the daily reveille - sept. 21, 2011
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News, sports, opinion.TRANSCRIPT
The battle of the sexes rages on as women consistently surpass men in the student population.
The past 10 years’ enrollment fi gures show more women than men receiving an education from the University, and new research might provide insight as to why.
The current student body of 28,985 is made up of 51 percent
women and 49 percent men, a dif-ference of 725 people.
In fall 2006, women had 52 percent of the 29,317 total popu-lation. In fall 2001, women contributed to 53 percent of the 31,402 students, re-vealing that while women have re-mained the major-ity, numbers are starting to even out.
A nationwide survey conducted
by the Pew Research Center has concluded women see more value
and benefi ts from college than men do.
“ Half of all women who have graduated from a four-year college give the U.S. higher education sys-tem excellent or good marks for the value it provides given the money spent by students and their families; only 37 percent of male graduates agree,” the survey said.
Matt Ford, business manage-ment freshman, said he believes women might value a college educa-tion more.
“Women now can get bet-ter jobs and can compete,” Ford
Few will be happier to gradu-ate this winter than Androniki “Niki Bird” Papazoglakis . At least for her, the pending mas-ter’s degree in public admin-istration won’t go unused should she win the gubernato-rial election in October.
O u t s i d e school, Papa-zoglakis, D-Baton Rouge , is busy plan-ning her cam-paign for gov-ernor, and she doesn’t expect it to be easy.
“It’s sad that money buys elec-tions and media coverage,” Papa-zoglakis said.
Papazoglakis said she always fi ghts against injustice, of which she said the current administration is guilty — as indicated by her bid for governor.
In response, she plans to focus
her platform on two things she says are lacking: merit and substance. In choosing these themes, Papazogla-kis hopes to simplify government in a manner that prompts collabo-ration.
On the merit side, Papazoglakis touts a bachelor’s degree in international trade and fi nance from the Uni-versity along with pub-lic and private sector work, including execu-tive management ex-perience and nonprofi t advocacy work.
Papazoglakis per-sonally testifi ed against Gov. Bobby Jindal’s recent House Bill 55 , which limits registered sex offenders’ access
to social networking websites. Though she says the members of the House agreed with her, she was told that it was sure to pass because it was a “governor’s bill.”
Seeing that kind of power and control encouraged her to compete against Jindal for the governorship, she said.
istration won’t
Reveillewww.lsureveille.com
Football: Tigers face tough non-conference schedule, p. 6
� e DailyAction! See which NBA player is � lming on campus, p. 5
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 • Volume 116, Issue 22
Academics: Online classes increase 83.6 percent since last fall, p. 3
STUDENT UNION
ENROLLMENT IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT, SING OUT
Majority of students are women
WOMEN, see page 11
Study: Women value education moreMorgan SearlesStaff Writer
MAIL, see page 11
Universitymail service experiences dif� cultiesJosh NaquinStaff Writer
Androniki Papazoglakis’ platform:
• Simplify government• Replace political rhetoric with merit, substance• Foster cooperation with constituents• Reform tax policies• Increase permitting, production for oil and gas industry• Overhaul public transportation
ELECTION, see page 11
University student running for gov.Clayton CrockettStaff Writer
BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille
Public administration graduate student Androniki Papazoglakis, D-Baton Rouge, is running for governor and hopes to simplify government and promote collaboration.
� rowing her cap in the ring
BLAIR LOCKHART / The Daily Reveille
Vocaldente, an internationally acclaimed a capella group from Germany, performs Tuesday night in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building’s Recital Hall.
In fall 2006, women had 52 percent of the 29,317 total popu-lation. In fall 2001, women contributed to 53 percent of the 31,402 students, re-vealing that while women have re-mained the major-ity, numbers are starting to even out.
survey conducted
Who is LSU?
A � ve-part series looking at the
University’s population.
You’ve got mail — unless you’re one of the numerous students plagued by problems at the recently relocated mail center.
The University switched to RICOH , a privatized mail service now located in the LSU Student Union, at the end of August . The move resulted in changes to the delivery location and address for-matting, as well as the elimination of several ZIP codes. Mail carried by USPS has to be re-routed to the three-week-old mail center because of problems within the organization.
“We’ve been in touch with the USPS, and we’re working to resolve any problems they may be having,” said Paul Ramirez , manager of mail-ing services .
Problems with mail delivery are due exclusively to the mail carrier, according to Jonathan Mercadel , integrated account manager for the RICOH mail center .
Matthew Jacobs • Editor-in-ChiefChris Branch • Associate Managing EditorRyan Buxton • Associate Managing Editor
Marissa Barrow • Managing Editor, External MediaSydni Dunn • News Editor
Rachel Warren • Deputy News Editor & Entertainment EditorRowan Kavner • Sports Editor
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Devin Graham • Opinion EditorChristopher Leh • Photo Editor
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Steven Powell • Radio DirectorScott Cornelius • Advertising Sales Manager
� e Daily Reveille
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INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL STATE/LOCAL
Nation & World Wednesday, September 21, 2011page 2
Mexico to lessen terrorism charges to disturbing the peace in Twitter case
VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) — Lawmakers in Veracruz state ap-proved a law Tuesday designed to lessen terrorism charges fi led against a man and a woman for allegedly causing a panic by tweeting rumors of drug cartel shootouts.
The law would create a new charge of disturbing the peace, allowing prosecutors to revise the indictments against Gilberto Martinez and Maria de Jesus Bravo.
Libyan graf� ti artists make fun of Gadha� with newfound freedom
Feds ask court to dismiss lawsuit about ‘don’t ask’ unconstitutionality
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Even as federal offi cials laud the end of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay troops, Justice Department lawyers are trying to dissuade a federal appeals court from decid-ing if the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was unconstitutional.
They fi led a motion Tuesday asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate a lower court ruling last September that found the ban violated the civil rights of gay service members.
Fatal grizzly bear mauling possibly triggered by couple � eeing
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Newly released recordings of 911 calls from hikers who came upon a fa-tal bear mauling in Yellowstone National Park reveal a harrowing scene in which the hikers heard a bear’s roar and a couple screaming before the man went silent and the woman continued to yell for help.
Authorities released the re-cordings Tuesday along with a report from investigators that concluded the couple’s scream-ing and running possibly triggered the mauling of 57-year-old Brian Matayoshi.
Man pleads guilty to killing bald eagle, will be sentenced in January
MONROE (AP) — A 22-year-old West Monroe man has ad-mitted to shooting a bald eagle found beheaded in Franklin Par-ish, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokes-man Adam Einck said Tuesday.
Einck said Jeffrey M. Miles pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Monroe to one count of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Hayes scheduled sentencing Jan. 3. Miles remains free on personal recognizance.
The maximum penalty is a $100,000 fi ne and a year in jail.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
Tybalt the orange tabby lounges in the arms of a cat lover Tuesday evening.
