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From practice dummy to team leader, just like that.
As the LSU football team made its BCS push in 2011, then-true freshman receiver Jarvis Landry
toiled against the starting defense week after week. It’s not a glamor-ous job by any means, but the prac-tice squad does have its benefi ts.
That’s not to say he was un-known coming into this season’s camp, though. Anyone who took in the Tigers’ matchup against Auburn
last season, when Landry waylaid a War Eagle kickoff returner, can attest to that.
He spent a year refi ning his work ethic, developing chemistry with ju-nior quarterback Zach Mettenberger
Craig Cordes was home on holi-day from his corporate fi nance job in 2007 when his high school friend Antonio LaMartina , presented him with a semi-outlandish proposal — Capri Sun -style alcoholic beverages.
The idea that started as a melted margarita puddle sloshing around in-side of a plastic bowl is expected to generate $27 million in revenue this year.
“In a time where you have cell phones communicating instanta-neously, everything is about now, now, now and our product is a now product,” said 28-year-old Craig Cordes , co-creator of the to-go-pouch-packaged frozen cocktails named Cordina . Cordes is a 2006
University graduate and a Louisiana native
LaMartina’s concept for the pouched pleasure spawned from a trip to a Gulf Coast beach. LaMar-tina had trekked to his hotel room to retrieve a margarita pitcher but was denied re-access to the beach due to glass restrictions. He ran upstairs to transfer the spirited slushy into a plastic bowl, but the beverage had melted upon his second return to the shore.
Facing a total buzz kill, LaMar-tina saw his nephew sipping on a Ca-pri Sun and a light bulb switched on.
Cordes said when LaMartina fi rst pitched the idea, he thought it was a failure waiting to happen, but after a night’s sleep, Cordes woke up ready to take on the task. He quit his job in New Jersey and moved
to Houston to work full-time so he could easily travel to Louisiana .
Cordes , LaMartina and his brother, Sal LaMartina , began at-tending trade shows and learned that fl exible pouches for liquids could be equipped with a screw-on top — making them easily portable and re-sealable.
The entrepreneurs began work-ing on their product alone during nights and weekends, dedicating money from each paycheck toward their product, and in 2009 , after quit-ting their full-time jobs, the three friends opened Big Easy Blends — the manufacturer of Cordina drinks — in a 2,000-square-foot location.
“Now, four years into it, we have expanded into a
Reveille� e Daily
Friday, September 7, 2012 • Volume 117, Issue 11www.lsureveille.com
ENVIRONMENT: Lovebugs plague campus, p. 3
ANALYSIS: Mettenberger doesn’t need to live up to preseason hype, p. 7
TRANSPORTATION
Ben WallaceSenior Contributing Writer
Alex CassaraSports Writer
Ferris McDanielStaff Writer
TAILGATING
LANDRY, see page 15
BEN HUR, see page 6
CORDINA, see page 6
ALYSSA SIRISOPHON / The Daily Reveille
LSU alumnus Craig Cordes helped start Cordina daiq-GO-ris. The cocktails come in a variety of � avors and can be purchased at Walmart on Highland Road and Lee Drive.
University graduate helps create pouch cocktails
Landry named o� ensive captain for Washington game
Three miles from campus doesn’t sound far.
But for residents of The Cottag-es and The Woodlands , the relatively new off-campus student housing developments sandwiched between Nicholson Drive and Burbank Drive along Ben Hur Road , traffi c poses a threat to their attendance record on a daily basis.
Many school days, the cars stopped at Burbank back up past the caboose of the line of cars simulta-neously backed up from Nicholson along the three-quarter mile road stretch, almost a half-mile in either direction from the respective stop signs.
The overlap sometimes traps residents in their neighborhoods because the jammed cars can block both lanes of traffi c in front of the main gates for each neighborhood.
Coastal environmental science
Traffic off campus blockades students
Breaking Out
LSU SYSTEM
Legal Counsel Lamonica resigns
Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected] Pictured: Sophomore receiver Jarvis Landry (80) leads the team Sept. 1 before the Tigers’ 41-14 victory against North Texas.
The LSU System Legal Coun-sel Ray Lamonica resigned from his position Thursday, according to the LSU System. His resignation comes a few months after former LSU Sys-tem President John Lombardi was fi red and former LSU Chancellor Michael Martin resigned.
Lamonica will retain his posi-tion as a professor in the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, but The Daily Reveille reported in March that La-monica drew a six-fi gure salary from the Center despite not teaching for seven years. His resignation will go into effect Friday.
Last spring, Lamonica earned a $275,000 annual salary from the LSU System’s Offi ce. Law Cen-ter offi cials confi rmed to The Daily Reveille that $102,000 of his wages and more than $30,000 in his ben-efi ts were transferred from the Law Center’s budget to the System Offi ce for his pay.
Staff Reports
BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
Andrea Gallo • Editor-in-ChiefEmily Herrington • Managing Editor
Bryan Stewart • Managing Editor, External MediaBrian Sibille • News Editor
Morgan Searles • Entertainment EditorRachel Warren • News and Entertainment Deputy Editor
Luke Johnson • Sports EditorAlbert Burford • Deputy Sports Editor
Kirsten Romaguera • Production EditorClayton Crockett • Opinion EditorCatherine Threlkeld • Photo EditorAlix Landriault • Multimedia Editor
Olivia Gordon • Radio DirectorAnnabel Mellon • Advertising Sales Manager
�e Daily Reveille
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recog-nize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clari�ed please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or e-mail [email protected].
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 Of�ce of Student Media in B-34 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily dur-ing the fall and spring semesters and semi-weekly during the sum-mer semester, except during holidays and �nal exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscrip-tions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semes-ter, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-39 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.
�e Daily ReveilleB-16 Hodges Hall • Baton Rouge, La. 70803
Newsroom (225)578-4810 • Advertising (225)578-6090
INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL STATE/LOCAL
Nation & World Friday, September 7, 2012page 2
Costa RIca escapes big damage from serious 7.6 magnitude quake
CANGREJAL, Costa Rica (AP) — The bulletins were terrifying: a powerful earthquake had struck off the coast of this Central American country, spawning a tsunami warn-ing and bringing fears of wide-spread catastrophe.
But Costa Rica suffered re-markably little damage from Wednesday’s magnitude-7.6 quake — a few blocked high-ways, some collapsed houses and one death, of a heart attack caused by fright. Officials credited the relatively deep location of the quake and strict building codes. European Central Bank unveils aggressive bond plan to save euro
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank unveiled its most ambitious plan yet to ease Europe’s financial cri-sis with a plan to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds to help lower borrowing costs for countries struggling to manage their debts.
Large-scale purchases of short-term government bonds would drive up their price and push down their interest rate, or yield, taking some pressure off of finan-cially stressed governments such as Spain and Italy.
Jury convicts Drew Peterson of third wife Kathleen Savio’s death
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Drew Peter-son — the crass former Illinois police officer who gained notoriety after his much-younger wife van-ished in 2007 — was convicted Thursday of murdering a previous wife in a potentially precedent-set-ting case centered on secondhand hearsay statements.
