Touria Khannous, foreign language and international studies professor from Morocco, empha-sized at a panel discussion Tues-day that recent unrest spreading in the Middle East and North Af-rica could bring about important change in government.

However, these protests may cause trouble for U.S. infl uence overseas, said Mark Gasiorowski, political science professor.

The panel, hosted by the

International Studies Program, fo-cused on the impact the uprisings in the Middle East may have on other coun-tries — espe-cially the U.S.

“It’s a time for watch-ful waiting,” Khannous said.

Reem Me-shal, religious studies assis-tant profes-sor, explained that a week ago, many analysts believed the protests in Egypt would be resolved by now. This has not been the case, as

protesters’ demands remain unmet and they continue to occupy Tah-

rir Square in Cairo.Meshal also at-

tempted to clear up many myths that she said the U.S. and for-eign media have por-trayed as truth.

The idea that current confl ict in Egypt is “simple binary” between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the people is com-pletely false, Me-shal said. Rather, it

is the regime versus the popular

Friday’s “snow day” won’t cause class days to be added to the academic calendar, University ad-ministrators said.

University Registrar Robert Doolos said LSU requires 42 classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri-days and 28 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

That allows for one day of class-es to be canceled.

If LSU has to cancel two days, however, the University will have to make up both of those days, Doolos said.

That would mean the University would either call for Saturday class-es or chop two days off spring break.

Doolos said there are further provisions for making up class if more than two days are missed.

The University canceled class late Thursday afternoon as potential-ly dangerous winter weather condi-tions approached.

D’Ann Morris , executive assis-tant to the chancellor and interim di-rector of the Emergency Operations

Reveillewww.lsureveille.com

Football: Freshman quarterback Barrett Bailey leaves team, p. 7

� e DailyBaseball: 9 fi rst-year Tigers to pitch this season, p. 7

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 • Volume 115, Issue 85

Regents: Preliminary data about UNO-SUNO merger released, p. 3

SCHEDULE

INTERNATIONAL

Academic calendar unaffected by day offMatthew AlbrightStaff Writer

CANCELLATION, see page 15

Unrest in Middle East, Africa could affect US infl uencePanelists highlight protests, media mythsBrian SibilleContributing Writer

UNREST, see page 15

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

Students listen to a lecture Tuesday about unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. Panelists discussed the impact Egyptian protests may have on U.S. foreign infl uence.

DAVID LYLE / The Daily Reveille

Nomzano Iyanu and drummer David Modeste perform an African-based ceremony Tuesday at the ground blessing of the African American Cultural Center. The ceremony involved sprinkling water and calling upon ancestors to bless the space by ridding negative spirits and replacing them with positive spirits. The current African American Cultural Center and Women’s Center are being torn down to build a parking garage, which will house both centers on the bottom fl oor. Read more about the ceremony on page 5.

New beginnings

‘‘‘If you’re standing

for democracy here, why are you not

standing for democracy [in the

Middle East]?’Rima Massassati

studio art junior

The Daily Reveille

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

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

The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Com-munication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free. To purchase additional copies for 25 cents, please contact the Offi ce of Student Media in B-34 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and semi-weekly during the summer semester, except during holidays and fi nal exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscriptions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regu-lar semester, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, addition-al copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-39 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.

The Daily ReveilleB-16 Hodges Hall • Baton Rouge, La. 70803

Newsroom (225)578-4810 Advertising (225)578-6090

INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL STATE/LOCAL

Nation & World Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011page 2

Arson not suspected in Rio de Janeiro Carnival warehouse fi re

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Threads of smoke rose from the charred warehouses of three major samba groups Tuesday as workers salvaged what they could of fl oats and cos-tumes. Damaged props were planned for use in a show celebrating Rio de Janeiro’s famed Carnival in less than a month.

Police said they did not believe arson caused the blaze Monday, which consumed thousands of cos-tumes, sculptures and fl oats built for the festival. A police spokesman said investigators were still trying to de-termine what set off the fl ames.Publisher defends book on Polish plunder of Jews during Holocaust

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Pol-ish publishing house defended its decision Tuesday to publish a book that has sparked controversy with its argument that Poles actively profi ted from Jewish suffering dur-ing the Holocaust.

“Golden Harvest,” by Jan Gross and Irena Grudzinska Gross, argues that rural Poles sometimes sought fi nancial gain from Jewish misfortune in a variety of ways, from plundering Jewish mass graves to ferreting out Jews in hid-ing for reward.