WeatherTODAY
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Isolated T-storms
89 66
THURSDAY
@lsureveille, @TDR_news, @TDR_sports
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‘Infertile’ Houma woman rushed to hospital with birth pains
HOUMA (AP) — Surprise! It’s a baby!
Marjorie Rodrigue, 43, of Houma, said she didn’t even know she was pregnant when she called an ambulance Sunday night and went to Terrebonne General Medical Center because of chest pain and cramps so bad she couldn’t walk.
Doctors had told her she couldn’t conceive a child.
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan graffi ti artists are taking advan-tage of newfound freedom to make fun of ousted leader Moam-mar Gadhafi on the streets of Tripoli.
For 42 years, the authori-tarian leader banned writing or drawing on public walls. Artists are now expressing themselves throughout the capital of 2 mil-lion people, and their favorite topic is Gadhafi and other former members of his regime on store-fronts and offi ce buildings.
One picture mocks Gadhafi ’s
FRANCOIS MORI / The Associated Press
Graf� ti depicting ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadha� is seen Tuesday on a street in Tripoli, Libya. After 42-years of authoritarian rule artists are � nally able to express themselves in public spaces.
Today on lsureveille.com
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
Out of Print news blog: Read one student’s study abroad experience.
LMFAO entertainment blog: Check out the best moments of the new episode of “Glee.”
Get the latest news by downloading the LSU
Reveille app in the iTunes Store and Android MarketReveille app in the iTunes
Tiger Feed sports blog: See sports columnist Rob Landry’s thoughts on Cam Newton’s fast NFL start.
See a video of the Study Abroad Fair held in the Student Union.
habit of calling himself the king of kings of Africa by calling him the “monkey of monkeys of Af-rica.”
Another shows the longtime leader’s public relations offi cer Youssef Shakhir with a rat’s tail and holding prayer beads, be-cause people said he always held them in appearances.
Gadhafi , who remains on the run after revolutionary forces swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21, also is shown with his trademark curly hair, but the mural calls it “barbed wire hair” instead of using his popular nickname “frizzhead.”
Taking a math exam in pajamas may seem odd to some, but a nation-al trend of increased online college classes is making non-traditional learning readily available.
A recent study by Pew Research Center said more than 75 percent of American colleges and universities offer online classes, and 23 percent of college graduates polled said they have taken an online course.
The University currently offers 22 undergraduate online courses with multiple sections of each class, according to the University Office of Budget and Planning. More than 1,600 undergrads are currently en-rolled in an online class, equating an 83.6 percent increase from last fall’s online enrollment.
But some students doubt online courses can provide the same educa-tion as those held in classrooms, the study said.
“It’s about providing a com-parable experience,” said Doug Weimer, executive director of LSU Continuing Education.
Weimer said the goal is not to replace the classroom experience but to provide options to cater to non-traditional students — older adults enrolled in courses or students who learn differently.
Weimer said the University is following the national trend of in-creased online education because schools are becoming more ac-commodating of non-traditional students.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has also begun initiatives to increase the number and quality of online classes.
According to the ULL Office of Distance Learning website, the university aims to create an online education program in a cost-efficient way to provide adequate schooling for those who cannot acclimate to
classroom learning.ULL began offering “electronic
courses” during the summer 2008 semester, and the number of those courses has increased since. As of spring 2011, 77 Web-based courses were offered.
Online classes attract more di-verse groups of students, said Kathy Carroll, director of research, plan-ning and communication with LSU Continuing Education.
Carroll and Weimer said many individual colleges like the College of Business are beginning to invest in online learning.
“There are new technologies and more possibilities,” Carroll said. “Classes are being formed with re-spect to students and helping them.”
Weimer said the University’s approach to online classes does not have much financial motivation. Initially, an online course may cost less than in a classroom, but over-all, a significant amount of money is not saved through online classes, he said.
The Pew study reported 71 per-cent of the “general public” surveyed did not think online classes matched the educational value offered in the classroom, but 51 percent of college presidents polled think they do.
University students seem to agree with the general public.
Dominique Dureau, English sophomore, said she has never taken an online class, but as an aspiring professor, she said she is “thorough-ly against” online classes.
“I don’t think being online pro-vides the immediate communication we think it does,” Dureau said.
The relationship fostered by be-ing in the same room as a professor is not possible online, she said.
Dureau also said an online class cannot provide discussion between students and professors with unique perspectives.
Diane LaCour, marketing se-nior, has taken an online class and
said she learned more on the Internet than in the classroom.
“I got more out of it because it took more effort,” LaCour said, explaining that not attending class means students need more indepen-dence and responsibility.
She acknowledged that Web courses do make it more difficult to approach an instructor because there isn’t a strong relationship.
Many students may be substi-tuting class for comfort, but online classes are not rigid enough to sup-port efficient learning, said Andy DeRouen, architecture freshman.
DeRouen said he prefers tradi-tional classes because they are what he’s used to, but online coursework could be a viable option for adults who already have established lives.
A contracted employee at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was arrested Sept. 14 for steal-ing two TVs, said Capt. Cory Lalonde, LSU Police Department spokesman.
LSUPD’s investigation into a report of two television sets taken from the PMAC led to the arrest of Randi Moran, 41, of 1410 Convention St., Lalonde said. Moran verbally confessed to the theft after speaking with LSUPD officers.
Moran was booked at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
LSUPD officers arrested an employee of Electronic Arts Ltd. on Sept. 16 for illegally posting screenshots and videos of an un-released video game, Lalonde said.
LSUPD was contacted Sept. 15 by Global Corporate Security with EA regarding
information about leaked videos and still images of an unreleased game, Lalonde said.
Global Corporate Security was able to connect the leak to Michael Atlas King, who was employed at the EA North Amer-ican Testing Center located on the LSU South Campus at the time, Lalonde said.
King, 20, of 30715 Burgess Road, Lot 71, in Denham Springs, admitted to taking the videos and pictures and later posting them online, Lalonde said.
He said the game’s title could not be released at this time.
King, who is unaffiliated with the University, was booked at East Baton Rouge Parish Pris-on on felony offenses against in-tellectual property, Lalonde said. The offense was considered a felony because EA valued the re-leased information at more than $500.
The Daily Reveille page 3Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Friday at 10:30AM Survivor: Bush RERUNFriday at 3PM Making Moves RERUNSaturday at 10:30AM Survivor: Bush RERUN
Plucker’s Wing BarMon: $14.99 All You Can Eat Wings and $3 Pluckers Specialty Drinks
Tues: Kids Eat Free, $3 Mexican Beers and MargaritasWed: Live Trivia at 8 pm, $4.50 34oz Mugs
Thurs: $12.99 All You Can Eat Boneless Wings, $4.50 34oz Mugs, $5.50 Patron Margaritas
Sun: $3 Pluckers Specialty ShotsEVERYDAY BEER SPECIAL: $6.50 34oz Mugs--Blue Moon, Dos Equis, Abitas
This week at LSU URECJoin the UREC TigerFit Warrior Challenge!