Peterson, 58, sat stoical-ly looking straight ahead and did not react as the judge an-nounced jurors had found him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his third wife, Kath-leen Savio. Her relatives gasped. Police in legal mine�eld take action on Arizona immigration law
PHOENIX (AP) — The most contentious part of Arizona’s im-migration law has approval to move forward, surviving a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
But the practical effect of what critics call the “show me your papers” provision remains to be seen.
Immigrants are worried they’ll be harassed by officers be-cause they look Hispanic.
Officers say they’ll be open to lawsuits if they’re accused of racially profiling, not adequately enforcing the law.
MANDEVILLE (AP) — The Mis-sissippi Gulf Coast isn’t the only place dead nutria washed ashore after Hurricane Isaac. Mandeville Mayor tells The Times-Picayune those included dead fish, a dead al-ligator and some feral hogs.
Villere says the city got state permission to dump the dead ani-mals in a closed parish landfill. He says city crews dug a hole, dumped in the bodies, and filled the hole back in.
Thousands of dead nutria also washed up on the beaches in Mis-sissippi’s Harrison and Hancock counties. Following the storm clean - up crews began picking up the dead nutria and debris.
WeatherTODAY
7491
Isolated T-storms
9066
SATURDAY
Regenerated remnant of Hurricane Isaac lurks in Gulf of Mexico
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — If a well-traveled remnant of last week’s Hurricane Isaac becomes a tropical system in the Gulf of Mex-ico, it would be a rare but not un-precedented event, forecasters say.
In 2005, a remnant from a tropical depression that dissipated near Puerto Rico eventually be-came part of a new depression, which became the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. This is the only example of this scenario.
Israeli model and actress rallies support for imprisoned Gadha� son
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An im-prisoned son of former Libyan dic-tator Moammar Gadhafi is getting help from an unlikely source: an Israeli actress and model who says she had a romantic relationship with him.
Orly Weinerman is rallying support for a petition drive calling on Libyan authorities to release Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, saying he is a generous and caring person who has been abandoned by the interna-tional community and deserves a fair trial outside Libya.
Erwin Mascarinas / The Associated Press
Residents take shelter Aug. 31 at the lobby of the city hall in Tandag, Surigao Del Sur province in southern Philippines, following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
8362
SUNDAY
8465
MONDAY
8569
TUESDAY
PHOTO OF THE DAY
CONNOR TARTER / The Daily Reveille
A lamp begins to illuminate a walkway outside of Himes Hall on Thursday evening. Submit your photo of the day to [email protected].
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Ex-FEMA worker gets one year probation in contract probe fraud
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A for-mer employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been sentenced to one year of probation for helping a govern-ment contractor prepare a FEMA contract proposal for maintain-ing government-issued shelters in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
Robert Blevins pleaded guilty in May to violating a federal con-flict-of-interest law. The 75-year-old had faced a maximum sentence of one year when a federal magis-trate sentenced him Wednesday.
AMANDA MCCOY / The Associated Press
A clean-up crew picks up dead nutria Sunday that had washed onto the beach in Bay St. Louis, Miss., following Hurricane Isaac.
Dead nutria and other creatures wash ashore in Hurricane Isaac’s wake
The Downtown Develop-ment District is conducting a survey to gather information and opinions from Baton Rouge residents about a potential gro-cery store in the city’s downtown area.
The survey began two weeks ago after developers expressed interest in adding one there, said Davis Rhorer , executive director of the Downtown Development District.
The survey has been dis-tributed to 5,000 residents so far and has received nearly 1,200 re-sponses, Rhorer said.
The survey’s questions focus on supporting local business, res-idents’ ideal travel distance to a grocery store and the downtown area, residents’ preferred grocery store and the idea of a downtown grocery store, in addition to a number of other subjects.
Survey results show a posi-tive response to the idea, of a downtown grocery store with 82 percent of respondents support-ing a new store. Additionally, 76 percent of respondents are will-ing to travel zero to 10 miles to a grocery store — about the dis-tance from the University to the downtown area.
Rhorer said the need for a store is glaring, as the nearest one
is Calandro’s Supermarket at the corner of Government and Edi-son streets .
“It’s one of those catalytic projects that stabilizes residen-tial development downtown,” he said.
Rhorer said a few ideas about what type the downtown grocery store might be and where it will be located exist but can’t be revealed just yet. He said the next step is to forward the survey results to the appropriate people who have expressed interest in developing a store.
Residents can participate in the survey or view results by clicking a link to the downtown grocery store survey on the right-hand side of the page at down-townbatonrouge.org.
Students have swatted, slapped and struck lovebugs for the past couple of weeks and will be forced to continue tolerating little black pests as the season nears its an end in September.
Plecia nearctica , more com-monly known as lovebugs, descend upon the Gulf Coast twice a year, said Tim Schowalter, department head of Entomology.
Though some students think the bug has no other purpose than mating mid-fl ight, Schowalter said the larvae consume decaying ma-terial, notably grass roots, and help the natural decomposition process.
“Their natural role is to chew up dead stuff,” Schowalter said. “In chewing up dead stuff, they pro-vide nutrients and space for new plant growth.”
Schowalter said the fl ies fi nd shelter in the ground or in low shrubbery and are attracted to wetter areas, which explains why
Hurricane Isaac didn’t wipe out the population. If anything, he said, the rain would increase their longevity and repopulation as it did after storms such as Hurricane Rita . Male bugs normally live two or three days, females live up to a week, and the entire season can last more than a month, Schowalter said.
“In the city, it’s hotter and drier,” he said. “Lovebugs would probably prefer moister areas in the suburbs.”
Rasheda Gros , chemistry ju-nior , said she fi nds lovebugs more annoying in her hometown of Ed-gard, La. , than in Baton Rouge .
“There was really no way to deal with them. They’re every-where,” Gros said. “I think it’s way better in Baton Rouge than at home.”
But Sarah Hetzel , political sci-ence freshman , said she fi nds love-bugs to be worse on campus than her home near the interstate.
“Bugs on campus in general are bad. They’re worse here than
home,” Hetzel said.Aside from being a nuisance,
the pests’ acidic bodily fl uids can damage car paint if action is not taken, Schowalter said. Lovebugs are attracted to exhaust fumes and lighter surfaces.
Gros said from her experience, lovebugs can be found around white cars, like her aunt’s. She said it’s impossible to open the car door without letting a few pests in, and the bugs have also affected her clothing choice.
“You don’t want to wear white, because they’ll attack you,” Gros said.
Hetzel said lovebugs and ants found their way into her car when she left the University when cam-pus was closed for Hurricane Isaac. But the only way to deal with them, Hetzel said, is to “wait for them to go away.”
Logan Knight , electrical engi-neering junior , had similar advice.
“Treat them like fl ies. Ignore them,” he said.
Schowalter said pesticides are
no use against the lovebugs and is even counterproductive since the bugs help plants.
“I just usually tell people that’s one of the things about living on the Gulf Coast,” he said. “Like
hurricanes, you need to be prepared for them.”