Government: No electronic fl aws in Toyotas, declared safe to drive

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elec-tronic fl aws weren’t to blame for the reports of sudden, unintended acceleration that led to the recall of thousands of Toyota vehicles, the government said Tuesday.

Some of the acceleration cases could have been caused by me-chanical defects — sticking accel-erator pedals and gas pedals that can become trapped in fl oor mats — that have been dealt with in recalls, the government said. The White House wouldn’t say where the money for the rest of the pro-gram would come from.Obama to call for $53 billion for high-speed rail to generate jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-dent Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion spending plan for high-speed rail, as he seeks to use infrastructure spend-ing to jump-start job creation.

An initial $8 billion in spend-ing will be part of the budget plan Obama is set to release Monday. If Congress approves the plan, the money would go toward de-veloping or improving trains that travel up to 250 mph, and con-necting existing rail lines to new projects.

Suspect arrested for two counts of murder, bodies identifi ed

(AP) — Authorities have arrested a 29-year-old man in the investigation of two bodies found in the trunk of a car.

Maj. Lawrence McLeary of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Offi ce said Kendrick Johnson, of Baton Rouge, was booked on two counts of fi rst-degree murder in the deaths of 27-year-old Jarret Stanley, of Lake Charles, and 25-year-old La-tonya Wright, of Baton Rouge.

Both had been shot to death.McLeary says an anonymous

phone call initiated the probe and led to the discovery of the bodies Mon-day.

Sarah LawsonRobert Stewart

Stephanie GiglioSteven PowellRyan Buxton

Grace MontgomeryChris Branch

Sean IsabellaMatthew Jacobs

Devin GrahamAdam Vaccarella

Zach BreauxBryan Stewart

Marissa BarrowCare Bach

Editor-in-ChiefManaging Editor, ContentArt DirectorManaging Editor, External MediaNews EditorDeputy News/Entertainment EditorSports EditorDeputy Sports EditorCopy Desk ChiefOpinion EditorPhoto EditorDeputy Photo EditorVideo EditorReveille Radio DirectorAdvertising Sales Manager

BUILDING BLOCKS

BLAIR LOCKHART / The Daily Reveille

See photos of of campus construction on Snapshot at lsureveille.com.

WeatherTODAY

3158

Rain

47 26

THURSDAY

@lsureveille, @TDR_news, @TDR_sports

facebook.com/thedailyreveille

Payton moving family to Dallas, will remain Saints’ head coach

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sean Pay-ton is moving his family to Dallas and the Saints have no problem with it — however, many New Orleans fans do.

Payton confi rmed Tuesday that he’s buying a house in Dallas and is moving his wife and two children to Texas while he remains the Saints’ head coach.

“When my wife and I relocated our family from Dallas, we had al-ways dreamed of someday settling there,” Payton said.

Hungary’s 84-year-old ‘Flying Gizi’ burglar strikes again

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hun-gary’s notorious octogenarian thief is not ready for retirement.

The 84-year-old woman, known as “Flying Gizi,” whose criminal re-cord goes back to the 1950s, is again in custody for suspected theft, police said Tuesday.

Fejer County Police spokes-woman Agnes R. Szabo said the burglar, whose real name is Gizella Bodnar, is suspected of taking some 15,000 forints (euro55, $75) from a home in Bicske. Bodnar has been convicted of over 20 crimes and has spent nearly 18 years in prison,

FELIPE DANA / The Associated Press

Firefi ghters work to put out a fi re at ware-houses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Monday as a massive fi re consumed the building. See a picture of a live opossum

hanging out in a tree outside the Journalism Building in the Sharpshooter photo blog.

Read sports blogger Ryan Ginn’s take on the Deadspin-Mark Sanchez affair on Tiger Feed.

Today on lsureveille.com

50 27

FRIDAY

57 32

SATURDAY

66 43

SUNDAY

Spring 2011 Career ExpoFebruary 9th & 10th, 10:30 am - 3:30 PM

Cotillion Ballroom, LSU Union

Black Student Union: Black History Quiz BowlThursday, Feb 10 @ 7-9 in Live Oak Lounge

Call (318) 787-8308 or email dmaneaz@lsu.edu

Black History Month Black Academic Perspectives Lecture SeriesWednesday, February 9, 2011

French House, Grand Salon, 12 PM

DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?Call Chase at the Student

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

E-mail: offi cemanager@lsureveille.com

The Board of Regents dis-cussed the preliminary data for the ongoing study of higher education in the New Orleans area in a special meeting Tuesday.