Earn points by participating in GroupX classes.Visit www.LSU.edu/UREC for details.
German Game NightForeign Language Lab at 234 Prescott Hall
German Club invites you to join themfor a night of fun games & activities
No language skills required, just come in good spirits!
Fall 2011 Study Abroad FairTODAY! LAST DAY!
11:00am to 3:00pmRoyal Cotillion Ballroom LSU Union
Dream. Explore. Discover.
Ask an Atheist Day in Free Speech AlleyThe LSU Community is invited to ask AHA
questions about living a secular lifesponsored by Atheists Humanists and Agnostics at LSU
10AM - 2PM
DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?Call Becky at the Student Media Office
578-6090, 9AM- 5PM orE-mail: [email protected]
TECHNOLOGY
CAMPUS CRIME BRIEFS
University sees more online classesBrian SibilleStaff Writer
Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]
Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]
PMAC employee steals two TV sets
Electronic Arts employee arrested for leaking video game information
Enrollment:
Fall 2010
Fall 2011 1,603873
Courses:
Fall 2011
922
Fall 2010
Source: Of�ce of Budget and Planning
Undergraduate web-based courses at the University
The Daily Reveillepage 4 Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Whether it’s catching beads at a parade, rocking out at a concert or watching the sunset from the levee, downtown Baton Rouge hosts some of the richest cultural opportunities in the city.
For this reason the Downtown Development District Commission has drafted a plan to expand the cur-rent limits of the downtown district.
The district currently consists of land within the boundaries of the I-10 bridge to the south, I-110 to the east, the Capitol Park in the north, stretching directly west to the Mis-sissippi River and the west boundary is the river itself.
Two options have been present-ed in the strategic plan draft.
Option one proposes the en-velopment of land east of Spanish Town for residential areas, office spaces and parking lots; north of downtown, for an improved indus-trial district, redevelopment or hous-ing; and neighborhoods east of I-110 and south of I-10, for restoration projects.
The second option proposes ex-pansion south of current downtown, developing the land for additional housing along Nicholson Drive, with University students, faculty and staff in mind. This option could in-clude alternative transportation with a possible streetcar service between the University and downtown.
Davis Rhorer, executive direc-tor for DDD, said the board will
consider the draft at its October meeting.
“We, as a capital city, are con-sidered to be a smaller downtown,” he said. “Whether we grow or don’t grow, we want more residential ar-eas downtown, which helps LSU and helps the market by having more people living in the downtown area.”
Geographical growth in the dis-trict could help the area to overcome disadvantages caused by its small size, according to the draft of the DDD Strategic Plan.
“Several key areas on the out-side of the existing DDD boundary provide interesting strategic possi-bilities including additional employ-ment concentrations, community recreation, improved connections to adjacent neighborhoods and the sur-rounding community, and neighbor-hood expansion,” the plan said.
The plan calls for additional resources, including more incentive programs and increased manpower.
The plan also presents options for change, broken down into one category for stewarding resources within the existing boundary, and two categories for stewarding re-sources with the expansion.
The maximum stewardship with all options would be $674,000, according to the plan.
Rhorer said if all goes well, the expansion project could be complet-ed within two years.
As students wandered from table to table Tuesday at the Study Abroad Fair, they may have noticed a few new programs offered this year.
Carolyn Lewis, assistant profes-sor of history and director of the Civil Rights Movement program, said the Civil Rights Movement in History and Memory is a new program this year during spring break from April 9 to 15, and students will earn credit for History 3119.
“Many students need to take this class for their major or minor,” Lewis said. “This is an opportunity for them to complete the course in an exciting way.”
Students will spend six days on the road while traveling to visit im-portant U.S. landmarks in Jackson, Miss.; Memphis, Tenn.; Birming-ham, Ala.; Tuskegee, Ala.; Mont-gomery, Ala.; and Atlanta, Ga. Some locations include the National Civil Rights Museum, the King Center and the Civil Rights Memorial Cen-ter. The trip is estimated to cost about $900 plus tuition and airfare costs.
Since the summer Olympics will take place in London next year, the LSU in London program will in-clude Edinburgh on its agenda.
“It was harder to get housing next year with the Olympics,” said Daniel Novak, English associate pro-fessor and director of LSU in Lon-don and Edinburgh.
While in England, the group will visit the Globe Theatre, British Museum and Tate Museums, and in Scotland, it will see the Scottish Par-liament and the Mary Queen of Scots Trail, Novak said.
During the summer 2011 semes-ter, the students in the program took
English, history and theatre courses, but the program is offering English, mass communication and political science courses next summer.
The trip is estimated to cost $3,575 plus the cost of tuition and airfare.
But a few programs will be cut this year as well. According to Jill Clemmons, assistant director of Aca-demic Programs Abroad, the LSU in the Classical World, a five-week pro-gram in Greece and Italy, will not re-occur next year, and the department is unsure if it will continue the LSU in Morocco program.
Lola Kasat, ecology graduate student, said she studied in London as an undergraduate at Texas A&M and would love to go back.
“I really like that London was a big city, and there was always some-thing to do no matter what time it was,” she said.
Kasat said she is also be inter-ested in studying in South America.
“I’ve never been there and al-ways found it interesting,” she said.
Anthony Muturi, geophysics junior, said he would like to study abroad within the U.S., including Texas, California and New York.
“I have family in Houston, so I wouldn’t mind going there,” he said. “I’ve also been to New York before, and I liked how it was fast-paced.”
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CAMPUS LIFE
Study Abroad changes programming
Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]
Kate MabryStaff Writer
EMILY SLACK / The Daily Reveille
Academic Programs International representative Chelsea Kindred [left] shows accounting sophomore Maggie Schroeder different options for studying abroad.
BATON ROUGE COMMUNITY
Draft proposed for downtown expansion
Contact Morgan Searles at [email protected]
Morgan SearlesStaff Writer
When the mountains turn blue, your beer is as cold as the Rockies.
When the mountains turn blue and gold, your beer is as cold as the Appalachians that run through Morgantown, W. Va.
The West Virginia University Board of Governors approved the sale of beer during Mountaineer football games in June, making it the 36th Division I school to sell alcohol during athletic events.
“I believe we have taken a step for-ward toward our goal of a safer, friend-lier and more civil gameday experience,” said West Virginia Athletic Director Oli-ver Luck after the movement passed by a 10-5 vote.
The new policy comes with a list of stipulations.
Beer can only be bought from brick and mortar concession stands located away from the student section, and sales end midway through the third quarter. Fans may only purchase two beers at a time and must show a valid ID, regard-less of age.
Domestic bottles cost $7, and a draft beer from the Morgantown Brewing Company costs $9.
West Virginia also implemented a designated-driver program. Attendees who sign up for the program receive a coupon for a free soft drink during the game. Through the Mountaineers’ fi rst
two home games, 132 people have signed up for the program.