� e Daily Reveille page 3Friday, September 7, 2012
Spruce Up Your Résumé! LSU Career Services Résumé Walk-In Hours
September 4-7, 20128:30 am – 4:30 pm, B-4 Coates Hall
careercenter.lsu.edu
Join LSU Career Services for the Career Expo!September 11-12, 2012
10:30 am – 3:30 pm, PMACcareercenter.lsu.edu/career-expo
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Legacy Magazine needs a new name.Help make LSU history by
Tweeting your name submission to @nameyourmagazine
Visit www.nameyourmagazine.comFor more details
DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?Call Joe at the Student
Media Offi ce578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or
E-mail: [email protected] Combustion azz Show
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Lovebugs adorn campus as hot weather continues Danielle KelleyContributing Writer
AUSTIN BENNETT / The Daily Reveille
A pair of lovebugs lay dead on the front of a car Wednesday.
District distributes survey on potential grocery store
Ferris McDanielStaff Writer
Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected]
Respondents support new store
Survey Response: · 55 percent say supporting a local business is very important· 82 percent of respondents would support a downtown grocery store · 76 percent are willing to travel zero to 10 miles to a grocery store· 82 percent live or work within their travel preference.
Contact Ferris McDaniel at [email protected]
ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS
�e Daily Reveillepage 4 Friday, September 7, 2012
College graduates who re-ceived bachelor degrees in jour-nalism and mass communica-tion in 2011 experienced a small improvement in the job market, according to the PEW Research Center.
In the University of Geor-gia’s Annual Survey of Journal-ism and Mass Communication Graduates, 62.2 percent of 2011 graduates with bachelor degrees in journalism or mass communi-cation found full-time jobs within six to eight months of graduation.
In 2010, 58.2 percent of the mass communication graduates found full-time jobs within the same timespan and 55.5 percent of graduates in 2009.
According to the PEW Re-search Center website, the James M. Cox Jr. Center for Internation-al Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia conducted the survey.
“In a period of some eco-nomic recovery nationally, our field has shown that same general pattern,” Cox Center Director Lee Becker told PEW.
But Becker said the study’s positive findings may not be as inspiring as they seem.
“It’s hard to be optimistic when you use as a reference point the pre-2008 data,” he said.
In 2007, before the national economic recession, results of the survey set the employment rate for new graduates at 70.2 percent.
Andrea Miller, associate dean for Undergraduate Studies at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU, said
the results show an improving job market but mainly for recent graduates.
“We hear about many people with jobs in journalism are getting laid off, and those are the things that parents of stu-dents read and worry about,” she said. “But at the same time there are many people hiring new gradu-ates.”
Mass Com-munication Pro-fessor Craig Freeman agreed that these survey results are good news for this gen-eration of college students but bad news for older generations.
“Employers in journalism want people with advanced, elec-tronic media experience,” he said. “This crop of emerging stu-dents has these technical skills.”
According to Miller, experi-ence is key to job security as a mass communication major.
“In our field, employers are looking for practical experience,” Miller said.
Lisa Lundy, Associate Pro-fessor of Mass Communication, said the market has always been this way.
“Students that don’t come out of college with an internship or some kind of experience strug-gle with finding jobs,” Lundy said.
Miller said students graduat-ing in mass com-munication are often qualified for jobs outside of their concentra-tions.
“The No. 1 thing that employ-ees are looking for are commu-nication skills,” she said. “You may have the best knowledge of any field, but if you
can’t communicate them, you have nothing.”
Manship School Dean Jerry Ceppos said he finds the national numbers encouraging.
“Mass communication is un-usual because students are trained to write clearly and think analyti-cally,” Ceppos said. “So it’s not just journalism jobs but a wide array of jobs.”
�e Daily Reveille page 5Friday, September 7, 2012
Chet HebertContributing Writer
Professors call students prepared
Survey shows increase in jobs for mass comm grads
Contact Chet Hebert at [email protected]
MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille
[Top]: A band performs following the Harambee in the Student Union. [Upper Middle]: MLK Dance Ensemble performs Thursday. [Lower Middle]: Students congregate in the Union following the Harambee performance. [Bottom]: LSU NPHC Unity performing atHarambee.
PHOTO STORY JOBS
Check out lsureveille.com to learn what happened at the Harambee
‘ We hear about many people with jobs in
journalism are getting laid o, and those are
the things that parents of students read and
worry about.’Andrea Miller
associate dean for Undergraduate Studies at the Manship School of
Mass Communication
55,000-square-foot facility and have employed 144 people at the highest point,” Cordes said.
Cordina now offers fi ve drink fl avors — watermelon and lime mar-GO-ritas , strawberry daiq-GO-ris , pina-GO-lada and choc-GO-late mudslide — in stores, including Walmart and Walgreens, around the country.
But the drinks’ popularity didn’t always exist.
“The beginning was miserable because everybody that we talked to said they would never drink out of a pouch,” Cordes said.
After Cordina’s appearance, many pouched cocktails from brands including Smirnoff and Dailys sur-faced. Cordes said the difference between Cordina and these products is that Cordina beverages are reseal-able and the others have “tear-off tops,” making them a one-time-use drink.
Cordes said there were a num-ber of catalysts that “were the fuel to get the car started.”
In 2010 , Cordina won a pack-aging award from Beverage World magazine for functionality. Around the same time, the company was admitted into Idea Village , a not-for-profi t business incubator in New Or-leans, where it won an entrepreneur challenge. Then, in 2011 , Cordes and his comrades were offered a major business deal.
“Walgreens called us to do a nationwide deal in 2011 for 2012 programming,” he said. “We never looked back after that.”
Cordes said the company is
quickly expanding and continuing to innovate its product. They recently released a football-shaped pouch — perfect for tailgating. He said the product’s growth has been from grassroots advertisements and word-of-mouth.
Though the company has a nationwide deal with Walgreens, Cordes said the product hasn’t fully penetrated the nation yet and is more
popular on the East Coast. How-ever, the $2 beverages can be found in every state except for Wyoming , Alaska , Utah , Pennsylvania and Montana .
“We haven’t really even scratched the surface of what we can do,” Cordes said.
� e Daily Reveillepage 6 Friday, September 7, 2012
Reveille Radio91.1 KLSU
Hear about LSUPD’s efforts to prepare for tailgating
at 4:20 p.m.
Tune in at 5:20 p.m. to learn about The Oasis, a new form of tailgating.
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blogs at lsureveille.com: Entertainment writer Kaci Yoder washes the MTV Video Awards down with a stiff drink in ‘The Booze Tube.’Read a review of ‘The Night Circus’ on ‘Bound for Books.’
CORDINA, from page 1
junior and Cottages resident Jona-than Lambert said he has to leave at least 30 minutes before class starts to make it on time to 8:30 or 9 a.m. classes.
“The worst part is getting past Brightside [Lane/Lee Drive] , be-cause it takes like 20 minutes just to get out of The Cottages ,” Lambert said.
Lambert takes the bus twice a week, although those who ride the Ben Hur/Burbank bus in the morn-ings know they’re usually packed to capacity.
“There’s people standing ev-erywhere,” Lambert said. “There’s barely room to move.”
Business junior and Woodlands resident Kelli Langley uses the Tiger Trails smart phone application to lo-cate buses. But many times, she and other app users see one bus parked in front of the Journalism building, presumably waiting for the other bus to return to campus before it heads out again.
“Two buses is enough, but I think they just need to run both of them all the time,” Langley said.
Students sometimes have to slip off their backpacks just to fi t, she said.
