifieds

page 14

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Housing

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The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 CUTS, from page 1

research-only institutions at the LSU AgCenter and Pennington Biomedical Research Center were spared cuts, increasing the budget burden on teaching institutions like LSU. Administrators were informed of that finagling last Monday, after submitting a plan to cut $2.2 million the previous week.

“I am glad that Pennington and the AgCenter have been helped,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost John Hamilton in the news release. “But I am disappointed that this cut is proportionally much higher for the LSU System – and LSU – than for other higher education institutions in the state. That is unfair to our students.”

The cut to the Vet School specifically targets the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab and the Arbovirus Testing Program. Those programs provide research and diagnoses of animal-related human diseases including West Nile virus, encephalitis and rabies.

The budget damage will be mitigated using the increased tuition from this year’s increased enrollment. The 5,400 new students enrolled this semester make up the second-largest incoming class in school history.

Administrators said the increased tuition funds would have paid for reductions in class sizes, increasing teacher support and adding counseling and tutoring hours to accommodate the increased number of students.

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

CONSTRUCTION, from page 1

quaint before this happened,” she said. “Before the break-ins and before the cops, it was a nice place to live.”

The Baton Rouge Police Department was unavailable for comment before print deadline, but according to “Highland Creek News,” no further burglaries have been reported in Highland Creek since Sept. 10.

The monthly newsletter praised the police department for their cooperation and information.

Wessman said the project’s completion is currently set for Nov. 24, but officials are planning a contract extension.

“Over the course of the project, there have been a number of non-working days due to weather,” Wessman said. “The City-Parish is currently reconciling non-working days and will be finalizing a change order to extend the contract time in the near future.”

According to the Green Light Plan website, the construction is 65 percent complete.

The next step in the process is to install sound walls, which will reduce traffic noise outside the neighborhood, along the side of the new road through the Highland Creek subdivision.

When completed, Wessman said the extension will benefit the city of Baton Rouge by reducing the traffic burden on Highland Road and Gardere Lane.

Contact Sydni Dunn at sdunn@lsureveille.com

AUBURN, from page 1

Lee combined for 89 passing yards and an interception, while Auburn junior quarterback Cameron Newton dominated the game with 217 rushing yards and two running touchdowns.

Lee, who was 8-for-14 with 43 yards, had a chance at a gamewinning drive in the waning minutes after Auburn took the lead with a 70-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Onterio McCalebb.

Instead, Lee scrambled four yards shy of a first down on fourth down to seal LSU’s first loss of the season.

“Offensively, we just didn’t make it happen,” Lee said. “We were in the game. We could have won that game.”

Dropped passes plagued the LSU wide receiving corps, including senior wide receiver Terrence Toliver’s drop on the team’s final drive.

“That last drive was critical for us,” Toliver said. “We didn’t come up with the plays. It’s good to have a short memory, but it affects you as a receiver when you are dropping balls and not making plays.”

Junior running back Stevan Ridley, the usual consistent piece of LSU’s offense, was a non-factor

most of the game.

The Natchez, Miss., native only had 41 yards on 12 carries, his lowest workload of the season.

Ridley said LSU was trying to take advantage of Auburn’s pass defense, which entered the game ranked No. 11 in the Southeastern Conference.

“Their secondary was what we were really going after,” Ridley said. “You find the weaknesses in and out each week. Arkansas got it done through the air against them so we wanted to challenge their secondary.”

Lee and Jefferson, who finished 7-for-14 with 46 yards and an interception, shared the load under center for the fourth consecutive game and were hindered by the constant pressure from the Auburn defensive front, led by junior defensive tackle Nick Fairley.

“I thought he was a dominant force,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “[Fairley] took the game over inside. I think our front four got a lot of pressure period today.”

Fairley disrupted LSU’s passing game with six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

“Late in the game, No. 90, Nick Fairley broke loose,” Miles said. “He made about three plays in the back end of the game that were pretty significant.”

Jefferson made an impact on

page 15 the ground, rushing for 93 yards on 16 carries and scoring on a 2-yard scamper in the second quarter.

But the quarterback duo didn’t do enough to prevent the season’s first loss.

“It’s kind of hard when you sit on the side for an amount of time while Auburn’s offense is driving down the field,” Jefferson said.

“You’ll get out of that momentum that you have.”

The Destrehan native said it was different when he was waiting to play when Lee was rotated into the game.

“I don’t feel like I lose rhythm,” Jefferson said. “I just have to find a way to keep myself in the rhythm. If I have to throw some passes on the side ... just do something to help it.”

Lee went to the locker room at the end of the second quarter with a sprained wrist but returned in the second half. Lee said his wrist felt fine and didn’t affect his play.

The bright spot for LSU’s offense came when Miles reached into his bag of tricks to tie the game at 17-17 in the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Jefferson threw to freshman running back Spencer Ware in the backfield, and the former high school quarterback launched a 39-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Rueben Randle.

“We practiced it each and every day this week,” Randle said.

“It was time for me to make a play for my team. That moment was just perfect timing.”

LSU’s special teams once again tried its best to help the Tigers’ offense with good field position, downing the football within Auburn’s 2-yard line three times.

“We have to take advantage of the field position that we have,” Jefferson said. “We weren’t able to do that tonight. We just can’t lose another one.”

Miles said the mood was somber in the locker room.

“We’ll lick our wounds,” Miles said. “There’s too much character in that room to do anything but play hard.”

Contact Michael Lambert at mlambert@lsureveille.com

page 16

The Daily Reveille

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010