State representatives, state management boards and concerned citizens were invited to attend the public meeting to discuss one of the items being analyzed in the study — the feasibility of merging the Uni-versity of New Orleans and South-ern University-New Orleans.

“This charge is being taken very seriously, and we want to hear from all involved,” said Regents Chairman Robert Levy. “We will receive the initial information from the study conducted by [the Na-tional Center for Higher Education Management Systems].”

Dennis Jones, NCHEMS presi-dent, began his presentation by providing a snapshot of the current state of higher education in New Orleans, citing low graduation and retention rates.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said last month that UNO has a 21 percent graduation rate over a six-year time frame, while SUNO has only 5 per-cent.

“These are very low rates by any standards,” Jones said.

Jones discussed the low en-rollment at both institutions, while noting the soaring rates at Del-gado Community College in New Orleans. He said nearly 18,000 students are enrolled at Delgado,

12,700 at UNO and only 3,500 at SUNO.

Of these students, African Americans comprise 40 percent of the Delgado student population, 15 to 20 percent at UNO and almost the entire student body at SUNO, he said.

“The institutions serve wildly different student populations,” Jones said. “They have very differ-ent backgrounds academically and in the students served.”

But Jones said the New Or-leans population is suffering on all educational levels, and the number of students entering college unpre-pared is high.

“The pipeline leaks at every point — before students are out of high school, when students go to college, and it leaks at college com-pletion,” he said. “The bottom line for us is this is a city that is not be-ing well served by the status quo.”

Jones said while a portion of the study is analyzing the potential

merger, NCHEMS is looking at all public higher education institutions in New Orleans.

“In the public mind and in the press, this has been framed as a structure and governance issue,” Jones said. “And that’s the last thing we tackle, not the first.”

Jones said NCHEMS will look at the educational needs to New Or-leans, its citizens and ways to ad-dress those needs. He said the focus right now is on the students.

The next step in the process, which is more extensive, will be presented to the Regents on Feb. 28.

The last installment of the analysis, which will present the study’s conclusion, will be issued on its March 1 deadline. Following the Regents’ submission, the solu-tion will enter the Legislature and must be passed by a two-thirds vote.

The Daily Reveille page 3Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

Pluckers Wing BarMon.: $14.99 All You Can Eat Wings and $3 Pluckers Lemonades

Tues.: Kids Eat Free, $3 Mexican Beers and MargaritasWed: Trivia at 8 pm, $4.50 Mother Plucker Mugs of Bud and MillerThurs: $15.99 All You Can Eat Wings, $4.50 Mother Plucker Mugs

of Bud Light and Miller Lite, $5.50 Patron MargaritasSun: $3 Pluckers Specialty Shots

Wednesday February 9

3:00-3:30 PM Survivor Bush4:30-5:00 PM Survivor Bush5:00-5:30 PM The Ramen6:30-7:00 PM Making Moves7:30-8:00 PM The Ramen Repeat ch 198:00-8:30 PM The Ramen Repeat9:30-10:00 PM The Ramen Repeat

SHADY’SGreek Night - Free cover for Greeks

$5 mixed drink pitchers$1 shots

Come have a drink, Don’t be a DiCK

BOARD OF REGENTS

Sydni DunnStaff Writer

Possible UNO-SUNO merger analyzed

BENJAMIN OLIVER HICKS / The Daily Reveille

Dennis Jones (right), NCHEMS president, speaks Tuesday about the state of higher education in New Orleans. The meeting focused on the UNO-SUNO merger feasibility.

Contact Sydni Dunn at sdunn@lsureveille.com

New Orleans higher ed study reveals low graduation, retention rates

The Daily Reveillepage 4 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

The newly created LSU Re-tention Committee reached out to faculty and staff members Tues-day at the Provost’s Symposium in an effort to help students grad-uate.

The symposium, hosted by the Faculty Senate, Academic Affairs and the Retention Com-mittee, featured the presentation “Get LSU students to focus on learning instead of grades: Teach them how to learn!”