Each TigerTrails bus seats 45 riders , but another 35 or 40 people can fi t if they stand, said Gary Gra-ham , director of Parking, Traffi c and Transportation .
“We add a second [Burbank/Ben Hur] bus and everybody’s say-ing this isn’t enough,” Graham said, while stressing that the buses go where the demand lies. “If they want to put three buses on Ben Hur instead
of two, then we’ve got to take one off [another route],” he said.
If Graham wants to present a valid argument for new buses to the Student Required Fee Committee, the group that regulates which fees pay for designated services, a traffi c survey needs to be conducted to fi nd where the highest demand exists, he said.
In addition to the survey, pas-senger count data captured by infra-red beams on the steps of every bus will also factor into which buses end up on each route.
“It’s our job to make a decision that positively affects the greatest number of students,” said Taylor Cox , Student Government president and student chair of the Student Re-quired Fee Committee .
The roughly $3.6 million cost of operating Tiger Trails is funded by the $66.20 mass transit system fee that appears on all full-time students’ fee bills under the lump sum Univer-sity Required Activity fee .
But for new buses to be added to the 18-bus fl eet, that fee will likely need to rise, Graham said.
This year, the Offi ce of Parking, Traffi c and Transportation pays a fl at rate of about $90 per hour for each bus to First Transit , the contracted company who operates TigerTrails and Campus Transit , in addition to surcharges for part of the fuel costs.
Cox said he’s also trying to add a night bus to Ben Hur/Burbank bus route, so students who frequent the Tigerland area can have a safe ride home.
Contact Ferris McDaniel at [email protected]
BEN HUR, from page 1
Contact Ben Wallace at [email protected]
One week ago today, plenty of people were discussing LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger . Can he be the fi rst LSU quarterback in recent years to pose a serious and con-sistent threat with his vertical pass-ing attack? Is he a dark-horse Heisman candidate? Is he the “Mett-siah”? Does he possess super-natural healing pow-ers?
One week ago today, most of those questions didn’t seem too ri-diculous.
But Mettenberger started his fi rst game for LSU last Saturday and his performance was immediately condemned by some of those same
people who set absurd standards for No. 8 in the fi rst place.
Isn’t it terrible when an athlete doesn’t live up to the infl ated expec-tations the media and fan base have created for him?
But we can’t have it both ways. We built him up and now we tear him down after one week and a per-formance with a couple of dark spots
to go along with its bright moments.
Welcome to the spotlight, Zach .
With a 19-of-26 performance that totaled 192 passing yards, one touch-down and one in-terception, Metten-berger got the job
done handily against North Texas. He was effi cient, and LSU won 41-14. That’s what matters.
The LSU offense even racked up 508 yards, its most since a 2007
SportsFriday, September 7, 2012 page 7
Game Week NotebookLSU SCHEDULE
HUSKIES STATISTICS
LSU TOP PLAYERS
VS.No. 3 LSU Washington
Sept. 1Sept. 8Sept. 15Sept. 22Sept. 29Oct. 6Oct. 13Oct. 20Nov. 3Nov. 10Nov. 17Nov. 23
LSU 41, UNT 14Washington Idaho@ AuburnTownson@ FloridaSouth Carolina@ Texas A&M AlabamaMississippi St. Ole Miss@ Arkansas
Against North Texas:· 508 total yards
· Rushing: 46 attempts for 316 yards and three TD
· Passing: 19/26 for 192 yards and one TD
· One interception thrown
· One fumble recovered
· One interception caught
· 26 � rst downs
Against San Diego State:· 428 total yards
· Rushing: 31 attempts for 106 yards and one TD
· Passing: 25/35 for 222 yards and one TD
· One fumble lost
· Two fumbles recovered
· One interception caught
· 22 � rst downs
RB Kenny Hilliard: 13 carries, 141 yards, 2 TD against UNT
RB Alfred Blue: 16 carries, 123 yards against UNT
WR Jarvis Landry: 8 catches, 82 yards against UNT
S Eric Reid: 7 tackles, 1 INT against UNT
LB Lamin Barrow: 8 tackles
DE Barkevious Mingo: 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hurry
ALBERT BURFORD / The Daily Reveille
TIGERS STATISTICS
RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille
LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger (8) throws for a completion Sept. 1 against North Texas. Mettenberger threw for 192 yards in the season opener.
LSU doesn’t need a ‘Mett-siah’ for success
METT-SIAH, see page 11
THE BERT LOCKERALBERT BURFORDDeputy Sports Editor
The last time LSU lost a regular season, non-conference football game, gas cost an average of $1.45 per gallon, M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs” was topping the box offi ce and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were on their way to meeting each other for the last time in the U.S. Open fi nal.
The No. 3 Tigers (1-0) will look to extend this streak to a record-tying 39 consecutive regular-season, non-conference victories Saturday when they play host to the Washington Huskies (1-0).
But mum’s the word with fi gures like this for LSU coach Les Miles , who would rather not
discuss the record until it is broken. “This is a real quality Washington team,”
Miles said. “We’re not going to talk about ‘ifs’ and ‘whens.’ We really need to focus on this team.”
If the last meeting between these two teams in 2009 is any indication, Miles has reason to be wary.
Then-No. 11 LSU went into Husky Stadium as the heavy favorite, but Washington almost gave the Tigers more than they could handle, signifi -cantly besting the Tigers in total offense, third-down conversions and time of possession .
But turnovers and a slew of penalties proved too much for Washington, as LSU went on to win, 31-23.
Again, LSU is signifi cantly favored to win this weekend’s matchup, but Washington is play-ing for more than just their own program this time. The Huskies are representing their entire confer-ence.
The game is the fi rst of only two regular sea-son matches this year that will pit the Southeastern Conference and the Pacifi c-12 Conference against each other.
A Washington upset victory against LSU in Death Valley would go a long way in proving that the Pac-12 is nearing the same level as the SEC.
“The biggest way to change the perception
Tyler NunezSports Contributor
HUSKIES, see page 11
SportsSports
Washington Huskies, plagued by injuries, head to Tiger Stadium
Welcome to the JungleWelcome to the JungleWelcome to the Jungle
BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
Students roar on the Tigers on Sept. 1 during their � rst home game against North Texas. LSU and Washington, each coming off a season-opening win, meet on Saturday.
‘...We got the win, and if I keep
improving from here, we’ll be good.’
Zach MettenbergerLSU quarterback
� e Daily Reveillepage 8 Friday, September 7, 2012
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Tigers travel to Carolina Classic
VOLLEYBALL
The Carolina Classic will be the LSU volleyball team’s fi nal chance to set things straight be-fore the start of conference play next weekend.
The Tigers will face Middle Tennessee , Western Michigan and host North Carolina during the two-day tournament in Cha-pel Hill, NC.
“All are quality programs coached by very good coaches,” said LSU coach Fran Flory in a news release. “[North Carolina] will be a tough match. It will be very competitive, very tight con-test that will be determined by a couple of touches here or there … Western Michigan is also a great team.”
Flory has challenged her team early in the season by scheduling four top 20 programs over the course of the past two weekends.
The Tigers did not fare well in those matches, however, going 2-4 with all four losses coming in straight sets.