Tyler Campbell, 22, an exercise physi-ology senior at West Virginia, said students were indifferent about buying beer during football games.
“The students didn’t really care that much,” Campbell said. “They don’t want to pay or can’t afford 7- or 9-dollar beers”
While the students may not shell out the money for a sudsy beverage, other fans will — and have.
During the Mountaineers’ home opener against Marshall on Sept. 4, the school made $160,656 from beer sales. Of that amount, about $75,000 went back to the university. Sales decreased to $120,797 for the second home game against Norfolk State, but that difference was likely connected to a drop in attendance.
Norfolk State attracted just 51,911 spec-tators compared to the 60,758 that showed up for the Marshall game.
“I’d expect, no matter what the size crowd, there would be a little bit more en-thusiasm for play at West Virginia,” LSU coach Les Miles said.
While West Virginia fans have a reputa-tion for reaching a level of rowdiness typi-cally reserved for Southeastern Conference supporters, Campbell said he hasn’t noticed a change in the gameday atmosphere.
“As far as the number of drunk fans and stuff, it was no different than before,”
The familiar sounds of squeaking shoes fi lled the PMAC on Tuesday, even though LSU is not hosting a basketball game until November.
The scene in the PMAC was different from that of a typical off-season. Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was practic-ing his shot between fi lming scenes for his upcoming movie, “Switch.”
Warner Premier, an affi liate of Warner Brothers, chose to fi lm in the PMAC because of its similar-ity to the Ford Center in Oklahoma
City. The production team was only on campus for one day but will fi lm in Baton Rouge for the next four weeks.
The fi lm is a family comedy about a young boy who idolizes Durant but is only an average bas-ketball player. The boy, played by Nickelodeon’s Taylor Gray , magi-cally switches talent abilities with Durant.
“[Durant] is surprisingly with it and a good actor,” said execu-tive producer Bill Johnson . “It was a surprise that he was that savvy and can hit his marks without look-ing, but when you think about how many commercials he’s done, it
should be a no-brainer for us.”The fi lm isn’t allowed to por-
tray Durant with any Thunder lo-gos or merchandise due to the cur-rent NBA lockout. The movie will use “similar-looking logos” until the lockout is over, and the pro-duction team is allowed to use real logos for the close-up shots, which will be on hold until the lockout is settled.
The fi lm is expected to be re-leased in 2012 depending on when the NBA lockout is settled.
SportsWednesday, September 21, 2011 page 5
NBA
BASEBALL
September proving to be a letdown for MLB
SEPTEMBER, see page 7
� under forward Kevin Durant films movie in PMAC
BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
NBA player Kevin Durant strolls about the PMAC on Tuesday between takes for his upcoming movie “Switch,” which will � lm in Baton Rouge for the next four weeks.
Michael GegenheimerSports Contributor
VIRGINIABEER
Beer will be sold only through brick and mortar concessions
The Plan
WEST
Last call will be midway through third quarterID required for each purchaseTwo beer maximum per purchaseBeer will be sold in plastic bottles without caps
Beer Revenue
Second home game vs. Norfolk State: $120,797
First home game vs. Marshall: $160,656
Designated Driver Program
Norfolk State: 53(number of people who signed up)
Marshall: 79
Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]
Hopes run high, dreams are crushed and tickets are punched.
It’s September, and it’s the best time of the year for the American sports power triumvi-rate — NCAA football, NFL football and Major League Baseball.
But there’s a missing dynamic to this Septem-ber. Where, oh where are those exciting Major League playoff races, and why does no-body care about what happens in baseball’s fi nal month?
America’s pastime is taking a backseat to college and profes-sional football, and it’s not doing itself any favors by producing the most boring September in recent memory.
It’s the fi nal week in base-ball’s regular season, and there is not a single divisional race that is up for grabs.
Sure, there are a couple that could be won with miraculous streaks and lost with disastrous collapses. But with the way the season has played out, every di-vision should be locked up with days to spare.
The American League East is the only division providing us with at least a little suspense in the form of the wild-card race between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
Great for the Northeast, bad
Mountain-BEERS
graphic by BRITTANY GAY
West Virginia one of 36 Division I schools to sell beer in stadium
Hunter PaniaguaSports Writer
BEER, see page 7
LUKE JOHNSON Sports Contributor
“But I promise you we’d enjoy playing in front of a Tiger Stadium that occasionally had a beer.”
Les Miles, LSU football coach
The No. 2 LSU football team has achieved its highest ranking since the 2007-08 season.
With that ranking comes the ex-pectation that the Tigers will receive every opponent’s best effort.
“Coach [Miles] told us last week that every team we play is go-ing to give us their best shot,” said sophomore safety Eric Reid. “Every week is a new challenge.”
LSU has been ranked in the top four all season, after a 2010 season where it was never ranked better than fifth. Despite the lofty status, LSU players said the target on their back is nothing new.
“That’s the feeling every week, and I don’t feel a difference” said junior cornerback Morris Claiborne. “We’re not taking any plays off, we’re coming to work.”
National recognition is an honor the Tigers’ performance has certainly warranted through three games, but Reid said they aren’t overlooking the responsibility that comes with the rankings.
“We know that we have to stay mentally focused,” Reid said. “You can’t get happy with a victory and you can’t get complacent.”
Senior safety Brandon Taylor agreed with Reid, saying the team
has to come out ready to play every weekend because the players know their opponent will be.
“They want to knock off the big team and get their publicity up,” Taylor said. “We know that we don’t want to let that happen and we don’t want to let our fans down.”
The Tigers expect that every team they face is looking forward to the opportunity to make a statement and knock off a top-five team.
“What people don’t know is
that we’re gunning for them, too,” said sophomore defensive end Sam Montgomery. “We have a chip on our shoulder, so we’re going to come out every Saturday and not hold back on anybody, no matter who it is.”
With teams lining up to make a statement against a top-three team, the Tigers are keeping their own agendas in mind and doing what they need to do to win the game.
“We have to feel like we’re go-ing out there to beat the No. 1 team
every time we’re playing,” said sophomore defensive back Tharold Simon.
Maintaining the same mindset from week to week is something the players use to keep themselves grounded, no matter who the oppo-nent is.
Bennie Brazell once ran under LSU track coach Dennis Shaver. Now he’s coaching alongside him.
Brazell will join the men’s track team this season as an assistant hurdles and sprint coach six years after concluding his collegiate ca-
reer. Brazell was a member of the track team from 2002 to 2005, winning three NCAA titles in the 4x400-meter relay and two in the 4x100-meter relay, contributing
to the Tiger’s 2002 outdoor and the 2004 indoor National Championship teams.
“It’s a great experience to come back to your alma mater and be in-volved in the track program which I was in,” Brazell said. “Words can’t really explain how I feel, it’s such an honor.”
The 14-time All-American fin-ished eighth in the 400-meter hurdles during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, competing for Team USA.