Saundra McGuire, assis-tant vice chancellor for learn-ing, teaching and retention in Student Life and chairman of the Retention Committee, said the Provost’s Symposium is the first campus-wide event for the Re-tention Committee, which was formed in January.

The symposium focused on efficient teaching methods, Mc-Guire said.

“A lot of students leave be-cause they lost TOPS, and they lose TOPS because of their GPA,” McGuire said.

McGuire gave the presenta-tion and focused on study tips, learning research and ways to improve students’ grades.

The slideshow stated, “When all of these entities [the student, the instructor and the institution] take full responsibility for student

learning, we will see a significant increase in student learning, per-formance, retention and gradua-tion! And that’s exactly what the LSU Retention Committee is all about.”

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor John Hamilton showed interest in forming the committee, said Kurt Keppler, vice chancellor for Student Life and Enrollment Services and committee member.

“The Retention Committee is a group of people that has been put together to improve retention until graduation,” McGuire said.

She said 62 percent of stu-dents who begin as full-time freshmen graduate from the Uni-versity within six years, and the goal of the committee is to raise this number.

“We are looking at why stu-dents aren’t graduating at a rate we would like them to be,” Mc-Guire said.

The committee is comprised of 41 representatives from a wide variety of University depart-ments.

The committee is divided into subcommittees based on four barriers to retention — aca-demic, engagement, institutional and personal — and the deans also have a subcommittee, Kep-pler said.

The committee held its first meeting Jan. 25. Committees and subcommittees meet monthly.

A proposal by the Jindal ad-ministration would “re-index” students’ operating fee, increasing costs, according to a speech Gov. Bobby Jindal gave last week.

Robert Kuhn, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Budget and Planning, says “re-indexing” a fee means updating the base year for which the fee is calculated.

That means Jindal’s plan would not create a new fee. It would update the existing opera-tional fee to be worth 4 percent of current tuition.

Kuhn said when the Univer-sity added the operational fee in 2004, it cost $80 — then 4 percent of tuition.

Jindal’s proposal would “re-index” the fee to be 4 percent of current tuition value instead of the 2004 value.

This semester, the Univer-sity’s tuition was $2,863 for a stu-dent taking 12 hours. Four percent of that is about $115.

Jindal’s proposal would not force students to pay all $115 — it would merely increase the current operational fee from $80 to $115.

That’s an increase of $35 a se-mester, or $70 an academic year.

That doesn’t factor in tu-ition increases allowed by the LA GRAD Act. That bill, passed during the summer, allows univer-sities to raise tuition by up to 10 percent if they meet certain perfor-mance measures.

It also doesn’t factor in other increases in fees or tuition the Legislature might choose to allow in the coming session.

Jindal said in his speech last week the fee is designed to “help meet the ever-growing bill of mandated costs.”

Also called “unfunded mandates,” these costs support

programs the state forces the Uni-versity to pay for without provid-ing the means to do so.

The largest such cost is the University’s retirement system. The state mandates the Univer-sity pay increasing amounts for employees’ retirement without providing money to fund those in-creases.

University administrators claim such costs have caused re-cent budget cuts to be much deep-er than they look “on paper.”

During this academic year, for example, administrators claim these mandates have all but eaten up funding gains from tuition in-creases allowed by the LA GRAD Act.

“Budget forms don’t depict unfunded mandates,” said Jason Droddy, director of external af-fairs. “So although our budget looks like it’s fine, the direct stu-dent impact is much worse.”

Jindal said the proposed fee would give the University money

to cover some of those costs.“This will not cover all in-

creases in mandated costs,” Jindal said when he announced the plan last week. “But it will generate tens of millions of dollars in rev-enue for universities.”

Droddy agrees the fund is good for the University, even if it doesn’t make up the entire fund-ing gap.

“It would not cure the unfund-ed mandates,” he said. “But every piece helps.”

Jindal’s proposal will have to earn a two-thirds vote in the Legislature before taking effect, Droddy said.

The Legislature has to ap-prove any fees that are directly re-lated to instruction. Fees for other services, like housing, the Student Union and bus service, can be raised independently.

ACADEMICS

Contact Celeste Ansley at cansley@lsureveille.com

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

Matthew AlbrightStaff Writer

Jindal proposal would increase feeBUDGET CUTS

Current graduation rate at 62 percentCeleste AnsleyStaff Writer

New LSU Retention Committee to focus on student learning

As construction begins for the University’s new parking garage, students and faculty honored the grounds of the soon-to-be-removed African American Cultural Center and the Women’s Center on Tuesday.

