A University student fl ipped her car and suffered mi-nor injuries after crashing into an Easy Streets gate arm Thursday night.

Meghan McElwee, kinesiology senior, was return-ing to campus on North Stadium Drive from West Sta-dium parking lot at 8:32 p.m. when she momentarily lost attention to the road, said Chirag Patel, a kinesiology freshman who had been studying in Middleton Library with McElwee and was driving ahead of her.

Patel said he heard a loud thud and lost sight of the lights from McElwee’s 2008 Ford Fusion after he passed the gate arms.

McElwee, the vehicle’s only passenger, was seem-ingly uninjured except a cut lip, Patel said. The car fl ipped, but the airbags did not deploy.

A concrete pylon, the wooden gate arms and the electrical mechanisms that operate the arms were all damaged.

Sgt. Blake Tabor, LSU Police Department spokes-man, said no charges are pending against McElwee.

Following the accident, another University student was taken into temporary custody for disobeying offi cers’ orders while taking pictures of the accident.

He “passively resisted” offi cers telling him to move from the immediate scene, Tabor said.

LSUPD released the student and did not charge him, Tabor said.

Strange things are happening in South Louisiana this week. The Saints won the Super Bowl, and now Baton Rouge residents could awaken to a blanket of snow.

The National Weather Service forecast a 100 percent chance of rain, sleet and possibly snow last night into early this morning and an

80 percent chance of snow through-out today.

No snow is expected to accu-mulate, according to NWS.

As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday af-ternoon, classes were scheduled to proceed as normal today despite the anticipated inclement weather.

“Based on the current informa-tion available, the University will remain open [tomorrow],” D’Ann Morris, interim director of the Emergency Operations Center, said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. “If the weather conditions warrant a closure, the decision would change.

LSU uses the Web site and broad-cast e-mail for the purpose of com-municating to the campus.”

Louisiana State Climatologist Barry Keim said just a few degrees can dictate the difference between rain, sleet and snow.

“I’m clearly stated on record as saying there would be no accumu-lation [in December 2008],” Keim said. “These forecasts, especially in these kinds of conditions, are prob-ably the most diffi cult to make.”

Drivers begin to experience

THE DAILY REVEILLEWWW.LSUREVEILLE.COMVolume 114, Issue 90 Friday, February 12, 2010

READY TO GOSoftball team begins season

against North Carolina, page 7.

fashion trends and ways to stay warm at parades during Mardi

Gras break, page 6.

CheckDrunken driving

fi nes may increase, page 4.

NEWSInsideFor:

Black and gold will morph into pur-ple, green and gold as the celebrations continue in Louisiana for Mardi Gras .

A study on the economic impact of the 2009 Mardi Gras season found the celebration resulted in a $145.7 million direct economic impact and an indirect economic impact of $322 million for the city of New Orleans .

The study was conducted by Tulane University professors Toni Weiss and Paul Spindt and was commissioned by the

Carnival Krewe Civic Fund . Weiss and Spindt gathered information on Mardi Gras-related spending during the 12-day parading period and throughout the year .

“[Mardi Gras] attracts tourists year round,” said Weiss , Tulane University economics professor. “It creates an ambi-ance and a culture and a personality that brings people to New Orleans. It’s a 12-day festival that generates an economic impact 365 days a year.”

Weiss and Spindt gathered informa-tion from alcohol distributors, grocers, jewelers and different carnival krewe or-ganizations to compile how much money

each source generates during Mardi Gras.Thomas Westfeldt , Rex Organization

offi cial, said Rex members spend about $600,000 on carnival throws.

“The monarchs of Rex are consid-ered the kings and queens of carnival,” Westfeldt said. “We’re a bigger parade, and we have a lot more positions.”

Weiss said most studies on Mardi Gras’ economic impact only factor in tourist spending, but this study examined local residents’ spending as well as the brand value Mardi Gras generates year

Mardi Gras MamboFestival benefi ts New Orleans with direct economic impact of $145.7M

MARDI GRAS, see page 15

By Mary Walker BausContributing Writer

WEATHER

Classes scheduled to proceedNo snow expected to accumulateBy Lindsey MeauxContributing Writer

WEATHER, see page 15

Student fl ips carBy Adam DuvernayNews Editor

ACCIDENT

Higher education will be spared any further cuts in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget proposal today, Jindal‘s Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell told The Associated Press on Thurs-day.

Jindal’s 2010-2011 spending proposal, which will be released to-day, will propose cutting the univer-sity system management boards by

30 percent, about $5 million, Teepell said.

Higher education and health care were predicted to be on the chopping block because of a lack of constitutional protections.

Chancellor Michael Martin said earlier Thursday he was hopeful Jindal’s proposal would not include any further cuts.

“I am anticipating the budget

Governor to release initial fiscal budgetBy Xerxes A. WilsonSenior Staff Writer

ECONOMY

BUDGET, see page 15

J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

An LSUPD offi cer interviews Meghan McElwee, kinesiology senior, right, after she fl ipped her car late Thursday night.

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@lsureveille.com

SARA SICONA / The Daily Reveille

A parade rolls through downtown Baton Rouge on Sunday.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the high-est priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards.This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something cor-rected or clarifi ed please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or e-mail editor@lsureveille.com.

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 Com-munication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free. To purchase additional copies for 25 cents, please contact the Offi ce of Student Media in B-34 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and semi-weekly during the summer semester, except during holidays and fi nal exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscriptions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regu-lar semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, addition-al copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-39 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.

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Log on to lsureveille.com to see pictures of arrows around campus.

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Nation & World THE DAILY REVEILLE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010 PAGE 2

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Iran marks revolution with crackdown on protests

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Ira-nian security forces unleashed a crushing sweep against opposi-tion protesters on Thursday as President Mahmoud Ahmadine-jad used the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution to defy the West and boast his country was now a “nuclear state.”

Shootout in Rio de Janero slum ahead of Carnival; 8 dead

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Gun-fi re erupted Thursday in a Rio de Janeiro slum, killing at least sev-en suspected drug traffi ckers and a policeman a day before Carni-val celebrations kick off.

A police spokesman said the gunbattle in the Jacarezinho slum started while police were on a routine patrol. He declined to be quoted by name, citing standard department policy.

Ex-President Bill Clinton undergoes heart procedure

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Presi-dent Bill Clinton had two stents inserted Thursday to prop open a clogged heart artery after being hos-pitalized with chest pains, an adviser said.

Clinton, 63, “is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti’s relief and long-term recovery ef-forts,” said adviser Douglas Band.

Secretary of State Hillary Rod-ham Clinton left Washington and headed to New York to be with her husband.

Army discharging single mom who refused deployment

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A single-mom soldier who says she refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she had no family able to care for her young son will be discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial, the Army said Thursday.

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook stationed at Hunter Army Airfi eld in Savannah, was arrested in November after skipping her unit’s deployment fl ight. Hutchinson, 21, said she couldn’t leave her son be-cause her mother had backed out of plans to keep the child a few days before the soldier’s scheduled depar-ture.

Woman convicted of burning bikini dancer at LA club

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Cali-fornia woman who doused a bi-kini dancer with gasoline and set her on fi re has been found guilty of aggravated mayhem and tor-ture.

A Los Angeles jury convict-ed 28-year-old Rianne Theriault-Odom on Thursday on two counts but acquitted her of attempted murder. The Tarzana resident faces a possible life sentence.

The victim, Roberta Dos Santos Busby, wept as the verdict was read.

Rising Mississippi worries levee offi cials

LAKE PROVIDENCE (AP) — The Mississippi River is high, and that worries the president of the levee district that protects Louisiana’s eastern border.

Reynold Minsky of Lake Providence says crews have already put sandbags around two sand boils in Waterproof to equalize pressure between the high river and the inner side of the levee. He says the 5th Louisi-ana Levee District is watching 10 other sand boils — water moving underground, undermining the levee and pushing up sand inside the protected area.

Minsky says there are two sand boils north of Lake Provi-dence, two miles from the levee. He says that’s very abnormal.

Minsky has been on the le-vee district since 1983. He said he can’t remember the river ever being this high, this long, this time of year.

Shaw Group awarded 5-year envrionmental contract

(AP) — The Shaw Group Inc. has been awarded a fi ve-year, world-wide environmental services contract with the federal govern-ment.

Baton Rouge-based Shaw said it will provide munitions removal and environmental com-pliance services for the Defense Department.

New Orleans mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu begins transition

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, the mayor-elect of New Orleans, said Thursday he hoped to have a new police chief picked by the time he is sworn into offi ce in May.

At a news conference, he said picking a new chief would be a top priority for him as he builds up his staff during a three-month period before he takes over from Mayor Ray Nagin.