Brazell also made an impact on the LSU football team as a wide receiver. Brazell, a special teams contributor on LSU’s 2003 BCS Na-tional Championship team, became the first LSU student-athlete to win a national championship in two sports.
Brazell led the team with 22.5 yards per catch during his senior sea-son. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft by the
Cincinnati Bengals, but a knee injury kept him off the field.
Brazell said he hopes to add an-other national championship to his resume — as a coach.
“I always wanted to help out with coaching, I just never said any-thing about it,” Brazell said. “One thing led to another, and now I’m at this desk.”
Shaver said he was looking for someone who understood what it meant to be a team. Shaver coached Brazell as an assistant coach from 2002 to 2004 and as a head coach during his senior season in 2005.
“Here at LSU, we’re a team-ori-ented track and field team,” Shaver said. “We want to win champion-ships, and it doesn’t take one person to do that. It takes a team.”
Brazell finished second in the 400-meter hurdles and anchored both the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay in 2002, earning 24 points out of LSU’s 64 points.
“I know that Bennie, hav-ing won national championships in both sports while on the team here at LSU, that without a doubt, he un-derstands what team means,” Shaver said. “You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who understands ‘team’ better than Bennie does.”
LSU junior sprinter Semoy Hackett said she feels excited to run under Brazell.
“He has been an athlete for many years, so he knows how much our bodies can handle,” Hackett said.
Hackett ran on LSU’s champi-onship 4x100-meter relay in 2011.
Shaver said he designs work-outs for runners but that the assistant
sprints and hurdles coach makes sure the practices go according to plan.
“He’s not designing the training program, but he’s helping implement the training program that I write,” Shaver said.
Brazell will also be recruiting, which Shaver thinks he will excel at.
“Bennie has been involved in
summer track and track clubs before he came to LSU as an athlete, so he’s certainly made a lot of contacts through that, and he’s well known,” Shaver said.
The Daily Reveillepage 6 Wednesday, September 21, 2011
FOOTBALL FOOTBALL
TRACK AND FIELD
Tigers play challenging non-SEC schedule
Players remain focused amid No. 2 ranking
Former track, football star returns as coach
Contact Andrew Chapple at [email protected]
Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]
Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]
Scott BransonSports Writer
Andrew ChappleSports Contributor
Alex CassaraSports Contributor
CHRISTOPHER LEH / The Daily Reveille
Senior safety Brandon Taylor pumps up defensive players Sept. 16 before the Tigers’ 19-6 victory against Mississippi State.
One would think a team play-ing in the most competitive league in college football would take it easy when playing non-conference opponents. That’s not the case for the Tigers.
“This is really the hardest non-conference schedule we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said senior safety Brandon Taylor. “Coming off two ranked teams … it’s going to be pretty tough.”
In week one, LSU dismantled then-No. 3 ranked Oregon, 40-27, holding Heisman candidate run-ning back LaMichael James to 54 yards rushing and surprising the Ducks by matching their oft-her-alded team speed.
This Saturday, LSU takes on No. 16 West Virginia, a team av-eraging 42 points and 368 passing yards per game.
LSU has the fifth toughest schedule in the country, according to the NCAA, with this season’s opponents posting a 62.1 winning percentage in 2010.
Taylor said he is treating the daunting non-conference sched-ule as preparation for a stronger, quicker brand of Southeastern Conference football.
“It’s really getting us ready for SEC play,” Taylor said. “We’re playing against bigger, faster peo-ple. Oregon, with the tempo, got us in shape. West Virginia is going to have us in sync in the secondary. ... Everything is just coming together with our defense.”
Senior offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert also said he sees the non-conference schedule as an ad-vantage rather than a detriment.
“It’s definitely a tough sched-ule, but I think in the end it benefits us,” Hebert said. “We’ve taken these games because we like to be challenged. We like doing hard things. I think that benefits us in the end. Playing these other teams, it makes us tougher and makes us able to compete in harsh environ-ments and kind of gets us ready for the SEC West.”
Sophomore safety Eric Reid isn’t concerned with the quality of opponents, conference or not.
“We go one week at a time,” Reid said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We look at them, we know that they’re in the way of get-ting where we want to be, so we’ve got to take care of that team first and then move on to the next team after that.”
Brazell
for the rest of the country. But un-til the rest of the majors step up, it’s the only race we’ll get to see thanks to the ultimate choke job going on in Boston.
The Sox have lost seven of their last 10 games, opening the
door for the Rays’ slim playoff chanc-es.
“I feel like in the AL East, you’re always going to have those three teams — the Yankees, Red Sox and Devil Rays — every year it comes
down to two of those three teams going to the playoffs,” said Rays fan Ian Bryson, international trade and fi nance sophomore . “I think it sucks that only two of them can go.”
Even worse than one team losing on a playoff shot is that this lackluster playoff race is widening the gap between foot-ball and baseball in the hearts of Americans.
Has football become so dom-inant in the national landscape that nobody outside of the North-east cares about what happens in the fi nal month of baseball’s regular season?
It might be geographical in nature, but with no professional baseball teams within four hours of Baton Rouge , students on LSU’s campus didn’t sound en-thusiastic about baseball’s post-season, or the race to get to it.
Football reigns supreme in the dirty South.
“Football has less games. It’s not as monotonous throughout the season. Baseball doesn’t get serious until September and Oc-tober,” said fi nance sophomore Tucker Billeaud . “I enjoy base-ball; it’s not even that I don’t like it. It’s just too long, it takes away from it.”
Baseball’s 162-game regu-lar season also takes fans like mechanical engineering senior Wade Aguillard away from the game once football season starts.
“During the fall especial-ly, football is dominant,” said
Aguillard . “Once the spring comes around, I’m going to get into baseball, and most of my friends would as well.”
The stark reality is that people are drifting further away from baseball as America’s na-tional sport.
Game four of last season’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Gi-ants drew a paltry 10.4 percent of TV-owning households , while the NFL week eight Sunday Night Football matchup between the
Steelers and Saints was watched by 11.8 percent .
That’s disappointing, appall-ing and lamentably all too real. Baseball needs to do something to fi x the doldrums it’s current-ly facing in the national sports scene, and this ho-hum Septem-ber “race” isn’t helping.
� e Daily ReveilleWednesday, September 21, 2011 page 7
SEPTEMBER, from page 5
Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]
TERRY RENNA / The Associated Press
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia throws to � rst Sept. 11 after forcing out Tampa Bay Rays’ Evan Longoria during a baseball game in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Campbell said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it hasn’t re-ally made a lot of noise.”
Luck did ex-pect the addition of beer in the sta-dium to cause a stir and increased security during games. He also ended a long-standing “pass- out” policy that enabled fans to leave the stadium and return later.
“The biggest difference is
probably that you can’t leave the stadium at halftime any more,” Campbell said. “Once you’re in,
you’re in. I guess they want to pre-vent people from leaving and going back to their tail-gate during half-time. Now they have to buy the beer at the sta-dium if they want it.”
