Series: Anti-gay activist speaks to business class, p. 3
Men’s basketball: Tigers fall to Vanderbilt, 62-50, end season, p. 5
Reveille The Daily
STATE
Jindal: Higher ed funding won’t drop Robert Stewart Managing Editor
Gov. Bobby Jindal outlined Thursday what he called a “leaner and smarter” state budget, which he said will put a high priority on higher education in the state. Jindal said there will be “absolutely no reduction” in three main areas of funding for higher education — state, federal and self-generated funds — between fiscal years 201011 and 2011-12. He said the difference does not include increases in TOPS or hospital funding. “I want to make it very clear for colleges: When I say the funding is the same in ’11 and ’12, it is the same,” Jindal said. Jindal said to replace the loss of federal stimulus funds, the state will increase general state fund dollars for higher education by $105 million. He also said the state incorporated an estimated $90 million that should be generated from the passing of the LA GRAD Act, which allows universities in the state to raise tuition by 10 percent annually if they JINDAL, see page 11
www.lsureveille.com Climbers, attendance numbers reach new heights at LSU UREC’s climbing wall
Football: Spring practice kicks off today, p. 5 Friday, March 11, 2011 • Volume 115, Issue 104
Josh Naquin Contributing Writer
More University students than usual are deciding they prefer their exercise on the rocks. Participation at the UREC Student Recreation Center’s climbing wall has more than doubled in the past three years, according to Chris Bullard, UREC Adventure Education Coordinator. The wall is receiving an average of 662 participants per month this year, up from a 300-person participation average per month in 2008, Bullard said. The upward trend in attendance may have something to do with fees. The UREC SRC climbing gym cost $5 for each use up until early 2009, according to Bullard. Use of the climbing wall is now free to those with UREC memberships. And the increase in traffic to the climbing wall since then has been substantial. Roughly 1,600 more people climbed the wall in 2009 than in 2008, Bullard said. “We did little else differently between these years in advertising the climbing wall,” said Bullard. “People just started to find it.” The UREC rock climbing wall was opened for use in early 2006 and is located near the equipment rental station in a CLIMBING, see page 11
ROCK OUT
EMILY SLACK / The Daily Reveille
Connor Sinclair, biological engineering freshman, climbs Wednesday at the UREC climbing gym.
ANIMALS
Pet therapy offered in Blake Hall Kate Mabry Contributing Writer
SHAINA HUNTSBERRY / The Daily Reveille
College of Agriculture Associate Dean Betsy Garrison performs therapy on her dog, Maggie, on Thursday in Blake Hall. Maggie has an anxiety disorder.
About 20 University students assisted two disabled Weimaraners in a physical therapy session Thursday evening in Blake Hall. Betsy Garrison, associate dean of the College of Agriculture, brought her two rescued Weimaraners, Jesse and Maggie, who were adopted from the Weimaraner Rescue of the South. Jesse has an unknown neurological disability while Maggie has an anxiety disorder, and Garrison said she performs exercises with the dogs to keep them active. The goal of the therapy sessions is to increase the dogs’ range of motion, specifically in their hips and
legs, Garrison said. “We are trying to get them to move in a way in which they are not used to moving,” Garrison said. “My dogs love peanut butter. I just put a little on their body, and they will stretch to lick it off.” Garrison said she has owned Maggie for two years and Jesse for less than a year. When Maggie was picked up, she had a severe case of mange, and Jesse was found wandering near an airport, Garrison said. “Because of Jesse’s disability, he cannot trot or turn,” Garrison said. Garrison and the students also used treats to make the dogs sit and shake to allow the dogs to exercise their legs. “We just put the food
underneath them and make them stretch for it,” Garrison said. Garrison showed students a video about Dag’s House, a housing and fitness center for special needs dogs in Marrero, La. Dag’s House typically cares for dogs that have tumors, spinal injuries or have been hurt in car accidents, and some of the dogs have been given wheelchairs to get around the facility, Garrison said. Even intensive care, such as the usage of water treads, is provided at Dag’s. Water treadmills allow dogs to build strength in their legs until they can put weight on their legs. Kali Sherman, animal sciences THERAPY, see page 11