The National Society of Collegiate Scholars presents Integrity Week

Display your integrity by signing the NSCS Integrity Banner

all week in Free Speech Alley from 10:00am-2:00pm

Mr. & Miss Imani PageantFebruary 18, 2010

LSU Student Union Ballroom, 7:00pm

Gamma Beta Phi Society Charity Event911 Style & Fashion Model

Selections. Feb. 22, 2010. 7-9pm Cotillion Ballroom

Please bring a 4x6 photoFor info contact: Meiosha Sutton

msutton@lsu.edu

Man on Fire: Gun Safety and PreventionNAACP Week- Service Project (Members only)

Boys and Girls Club, 4pm-6pm

DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?Call Isaiah at the Student

Media Offi ce578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or

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University classrooms are slightly more full this spring than they were last year.

There are 121 more students enrolled in the University in spring 2010 than in spring 2009, accord-ing to data released Thursday by the Office of Budget and Planning, putting the University’s total at 26,261 students.

Undergraduate enrollment fell by 48 students, but graduate enroll-ment is up by 4 percent with 174 more graduate students enrolled than last spring. The number of professional students also fell by five.

The overall decrease in undergraduates was because of the 98-student decrease in part-time enrollment. Full-time undergradu-ate enrollment increased by 50 stu-dents.

There was a small decrease in total undergraduate enrollment, but the statistics for this spring bode well for retention rates because fewer new freshmen came to the University in 2009 than in 2008, said Staycia Haynie, vice provost for Academic Affairs.

“The fact that our spring num-bers don’t differ much in 2010 even though we had a small entering class is good news,” Haynie said.

In fall 2009, 4,513 new fresh-men enrolled at the University, down 6 percent from the 4,817 who enrolled in fall 2008.

Haynie said the fact that more students are here this spring than last year despite the smaller

entering class speaks to the effec-tiveness of initiatives by the Uni-versity to increase the new student experience.

Mary Parker, executive direc-tor for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Aid, said improvements in student services are what keep retention rates up.

“We did have a significant downsize in our freshman class from 2008 to 2009; however, one of the things the University has done a tremendous job on is increasing the services provided to students,” Parker said.

Programs like the First Year Experience and Comprehensive Academic Tracking System work to make students’ adjustment to the University easier, Haynie said.

The bike fleet at the UREC Stu-dent Recreation Complex will be rejuvenated if Student Government passes legislation to fund additional bikes and repair old ones.

SG President Stuart Watkins said SG purchased the original 20 bikes four years ago, but they were not maintained.

LSU University Recreation ap-proached SG and said it was running out of bikes to offer students, he said.

“The initial bike fleet was pur-chased, and they didn’t buy the right bikes,” Watkins said. “They deterio-rated faster than other brands.”

Watkins said he and SG Vice President Martina Scheuermann are

teaming with Senate members to get the money.

Tiffany Compagno, Commit-tee on Finance chair, said legislation will hopefully move along in the next few weeks.

Compagno said she expects the Senate to pass the legislation, and the bill already specifies what the money will pay for.

The current legislation will al-locate $5,000 to purchase 15 bikes,

20 bike locks, 20 bike tubes, 20 hel-mets and replacement parts for the old bikes.

Instead of buying more of the current bikes, the new request asks for single-speed hybrid bikes that contain aspects of mountain bikes. These aspects make the selected model “an ideal bike for commuting in and around campus,” according to LSU University Recreation’s request

The request also said LSU Uni-versity Recreation is committed to the University’s green initiative and will recycle the damaged bikes and transform them into single-speed bikes.

Melissa Longino, LSU UREC associate director of recreation ser-vices, said University Recreation made plans of which bikes are pre-ferred.

“We are down to a very limited bike fleet,” Longino said.

Students can rent a bike for free for the first two hours, and rates

increase to $5 for a half day and $10 for a full day for students, she said.

Students rented the bikes 1,100 times during the spring 2009 se-mester and 608 times during the fall 2009 semester.

The drop in usage during the fall was because only four good bikes were available, Longino said.

“Students are always very eager to use the bikes with all the develop-ment around the University lakes,” Watkins said. “Because of LSU’s lo-cation around such great recreational areas, it gives us more of a reason to invest.”

Watkins said 80 percent of Uni-versity students utilize the UREC Student Recreation Complex, and the bike fleet is attractive to students who don’t want to go inside to work out.

Save LSU promoters Tania Ny-man and Sharon Andrews hand-de-livered letters to Gov. Bobby Jindal and to Senate and House of Repre-sentative members Thursday to rally support against higher education budget problems.

Nyman’s letter to Jindal urged to create a tax hike to provide for ed-ucation. The State voted for a similar tax hike in 2002, but it was repealed by the state legislature in 2008.

“It was a nice theory — put the money back in the pockets of the people in Louisiana — but the

evidence is overwhelming that the tax cut is doing more harm than good,” Nyman’s letter said.

Andrews said this cause is im-portant because she’s just as much a University student’s mom as a Uni-versity employee.

Nyman said she convinced her daughter to transfer from a private school to LSU because the Univer-sity recently became a flagship uni-versity and could offer a good edu-cation.

“We’re worried about her readi-ness to leave the state because she may not be able to get the right edu-cation here,” Nyman said.

Nyman spoke to the Student Government Senate on Wednesday about the importance of the cam-paign.

“This is not just about LSU; it’s about our state,” Nyman said.

“That’s why I’ve been motivated to work very hard.”

College of Arts and Sciences Senator Drew Prestridge said it’s necessary for people like Nyman to let students and faculty know what’s going on with budget cuts.

“It’s really noble of her as a pro-fessor to spearhead a campaign like this when you will probably receive a lot of criticism,” Prestridge said.

The most important thing stu-dents can do is get their friends and family to call Louisiana representa-tives to get legislative action to sup-port higher education, she said.

“Fee hikes will not save the cali-ber of your degrees if we suffer these budget cuts again,” Nyman said.

THE DAILY REVEILLE PAGE 3FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

GOVERNMENT

ADMISSIONS

SG plans to pass legislation to fund new bike fleet for UREC

Nyman hand-delivers budget letters to state capitol

University enrollment up

MELANIE SCOTT / The Daily Reveille

Tania Nyman, an English instructor at LSU, delivers letters Feb. 11 to Gov. Bobby Jindal and state representatives to rally support against higher education budget problems.

ERIN ARLEDGE / The Daily Reveille

UREC’s original rental bikes need maintenance and repairs. Student Government’s current legislation will allocate $5,000 to purchase bikes and equipment.

Contact Catherine Threlkeld at cthrelkeld@lsureveille.com

Contact Catherine Threlkeld at cthrelkeld@lsureveille.com

Original purchase deteriorated

Save LSU urges students to call Reps

121 more students than last spring

By Catherine ThrelkeldStaff Writer

By Catherine ThrelkeldStaff Writer

By Ryan BuxtonSenior Staff Writer

Contact Ryan Buxton at rbuxton@lsureveille.com

While some students made last-minute plans for Mardi Gras celebrations, others celebrated a lesser known holiday — Darwin Day.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State held a forum for “The Top Ten Myths of Evolution” at the Uni-tarian Church on Goodwood Boulevard on Thursday night.

Chris Faulk, biological sci-ences doctoral student, was the key note speaker.

“Evolution is a fact and a theory, not just a theory,” Faulk said. “It is our job to inform the community of what we study.”

AU is a national group that has been around since the ’40s

with headquarters in Washington D.C.

Patti Garner is the president of the Louisiana Chapter of AU, which was formed in 2008.

“Lots of people think that the only thing we want to do is take prayer out of schools,” Garner said. “There are many miscon-ceptions about our group.”

The invitation for the forum was sent to other religious groups such as the Louisiana Family Fo-rum. No one from that group at-tended the event.

AU does not consider itself either a religious organization or a non-religious organization.

“Our group consists of mem-bers of many different back-grounds, both religious and non-religious,” said Garner. “We welcome all points of view.”

The talk was an overview of the genetic, paleoanthropological and historical aspects of evolu-tion with a bit of humor. Faulk showed a picture of Darwin’s

head placed on a monkey’s body, which was used to attack Darwin and his theories in his time.

Faulk stressed that evolution is both a fact and a theory.

“The fact is that species change,” Faulk said. “The theory is the mechanisms by which they change.”

The forum was held not only to celebrate Darwin Day, but also to raise awareness about the ac-ceptance of evolution.

The United States ranks sec-ond to last in acceptance of evo-lution. Turkey is the only country with a lower acceptance rate ac-cording to Faulk’s presentation.

The event was also held as a fundraiser for AU. Donations were accepted from those who attended but were not required.

“We’re still a new group,” Garer said. “Right now we need members more than we need money. I would like to get more students — they are always high-ly motivated.”

Darwin’s book, “The Ori-gin of Species” was published in 1859. Last year marked the 150th anniversary of its publish-ing. Darwin Day is traditionally celebrated on Feb. 12, which is

Darwin’s birthday.

Teens are more likely to use Facebook than Twitter, according to a study released last week by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The Pew group found 73 per-cent of teens are using some kind of social networking site, but only 8 percent are using Twitter.

The study also found 66 percent of teens send or receive text mes-sages.

Nineteen percent of adults use Twitter or other services to post sta-tus updates, according to the study.