The centers have been tempo-rarily relocated to rooms 319, 323 and 325 of Hatcher Hall while the centers’ new, permanent facilities at the bottom level of the parking ga-rage are constructed.

Katrice Albert, vice provost of Equity, Diversity and Community Outreach, said the ceremony com-memorated those who pushed for the African American Cultural Center’s creation.

“It’s about the legacy of past students and staff who fought to ac-quire a space for African American students to come together,” Albert said.

The blessing consisted of a liba-tion ceremony, which involves sprin-kling water and calling upon ances-tors to bless the space by ridding negative spirits and replacing them with positive spirits.

Nicole Moliere, 1991 Universi-ty alumna, reminisced on the current African American Cultural Center and what it meant to her and the stu-dents of the time.

“To us back then, it was a great place for us to convene,” Moliere said. “We needed the African Ameri-can Cultural Center to recognize we

were here.”Niya Blair, coordinator of Afri-

can American Student Affairs, said there are hopes for national projects with the coming of the new center.

“When we have the new center, we hope to host a national confer-ence for the [Association for Black Cultural Centers,]” Blair said.

The original African American Cultural Center was established in 1993 and reflects the concept of the Harambee House, which is “coming together,” according to the African American Cultural Center.

The $1.5 million expansion project is underway and will almost double both centers’ square footage, according to a news release.

The new African American Cul-tural Center will have a multipurpose room, a conference room, six offices, an open reception and lounge ar-eas, as well as a library and artifacts room, an open outdoor courtyard, a unisex dressing room, a work room and a kitchenette.

Albert said as the University becomes more modern, updating the centers becomes more necessary.

“Letting go is required,” Albert said. “The time has come for stu-dents to experience a better space.”

University students have found a new way to flirt shamelessly with-out having to face rejection — or face anyone, for that matter.

Students have been increas-ingly using LikeaLittle.com to flirt anonymously with other students by posting messages or compliments to crushes identified by their gender, hair color and location sighted.

Like a Little was launched in October 2010 and has expanded to more than 450 college campuses, in-cluding the University.

“At LSU — UREC: Female, Brown hair. You were running next to me on the treadmill last night in pink shorts. Made awkward eye con-tact. I’d love to meet you,” read a post on last week’s campus stream.

“It’s like a mix between the per-sonal ads in the Reveille and Craig-slist missed connections,” said Dylan Staley, Like a Little LSU founding member and English freshman.

Like a Little boasts a strong sense of anonymity, Staley said. Readers can comment on posts un-der pseudonyms or may send private messages to the author.

Staley said Like a Little is a “positive complimentary communi-ty” that does not tolerate offensive or personally identifying posts. The site is heavily moderated, and anyone with a University e-mail address has the ability to delete any post.

“If someone doesn’t respond to a post, instead of feeling rejected, students can reason that the person just didn’t see the post,” said Loretta Pecchioni, communication studies

associate professor. “You can send a person a direct message while saving face.”

Pecchioni noted that most re-lationships today are a combination of face-to-face and technologically-mediated interactions.

“I think it’s a positive idea,” Pecchioni said. “You can see some-one and get a vibe and still check each other out through a mediated form before meeting each other.”

Patrick Veale, business fresh-man, believes in meeting people tra-ditionally — by approaching them in person.

“I feel like sites like this are making people impersonal,” Veale said. “Everything is over e-mail, phone or text now. It’s not the same as actually talking to someone in per-son.”

Raynesha “Ray” Ducksworth, psychology sophomore, thinks Like a Little is a “cute” idea for a large campus.

“It opens the possibility of get-ting to know someone without the

fear of rejection,” Ducksworth said.Brian Ammon, biological sci-

ences junior, was concerned about Like a Little’s effectiveness because he believes there is a small chance of everyone utilizing the site.

Like a Little’s website has a “stories” section where students post their testimonials of success stories using the service. Staley said he has not heard of any success stories at the University yet.

Staley’s goal is for the site to have a new post every hour.

“We want it to be like ‘Texts from Last Night’ where you can check it every day and be able to read new posts for 30 minutes,” Staley said.