“As a coach, you learn more when you lose than when you win,” Flory said. “We challenged this team, and this schedule was put together on purpose. I don’t think we are playing anybody in non-conference that has not been in the top 50 RPI for the past couple of years … Certainly, they are a little bit better than us at this point, but it has given us a nice mark to shoot for.”
LSU is struggling this sea-son on the offensive side of the net, committing 124 hitting er-rors for a .155 team hitting clip.
“We have a few things we have to improve upon and hitting effi ciency is one of them,” Flory said. “The timing of our offense is important. We run so fast, and it is pretty intricate that you have to be pretty connected.”
The Tigers’ opponents for this weekend have a combined record of 12-8 , with North Car-olina leading the way with a 5-1 record.
The Tarheels are coming off a tournament win at the Aggie Invitational and their only defeat came at the hands of No. 19 Ken-tucky in straight sets.
UNC is led by senior Cora Harms who is hitting a team-high .409 and sophomore Ece Taner who averages 4.77 digs per set.
Mike GegenheimerSports Contributor
Contact Mike Gegenheimer at [email protected]
The Tiger soccer squad con-tinues its month-long homestand tonight, as Florida International (2-2 ) invades the LSU Soccer Sta-dium .
The Panthers return six start-ers from last year’s Sun Belt championship unit and are favored to return to the NCAA Tournament this fall.
“We know they’re a threat,” said LSU coach Brian Lee . “They have a great chance to win an im-proving league, and they know how to play with bigger schools.”
For the Tigers, a stout defense has led to consecutive wins fol-lowing an unexpected week off due to Hurricane Isaac .
LSU has allowed only four goals in six matches, but that hasn’t left the squad complacent.
Lee was upset with Stephen F. Austin ’s lone goal in LSU’s 2-1 Tuesday night win, since the Ti-ger back line failed to challenge a soft free kick into the penalty box. North Carolina State scored a sim-ilar goal during its 2-1 win against LSU last week.
“Whether it’s in the midfi eld or near the net, we need to win more balls in the air,” said fresh-man forward Fernanda Piña , who is tied for the team lead in points alongside sophomore striker Kal-ey Blades with four.
The duo was responsible for both of LSU’s goals against SFA,
but they’ll have to keep pace with a deep FIU offensive attack.
FIU sophomore Scarlett Mon-toya has already netted two goals and one assist, and Lee raved
about Panther junior forward Chelsea Leiva , who has one goal and one assist.
“The frontline is going to be a lot to handle for us,” Lee said. “It’s
all part of a fl owing, passing style they have. Combine that with their experience, and it makes for a nice challenge.”
The Panthers opened the sea-son with two wins by a combined tally of 6-1 but have since dropped two straight, including a 3-0 shel-lacking at No. 22 Florida last Sunday .
LSU hasn’t been quite as er-ratic, but the Tigers are nurturing four freshman starters.
According to Lee, midfi eld-ers Piña and Canadian newcomer Jade Kovacevic have added a free-wheeling dimension to LSU’s of-fensive movement, preventing the Tigers from being shutout yet this fall.
But Lee said that inexperi-ence — which also includes three new upperclassmen starters — has left LSU relatively disorganized, something he hopes will change with another match against an NCAA Tournament contender.
“Our team is still meshing to-gether, fi guring out what works,” Lee said. “There’s no doubt FIU is quality.
Especially early in the season, though, we’re still focusing on ourselves — how we communi-cate, how we pass, how we play.”
Defense-minded Tiger squad to host FIUSOCCER
Chris AbshireSports Writer
RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille
LSU freshman forward Fernanda Piña (7) � ghts off Rice freshman forward Lauren Hughes (7) to keep possession in Friday’s game against Rice at the Soccer Complex.
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected];
Twitter: @AbshireTDR
Having a dominant rushing at-tack can go a long way in helping a team succeed in the Southeastern Conference.
The past five national champi-ons, all hailing from the SEC, have averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game.
With this current crop of explo-sive runners, LSU has the potential to top a rushing attack that finished 22nd in the nation last year.
Junior running back Alfred Blue leads the group after wrestling the starting job away from junior Spencer Ware during an impressive fall camp.
During fall camp, Blue added an extra five pounds of muscle to his 215-pound frame, giving him extra protection against the pound-ing that comes with being a starting running back in the SEC.
“I really focused myself to the weight room and the conditioning program to get my body ready to compete,” Blue said. “No speed loss from last year though.”
Though Blue averaged only six attempts per game in 2011, he made the most of his opportunities and averaged 6.9 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns de-spite only receiving 78 carries.
By ascending to the top of the depth chart, Blue’s anemic work-load will see an uptick this year — which could curtail his effective-ness — but Blue remains confident of his abilities.
“I feel my high average was a product of me elevating myself to the situation,” Blue said. “It’s going to be hard keeping the average up
with the extra carries, but I feel like I can do it.”
Against North Texas, Blue backed up those claims rushing the ball 16 times for 123 yards, good for a robust 7.7 average.
Blue isn’t the only horse LSU brings to the race though, and his running mate, sophomore Kenny Hilliard, is coming off an impres-sive freshman campaign.
Hilliard is a bigger back — coming in at 6 feet and a stout 231 pounds — and excels in short-yard-age situations.
Hilliard converted eight of his 18 red zone attempts into touch-downs last year.
The balance of carries between the two was shown in the North Texas game. Blue received 16 car-ries to Hilliard’s 13, while both hit the century mark and ripped off runs longer than 30 yards.
“It’ll be like last year, whoever
has the hot hand will get the ball and we have confidence in each other to do well.” Hilliard said.
The primary back-ups to Blue and Hilliard come in the form of last year’s starters, Ware and junior
Michael Ford.Ford was mainly used as a
change of pace in last year’s of-fense. Ford never received more than 15 carries in a single game. His main trait is his speed — show-cased by his 5.9 yards per carry av-erage last year — good enough for second on the team.
Ford did the majority of his damage last year in the third quar-ter — after Ware had come in and wore down the defense — when he averaged 7.1 yards per carry and had three rushes of 20 or more yards.
Last season, Ware was named the starter going into the season opener versus Oregon. During the first four games of the season, Ware rushed well, averaging 4.1 yards per carry on 77 attempts, and also chipping in with three touchdowns.
Ware faded down the stretch, though, as the competition stiff-ened, averaging only 3.4 yards per carry versus ranked opponents and just 2.2 yards per carry in the SEC and BCS Championship Games.
�e Daily Reveille page 9Friday, September 7, 2012
FALL FEST 2012
www.lsu.edu/fallfest
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The LSU men’s golf team be-gins its season today by playing the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic at The Farm Golf Course in Rocky Face, Ga.
This is the second straight fall season the Tigers will open at the Carpet Capital. Last season, the Ti-gers finished eighth out of 12 teams at the event, posting a three-round score of nine-over par.
LSU is part of a field that in-cludes defending NCAA champion Texas, defending tournament cham-pion Auburn Tigers and four other Southeastern Conference teams.
“It’s not like opening up with an easy one,” said LSU coach Chuck Winstead. “The course will test our guys but I think that is good because we need to know where we stand go-ing forward.”
The Tigers are led by junior An-drew Presley, a preseason All-SEC selection who is coming off a strong sophomore campaign where he maintained a 72.5 scoring average.