“Facebook provides more,”

said Pavica Sheldon, communication studies graduate student. “It does everything, so it is more of a social network.”

Students use Facebook more for relationship maintenance or surveil-lance, Sheldon said.

“With Twitter, you only see parts of the whole,” Sheldon said. “It is more of a commentary than per-sonal information.”

Mary-Catherine Roberts, math-ematics sophomore, uses both Face-book and Twitter, but for different reasons.

Roberts said she keeps in touch with friends over Facebook and views Twitter as more of an “honest forum” to share her thoughts.

“I like being able to Facebook chat, but I also like how no-nonsense Twitter is,” Roberts said. “There aren’t a thousand notifications, just

‘This is what I’m doing’ or ‘This is what I think.’”

While many of her friends use Twitter, most use Facebook, Roberts said.

High school-age girls are most likely of the groups studied to use Twitter, according to the Pew group.

The Pew study also found blog-ging has dropped among teens from 28 percent in 2006 to 14 percent.

But one in 10 online adults keep an online journal or blog.

“Blogs are more like diaries — it is open for you to create what you want,” Sheldon said.

Facebook’s easy to use “fill-in-the-blank” layout plays a role in its popularity, Sheldon said.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Task Force on Driving While Intoxi-cated and Vehicular Homicide will vote Feb. 22 on the decision to raise penalties for drunken drivers.

Jindal’s DWI task force ad-dresses the rampant DWI issue and its components, such as re-fusing a Breathalyzer test and prosecuting the offenders.

Louisiana consistently had more than 800 annual car crashes

related to alcohol in last 10 years, while the average number of fa-talities because of alcohol per year remains near 400, accord-ing to the University’s Highway Safety Research Group.

Other states may become the inspiration for new laws against drunken drivers.

Policy research on states with lower alcohol-related ac-cidents is being completed by members of the task force and will be presented at the next meeting before votes are cast, said Murphy Painter, chairman of the DWI Task Force and director of the state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

“The amount of increase in fines and other details will be

sorted out at the meeting,” Paint-er said.

Sgt. Kevin Scott, LSU Police Department public information officer, is not confident higher fines will affect the level of road sobriety.

“There are many factors that play into why people drink and drive, and it’s hard to say whether higher fines will make a differ-ence or not,” Scott said.

Enforcement of the issue is random, which also makes it hard to predict whether the fines will prove successful, Scott said.

Police can’t catch every case of impaired driving, which makes enforcement random.

The cost of a DWI violation can vary greatly, but the Louisi-

ana Highway Safety Commission uses $2,000 as an average amount owed, Program Coordinator Ja-mie Ainsworth said in an e-mail.

This year’s DWI numbers have not changed much from last year’s, Scott said.

“There have been five alco-hol-related arrests [around cam-pus] since Jan. 1, and there were

four at this time last year,” Scott said.

Unique Mason, mass com-munication junior, doesn’t be-lieve higher fines will make a dif-ference with drunken drivers.

THE DAILY REVEILLEPAGE 4 FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

9-10:30 AM The Hurt Locker 12-1:30 PM A Perfect Getaway4:00-5:30 PM Julie & Julia8:00- 9:30 PM Without a Paddle: Natures Calling

Mellow Mushroom $1 OFF Import Bottles, $2.50 Domestic bottles, & $2 Shots

FRED’STonight: 8-10 Fred’s Facebook Friday, free longnecks and call brands like

Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, & AbsolutSaturday: Light Night-$2.50 Coors Light, Miller lite & Bud Light.

$2 Shots all night and $5 Ketel OneEvery Night: $1 SoCo & Limes all night

EVENT

GOVERNMENT

TECHNOLOGY

Organization celebrates Darwin Day, discusses evolution

State poses to raise penalties for drunken drivers

Teens likely to use Facebook

Contact Mallory Logan at mlogan@lsureveille.com

Contact Grace Montgomery atgmontgomery@lsureveille.com

Blogging down 14 percent since 2006

Fines may increase for offenders

Other groups received invitationsBy Mandy FrancoisContributing Writer

By Mallory LoganContributing Writer

By Grace MontgomeryStaff Writer

MELANIE SCOTT / The Daily Reveille

Chris Faulk, doctoral student in biological sciences, gives a presentation Feb. 12 on myths about evolution. Faulk’s presentation was to celebrate Darwin Day.

Contact Mandy Francois at mfrancois@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE PAGE 5FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

Students are looking for cre-ative means to supplement their incomes in the face of increasing tuition and living costs.

Egg donor programs offer up to $10,000 for one egg dona-tion cycle and are one option for female students in need of extra

cash. The Cen-

ters for Dis-ease Control and Prevention noted an in-crease in egg donations from 3,800 cycles in 1996 to more than 10,000 in 2004.

An egg donor earns $4,217 on av-

erage for one donation cycle, ac-cording to the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Egg donor programs provide income to the donor and the po-tential for infertile couples to raise children. Age requirements for do-nors fall between 21 and 35.

Programs offer high compen-sation, but an egg donation proce-dure is not a quick and easy way to earn money.

Tara Pelletier, biologi-cal sciences graduate student,

considered participating in the egg donor program but was deterred by the time commitment and potential effects of hormone treatment.

“It is way more complicated than I thought,” Pelletier said.

She considered egg donation for solely financial reasons, Pel-letier said.

Participating women are subjected to physical and mental screening prior to a three- to six-week cycle of sex hormone treat-ments to encourage eggs to reach maturation in the body.

Ten to 15 eggs are usually extracted from the donor in outpa-tient surgery. Eggs are then insem-inated through in vitro fertilization and implanted in the surrogate mother.

Surrogate parenting is not unique to humans. The coo-coo, cowbird and indigo bird are among species that participate in “breed parasitism,” a behavior in which birds remove eggs from the nest of another species and then leave their own eggs for that species to raise.

Noah Reid, biological scienc-es Ph.D. student, said birds engag-ing in breed parasitism try to trick another bird into mothering their chicks.

This allows the biological parents to pass along their genes without investing resources in nest-making and nurturing.

“It’s easier to make an egg than to raise a chick,” Reid said.

(AP) — One of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s appointees to Louisiana’s top school board resigned unexpectedly Thurs-day, saying she opposes federal edu-cation policies that are being em-braced by the state.

In a letter to Jindal, Tammie McDaniel of Oak Ridge said she was stepping down from her posi-tion on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, effective immediately. Jindal announced a re-placement a few hours later.

McDaniel, a former principal and teacher, was one of Jindal’s three appointees to the 11-member board. She had become one of the most outspoken members of BESE, clashing with Louisiana Superin-tendent of Education Paul Pastorek, who is backed by Jindal.

In her letter, obtained by The Associated Press, McDaniel said she opposes federal intervention into state school systems, and her posi-tion on BESE makes her “complicit in supporting federal policies that I genuinely oppose.”

“While I believe the federal government should lead an effort to ensure equal educational oppor-tunities for America’s children, I do not believe that Louisiana schools should be controlled by mandates from Washington,” she wrote.

BESE has supported participa-tion in several federal education ini-tiatives, and Pastorek is an adviser to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on a proposed overhaul of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

McDaniel said the revamp of No Child Left Behind would expand the federal government’s role in lo-cal school decisions, a move she doesn’t support. She said her oppo-sition puts her at odds with Pastorek and therefore the Jindal administra-tion.

“The governor’s office has made it clear that they stand by Paul Pastorek and expect their appointees to do likewise,” McDaniel said in an interview.

Instead of repeatedly voting against the governor who appointed her, McDaniel said she decided to resign. “I think the governor de-

serves to have an appointed board member who supports his posi-tions,” she said.

McDaniel’s sudden resignation was surprising, coming more than six months after she had refused a request to step down.

In July, McDaniel resisted calls by the Jindal administration to leave the post after disagreements with Pastorek on budget and management issues. The governor would not say why his top staffers asked McDaniel to leave the position but said then that he was “disappointed” McDan-iel had refused to resign.

McDaniel said she didn’t speak to Jindal or his staff Thursday about her resignation before sending the letter.

The governor’s office didn’t respond to questions about Mc-Daniel’s resignation, but Jindal did choose her replacement: Connie Bradford of Ruston, principal of a private school with nearly 700 stu-

dents from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“She has extensive professional experience in the education com-munity, and she supports the types of reforms we need to make in our education system so we can give our

students the opportunity to pursue their dreams right here in Louisi-ana,” Jindal said in a statement.

POLITICS

HEALTH

Jindal appointee resigns from top La. school board

Females donate eggs to make extra cash

By Melinda DeslatteThe Associated Press

By Elizabeth ChamberlainContributing Writer

Contact Elizabeth Chamberlain at echamberlain@lsureveille.com

Program procedures not quick, easy

BILL HABER / The Associated Press

Gov. Bobby Jindal addresses a news conference June 11. One of Jindal’s school board appointees unexpectedly resigned Thursday.

