Dorms: Website rates Herget Hall 12th worst in nation, p. 3
Baseball: LSU scores late to outlast Sacred Heart, 6-1, p. 5
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www.lsureveille.com
Music: Alt. musicians gather in NOLA for festival, p. 9
Thursday, March 10, 2011 • Volume 115, Issue 103
Day at the Museum Foster Hall holds one of the nation’s largest natural history museums The LSU Museum of Natural with a high ceiling and was transScience appears to be an average formed into a two-story, multipurgallery of artifacts and diorama dis- pose building to accommodate its plays at first glance. new inhabitants. But it’s what lies beyond the The museum has since grown glass cases and plaques that has cap- to one of the nation’s largest natural tured the attention history museums, of University stuwith more than 2.5 Sydni Dunn dents and researchmillion specimens Staff Writer ers worldwide. on site. The museum was founded in While some animals are on dis1936, when former director George play in the museum area, the majorLowery assembled a few study ity of the items are behind closed specimens of birds in a classroom doors. in Audubon Hall, according to the “This is the bird collection museum website. In the 1950s, the room,” Sheldon said as he pushed museum was moved to its current open a pair of doors in the back of location in Murphy J. Foster Hall. the museum site. Frederick Sheldon, director Through the double doors, two of LSUMNS, said Foster Hall was FOSTER, see page 15 originally a single-story dining hall
BOARD OF REGENTS
Gov. adds minority Board member Sydni Dunn Staff Writer
photos by SHAINA HUNTSBERRY / The Daily Reveille
[Above] Biological sciences junior Lauren Oliver samples genetics Friday in the Foster Hall basement. [Left] Bird specimens from around the world are stored in Foster Hall under the care of LSU Museum of Natural Science director Frederick Sheldon.
Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday that Albert Sam II, a Baton Rouge surgeon, has been appointed to the Board of Regents. Sam will replace Board member Roland Toups, who stepped down Monday. Toups’ resignation followed a meeting last week with Jindal and his chief of staff, according to The Times-Picayune. Sam is a surgeon with the Baton Rouge Vascular Specialty Center and serves as chief of vascular surgery at Baton Rouge General Medical Center. He will be appointed to serve as a representative of the 6th Congressional District in accordance with the requirements of the state’s constitution, according to a news release. All appointments are subject to Senate confirmation, the release said. If approved, Sam, an AfricanAmerican, will be the only racial minority member on the all-white administrative board. The Board’s makeup has stirred controversy since Feb. 14, when a lawsuit was filed against the Board for being unconstitutional. Contact Sydni Dunn at sdunn@lsureveille.com
CRIME
LSUPD sees increased arrests with use of License Plate Reader Dept. began scans in last month Celeste Ansley Staff Writer
The LSU Police Department has seen an increase in arrests in the last 30 days since it began a partnership with the District Attorney’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department to use its License Plate Reader unit to scan for local violations.
The LPR unit is an LSUPD car with four cameras that work in conjunction with software to capture car license plates and check for serious crimes and infractions, said Det. Kevin Scott, LSUPD spokesman. “Since we started comparing local violations, we’ve made quite a few arrests,” Scott said. Scott said the number of arrests couldn’t be given, but the department has seen a noticeable increase since it began comparing local violations. Scott said the cameras can be
used as four separate devices, but the department decided to make the LPR equipment a “package device.” Scott said the LPR can scan 180 to 200 plates per minute. The device takes pictures of cars and plates, records car locations and the time pictures were taken using GPS coordinates. When a plate picture is taken, the LPR software compares the plate to the National Crime Information Center, an FBI computerized index SCANS, see page 15
CHRISTOPHER LEH / The Daily Reveille
The LSU Police Department is testing new equipment that automatically scans and pulls up data on license plates. The unit consists of a car with four cameras.