The Daily Reveille page 5Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

DIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY

Cultural centers’ grounds blessed before demolition

Flirting website gains popularityEmily HerringtonContributing Writer

Claire CaillierContributing Writer

Contact Emily Herrington at eherrington@lsureveille.com

Contact Claire Caillier at ccaillier@lsureveille.com

Will Like a Little work for LSU? Find out on lsureveille.com.

See a video of the ceremony at

lsureveille.com.

LSU Police Department of-ficers arrested a Papa John’s em-ployee Feb. 1 in the Outtakes gro-cery store in the 459 Commons for simple possession of marijuana, according to Sgt. Blake Tabor, LSUPD spokesman.

Tabor said LSUPD received an anonymous phone call at 10:07 p.m. reporting someone smoking marijuana near the 459 Commons and West Laville Hall.

An officer arrived at the scene and described a male suspect to the Papa John’s manager. He was identified as Darryl Brown, 26, of 3870 Delaware St.

Officers searched Brown and discovered a joint containing 0.9 grams. Brown was placed under arrest, Tabor said.

Brown has no affiliation with the University aside from being an employee of the campus Papa John’s, Tabor said.

Brown was transported to the LSUPD office before being re-leased with a misdemeanor sum-mons, Tabor said. Brown was fired from Papa John’s.

LSUPD arrested a University student for driving while intoxi-cated on Feb. 4 near the intersec-tion of Highland Road and Chimes Street.

Tabor said Natalie Daigle, 21, of 1671 Highway 401 in Na-poleonville, was stopped at 2:42 a.m. after the patrolling officer observed her driving in the wrong direction on Chimes Street, which is a one-way road. Daigle also at-tempted to turn left and drive the wrong way on Infirmary Road, Ta-bor said.

The officer asked Daigle to take a field sobriety test. After failing all three tests, Daigle was transported to the LSUPD office where she registered a 0.100 blood alcohol content, Tabor said.

Daigle was booked in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

LSUPD arrested a University student for DWI on Feb. 5 on East Campus Drive, Tabor said.

Charles Myers, 19, of 8072 Seven Oaks Ave., was stopped at 12:17 a.m. after he was seen turn-ing out of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center parking lot and driving on East Campus Drive with no head-lights, Tabor said.

The patrolling officer ap-proached the vehicle and request-ed to conduct a field sobriety test.

After failing all three parts of the test, Myers was taken to the LSUPD office where he refused to take a breathalyzer test, Tabor said.

Myers was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

A University student was ar-rested in his dormitory Feb. 4 for possession of prescription pills and marijuana, making it his sec-ond arrest in two weeks.

Tabor said LSUPD was dis-patched to Evangeline Hall at 10:34 p.m. after the residential as-sistant on-call reported a smell of marijuana coming from room 102.

The officer knocked on the student’s door and spoke with Jus-tin Goldberger, 19, of 18140 Roll-ing Wood Drive. Goldberger re-fused to step out of his room when asked and blocked the door, Tabor said.

Tabor said the officer saw Goldberger trying to get rid of the evidence in his dorm room sink. The officer attempted to gain con-trol of Goldberger, who resisted.

The officer handcuffed him, and a narcotics detection canine searched the room and located a homemade bong and a small brown Concerta pill for which Goldberger had no prescription. The canine also found a multi-colored smoking pipe outside of Goldberger’s first floor window, Tabor said.

The officers gathered the marijuana remaining in the sink, which totaled 7.4 grams, not in-cluding the portion that had been forced down the drain, Tabor said.

The officer also conducted a

body search and discovered more marijuana in a pill bottle in Gold-berger’s possession.

Goldberger was arrested on four counts: one for possession of marijuana, one for possession of prescription pills, one for pos-session of drug paraphernalia and one for resisting an officer, Tabor said. He was booked at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

Tabor said Goldberger was also arrested and booked into prison Jan. 27 after a patrolling officer saw a suspicious vehicle in the Agricultural Barn parking lot. One Concerta pill and 0.3 grams of marijuana were located inside his vehicle.

LSUPD arrested a University student for DWI Feb. 6 off High-land Road.

Tabor said officers observed Collin Miller, 22, of 4685 Collins Drive in Collinston, driving south on Highland Road at 2:13 a.m. without headlights.

When the officer approached Miller, his breath and body smelled strongly of alcohol and he was asked to take a field sobriety test, Tabor said.

He failed all three tests before being transported to the LSUPD office where he registered a 0.116 BAC, Tabor said.