‘It’s easier to make an egg than to raise a chick.’Noah Reid

biological sciencesPh.D. student

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

THE DAILY REVEILLE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Today’s KLSU Specialty Shows: Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation (9 p.m. - 11 p.m.); Hardcore Punk (11 p.m - 1 p.m.)PAGE 6

fashion TATTLE

TALES

STYLE

Mardi Gras

Layering is essential for Mardi Gras this year, and girls will be using scarves, jack-ets and leggings, said Jessica Kempainen, manager of Tattle Tales boutique on High-land Road. “Girls want to stay warm but look cute,” Kempainen said.

Dresses in Mardi Gras colors are still a popular option, but ladies will be sporting them with tights, boots and cute jackets. A striped scarf adds additional Mardi Gras spirit, along with a gold bangle with a pur-ple accent.

A good pair of jeans and a cute shirt are a stylish choice, paired with purple, green and gold accessories. A BB Dakota top and ChiQle jeans get a Mardi Gras touch with a sparkly yellow scarf, a purple and gold bracelet and a green bangle. Cute sunglasses are practical for a day spent outside, along with a new trend, Room It Up coolers. The bags are disguised with pretty floral and polka-dot patterns, but are functioning coolers, which Kempainen suggested could be used both to carry drinks and serve as a purse.

Log on to lsureveille.com to see a day in the life of a University international student making a transition to American culture.

photos by ERIN ARLEDGE / The Daily Reveille

Displays at Tattle Tales boutique on Highland Road showcase current fashion trends.

Revelry

It might still feel like winter outside, but the spring season will officially begin today for the No. 18 LSU softball team.

The Tigers will kick off the season today at the Time Warner Invitational in Austin, Texas, with a dou-bleheader against No. 19 North Carolina at noon and No. 21 DePaul at 2:30 p.m.

LSU will face Texas on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and will begin bracket play at 3:30 p.m. The tournament championship will be Sunday.

“The start is a very aggressive start in Austin,” said

LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “We believe we have the team to compete with anyone that is on our schedule.”

The tournament will feature four of the 50 players who were named to the 2010 USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List — LSU senior center fielder Kirst-en Shortridge, LSU senior right fielder Rachel Mitch-ell, North Carolina senior pitcher Danielle Spaulding and DePaul senior pitcher Becca Heteniak.

Freshman pitcher Rachele Fico will earn her first collegiate start for the Tigers against the Tar Heels. The highly touted freshman ended her high school career with a national high school record 26 perfect games.

“She’s definitely stepping up as a freshman, and everyone respects her,” said LSU sophomore pitcher

SportsTHE DAILY REVEILLE

Friday, February 12, 2010 PaGe 7

Tigers ‘beat up’ heading into Vanderbilt gameMEN’S BASKETBALL

Team has now lost 10 straight gamesBy Chris BranchSports Writer

Lady Tigers blow out Florida

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Defense allows fewest points everBy Rachel WhittakerChief Sports Writer

SOFTBALL, see page 11 BLOWOUT, see page 11

Right off the Bat

Softball team to start the season playing against two ranked teams

EMILY SLACK / The Daily Reveille

The LSU men’s basketball team is on empty.

LSU coach Trent Johnson un-derstands why. The team has now lost 10 straight games — its last two by 25 and 26 points, respec-tively. Injuries to key contributors haven’t helped, either.

“Physically we’re pretty beat

up, and we’re pretty tired,” John-son said. “Going into the game we had to hold [sophomore forward] Storm [Warren] out of practice. He’s laboring. I think [senior for-ward] Tasmin [Mitchell] has hit a wall, so to speak. That’s to be ex-pected with all teams this time of year.”

The injury plague also made its way to junior guard Bo Spencer against Arkansas on Wednesday. An errant step from Spencer ren-dered him useless for the second half of the 87-52 beatdown with a sprained ankle. Spencer said he hopes to play Saturday against the

Commodores. “I’m going to try to tough it

out,” Spencer said. Johnson had a different stance.

The coach was more cautious about Spencer’s availability.

“I don’t know if Bo will be able to go,” Johnson said. “Bo has had his share of ankle problems. He’s always been a guy who’s needed two or three games to get back to the level we need him to play at. We’ll see.”

The Tigers will seek their ever-elusive first Southeastern J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

LSU junior guard Bo Spencer (11) tries to work around Kentucky sophomore guard Darnell Dodson (3) during the Tigers’ 81-55 loss Feb. 6 in the PMAC.SEC, see page 11

By Jarred LeBlancSports Contributor

No. 23 LSU allowed 30 points in almost every game entering Thursday’s matchup at Florida.

But that’s all the Lady Tigers (16-7, 5-6) allowed Florida (13-11, 6-5) in Gainesville, Fla., on Thurs-day — four days after allowing that output in the first 15 minutes at home against Ole Miss.

The LSU defense stole the show Thursday by surrendering the fewest point total this season since allowing 19 to Centenary in the sea-son opener. Florida’s 30 points were also the fewest the Lady Gators have ever scored in the 32 games played between the teams.

LSU coach Van Chancellor said the dominating nature of the Lady Tigers’ win surprised him.

“I was totally shocked at this score,” Chancellor said in his post-game radio show. “[Florida] beat Mississippi State twice, Tennessee barely beat them and they beat Ole Miss in Oxford, who we can’t beat. We rebounded, didn’t give up a ton of offensive boards and only had 10 turnovers.”

Florida was held to a season-low shooting percentage of 19.6 percent, and the Lady Gators fin-ished just 1-of-19 from 3-point range. Their lone 3-pointer came on a jumper by senior guard Susan Yenser with nine minutes left in the game.

THE DAILY REVEILLEPAGE 8 FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

One area of hot contention last season for LSU’s baseball team was a lack of ability to turn double plays, as the Tigers only turned 35 last season.

This season may be a little dif-ferent.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri is already raving about his sopho-more middle infield duo of short-stop Austin Nola and second base-man Tyler Hanover.

“Our double-play combina-tion — that’s as good as you are going to get in college baseball,” Mainieri said. “Hanover and Nola defensively can turn the double play, they have range, they have solid arms and they have consis-tent hands.”

Both Hanover and Nola said their chemistry throughout fall practice and the first few weeks of spring practice is noticeable.

“We’ve been practicing dou-ble plays so much I feel like I could do it with my eyes closed sometimes,” Nola said.

Hanover, who played third base last season, will return to sec-ond this year, a position said he has played since he was young.

While he is getting adjusted to life back at second — the fourth position on the scorecard — he will be in another four hole as the cleanup hitter on opening day.

“Every day you try to get bet-ter offensively,” said Hanover, a .321 hitter last season. “You hit well — you play well.”

LSU’s middle outfield will be sure-handed and experienced, but the corners may be a little shakier.

Senior Blake Dean will move from his traditional outfield posi-tion to first base for the first time in his life, which Mainieri said is a unique situation for a left-handed thrower.

“You are limited to pitcher, first base and the outfield as a left-

hander,” Mainieri said. “His whole career has been as a pitcher and outfielder. So he reluctantly tried first base, almost as a favor to me. But he’s starting to grow into it and realize that is where his future is.”

At third base, redshirt fresh-

man Wet Delatte will see his first major collegiate action and first full-time action as an infielder.

As a two-time First Team All-State selection at St. Amant High School in Prairieville, Delatte played the majority of his time as

a pitcher because he was the best player on the team.

“He was one of those guys who had the team jump on his shoulders, so he knows how to handle the spotlight,” Mainieri said. “But he needs to get a little more consistent defensively. He’s got the ability to do it, but he’s clearly the best guy we have.”

Mainieri said he will have to be more patient with the two cor-ner infielders as they get adjusted early on in the season and make a few mistakes. He added he knows both players will get better as the season goes on.

In contrast to the relatively new-look infield behind the pitch-er, the man behind the plate is someone Mainieri is referring to as the “rock” of the team: junior catcher Micah Gibbs.

“Gibbs is not spectacular de-fensively. He’s just as solid as can be,” Mainieri said. “He very rarely doesn’t block a ball in the dirt ... He doesn’t have the strongest arm in the country, but he always seems

to throw guys out in the clutch.”Gibbs may have a breakout

season offensively, Mainieri said. The Pflugerville, Texas, native had the team’s lowest average among players who started at least 40 games (.294).

“He’s worked extremely hard on his hitting, and he’s had a good preseason,” Mainieri said. “I’d be very surprised if you don’t see his numbers improve dramatically from last season.”

Mainieri admitted he will be looking at Gibbs and Nola to be standout players on the team this year.

“I’ll say this about Micah and Austin Nola: You won’t realize how good those guys are until they are gone,” Mainieri said. “I’ve had teams without a quality catcher or a quality shortstop, and it just puts a team on edge.”

The LSU men’s golf team hasn’t played as a unit in more than three months, but the play-ers used their winter break to keep their games sharp.

They kick off the spring por-tion of their schedule for the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Feb. 13.

Junior John Peterson said the majority of the team members stayed in Baton Rouge during the winter break to work on their games.

“Clayton Rotz stayed here for almost the entire break,” Peterson said. “I came back as early as I could. Josh Jones’ dad works for an airline, so he was flying in here a lot to play. We all got some good work in before school started.”