With former LSU golfer Sang Yi graduated, Presley may be the team’s strongest golfer. Presley struggled in this tournament last season, finishing tied for 50th and posting a 12-over score of 228 for the tournament.
“The course is not that hard, but I didn’t play very well last year,” Presley said. “Hopefully, this time will be much better.”
The Tigers’ lineup after Presley includes sophomores Curtis Thomp-son and Stewart Jolly, junior Landon Lyons and freshman Zach Wright. Thompson, Jolly and Lyons all played the majority of last season’s tournaments and Wright signed as one of the top junior golfers in the country.
“I think we’re going to do pretty good,” Thompson said. “We have a solid first three or four guys and hopefully that fifth guy will kick in when one of the others won’t.”
The women’s team will also start its season Sunday. The No. 10 Lady Tigers will defend their title in the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, S.C., in a tourna-ment running through Tuesday.
LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen’s lineup will consist of se-nior Katrina Hegge, juniors Lindsay Gahm and Ali Lucas, sophomore Madelene Sagstrom and freshman Nadine Dreher. Only Sagstrom and Gahm played in the tournament last season.
“We’ve got a less experienced team this year,” Bahnsen said. “The tournament has a strong field, so re-alistically I would be happy with a top five finish.”
Contact James Moran at [email protected]
GOLF FOOTBALL
Men to tee off in Ga., women to go to S.C.James MoranSports Contributor
Stats show backfield one of nation’s best
Trey LabatSports Contributor
Blue, Hilliard star in season opener
RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille
LSU junior running back Alfred Blue (4) claimed 123 yards for 16 carries against North Texas in the Sept. 1 opener in Tiger Stadium.
Contact Trey Labat at [email protected]
� e Daily Reveillepage 10 Friday, September 7, 2012
[of SEC dominance] is to win the big games,” Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said at a news conference. “That’s what the people see, and that’s what the pundits talk about and write about.”
The Tigers’ defense faces the task of slowing Washington’s pass-ing game led by junior quarterback Keith Price.
“They like throwing the ball downfi eld,” said LSU junior defen-sive end Barkevious Mingo. “Our safeties and corners are going to have to be disciplined this week.”
In 2011, Price completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,063 yards, 33 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. In the Huskies’ season-opening vic-tory against San Diego State, he completed 25 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown.
“[Price] is a guy that can make plays with his feet,” Mingo said. “He’s got a strong arm, and he keeps his eyes down the fi eld and makes plays.”
But Price won’t have it easy either. LSU held North Texas to an SEC-best 219 yards of total of-fense. North Texas quarterback Derek Thompson was only able to complete 38.1 percent of his passes against the Tigers.
LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger said he trusts the de-fense will be able to contain the Hus-kies’ spread offense. If not, he plans on taking matters into his own hands.
“Our defense has done well in the past against teams who put up big numbers,” Mettenberger said. “Hopefully they can do the same, but our offense is very capable of putting up 50 if we need to.”
Mettenberger earned solid num-bers in his debut as starting quarter-back, completing 73.1 percent of his
passes for 192 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
“I thought our quarterback played well,” Miles said. “…Minus a penalty, [he] could easily have had two touchdowns and another 40 to 45 yards passing.”
Washington’s saving grace last Saturday was its defense, which picked up four sacks and forced three turnovers , including a fumble returned for a touchdown.
“Their front four guys have some size, they have some speed,” said LSU senior guard Josh Dworac-zyk. “As for linebackers, they have some young guys, some guys in there and playing some big roles.”
The Huskies go into this week-end undermanned after suffering several key injuries early this season.
Sarkisian announced this week that junior starting running back Jesse Callier and sophomore defen-sive end Hau’oli Jamora would both miss the rest of the season due to torn ACLs.
The Huskies lost another key player in sophomore starting offen-sive tackle Ben Riva due to a frac-tured forearm. As a result, Washing-ton’s already inexperienced offensive line became even more vulnerable.
But Washington’s recent mis-fortune could not discourage Sarki-sian from doing everything possible to prepare the Huskies for their fi rst road trip to an SEC venue in 29 years.
“There were some things that need to be fi xed, and we’re going to have to do it quickly,” Sarkisian said. “We’re heading down to LSU Satur-day night, [a] great environment for college football. It should be a tre-mendous setting.”
� e Daily Reveille page 11Friday, September 7, 2012
matchup against Louisiana Tech .That’s not to say there aren’t
improvements to be made.“No one can criticize me as
hard as I criticize myself,” Metten-berger said. “Y’all have ripped me in the newspapers and stuff but that’s part of it. I feel I could have played better. I wanted to be 26 for 26 with 300 yards but that’s not how it goes. But we got the win, and if I keep improving from here, we’ll be good.”
Quarterbacks playing their fi rst starts make mistakes. And if they’re going to screw up, it’s much bet-ter to do it against North Texas at home than at Jordan-Hare Stadium against Auburn in a few weeks.
Mettenberger did what he needed to do. He doesn’t need to light up defenses for 400 yards. He doesn’t need to toss the ball deep every series. He needs to manage the game. He needs to let LSU’s squadron of running backs contin-ue to break down defenses like they did in the fi rst game of the season.
While it’s easy to point a fi nger at Mettenberger , he’s not totally to blame for the game plan.
As fun as it is to watch a gun-slinger, that’s not something the Ti-gers are going to have this season and it’s not something they need. LSU offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa will continue to run the ball and exploit defenses with pass-es underneath — because it works.
It worked so well in 2003 that LSU won the BCS National Cham-pionship with Matt Mauck — a quarterback known more for his leadership skills than his ability to fi re the ball downfi eld. Mauck re-lied on running backs Justin Vin-cent and Joseph Addai to rack up yards, and it got the job done.
There’s no shame in holding down the offense with consistent short-range passing while the Ti-gers’ bevy of running backs do the damage. Only one week into the season, we can all take a step back. We can relax and be happy with what Mettenberger is doing because for now, it’s enough.
METT-SIAH, from page 7 HUSKIES, from page 7
Contact Tyler Nunez at [email protected]
AMERICAN LEAGUEBaltimoreNY YankeesOaklandTampa BayLA AngelsDetroitSeattleBostonTorontoKansas CityClevelandMinnesota
AtlantaSt. LouisPittsburghLA Dodgers ArizonaMilwaukeePhiladelphiaNY MetsSan DiegoMiamiColoradoChicago CubsHouston
NATIONAL LEAGUE
W L77 6077 6076 6075 6274 6373 6367 7163 7561 7561 7658 7956 81
78 6074 6372 6473 6568 7067 7066 7165 7264 7461 7756 8051 8642 95
PCT GB.562 -.562 -.559 .5.547 2.540 3.537 3.5.486 10.5.457 14.5 .449 15.5.445 16.423 19.409 21
.565 -
.540 -
.529 1.5
.529 1.5
.493 6.5
.489 7
.482 8
.474 9
.464 10.5
.442 13.5
.412 17.5
.372 23
.307 32
Wild card standingsMLB
Tampa BayTampa BayT 75 62 .547 2
Detroit 73 63 .537 3.5
Boston 63 75 .457 14.5
Kansas City 61 76 .445 16
Minnesota 56 81 .409 21
St. Louis 74 63 .540 -
LA Dodgers 73 65 .529 1.5
Milwaukee 67 70 .489 7
NY Mets 65 72 .474 9
Miami 61 77 .442 13.5
Chicago Cubs 51 86 .372 23
Contact Albert Burford at [email protected];
Twitter: @albertutz
W L PCT GB
�e Daily Reveille
Opinionpage 12 Friday, September 7, 2012
�e 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 Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to [email protected] or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consider-ation without changing the original intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without noti-�cation of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired every semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has �nal authority on all editorial decisions.