Miller was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

The Daily Reveillepage 6 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

CAMPUS CRIME BRIEFSPapa John’s employee discovered baking more than just pizzas

University student arrested after heading in several wrong directions

LSU student arrested after trying to dispose of marijuana in sink

University student arrested for DWI, operating vehicle with no headlights

University student arrested for DWI with 0.116 BAC on Highland

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

Every winter, college football fans fi x their gazes on recruiting boards as National Signing Day commences.

Fans cheer and jeer as two, three, four and fi ve-star recruits decide where they will spend the next four-plus years of school.

But if history at LSU is any indication, putting stock in a star system isn’t always a sure bet.

The 2004 LSU class included Scout.com fi ve-star defensive tackle Glenn

Dorsey, the fi fth overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2008 NFL Draft. Dorsey won the Lombardi, Outland, Nagurski and Lott Trophies.

The 2004 class also included Scout two-star linebacker Harry Coleman, two-star lineman Ty-son Jackson, three-star running back Jacob Hes-ter and three-star linebacker Quinn Johnson.

Jackson bested Dorsey as the No. 3 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, also going to the Chiefs, af-ter tallying 18.5 sacks as a Tiger.

Hester went to the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2008 Draft , and Johnson, who converted to fullback at LSU, received a Super Bowl ring with the Green Bay Packers on

Sunday.“That probably speaks to

the quality of talent Louisiana has,” said Shea Dixon, man-aging editor of TigerSportsDi-gest.com. “Not only are they putting out the four and fi ve stars, but they’re also putting out guys like Tyson and the great three-stars.”

Meanwhile, consensus fi ve-star wide receiver Xavier

Carter focused primarily on track, fi nishing his LSU football career with fewer than 10 catches.

The next season’s draft included another

future track star who wasn’t projected to do as well as Carter. Two-star Scout recruit Trindon Holliday, a Zachary native, fi nished his career No. 2 in school history in kickoff return yards.

“A lot of it has to do with living in Louisiana and playing a bit under the radar and not having that national exposure that maybe some Florida or California kids would have,” Dixon said.

The 2005 recruiting class also included Ri-vals.com three-star recruit Brandon LaFell, who fi nished his LSU career No. 3 in receptions (175) and No. 2 in receiving touchdowns (25).

Other LSU fi ve-star players never quite lived up to their reputations. Five-star lineman Al Woods and fi ve-star defensive back Jai Eugene signed in 2006. Woods started 16 games and had 73 tackles, while Eugene started 12 games with one interception.

Five-star wide receiver Terrence Toliver recorded only 126 receptions in his LSU career, although he capped it off with a three-touchdown performance in the Cotton Bowl.

Conversely, First-Team All-Southeastern Conference linebacker Kelvin Sheppard and

Organize a strong lineup to blow a team out. Organize a strong pitching staff to win championships.

A solid group of players on the mound is essential to winning.

Last season, the LSU baseball team saw what happens when pitch-ing deteriorates. LSU, which had been accustomed to stud aces and stellar pitching staffs in years past, hit a lull.

Only two teams in the South-eastern Conference gave up more earned runs than the 2010 Tigers.

LSU was No. 5 in the SEC West in earned run average with a 5.56 ERA. LSU’s ERA hovered around 4.00 in the two previous seasons.

Now, the pitching staff has been remodeled.

LSU fans may not recognize the nine fi rst-year Tigers expected to pitch this season, but LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he is confi dent they’ll develop quickly.

“They’ve got to get the experi-ence, but we have eight or nine guys that have been clocked at 90 miles per hour or higher,” Mainieri said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a team with

that many arms that have thrown that hard.”

Mainieri said he expects fresh-man Kevin Gausman and junior transfer Tyler Jones to be the next two starters after senior Ben Alsup takes the mound Feb. 18 for the sea-son opener against Wake Forest.

Jones, a 6-foot-4 Junior College First Team All-American who par-ticipated in the 2010 JUCO World Series, had a 9-2 record with a 3.01 ERA for Madison Area Tech in 2010.