The team is hoping to build off the success it enjoyed in the last tournament of the fall when LSU won the David Toms Inter-collegiate at the Country Club of Louisiana.

Peterson said coach Chuck Winstead wants the team to use the victory as a springboard to success in the spring season.

“Coach Winstead preaches to make success a habit,” Peterson said. “Once we start winning, we should be able to keep winning. If we don’t believe we can win, it’s

probably not going to happen.”LSU kicked off the season as

the No. 12 team in the nation and seemed poised to be a contender for the national championship.

But the Tigers stumbled out of the gates, and by the time their fall season finished, they dropped out of the top 25.

“I know the guys are look-ing forward to competing,” Win-stead said. “I think the main thing we need to do is not get overly pumped-up. We need to ease into this and just go play golf instead of going out there with all these expectations and intensity for the first round of the spring.”

Peterson and fellow junior Andrew Loupe have spearheaded the attack for LSU thus far. But for LSU to be counted among the

nation’s elite, Winstead believes the remainder of the players need to start rounding out their respec-tive games.

“We’re looking to improve across the board,” Winstead said. “We want better play from the bot-tom half of our lineup. Obviously the weather hasn’t been great in Baton Rouge, but our guys have been working hard, and we’re looking for better, more consistent play out of our guys.”

Loupe and Peterson have combined to form a formidable duo for the Tigers. Both golfers own below-par averages this sea-son, and each has claimed the only top-five finishes for the Tigers this season.

“They have put the work in — they’ve changed their skill

sets,” Winstead said. “[Peterson] has improved his putting [Loupe] is hitting the ball straighter. I’m looking forward to them having good springs.”

LSU will face a difficult chal-lenge in Gainesville. Florida has won the Gator Invitational for seven consecutive years and start-ed the spring season ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

“LSU might not know this, but we’ve got one of the top-five talented rosters in the country,” Peterson said. “If we win here, we’ll be able to win some more tournaments this spring.”

By Andy SchwehmSports Contributor

By Luke JohnsonSports Contributor

Dean adjusts from outfield to first base

Team tries to make up for slow start

BASEBALL

GOLF

Mainieri excited about talent of team’s middle infielders

Men’s team kicks off spring season in Gainesville

J. J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

LSU sophomore infielder Tyler Hanover throws to first base during practice Feb. 2.

Contact Luke Johnson at ljohnson@lsureveille.com

Contact Andy Schwehm at aschwehm@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLE PAGE 9FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

As students get ready for the Mardi Gras holiday, the competi-tion for intramural playoff posi-tioning is intensifying at LSU Uni-versity Recreation.

The regular season for intra-mural basketball ended yesterday,

and playoffs will begin Sunday, Feb. 21, at the UREC Student Rec-reation Center.

Playoff brackets for co-rec and women’s leagues are already available and can be found on the UREC Web site.

Matt Boyer, UREC assistant director of leagues and tourna-ments, said teams in the men’s division will also receive advance notice of playoff scheduling.

“We’re doing the [men’s] brackets now,” Boyer said. “We’re putting them online hopefully on

Friday afternoon, so teams will have a week to know when they play.”

Boyer also said LSU UREC has reached a multi-year agreement with Powerade through which the sports drink company will provide, products such as drink mixes and bottled Powerade, for current and upcoming intramural basketball participants. The agreement will provide similar services for intra-mural flag football teams as well.

Flag football and soccer have fallen behind schedule because of

inclement weather, but Boyer still expects those leagues to finish on time.

“Football and soccer both have had rainouts. We have rescheduled those games and they’re online,” Boyer said. “We’ll finish those as quickly as possible and then start playoffs as soon as possible after the break.”

The ultimate frisbee tourna-ment is scheduled to take place Feb. 21 at the UREC Sport and Adventure Complex at noon. Reg-istration for ultimate frisbee will

conclude today.Intramural play for basketball,

flag football and soccer is sched-uled to finish March 10. At the con-clusion of the three sports, season play will begin for softball, indoor volleyball and dodgeball.

The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams will try to continue their recent strong perfor-mances at the Tyson Invitational in the Randall Tyson Track Complex in Fayetteville, Ark.

The meet will serve as a viable preparation for the LSU teams be-cause both the Southeastern Confer-ence and NCAA championships will

be held at the venue.The teams will face tough com-

petition for the second consecutive week. The Tyson Invitational boasts 11 top-25 men’s teams and 10 top-25 women’s teams competing in the meet.

The No. 4 Tigers will face six other top-10 teams, while the No. 3 Lady Tigers will compete against four other top-10 teams.

The Tigers will once again count on the stellar contributions of junior All-American thrower Walter Henning. Henning was the recipient of the SEC Male Field Athlete of the Week the last two weeks.

He broke his own record at the

New Balance Collegiate Invitational last week by throwing the 35-pound weight 76 feet, 6 1/2 inches. The throw topped his previous personal record which he set the week before.

Henning said he has more than enough motivation for this week’s meet.

“I really do think I throw well there,” Henning said. “And I found out the NCAA champion [in the weight throw] from last year is there, so I’m a little more pumped up for that. Hopefully I’ll get some redemption.”

Henning has become the poster boy of LSU track this season after launching an NCAA-best throw in

each of his last two events, though that title usually belongs to sprinter and football star Trindon Holliday.

Holliday has not competed yet this season in his last year of eligi-bility, and LSU coach Dennis Shav-er said not to expect his coming-out party.

“Trindon at this point of time has — rightfully so — tried to focus on preparing himself for the NFL combine,” Shaver said. “It’s been a lifelong dream of his, and as a track and field staff we’re certainly 100 percent supportive of whatever it is that he wants to do.”

Even without Holliday compet-ing, Shaver figures to have a com-

petitive team thanks to the unex-pected efforts of some athletes this season.

Sophomore hurdler Barrett Nu-gent is returning to the venue that ended his indoor season last year. Nugent lost his balance when he hit the end of his hurdles and flew into the padded wall the finishers use to slow down.

Tigers will use invitational venue to prepare for NCAAs

Competition for intramural playoff positioning heats up

TRACK AND FIELD

UREC

Basketball regular season ended Thurs.

Henning trying to beat last year’s champBy Luke JohnsonSports Contributor

By Cory BoudreauxSports Contributor

Contact Cory Boudreaux at cboudreaux@lsureveille.com

Contact Luke Johnson at ljohnson@lsureveille.com

track and field at lsureveille.com.READ moRE about

intramurals at lsureveille.com.READ moRE about

THE DAILY REVEILLEPAGE 10 FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

THE DAILY REVEILLE PAGE 11FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

“Florida was third in the league and playing well,” Chancellor said. “We jumped out on them and cut off everything they tried to do offen-sively tonight. That might have been the best defense we’ve had all year.”

Florida turned the ball over 16 times and had no players score in double figures Thursday. Senior guard Steffi Sorensen led the team with nine points.

LSU sophomore forward Swayze Black made her first career start, scoring four points, two re-bounds and two steals in 20 minutes of action.

“Swayze Black did not have great stats, but her 20 minutes of post defense was really great for us,” Chancellor said.

Sophomore guard Destini Hughes also got the start for LSU, her second straight.

“Destini Hughes was once again outstanding,” Chancellor said. “This was a really big win for us on the road.”

Four Lady Tigers scored in double digits Thursday, including a season-high 11 points for sopho-more forward Courtney Jones and 11 points from fellow sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett.

Senior guard Allison Hight-ower scored 19 points and extended her streak of consecutive games of converting at least one 3-point shot to nine games, as she went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Freshman guard Adrienne Webb also made three 3-point baskets on her way to a career-high 13-point performance.

Hightower opened the scoring for LSU against Florida with a layup 10 seconds into the game, and Flor-ida senior guard Lonnika Thompson answered with a layup of her own 35 seconds later.

Florida would get no closer than eight points behind LSU the rest of the night, and the Lady Tigers led by as many as 43 points in the second half.

LSU is still No. 9 in the South-eastern Conference standings, and the Lady Tigers will travel to Au-burn (12-13, 3-9) for another road contest Sunday at 3 p.m. Auburn committed 20 turnovers in its 73-58 loss to Arkansas on Thursday night.

Conference victory Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., against No. 24 Vanderbilt. The Commodores come into the game on a high after beating No. 12 Tennessee, 90-71, Tuesday.

“Vandy was a team going into the year I knew would be extreme-ly good,” Johnson said. “They have very, very good balance in their classes with the balance of good players and good people. They’re very physical much like Arkansas, much like Kentucky. Seems like everybody we’re playing is playing probably as good as they’ve played

all year.”The holdovers from last year’s

SEC champion squad have bad memories of this Vanderbilt team. Riding a 13-game conference win-ning streak, LSU took on the Com-modores in Baton Rouge in front of a packed house.

Then A.J. Ogilvy happened. The senior forward from Aus-

tralia exploited LSU’s interior de-fense to the tune of 33 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-67 win for Vanderbilt. The loss began a two-game losing streak to end the regu-lar season.