Editorial Policies & Procedures Quote of the Day“Patriot: the person who can
holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.”
Mark TwainAmerican author
Nov. 30, 1835 — April 21, 1910
Editorial BoardAndrea Gallo
Emily HerringtonBryan Stewart
Brian SibilleClayton Crockett
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Managing Editor, External Media
News Editor
Opinion Editor
The Daily Reveille wants to hear your reactions to our con-tent. Go to lsureveille.com, our Facebook page and our Twit-ter account to let us know what you think. Check out what other readers had to say in our comments section:
In response to Clayton Crock-ett’s head-to-head column on, “Should ‘Mark Owen’ be pun-ished for book on bin Laden raid?” readers had this to say:
“He turned from a patriot and es-teemed member of an American elite fighting force into a traitor for money. The publishing com-pany should also be blacklisted by all. May he get what he de-serves.”- Anonymous
“What about leaks from the white house concerning this op? Should they be punished? Was it political? Of course it is ok for him to defend your ‘free speech rights’ so you can denigrate his. How pathetic!”- Anonymous
“Have you read the book? Does he actually give details that he was obligated not to in other mis-sions? Was this mission included in any disclosure? What of Presi-dent Obama and other figures in Washington releasing details? Why are they not punished? Why do they have to lay low when ev-eryone else was spouting off de-tails of the mission? Some details of which were false. Has he been in fact prosecuted, convicted, and punished? Or are you jumping to a massive conclusion as some 20 year old kid who is ignoring a basic premise that Americans hold dear, ‘Innocent until proven guilty’? Grow up, Mr. Crockett.”- Seal Team 3: Audobon Zoo
“As a former SOF warrior who signed my own non-disclosure agreements, I hope Bissonnette does hard time in Leavenworth. He is a partisan, back-stabbing attention-seeker who has endan-gered the lives of all SOF mem-bers.”- Anonymous
The construction of shrines is an innately human endeavor.
The Pyramids, China’s Ter-racota Army, St. Peter’s Basilica — all grandiose monuments, all basically fancy tombstones.
So it made sense when a per-fectly shaped cross, formed from fallen steel girders and pulled from the smoking ruin of the World Trade Center, became an icon.
And now the Foundation for the National September 11 Me-morial and Museum has decided to include the steel girder cross in its exhibit at Ground Zero.
But AmericanAtheists, an or-ganization with little use for ico-nography of any sort, has decided to take issue with the cross’s in-clusion in what is meant to be a national place of unity and reflec-tion.
The cross, which was taken from the rubble by Christian aid workers and erected near Ground Zero, became a meeting place and makeshift memorial spot.
The families of victims dec-orated its base with flowers, pic-tures and mementoes.
The cross became a place of gathering for hundreds of New Yorkers still in shock — a kind of safe zone and chapel in the heart of a veritable battlefield.
But American Atheists feels the cross’s inclusion is prejudi-cial and shows favoritism toward Christians.
They have sued the National September 11 Memorial and Mu-seum and the city of New York and demanded the cross be either removed, or an object of equal veneration be included to repre-sent those without faith.
When asked by Fox News what object he would like to see erected to represent non-believers, American Atheists President David Silverman drew a blank — saying atheists didn’t really have a symbol.
After 9/11, as the search-and-rescue became a cleanup-and-re-cover, the city of New York had the 17-foot-tall cross placed on a pedestal across the street from Ground Zero.
For the last 11 years, the cross has served as a sight of pil-grimage for thousands of Ameri-cans, and it should continue in
that capacity.I will be the first to say that
America is not a Christian nation.It is, however, a nation full
of Christians and their history. This object, which so embodies their share of that great national trauma, must be given its rightful due.
And if atheism doesn’t have a symbol, then Silverman should find satisfaction in all of the emp-ty spots between the many other items the Foundation for the Na-tional September 11 Memorial and Museum has chosen to in-clude in its shrine.
Or perhaps American Athe-ists could adopt the memorial’s twin reflecting pools or massive man-made waterfalls as secular symbols of their contribution to our recovery.
Water’s pretty religiously neutral.
Including a place specifically for atheists is by no means be-yond the pale.
What is beyond the pale is turning hallowed ground into a soap box — or using a lawsuit to leverage one group out simply because you find their faith silly or offensive, especially when that object and those people played a major part in the history of that terrible event.
We, as a species, have a driv-ing need to remember our tragic places. Turning a place of horror into one of calm is a necessary part of finding closure.
The silent rows of decrepit block houses that mark the sight of Auschwitz-Birkenau come to mind.
That place, which was used for so much evil, has now be-come a place of remembrance.
It’s time Ground Zero is made to serve that purpose for us, and David Silverman and his band of pretentious jackasses need to shut up and let that happen.
Nicholas Pierce is a 22-year old history senior from Baton Rouge.
BLUE-EYED DEVILNICHOLAS PIERCEColumnist
Contact Nicholas Pierce at [email protected];
Twitter: @TDR_nabdulpierc
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Sept. 11 memorial should have steel cross
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MARK LENNIHAN / The Associated Press
Rev. Brian Jordan sprinkles water on the September 11 cross during a ceremony in New York on July 3, 2011.
� e Daily Reveille
OpinionFriday, September 7, 2012 page 13
HEAD to HEADDo voter ID laws discriminate against minorities?
Yes. Supporters of these laws are pushing an agenda.No. � ese laws help to ensure voter legitimacy.SHARE THE WEALTHJAY MEYERSColumnist
Contact Jay Meyers at [email protected]; Twitter: @TDR_jmeyers
Republican s have made it clear they will stop at nothing to keep President Obama from being re-elected to a second term — even if it means depriving certain minority groups of the right to vote.
Republican-controlled legislatures in more than a dozen states have passed laws requiring voters to show government-issued photo identifi cation at the polls in November .
Similar efforts are going on in 33 states, including Louisiana.
Why are Republican-controlled legisla-tures passing these laws? Is there evidence of substantial voter fraud in U.S. elections?
Our Lone Star neighbor has been the center of the voter ID debate, as many promi-nent groups, including the United States At-torney General, declared that the state’s re-quirements were among the most oppressive, amounting to the equivalent of a poll tax.
And last week, a federal court unani-mously agreed with Texas that “the laws will almost certainly have a retrogressive effect:
it imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities in Texas that are disproportionately likely to live in poverty.”
Proponents of voter ID laws argue that strict measures are necessary to prevent voter fraud. However, evidence shows voter impersonation is rare.
Each act of voter fraud risks fi ve years in prison and a $10,000 fi ne , while producing at most one incremental vote.
Because voter fraud is inherently irra-tional, it shouldn’t be surprising that there is no credible evidence of its existence in our country.
