Today in Print - September 28, 2010

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Read about grants the University recently received at lsureveille.com Obama discusses higher education budget with student journalists, p. 3

Reveille The Daily

Volume 115, Issue 26

OUR VIEW

www.lsureveille.com

Tiger defense shines despite offensive woes, p. 5 Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010

Students should become active, attend budget forum today Today Chancellor Michael Martin should stare down a hot barrel of public opinion so the legislators and politicians that hold your future will take notice — and it’s students that need to put him in that uncomfortable situation. The Faculty Senate Forum,

today at 3:30 p.m. in the Shaver Theatre, is open to all faculty and students, and it’s an opportunity for you to ask Martin anything you want about the $62 million projected cut in the University’s operating budget in the 2011-12 fiscal year. In case you missed the

budget cuts saga of the past months, these are the cuts that could raze 50 degree programs, 270 faculty and staff members and the equivalent of seven of our 14 colleges. The Faculty Senate has been collecting questions from students and faculty for the past two

weeks, and many of them will be presented to the chancellor today. Fifty-five minutes have been allotted for previously received questions and an additional 15 minutes for spontaneous questions from the audience. But only 90 questions had been received as of Monday,

Fly High Researchers use fruit flies, rats to study link between schizophrenia, hallucinogens Celeste Ansley Staff Writer

ADAM VACCARELLA / The Daily Reveille

Fruit flies are contained Monday after being administered various chemicals by professor Charles Nichols in a lab at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

For Charles Nichols, a typical day at work involves a hefty dose of hallucinogens, thousands of flies and frozen rat brains. Nichols and his father are tag-team researchers exploring the effects of mind-bending drugs on schizophrenia. Nichols, associate professor of pharmacology at the LSU Health Sciences Center, researches the relationship between drugs like LSD and the mental disorder. His father, David Nichols, is a Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University. David Nichols doses rats with LSD every other day for three months to develop a model of psychosis of schizophrenia.

After he takes the rats on their three-month-long trips, he euthanizes them and extracts their brains. He then mails the frozen brains to his son for further research. “The heart of it is LSD or schizophrenia has the ability to change how someone views reality,” Charles Nichols said. He said hallucinogenic drugs affect the same parts of the brain as schizophrenia, so understanding how drugs like LSD operate can give clues to how schizophrenia works. Charles Nichols said the practical benefits of his research would be to develop a new drug to treat the disorder. He said after the rats receive DRUGS, see page 11

Administrators talk budget, band with students Athletic Dept. stops ‘Oh-Wee-Oh’ chant Frederick Holl Staff Writer

Budget cuts shared the stage with football chants when Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services Eric Monday and several other administrators sat down to talk with students on Monday at The 5. The conversation, part of the Monday on Mondays series, began with a group of seniors who were upset that the “Oh-Wee-Oh” chant

wasn’t played at Saturday’s football game. Monday did not have an answer for students at the time, but he later told The Daily Reveille in an e-mail that the Athletic Department informed him they have asked Tiger Band to stop playing “Oh-Wee-Oh” for good. The song has garnered a bad reputation since the South Carolina game in 2007 when the student section added “You suck cock,” to the end of the chant. Since then, it has been played somewhat inconsistently. Matt Wynne, plant and soil systems senior, said he doesn’t CHANT, see page 4

Daily Reveille file photo

Fans in Tiger Stadium do the wave Saturday during LSU’s win against West Virginia.

according to Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope. For a forum open to faculty, staff and 28,771 students, fewer than 100 inquiries is a damning reflection of the apathy permeating the student body. FORUM, see page 11

Chancellor to discuss budget today at forum Sydni Dunn Staff Writer

Chancellor Michael Martin will answer a series of high-interest budget questions today in a Faculty Senate-Chancellor Forum at 3:30 p.m. in the Shaver Theatre of the Music and Dramatic Arts Building. The community forum, “The Budget: Paying for a Great University,” will address the current financial crisis. After an opening statement, Martin will answer a series of questions gleaned from a campus survey before taking questions from the audience. Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope welcomes all to participate in the discussion of this critical topic. “Much of what will be discussed is pertinent to students,” Cope said. Cope said he hopes the forum will promote a “vigorous and informed” response. “Students have expressed concern random ways, and that’s good,” Cope said. “But the response has been passive compared to [other schools].” Cope said it’s shocking to discover how few letters legislators have received from students regarding the massive cuts. He encourages students to take action and motivate relatives and peers to get involved. “[This topic] is one of immediate and critical interest to everyone who supports LSU,” Cope said. Contact Sydni Dunn at sdunn@lsureveille.com


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