“I hope we can go in there and do what they did to us,” said LSU

sophomore forward Zach Kinsley. “I think we can get a win. Every-body else thinks that too. I just hope we get a win.”

Ogilvy isn’t Vanderbilt’s only weapon. Senior guard Jermaine Beal has been a steadying force for the Commodores, leading the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game.

But Beal has not gotten much love from the national media.

“I loved him last year,” John-son said. “Nobody talks about him. Again, that’s the same old thing because everybody wants to get caught up in the freshman phe-noms. Here’s a guy who’s a se-nior who knows how to win. He’s

tough. He can guard you. He can pass well. He’s the glue to what they do.”

Kinsley was one of LSU’s few bright spots in the loss to Arkansas. The Baton Rouge native fired in 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, includ-ing going 3-of-4 from 3-point dis-tance.

But Kinsley said he didn’t re-ally care about his personal perfor-mance.

“It’s frustrating,” Kinsley said. “I just wish I could have done more in the beginning.”

Before he gets to preparing for Vanderbilt, Johnson wanted to show some love to Mitchell. The

Denham Springs native officially became LSU’s all-time leader in minutes played against Arkan-sas. Mitchell’s 35 minutes played helped him eclipse former Tiger Garrett Temple’s mark of 4,432 minutes. He has now played a total of 4,446 minutes.

“First, I’m going to congratu-late Tasmin on the minutes record,” Johnson said. “It’s not only a trib-ute to him being a great basketball player, but to him being durable, caring and him wanting to play.”

Contact Chris Branch at cbranch@lsureveille.com

Following two consecutive meets against top-five opponents, the LSU gymnastics team will take a break from ranked opponents and Southeastern Conference competi-tion as well.

The No. 11 Tigers (4-3, 2-2) will face Texas Woman’s tonight at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.

LSU comes into the meet with confidence riding high following its upset of then-No. 1 Alabama last weekend.

“It was a huge confidence boost for us,” said LSU senior Summer Hubbard. “We said we wanted to build each meet, and we

came in and came out with a great score. Now we just need to keep it consistent and continue to build each week.”

The Tigers hope to top the sea-son-high 196.475 they posted last

week, but know they still have not reached their highest potential.

“We still need to work on our consistency, improving our land-ings and working on our confi-dence,” said junior Sam Engle.

“But all around, I know last week proved to us that we can definitely compete with anyone.”

The Tigers will also boast the nation’s top ranked gymnast and reigning SEC Gymnast of the Week in senior Susan Jackson.

Jackson posted a career-high 39.725 against Alabama and has now held the No. 1 spot in the all-around rankings for four consecu-tive weeks.

Jackson now ranks in the top 10 in every individual event, in-cluding the No. 1 ranking on the vault. She is fifth on the floor exer-cise, sixth on the uneven bars and seventh on the balance beam.

The Tigers rank in the top 15 as a team in each of the four ap-paratuses. They are ninth on the vault, 11th on the floor exercise, 12th on uneven bars and 14th on the balance beam.

Texas Woman’s comes into the

meet following a victory against Air Force, Centenary and Northern Illinois in a four-team meet.

The Pioneers’ season high score is a 193.200, which they posted on Jan. 16 against Cente-nary.

Despite the obvious scoring disparity between the two teams, the Tigers know they must stay focused and compete with a high level of intensity to avoid a post-Alabama letdown.

“We just need to do what we did last week in practice,” Hubbard said. “We need to prepare the same way mentally and physically and just get out there and do our best. We can only give 100 percent so that’s what we’re going to do.”

GYMNASTICS

Jackson is nation’s top ranked gymnastBy Rob LandrySports Contributor

Contact Rob Landry at rlandry@lsureveille.com

J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille

LSU senior Summer Hubbard performs her routine on the floor Feb. 5 as the Tigers’ defeated then-No. 1 Alabama, 196.475-190.050, in the PMAC.

Tigers take a break from conference competition

Brittany Mack.The Tigers will try to rebound

from a disappointing two-game skid which ended the 2009 season against Arizona State in the NCAA Tempe Regional Tournament.

Shortridge and Mitchell led the Tigers in most offensive cat-egories in 2009.

Mitchell, who led the Tigers with 11 doubles and 38 RBIs, was drafted by the Chicago Bandits with the 15th pick in Wednesday’s National Pro Fastpitch College Se-nior Draft.

Shortridge was named to the 2009 Easton All-American Second

Team after leading LSU in batting average (.426), hits (80) and stolen bases (26).

North Carolina’s 2009 cam-paign ended in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional Tournament after the Tar Heels lost two games to Georgia.

But Spaulding proved to be one of the best pitchers in the country and is a two-time Atlan-tic Coast Conference Player of the Year.

Spaulding led the nation in strikeouts per seven innings in 2009, averaging 14.3 strikeouts every seven frames.

“I’m sure we’re going to get everybody’s best shot and

best pitcher because we’re the highest-ranked team in this tour-nament,” Girouard said.

DePaul ended its 2009 season after losses to Bradley and Mis-souri in the NCAA Columbia Re-gional Tournament.

Heteniak led the Blue Demons in pitching with a record of 26-9 and pitched 252 strikeouts, which ranked No. 30 in the nation. The two-time All-American and two-time Big East Pitcher of the Year also led the Blue Demons with 12 home runs.

Texas lost to Alabama twice in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Tournament to end its 2009 sea-son.

The Longhorns’ roster fea-tures senior infielder Loryn John-son, who led Texas in batting aver-age (.403), hits (73), doubles (14) and RBIs (50).

This marks the second con-secutive year LSU has started the season on the road. The Tigers traveled to Honolulu, to compete in the Paradise Classic last season and won three of five games in the

tournament. “We are ready to go out and

prove ourselves right off the bat,” said LSU sophomore infielder Ju-liana Santos. “We’re not as timid as we were last year.”

SOFTBALL, from page 7

BLOWOUT, from page 7

SEC, from page 7

Contact Jarred LeBlanc at jleblanc@lsureveille.com

Contact Rachel Whittaker at rwhittaker@lsureveille.com

Those students, faculty and staff who were personally affected by Hurricane Katrina remember the frustration of the years that followed. Countless people across the Gulf South struggled to rebuild their lives, and figures across the spectrum of leadership pointed fin-gers at each other. We still aren’t exactly sure five years later what went wrong, why it went wrong or who was responsible.

One of the most high-profile — and important — battles from that time flared up again recently. And Louisianians have a rare, short window of opportunity to get some answers.

Ivor Van Heerden, a former University professor who made na-tional headlines for his criticisms

of the collapsed levees constructed and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, officially filed a law-suit Wednesday against the Univer-sity and several high-ranking ad-ministrators. Van Heerden claims he was forced out of the University because his criticisms of the Corps endangered federal funding.

The accusations in the lawsuit are a shocking summation of sus-picions that have existed ever since the professor’s job was put on the line in 2006.

Chancellor Michael Martin said Wednesday most of this situ-ation developed before his time here, and he wouldn’t speculate on it because of the pending lawsuit.

“David Constant and the de-partment head of civil engineering

made a decision,” Martin said. “It seemed to be entirely in correspon-dence with our policy, and as a consequence, I have to defend their decision unless someone proves to me they were somehow rudely biased or had become criminally insane.”

Whatever the reasons, the University’s silence is deafen-ing. If Van Heerden was fired for any reasons other than the one he claims, no one in any capacity at the University has provided them.

This is, at best, a staggeringly poorly-managed public relations foul-up. At the worst, it’s a tacit ad-mission of overwhelming, obvious guilt on the part of the University.

One thing is obvious: This is not some minor PR headache the

University can weather by remain-ing aloof. All the people affected by this catastrophe deserve an-swers.

An out-of-court settlement cannot and will not suffice. If Van Heerden honestly believes the Uni-versity fired him to silence him, this is not merely a matter of per-sonal injury. It is an intolerable, outrageous affront to the thousands of dead, homeless and still-suffer-ing victims of Katrina, and it is an almost criminal impediment to preventing such a catastrophe from being repeated.

The worst possible outcome of this confrontation for the citizens of New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast is an out-of-court settlement. The accusations are too grave, and

the stakes are too high for this mat-ter to be swept under the rug. Either Van Heerden is right, and cowardly administrators silenced him out of loyalty to or fear of some political or bureaucratic machine, or there were legitimate reasons for his forced departure.

At this point, we simply want an explanation and answers.

For now, Van Heerden has presented the most persuasive ar-gument — in that he’s actually pre-sented an argument at all.

OpinionPAGE 12 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

THE DAILY REVEILLEThe 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 Communi-cation. 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 Reveil-le reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the origi-nal 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 ev-ery semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

EDITORIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The truth is more important than the facts.”