A nationwide analysis conducted by News21, a Carnegie-Knight investigative re-porting project, discovered ten cases of voter impersonation out of the total 2,068 alleged election fraud cases have occurred since 2000.
National Weather Service data indicates that Americans are struck and killed by light-ning as often as voter fraud occurred in the 2004 Ohio election.
The justifi cation for states, such as Tex-as, to pursue strict voter ID laws can only mean they are motivated by a particular policy agenda: keeping Obama from being re-elected.
Approximately 25 percent of African-Americans do not possess any form of gov-ernment identifi cation, according to several recent studies, including one by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Many Americans born outside the coun-try also lack the papers, such as a birth cer-tifi cate, required to obtain a driver’s license or state ID.
In order for those lacking a government-issued photo ID to vote, they would need to travel to a Department of Public Safety of-fi ce to get an election ID card. This process requires that you verify your identity, which often means paying $22 for a certifi ed copy of a birth certifi cate .
If passed, these restrictive voter ID poli-cies would make voting a signifi cantly harder task, primarily for certain demographics.
Given the meager evidence of voter fraud, these voter ID laws are not only a dis-criminatory attempt to keep minorities and low-income groups from voting, but a delib-erate plan to disenfranchise a large popula-tion of the Democratic Party.
Jay Meyers is a 19-year-old economics sophomore from Shreveport.
THE DAMN HAMMTAYLOR HAMMONSColumnist
Contact Taylor Hammons at [email protected]; Twitter: @TDR_thammons
Laws do not discriminate – people do.Discrimination is defi ned as any act
against the favor of a person or group of persons, according to Dictionary.com.
Laws are essentially words on a page that are enforced by authority fi gures, not by actions.
If you’re driving and you come to a stop sign, by law, you are required to stop. It does not matter the color of your skin, how much money you make, your politi-cal viewpoints or what your name is. If you get caught passing a stop sign without stopping, you get a ticket. It’s that simple.
However, Texas judges have delight-fully complicated such a simple concept.
A federal panel of three Texas judges rejected the proposed voter ID law, saying it discriminated against low-income fami-lies and minorities.
Basically, they’re saying these groups throughout Texas would receive most of the burden when it comes to obtaining proper identifi cation, that they are inca-pable of obtaining any form of photo iden-tifi cation.
Why are people not offended that it is easier to vote for the next president of the United States than it is to buy a pack of cigarettes? And how is it discriminating if everyone must show photo identifi cation in order to vote?
It’s astonishing that so many people do not have a driver’s license. A simple to the DMV solves that problem. But if that’s too burdensome, they can sign an affi davit and get their picture taken at the polls.
If these tasks deter a person from vot-ing, then it’s obvious this person cares little about voting and was probably among the percentage of non-voters in past elections. Therefore, implementing this law would not affect whether such a person shows up at the polls or not, but whatever show is on TV at the time of elections might.
But that doesn’t mean we should cut all restrictions and let anyone vote just be-cause we’d like to see an increase in the number of people voting.
This past Tuesday, New Hampshire’s voter ID law won approval by the Depart-ment of Justice. The reason New Hamp-shire is required to submit any election law changes to the Department of Justice is due to poor voter turnout in the 1968 presidential election, because the state still required voters to take a literacy test in or-der to cast their vote.
Requiring such a test was deemed dis-criminatory.
Nothing’s offi cial, but it’s safe to say the Department of Justice meant the test discriminated against the dim-witted – and for good reason.
In 1968, a literacy test in the red South was different from a literacy test in a blue state up north. In the South, a literacy test was used to keep most African-Ameri-cans from voting, but New Hampshire used the test to determine if a person was
competent enough to vote.In this day and age, an individual who
cannot read or write is more than likely in elementary school. If not, and they are of legal age to vote but can’t pass a literacy test, they should not be able to vote.
Voter ID laws are meant to protect the integrity of our electoral process by keep-ing non-citizens and other ineligible voters away from the ballots. We need a stricter policy throughout all states to uphold the legitimacy of electing our country’s next leader.
Otherwise we’re making a mockery of the democratic process.
Taylor Hammons is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Atlanta.
photo courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A federal court rejected a Texas law Thursday that would require voters to present photo IDs to elec-tion of� cials before being allowed to cast ballots in November. Current states requiring photo IDs are Idaho, South Dakota, Michigan, Louisiana, Florida, New Hampshire, Kansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
Which columnist echoes your beliefs? Vote at
lsureveille.com/opinion.
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� e Daily Reveillepage 14 Friday, September 7, 2012
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� e Daily Reveille page 15Friday, September 7, 2012
and fl exing his muscles on special teams. Landry plugged away and it’s paid off.
LSU coach Les Miles named Landry the offensive captain for Sat-urday’s matchup with Washington, in only the second game of what’s supposed to be Landry’s breakout season.
“It’s interesting [with] young guys — leadership is something that has to be earned,” Miles said. “… Everybody on our team has a real re-spect for Jarvis Landry .”
Landry said it was an honor to be appointed captain, especially when taking into account his relative lack of experience. In 14 games last year, he started once and caught just
four balls all season. For Miles , practice mentality
and production are the main criteria when considering the captain cre-dential.
Miles said Landry “[has] a blast” on the practice fi eld, and it seems to rub off on his teammates.
“It’s awesome to watch a guy who loves the game as much as he does,” Mettenberger said. “He goes out there every day to have fun.”
He’s also not one to back down from a challenge.
Landry was being recruited by LSU when he met fellow sopho-more receiver Odell Beckham Jr. at a 7-on-7 tournament. They quickly hit it off, and when Beckham said they should attend the same school, Landry agreed.
“When we’re [at practice], it’s kind of competitive,” Landry said. “He’s one of the reasons I came, just to compete with him.”
He fell behind from the start. Landry broke his foot before the start of 2011’s fall practice, hamper-ing him through camp.
Beckham pulled ahead and did it all for the Tigers as a freshman last season, catching 41 passes while re-turning punts and kicks. But Landry eventually found his niche.
En route to 11 special teams tackles, he became known for his jarring hits. On a third -quarter kick-off in the Auburn contest, Landry streaked between the hashes, deftly sidestepped Onterio McCalebb’s lead blocker and promptly fl attened the planting returner.
It took many by surprise, but Landry said it’s a knack he’s been playing with his whole life.
“He has a defensive mindset in a receiver’s body … so he’s more aggressive with everything he does,” Beckham said.
With Mettenberger behind cen-ter, Landry doubled his 2011 offen-sive production in the team’s fi rst game against North Texas, reeling in 8 catches. He led the team with 82 yards, 33 of them coming on a ball that Mettenberger beautifully placed over Landry’s left shoulder.
That chemistry they displayed was partly a product of their extend-ed time together mimicking the of-fense du jour last season.
“That’s the kind of thing I liked about the situation,” Landry said.
“I had the opportunity to work with who would be the starting quarter-back and I think that was a big deal coming into this fall.”
As the unit’s leader, Landry knows his offense’s fi rst game was not perfect. He said the Tigers could tighten up on momentum-killing penalties.
“Things like that we can work on as we come into Washington week and that can help us and be successful and more positive on of-fense,” Landry said.
LANDRY, from page 1
Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected];
Twitter: @cassaraTDR
� e Daily Reveillepage 16 Friday, September 7, 2012