While LSU serves alcohol in luxury suites, it’s unlikely to fol-low in West Vir-ginia’s footsteps
— the SEC does not allow any
of its member institutions to sell beer to the general crowd during games.
Miles welcomed the idea but said he’d leave that decision up to Athletic Director Joe Alleva and Chancellor Michael Martin.
“If they did that in Tiger Sta-dium, I fear that the upper decks might not hold it,” Miles said. “But I promise you we’d enjoy playing in front of a Tiger Stadi-um that occasionally had a beer.”
BEER, from page 5
‘‘Campbell said. “I wasn’t sure
‘‘Campbell said. “I wasn’t sure
‘The biggest differ-ence is probably
that you can’t leave the stadium at half-time any more. Once you’re in, you’re in.’
Tyler Campbellexercise physiology senior
at West Virginia
Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]
‘Football has less
games. It’s not as
monotonous throughout the season.’
Tucker Billeaud� nance sophomore
When our brothers across the globe got fed up with their oppressed lifestyle, they initiated what may be the single most important event of our time — the Arab Spring.
Inspired by their courage, American protestors headed to New York to let Wall Street know how they felt about our economy.
They weren’t overly optimistic.Led by Kalle Lasn, editor-in-
chief of the activist magazine Ad-buster, Occupy Wall Street began Saturday and has been continuing since.
We’re approaching the better part of a week now, and I’m still en-joying live feeds of the action from websites like LiveStream.
Like many grassroots political movements, the group seems loosely organized at best, bound together only by the website OccupyWallSt.org and a hatred for all that is Wall Street.
And I understand. It’s hard not to grab a torch and pitchfork when corporate CEOs rake in more money than Jesus himself — and there’s money in churches, believe me.
Numerous videos can be found scattered online, and while it’s im-possible to verify her story, one YouTube video features an inter-view with a particularly charming young black woman. She explains that, even with a full-time job and a master’s degree, it’s still diffi cult to afford health insurance. Many others agreed.
Interestingly, the infamous In-ternet hacking group Anonymous supported the protest, while dem-onstrators have shown up wearing the all-too-cool Guy Fawkes mask, made popular by the 2006 movie “V for Vendetta,” though it’s now syn-onymous with the online group.
The larger-than-life CEOs
didn’t seem to care all that much, but a myriad of police — presumably with no other crime in the city to handle — headed to a peaceful pro-test to keep things safe for everyone.
Realistically, offi cers must be present to ensure everyone’s safety and make sure no one gets overly passionate and decides to make the all-too-easy slip from a peaceful pro-test to, “I’ll show ‘em how it feels!”
Fortunately, it’s been all daisies and rose petals, according to one anonymous NYPD offi cer, who ex-
plained to Business Insider , “If you fi nd the protest, let us know, because we haven’t heard a thing about it since we got here.”
You’d think it sounds pretty in-nocuous, but that’s
not what the viral videos display. Ev-erything from handcuffi ng protestors for using a bullhorn to lead a vocal protest, all the way to much more se-rious cases.
The website OccupyWallSt.org claimed Tuesday that several peaceful protestors had already been arrested, and one may be in critical condition.
Not all videos are for the faint of heart.
So, why the dichotomy? Some offi cers can’t even fi nd the protest its so quiet, other can’t unsheath their batons fast enough.
While videos don’t lie, remem-ber that we have no context on the situation and editing can work won-ders for public relations.
The goal? Kalle Lasn told CNN Money she hoped the group’s plan to crowdsource expectations would lead to something reasonable. “The demand could be some stupid lefty
thing like ‘overthrow capitalism.” She continued, “We’re hoping it’s something specifi c and doable, like asking Obama to set up a committee to look into the fall of U.S. banking. Nothing extreme about that.”
It’s diffi cult to explain how pas-sionately I sympathize with those in fi nancial hardship.
I cannot imagine how frustrat-ing it must be to be well educated and hardworking, with great health to boot, and unable to fi nd a livable wage.
I sympathize, but this will not help.
While atrocious crimes have certainly been committed by the white-collar thieves from Wall Street, and I hold deeply the belief that a man with a briefcase can be far more dangerous than one with a gun. This protest is misguided, at least partially.
If it’s fair to judge a person’s motivations from a 60-second You-Tube interview, many of the protes-tors want jobs and better pay. They will not fi nd it protesting in front of
Wall Street.Unemployment is a structural
problem facing every nation on Earth. No country is immune from the reality of hardship.
I support their effort. I support their determination to make things right. I support the effort of labor to be organized, but Wall Street no more owes anyone a job, a car loan, a new house or a pay raise than the protestors owe Wall Street their pay-checks.
Instead, let’s push our repre-sentatives toward accountability, be-come informed about basic business, civil law and politics, and work to turn the best we’ve got — an admit-tedly fl awed system — into the best we can get.
Devin Graham is a 22-year-old eco-nomics senior from Prairieville. Fol-low him on Twitter @TDR_DGra-ham.
� e Daily Reveille
Opinionpage 8 Wednesday, September 21, 2011
� e Daily Reveille 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 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“Beware the barrenness
of a busy life.”
SocratesGreek philosopher
469 B.C.E. — 399 B.C.E.
Editorial BoardMatthew Jacobs
Chris BranchRyan Buxton
Marissa BarrowSydni Dunn
Devin Graham
Editor-in-Chief
Associate Managing Editor
Associate Managing Editor
Managing Editor, External Media
News Editor
Opinion Editor
As usual, the Opinion section of our website, lsureveille.com, has been absolutely buzzing with read-er comments. Check it out today, and let your voice be heard.
In reference to Gabie Bacques’s col-umn, ‘Porn promotes unprotected sex, unrealistic expectations,’ read-ers had this to say:
“I am a girl. I disagree with this post. It seems to suggest that couples never use porn, and consequently that porn is simply for those who are ‘unwilling to experience intimacy for [them]selves.’ Well, I am in a long term relationship, enjoy porn,
and regularly ‘experience intimacy.’ Certainly, porn has its problems, but I believe the counterpoint article has the right idea--responsible viewer-ship is what matters.”
-Anonymous
“The opinion that somebody has depends on personal principles. For some, this is perfectly normal, but for others it simply doesn’t fi t into moral standards.
I know it is diffi cult sometimes to understand one another when the difference is so obvious. But in the end we all need a common ground, which is the respect and the respon-sibility for our actions.
Some may say that people that oppose porn hold on to themselves, but remember freedom is defi ned by anybody’s ideals. Sometimes attain-ing freedom means putting discipline to what lead stray from real goals in life. In the end however, whether somebody approves or not porn is a personal choice.”
-Anonymous
“I agree with everything you said 100%. I am willing to bet, how-ever; there will be more girls that agree with you than there will be guys. Sex is just different for guys and girls, it means different things.”