Frank Lloyd WrightAmerican architect

June 8, 1867 — April 9, 1959

Editorial Board

THE DAILY REVEILLE

NICHOLAS PERSAC

JERIT ROSER

GERRI SAX

ELLEN ZIELINSKI

MATTHEW ALBRIGHT

Editor

Managing Editor, Content

Managing Editor, External Media

Managing Editor, Production

Opinion Editor

OUR VIEW

University’s silence on Van Heerden is unacceptable

ONLINE COMMENTSAs usual, the comments section of our Web site, lsureveille.com, is abuzz with controversy. Here are a few selections:

Commentors had this to say about columnist Marcelo Vieira’s Monday column, “Who’s afraid of the socialist bogeyman?” which questioned the recent rhetoric invok-ing the distinctly American fear of socialism:

“Love your columns. And to be honest, I think there has been an un-fair criticism of socialism, commu-nism or whatever it has been called lately. The hardest hit markets dur-ing this “mini recession” are markets with a high tendency to lean towards capitalism. China, one of America’s socialist nightmare, happened to have rebound from the “mini reces-sion” quicker than the US. One is tempted to ask themselves, “What the hell?” China and India are prov-ing everyday that capitalism by itself doesn’t guarantee financial strength. We shouldn’t just look at the perils of a socialist society but lets also ap-preciate the merits of a socialist so-ciety.”

-Nairobibound

“Free market Capitalism is the only system in which all individuals are truly free.”

-Anonymous

“Anonymous’s comment above should be completed:

‘Free market Capitalism is the only system in which all individu-als are truly free’...to gain as much

wealth as possible with as little re-gard for their fellow man as neces-sary.”

-Analogguy

A commentor had this to say about columnist Mark Macmurdo’s Tuesday column, “‘Question Time’ should be a fixture,” which praised President Obama and the Republi-cans for their joint talks:

“Maybe the laughs Obama drew from the crowd were at him, not with him. Also, there needs to be more that ‘an annual discussion with the opposition’ to accomplish any im-provement of political discourse in our country and our democracy.”

-Mr. Dillon

A commentor had this to say about Wednesday’s staff editorial, “Mainieri must face truth in resem-blance to John McCain,” in response to Baseball coach Paul Maineri’s letter to the editor:

“Maineri’s letter to The Rev-eille was priceless. He is the classiest coach at LSU. He knows he should be proud to be included in the Dop-pelganger Week-kind of like a status symbol. He takes his job seriously but he does not take his position seri-ously (unlike other coaches on cam-pus). He understands ‘good fun’ and knows he is dealing with students. I salute Coach Maineri-he is the cutest coach on campus!”

-Anonymous

A commentor had this to say about columnist Daniel Morgan’s

column, “ESP, clairvoyance and miracles real, magic isn’t,” which poked fun at superstitions and belief in the supernatural:

“‘Believers in the supernatural believe in things outside the domain of reason.’ That’s an empty claim. I could say that it is unreasonable to be a naturalist. Just simply saying that the natural world is the only thing that exists and saying people who believe otherwise are not using reason is not advancing much of an argument. What would contribute to the discussion would be addressing the reasons that supernaturalists have for not accepting naturalism such as the existence of objective moral truths, the existence of the mind and the soul distinct from the body, the origin of the universe, the design of the universe, and the resurrection of Jesus.

For some of the better contem-porary arguments concerning super-naturalism and natural theology see William Lane Craig’s Reasonable Faith and JP Moreland’s Scaling the Secular City.”

-Jordan

What do you think? Let your opin-ions be known on our Web site, lsureveille.com. Every article and column you see in the print edition appears online, and all of it is open to comments. Log on today!

Contact the Editorial Board at editor@lsureveille.com

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In regards to Ms. Register’s letter to the editor Wednesday about vegetarian options, I first would like to agree with her about the variety of vegetarian options at the dining halls. As free individuals, we can choose to eat or not eat what we want.

However, Ms.¸ Register se-riously needs to get her facts straight in terms of “animals raised for food.” For one thing, stating that everyone should con-sider not eating meat because of proof she’s seen mistreatment of animals through organiza-tions like PETA is so far from the truth. PETA only shows the most extreme cases of animal cruelty, but, in reality, most farmers raise their animals humanely.

And as to what she men-tioned about “the most horrific abuses in the farming world” be-ing the dairy industry is wrong. Although PETA likes to show the extremes — and that is what cir-culates through the general pub-lic — there are laws over each in-dustry, not just the dairy industry, that set up guidelines and stan-dards that are followed by most farmers.

For example, the dairy farm on our own campus is well-run, and the staff who work there

know proper protocol in terms of what is best for the animals.

I ask you to pass by it one time and even take a tour of it to see how well the cows are treated. They are not starved or cramped within their living spaces and are treated to prevent diseases at a very young age.

I wish you would open your mind to expand your horizons. I am not asking or telling you to become a meat-eater, like you tried to suggest with vegetarian-ism, but rather to learn a little bit about these various industries before letting someone or some group’s own opinion shape yours.

Let me ask you this: why would I want to pursue animal sciences as my major if I didn’t love and want the best in terms of welfare for them all? Please don’t make assumptions of so-ciety based on one or two orga-nizations; back it up with some research.

Nancy Pessesanimal sciences junior

Vegetarian ideals laudable, but can

be overstated

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

OpinionFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010 PAGE 13

THE DAILY REVEILLE

EAT LESS LEARN MORE

Tucker Commission recommendation a good first stepMany people have heard the

news of the Tucker (Postsecondary Education Review) Commission’s recommendations to state legisla-ture.

The biggest and most notable is the suggestion to consolidate the five panels governing Louisiana’s higher education to two boards of regents. One board would be for research universities and the other for com-munity and technical colleges.

They must have read my col-umn from last semester — yeah, right.

But seriously, I would like to applaud the effort and thought put into this action.

The vote was only 5 to 4, so it barely passed as a recommendation. This slim margin is baffling — I guess some people think cluttered bureaucracy is an effective method of function — which is cause for concern because it could indicate a small potential of legislation passing through the state congress and onto Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk.

Louisiana government has a history of failing big time on many vivid occasions — frozen money, racist or racketeering gubernato-rial candidates, etc. The excellence lacking from our elected officials for the years past brings us to a point of extreme adversity in moving toward success as a state, recent athletic en-deavors aside.

The Tucker Commission made its recommendations, and now our “carefully” selected legislators have the responsibility of carrying them out. “Our” congressmen have to sort through the complicated task of put-ting together five panels, who will certainly be stubborn. This task is not just a logistical nightmare — for the elected officials, it’s a political nightmare.

The consolidation can and should end up eliminating degree programs and entire campuses. This would eliminate jobs and college-based communities — not always popular decisions among constitu-ents, but the perpetuation of the

five-headed Lernaean Hydra (watch Hercules) will perpetuate the sub-standard academic performance of Louisiana. This lobotomy can result

in a bright future for the state.

L e g i s l a -tors might think they’re throw-ing themselves in front of a po-litical bus, but they also might be ensuring the future of Loui-

siana. This is a stunning idea, but “I personally believe that” Louisiana legislators should do what is right for the state, and with Herculean effort use the research provided to start lopping off the higher education monsters’ heads.

That was a fun trip down my-thology lane, but some finesse work needs to be done. Whether you like it or not, LSU probably has the highest admission standard of the state col-leges. This being said, what happens

when LSU falls under the jurisdic-tion of a board of regents in charge of maybe 10 other schools? What takes precedence: maintaining the strongest link or strengthening the weakest link? Ideally, focus should be placed on both, with the weakest rising to the level of the strongest — crazy, right?

Unfortunately, not everyone sees the long-term benefits of a bet-ter higher education, so if legislators have to lose their jobs in the process of fixing our broken state, so be it. I hope the legislators have other jobs or sources of income.

One way or another, money makes the world go ’round. Educa-tion depends on it, especially with the increase of technology and the sheer numbers of people coming through schools. Louisiana has a problem with its allocation of tax money to education. Postsecondary education is currently considered discretionary spending along with healthcare. This is the constitutional “epic fail” producing terminations of

the instructors and teachers students actually like in the wake of millions of dollars in raises for the extracur-ricular coaches.

The Commission did recom-mend: “The governor, the Louisiana Legislature and the citizens of Loui-siana shall consider and approve changes to the constitution that will allow required budget cuts to be allo-cated across all possible state agen-cies and not fall disproportionately upon postsecondary education.”

Amen.It’s not exactly how to do it, but

it’s the first step. The committees in congress can figure out how, but they need to do it as soon as possible.

Matt Lousteau is a 20-year-old mechanical engineering junior from Laplace. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mlousteau.

Contact Matt Lousteau at mlousteau@lsureveille.com

FREKE FRIDAY

‘Edge of Darkness’ best viewed as conspiracy flickEmma Craven (Bojana No-

vakovic) returns home to her dad Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) dur-ing a break from her internship with Northmoor, a privately operated nu-clear engineering company. Emma’s nose begins to bleed at dinner, at which point her father rushes to get her to the hospital. She doesn’t make it past the front door of the house. For a split second, we hear a masked gunman yell “Craven” before un-loading a pack of hot lead into Emma with a pump-action shotgun. As she falls on the front porch, the assassin leaps into his getaway car, disappear-ing in the surrounding darkness.