-Anonymous
“You’re right that most porn doesn’t promote condom use or safer sex practices. That’s true. But there is sex-positive, gender-postive porn as well, just not as mainstream. That’s something to fi x. Demonizing all porn and putting more guilt into something natural? Not quite.”
-Anonymous
“win”-Anonymous
WEB COMMENTS
Contact � e Daily Reveille’s opinion sta� at [email protected]
Contact Devin Graham at [email protected]
THE BOTTOM LINE
Compiled by ALBERT BURFORD
eanutThe
GalleryP
How do you feel about the
11:20 a.m. kickoff against
Kentucky?
‘We’ve planned to party in
Tigerland until the bars close then tailgate
overnight. Quick nap, wake up at 10:30, then go win the game.’
Colin Baldridgebusiness senior
‘Day games are already just
stupid and this is the bastard child of day games, this
noon kickoff. It’s Saturday
night in Death Valley, not Sat-urday brunch.’
Sam StevensEnglish junior
‘It’s too early. I think there’s a better atmo-
sphere for the night games. A
game in the late morning just doesn’t seem
like a game LSU is used to.’
Adam LandryEnglish sophomore
‘I’m aggravated it changed my
plans. I’m prob-ably not going
to tailgate now. It’s an early
game so that means you’d
have to get out there really
early.’
Summer Zeringue� ne arts junior
‘I don’t like it at all. It’s
too early. You can’t tailgate.
After the game, normally you just go party
some more, but now you have the whole rest
of the day.’Peyton Rhodeskinesiology freshman
Operation ‘Occupy Wall Street’ will fail
DEVIN GRAHAM Opinion Editor
BEST AND WITTIEST
cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE
First off, I owe everyone an apology.
To my loyal readers, my fam-ily, my friends — I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for suggesting, en-dorsing and badgering every single one of you to get a Netflix account.
I just didn’t see it coming. I don’t think anyone did.
However, I will never be able to apologize as much as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on the compa-ny’s newest bonehead move.
“I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation,” Hastings admitted Sunday on the company’s official blog. “I want to acknowledge and thank our many members that stuck with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.”
Well, an apology won’t cut it this time.
For a little back story, two months ago Netflix announced sig-nificant changes to the pricing and structure of the company. Instead of
charging customers $10 per month for one DVD by mail and unlimited online streaming, Netflix split the services into two groups, charging $8 for each.
For customers wanting to keep both plans, they would be charged $16 per month, or a 60 percent increase. I wrote a column after it all happened, so I won’t rehash it anymore. I’ll just say the public re-sponse — includ-
ing my own — was harsh.I cancelled my DVD service
and stuck solely to streaming — ex-actly what Netflix wanted.
Streaming is how Netflix makes money, not DVDs, and the company’s latest move proves it.
Later this month, Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service will relaunch as Qwikster.
Hastings explained in his blog
post that because streaming and mail-order DVDs are becoming two different businesses, the company needs to let each grow and operate independently.
If you want to continue getting DVDs in the mail as well as online streaming, you must register on two different websites.
Need to change your e-mail address or credit-card information? You get to do it on two different websites.
Instead of making things sim-pler for its customers, Netflix is basically shooing away its original DVD demographic for this new, hip streaming crowd of customers. Hastings named 12-year Netflix veteran and current head of DVD operations Andy Rendich as Qwik-ster CEO.
I feel kind of bad for this guy.Imagine you’re on a luxury
cruise liner sailing across the ocean, then all of a sudden being kicked off and told to captain a smaller boat that’s essentially heading over
a waterfall.Not the position I’d like to see
myself in.I’m no business major (only a
minor), but I’m pretty sure separat-ing your company while destroying any type of brand recognition and customer loyalty isn’t a good way to run a business.
But again, what do I know?On a possibly positive side for
the new Netflix subsidiary, Qwik-ster will also start allowing video game rentals — Xbox 360, PlaySta-tion 3 and Wii — along with DVDs for an additional monthly fee.
This will play direct competi-tion to similar service Gamefly, an outlet that allows customers to rent video games by mail.
Hastings promises customers will see a “substantial” addition to the Netflix streaming library, so we’ll see if he delivers on his prom-ise.
This is a bold, yet somewhat confusing, move that Netflix is pulling here. If the promise of an
increase to the streaming library is true, I can see a lot of happy cus-tomers. However, if the company continues to lose rights to movies and shows from studios — as it has been in the past — then the Netflix cruise liner may be headed over the same waterfall shortly after Qwik-ster hits the bottom.
So, again, to everyone I know — I’m sorry for getting everyone involved in this huge Netflix mess.
Whenever a better alternative comes around — which will happen — I’ll be the first to let you know.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old com-munication studies senior from Ba-ton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
For just over 70 years, millions of senior citizens and disabled people in the United States have depended on the largest government program
in the world to avoid falling into poverty.
This program is roundly referred to as Social Secu-rity, an umbrella term which en-compasses a num-ber of social pro-grams designed to
assist Americans financially.The program is funded mostly
by payroll withholding referred to as the “Federal Insurance Contributions Act Tax.” The program was char-tered in 1935 under the Social Se-curity Act, a component of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and has since grown thanks to ever-expanding leg-islation.
If you are reading this column, chances are that at least one person you know utilizes Social Security.
According to the Social Securi-ty Administration, 54 million Ameri-cans were receiving basic Social Security benefits as of July. The total expenditures for this facet of the pro-gram topped $590 billion in the same month.
Recently, the program has come under unprecedented attack, with current Republican presidential front-runner Rick Perry labeling the program a “Ponzi scheme” and call-ing for the eventual dissolution of the program.
Surprisingly, the program is still well-received by a nation in which the word “entitlement” might as well be a four-letter one. A January
Gallup poll showed that 64 percent of Americans opposed cutting the program.
Perry and his Republican coun-terparts are not incorrect in asserting that the program, under its current construction, is unsustainable.
According to the SSA’s website, the ratio of taxed workers to retirees was 159 to 1 in 1940. In 2010, that ratio had dropped to only 2.9. Obvi-ously, funding the program will be-come a problem in the coming years, with the ratio expected to dip to only two.
Congressional liberals, how-ever, are trying to improve the sol-vency of the system by increasing payroll taxes on those earning more than $250,000 per year. The current 6.2-percent tax on wages applies on the first $106,000 of a worker’s in-come.
Raising the income cap is not a new proposal, but this iteration’s failure is nearly assured due to the presence of a Republican majority in the House. The party has dedicated itself to a policy entirely opposed to tax increases, and the payroll cap is no different.
President Obama, on the other hand, supports halving the payroll tax on employees as part of his jobs plan.
The representatives who sup-port the payroll tax increase are mak-ing a last-ditch effort to keep the pro-gram solvent in the long term. Most other proposals, such as raising the retirement age or freezing the month-ly allotment, will shift the burden of the program’s financial travails onto retirees, many of whom are already experiencing financial troubles.
Social Security’s intent, after
all, is not to make retired Americans wealthy; the average monthly benefit as of July was only $1,081.