Initially ruled a missed attempt on Craven’s life, the murder investi-gation turns labyrinthine when clues hint at possible intrigue. Senators, hit men, industrial terrorists and the federal government all feature in this elaborate plot. Only the Catho-lic Church and Freemasons escape without a mention in Gibson’s latest film, “Edge of Darkness.”

The conspiracy theory side of “Edge of Darkness” emerges vic-torious over the revenge side. This results in a film unable to reconcile several diffuse elements. For one, several better vengeance films have been made in recent years. The ac-tion scenes are irregularly paced, falling off at several points to make way for expository dialogue. That does not hold up well against lean, efficient romps like “Taken,” which unlike “Edge of Darkness” wastes no time alternating between spurts of bombast and calm. Liam Neeson zip-ping through Paris was fun to watch, inasmuch as one could withstand the xenophobic undertones.

Moreover, the familial

connection between Emma and Cra-ven is lax. We understand they hadn’t seen each other for years, yet it ap-pears they didn’t know themselves at

all. This simply isn’t a case of alienation, but rather indiffer-ence — Emma could be any-body’s daugh-ter. Craven’s make-’em-pay pursuit therefore becomes obliga-

tory, though several scenes evoke ghoulish satisfaction. Additionally, outlandish roles by Danny Huston and Ray Winstone elevate this lead-en sailboat.

The film is more effective at outlining the collusion between gov-ernment, business and media inter-ests as each attempts to achieve its goals. Here, the government risks a scandal and outsources its cleanup operation to outsiders, no questions asked. Northmoor, meanwhile, ob-tains political assistance in conceal-ing its own sinister operations. The news channels, which everyone seems to be watching at the same time, continue to report singular events, oblivious to “the bigger pic-ture,” the thread tying the loose nar-ratives together.

Any review of “Edge of Dark-ness” would be incomplete without a word on Gibson. That the entertain-ment industry realizes the impor-tance of a celebrity’s public image is seen in the PR ecosystem flourish-ing around its stars. The latest faux pas produces monumental results: The problem has more often than not been when the controlled image

clashes with what turns out to be the real one. But exceptional cases do occur, as with Gibson.

Gibson was known for playing slightly kooky, vengeful characters. Audiences had no issues with his portrayal of the distraught father in “Mad Max” and “The Patriot,” the vicious cop with unresolved wife is-sues in “Lethal Weapon” or the delu-sional loser in “Conspiracy Theory.” His present predicament began when his inebriated monologue showed he

might really be no different from the characters in his films. It didn’t help he has a known aesthetic propensity for violence and gore as showcased in “The Passion of the Christ.” In her review of the film, Salon film critic Stephanie Zacharek ventures to ask if “Gibson — who has, at cer-tain points in his career, been a truly marvelous actor — [is] now just playing a slightly crazier version of himself?”

While a reasonable question

to ask, it nonetheless detracts from the simple pleasures of “Edge of Darkness,” a middlebrow conspiracy thriller with unfulfilled aspirations to be a revenge flick.

Freke Ette is a political theory graduate student from Uyo, Nigeria. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_fette.

MISS-SKETCH

LACYE BEAUREGARD / The Daily Reveille

Contact Freke Ette at fette@lsureveille.com

Matt LousteauColumnist

Freke etteColumnist

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THE DAILY REVEILLE

Help Wanted

THE DAILY REVEILLE PAGE 15FridAy, FEbruAry 12, 2010

round.“We’ve all seen tourists walk-

ing around the French Quarter in the middle of the summer with Mardi Gras beads,” she said. “Those dollars are Mardi Gras dol-lars and generate tax revenue for the city.”

The city of New Orleans re-ceives a $4.48 return on every pub-lic dollar it invests in Mardi Gras, according to the study’s indirect economic impact results. City in-vestment includes overtime paid to police officers, sanitation workers and medical services during Mardi Gras.

Tourist spending — including transportation, hotel and food ex-penses — had the biggest impact on the study’s results, Weiss said.

Frank Zumbo, general

manager for the Renaissance Pere Marquette hotel in New Orleans, said the hotel is completely booked this Friday and Saturday and has limited rooms available Sunday.

“Normally our hotel always sells out on Friday and Saturday,” Zumbo said. “But because of Val-entine’s Day and the holiday on Monday, more people are off, and it’s made demand for Sunday better than years past.”

Room sales at the Pere Mar-quette improved each year since Katrina with last year being the best so far, Zumbo said.

“It’s in high demand,” he said. “Over high demand times, you are able to get a higher average rate.”

Jennifer Lotz, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visi-tors Bureau communications coor-dinator, said they estimated about 1 million visitors came to the 2009

Mardi Gras celebration.There is a possibility of ex-

ceeding that number because of the excitement and continued celebra-tion surrounding the Saints victory in the Super Bowl, she said.

“People want to be in New Or-leans right now,” Lotz said. “The economy might not be as big of a factor because of the success of the Saints.”

Zumbo said the Renaissance Pere Marquette was sold out last Saturday and Sunday because of the black-and-gold Super Bowl. Room rentals increased the night of the Saints’ victory parade as well, he said.

The Super Bowl drew Saints fans to Bourbon Street on Sunday, but the parade riders didn’t notice a lack of attendance.

“There were a lot more people than usual,” said Erin Van Geffen,

accounting sophomore. “Especially downtown. It was packed.”

Van Geffen rode in the Carroll-ton parade Sunday in New Orleans as the returning queen. She served as the Krewe of Carrollton’s queen in 2009.

“You can’t explain it,” she said. “When you throw beads to people and see their faces light up, it’s so fun. Everyone’s cheering and excited. It’s a different side of Mardi Gras.”

Mark Robinson, geography doctoral student, said the Univer-sity’s geography and anthropology department will ride in Southdowns parade today for the third year in a row.

“We’re the only department on campus to have a float in the pa-rade,” he said.

Their float, costumes and throws will be geography-themed,

Robinson said. He said the depart-ment’s float won an award for the most riotous krewe last year, and they’re planning to win again.

“It’s really nice being a part of the outside community and Louisi-ana’s culture,” said Robinson, who is from England. “What we do is study people and places, so to par-ticipate in that ... it’s nice to be with the people involved.”

Van Geffen said Mardi Gras is more than just a big party, but a family affair. She said her father has been a member of the Krewe of Carrollton since he was 14 years old, and her grandfather is also a longtime member.

“When I was queen, I felt part of old-time New Orleans,” she said.

MARDI GRAS, from page 1

Contact Mary Walker Baus at mwbaus@lsureveille.com

problems traveling when the tem-perature on the road surfaces is right around freezing, said Bob Wagner, National Weather Service meteo-rologist.

“Elevated things like bridges and overpasses tend to freeze,” Wagner said. “Those are the areas

you’d be likely to have problems. If there are any, it would be late to-night and tomorrow morning.”

Many schools in Baton Rouge closed after the overnight snow-fall in 2008, but the University re-mained open during final exams.

In 2008, Keim called major snowfall in Baton Rouge a “20 or 30 year event.” Assuming snow-

fall today, Baton Rouge will have seen snow in 2008, 2009 and 2010, something Keim attributed to El Niño.

“If we get some snow, it’ll be the second measurable snow event of the season,” Keim said. “One reason for the active year this year is partly because of El Niño, which creates a scenario that is conducive

to snow-like events.”Prior to the December 2008

snowfall, Baton Rouge last received a significant amount of snow — a little more than 3 inches — on Feb. 5, 1988, Keim said last year. Baton Rouge previously received about 3 inches of snow Jan. 23, 1940.

The largest snowfall on record in Baton Rouge was in 1895 when

12 1/2 inches of snow blanketed the city, Keim said.

Prior to the 2010-09 winter, Keim said Baton Rouge most re-cently had two measurable snow events in winter 1973.

WEATHER, from page 1

Contact Lindsey Meaux at lmeaux@lsureveille.com

will be no better than it has been in the past, but I am hopeful there will be no new cuts,” Martin said. “I think the best-case scenario is zero or minimal cuts to be introduced in this legislative session.”

Martin may be hoping against

hope as the state has a projected budget shortfall more than $1 billion over the next fiscal year.

The Revenue Estimating Con-ference listens to financial forecasts from the state budget office, the leg-islative fiscal office.

The panel considers a myriad of factors to unanimously approve an

amount the governor can spend in his budget, said University econom-ics professor Jim Richardson, who sits on the four-person panel.

The governor then releases his general budget, and the legislators will edit and approve the budget dur-ing the March legislative session.

“Although tomorrow is a very

important day, we have to remember the governor proposes, the legisla-ture appropriates, so there is a long distance between whatever the gov-ernor says he would prefer and what is likely to come out of the other end of the legislature,” Martin said.

Martin said he will pursue great-er authority from the legislature to

dictate fees and tuition in the school to make up for lost state revenues.

Raising tuition or fees requires a two-thirds approval of the legisla-ture.

BUDGET, from page 1

Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at xwilson@lsureveille.com

THE DAILY REVEILLEFriday, February 12, 2010 PaGe 16