The system has enjoyed a suc-cessful track record over the past 70 years and has helped to provide a comfortable retirement for millions of working Americans.
Those making more than $250,000 annually frankly don’t benefit substantially from the So-cial Security system. However, it does not seem unreasonable to ask these citizens to contribute minimally to the welfare of those who helped to maintain the solvency of the economy from which they
benefit during their working years. I’m not opposed to reforming
the Social Security system and lim-iting the benefits of those who have not contributed to the system them-selves. The intent of the program when it was chartered was, in fact, to provide security — hence the name — to retirees who were the most ba-sic engine of the country’s economy.
Although tax increases are never terribly palatable for whom-ever has to incur them, the current congressional proposal is the only tenable way to preserve the Social Security system without punishing those who depend on it.
And since Social Security has managed to achieve a combina-tion of popularity and effectiveness rarely witnessed among government programs, perhaps, contrary to Rick Perry’s rhetoric, it is worth keeping.
Chris Seemann is a 21-year-old mass communication senior. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_CSeemann.
The Daily Reveille
OpinionWednesday, September 21, 2011 page 9
BEST AND WITTIEST
cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE
SEEMANN SAYS
PRESS X TO NOT DIE
Chris seemannColumnist
adam arinder Columnist
Social Security is worth keeping, needs proposed tax hike
Netflix’s new Qwikster service shuns original customers
Contact Chris Seemann at [email protected]
Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]
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Papazoglakis said politicians often use substance-lacking politi-cal rhetoric that alienates citizens.
“People aren’t engaged and don’t care because they don’t un-derstand,” she said.
And the incumbent, Jindal , is wont to engage in such rhetoric, she said.
“He has defi nitely isolated himself as a governor,” Papazogla-kis said. “And he is not accessible to many people.”
She said there’s a political elite separating itself from the people, and “the divide continues to grow.”
According to Papazoglakis , many of the state’s problems can-not be addressed by “egos and politics.”
“[Jindal] is buying and posi-tioning himself for a national GOP position,” she said, along with “compromising the well-being of the state for national aspirations.”
Among the state’s many prob-lems is higher education, which she says requires better collabora-tion.
“History tells us that a popu-lation can’t survive with dropout rates like [those in Louisiana],” she said.
To fi ght dropout rates, Papa-zoglakis seeks to set in motion a series of internship programs for college students in elementary schools to provide jobs for the col-lege students, motivation for the elementary students and assistance for teachers in need.
This is just one example of how Papazoglakis looks to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Revenue for the state — and for the education system — will be found through closer coopera-tion between the state government
and the oil and gas industry under Papazoglakis’s administration.
As governor she seeks to remove federal regulations cur-rently in place on the industry, which will “increase permitting and increase production,” she said.
“We, as a state, can get the re-sources to turn things around,” she said.
Despite her Democratic affi li-ations, Papazoglakis considers her-self a fi scal conservative.
“I think most people in the state are moderate,” she said, “Most people believe in fi scal conser-vatism.”
The idea that the state is fi lled with po-litical extremes, she said, is the fault of the media, which she said is “hi-jacking” the constituents’ political stances.
Along with her fi scal conser-vatism, Papazoglakis also agrees that the “role of the federal govern-ment has become too expansive.”
Papazoglakis said Jindal’s stances of no new taxes and
privatizing everything are “ex-treme GOP.”
If his policies on privatiza-tion run as deeply as he says, then Jindal “doesn’t understand a public good,” Papazoglakis said.
But her bid for governor isn’t entirely reactionary.
“Louisiana has been in trouble for a long time,” Papazoglakis said. “I just can’t sit back and tol-erate that.”
As for her name, the current masthead reads “Niki Bird for Governor” because of her work in nonprofi t advocacy against sexual vio-lence, she said. When she moved from the private sector to ad-vocacy against sexual violence, she said she was recommended to use a fake name due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Niki Bird stuck, and when the election
arrives, the ballot will read An-droniki “Niki Bird” Papazoglakis . If nothing else, the moniker is easi-er to remember than Papazoglakis , she said.
Contact Clayton Crockett at [email protected]
ELECTION, from page 1
‘‘‘[Bobby Jindal] has de� nitely isolated
himself as governor. And he is not
accessible to many people.’
Androniki Papazoglakispublic administration grad student
said. “They’re not staying at home to be moms.”
The survey also shows that 77 percent of respondents say educa-tion is necessary for women to get ahead in life, while just 68 percent said the same for men.
Clay Coco, business manage-ment freshman, said he personally doesn’t see why he needs a college education.
“I already do Internet market-ing, so I don’t really value my ed-ucation because I don’t need it to succeed,” Coco said. “I do value it because it helps you to analyze any-thing and helps you think better, but I don’t care about college because I already know what I’m doing.”
The Pew survey includes a nationally-representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older. In 2010, a record 36 percent of women ages 25 to 29 had attained a bach-elor’s degree, compared with 28 per-cent of men in the same age group, according to the research.
Kelley Davis, nursing junior, said she thinks it’s diffi cult for any-one to value education in relation to cost in this economy, but she agrees that women are stepping up in uni-versities.
“Women are smarter nowa-days,” Davis said. “We want to be more independent and support our-selves. I defi nitely value my educa-tion.”
Davis said she didn’t realize there were more women than men enrolled in the University.
“It hasn’t made a difference to me in my education,” she said. “I think our generation sees past gender behaviors [more] than previous generations.”
“We are the third party,” Mer-cadel said. “We handle mail once it gets to campus.”
Mercadel said recent problems with mail delivery have been con-fi ned to services involving USPS.
“Reception is going well for us. FedEx and UPS are both running smoothly,” Mercadel said.
Leigh Fairey, mass communica-tion junior , said she has felt the nega-tive effects of the postal service’s problems.
“With the new system, pack-ages are taking weeks longer to get,” Fairey said.
Fairey said USPS is not the only entity to blame.
“With anything starting out, there are rough spots, but I feel the mail center could be handling these problems better,” Fairey said.
Mercadel said students should make sure all of their mail format-ting and information are up to date to avoid any further trouble. Students are reminded to use their full legal name and LSU Box, not P.O. Box.
According to Mercadel , the pre-viously used ZIP codes 70893 and 70894 are no longer viable.
“Students must use 70803 as their ZIP code for all mail coming through LSU,” Mercadel said.
Mercadel stressed the need for students to address their mail prop-erly. The correct format includes the recipient’s name and box number, as well as the center’s address: LSU Student Union, 0 Raphael Semmes , Room 101 , Baton Rouge, LA 70803 .
For further information, stu-dents are encouraged to visit the RICOH mail and printing services center, located on the fi rst fl oor of the Union next to the Tiger Card Offi ce.
Contact Morgan Searles at [email protected]
Contact Josh Naquin at [email protected]
MAIL, from page 1 WOMEN, from page 1
The Daily Reveillepage 12 Wednesday, September 21, 2011