“It’s like he’s throwing from the sky and he’s halfway to home plate,” said sophomore outfi elder Mason Katz. “He’s got a lot of talent, and

SportsWednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 page 7

Tiger Feed: Read blogger Ryan Ginn’s take on the Deadspin-Mark Sanchez affair

FOOTBALL

BASEBALL

Jones, Gausman enter rotation

Katherine TerrellSports Contributor

Rowan KavnerSports Writer

BAILEY, see page 11

Rowan KavnerSports Writer

RECRUITS, see page 11

PITCHERS, see page 11

File photo

LSU senior pitcher Ben Alsup throws May 8 during the Tigers’ 6-0 loss to Vanderbilt at Alex Box Stadium. Alsup is one of only two senior pitchers on LSU’s roster.

Young pitchers hope to end lull

The LSU football team will have one less familiar face when it resumes practice in March.

Freshman quarterback Barrett Bailey has left the team, he and Mi-chael Bonnette, sports information director, confi rmed Tuesday.

Bonnette said Bailey told LSU coach Les Miles he wanted to be a normal student and will not attempt to play football elsewhere.

Instead, he’ll stay at LSU on a TOPS scholarship.

“It wasn’t anything personal,” Bailey said. “It didn’t have anything to do with the coaches.”

Bailey , who grew up in Baton Rouge, dreamed of playing football at LSU. Former offensive coordi-nator Gary Crowton recruited him during his senior season at Univer-sity High , where he threw for 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns.

LSU couldn’t offer an athletic scholarship, but Bailey accepted a preferred walk-on spot with the Ti-gers over offers from Alabama-Bir-mingham and Northwestern State .

“I always wanted to be at LSU,” Bailey said. “I wanted to be here no matter what happened.”

Bailey said he made the deci-sion partly because of Crowton’s resignation.

“He recruited me, and that had a lot to do with it,” Bailey said.

Bailey spent the season at No. 3 on the depth chart but saw the writing on the wall with so many offseason changes. In addition to Crowton’s departure, LSU signed quarterbacks Zach Mettenberger and Stephen Rivers, doubling its

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

Former LSU LB Kelvin Sheppard was only a 3-star recruit out of high school. The First-Team All-Southeastern Conference player was part of a national championship team.

Recruit ratings don’t always translate to fi eld

QB Baileyleaves theTigers

BRANDONLAFELL

former WR

JACOB HESTERformer

running back

The LSU gymnastics team is ahead of the curve in what could be the future of college sports media guides.

The NCAA decided in the fall to prohibit teams from distributing printed media guides to recruits.

Rather than upload guides and send them electronically, LSU gym-nastics coach D-D Breaux said she wanted to produce an online-only media guide.

“The media get enough infor-mation from coming and watching the event and the statistics we put together week in and week out. ... Our media guide is more telling the story of our pro-gram and our tradi-tions,” Breaux said.

Breaux said she wanted to pro-duce a media guide similar to No. 6 Oregon State’s. The Beavers approached Pursuant Sports — a company that produces the on-line media guides — last year with the online-only idea.

“Everybody saw the rule com-ing, so Oregon State jumped in front of the rule, and I really like what they did, and I have a lot of respect for their program,” Breaux said.

LSU’s online media guide con-tains the statistics a regular media guide would include as well as inter-active videos of LSU gymnasts.

Former gymnasts Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and Susan Jackson discuss their success and the storied history of LSU athletics, while cur-rent gymnasts present what life is like as a Tiger.

Freshman Kaleigh Dickson tours the on-campus apartments and

the LSU campus in the video. The guide also includes videos from LSU football games.

“I think it’s great,” said sopho-more Shelby Prunty. “It allows more interaction so people can see tours of places and not just a picture here and there.”

The guide features a video tour of the Cox Communications Aca-demic Center for Student Athletes and a tour of the athletic training facility, which includes the “largest hydrotherapy pool in collegiate and professional sports,” according to Clare-Kearney.

Breaux said anything fresh and original can help sway a recruit.

“Kids make their decision where they’re going to go based on strange things,” she said. “If we have this to put in front of them and we’re

doing it better than anybody else then we’re going to get positive results.”

With new tech-nology comes inev-itable minor issues.

Breaux said LSU is still tinker-ing with the online media guide and fi guring out how

much information can be included without the site being choppy.

“The package of what we’ve got, we like it,” she said. “Now we’ll just tweak it and change the paging a little bit so we can make it work better.”

So far it seems the LSU gym-nasts enjoy the product.

“For LSU to do something dif-ferent this year, I think it’s really fun,” said freshman Sarie Morrison. “Recruits will like the fact it’s on-line and you can go to it any time to watch it.”

Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner

LSU freshman point guard An-dre Stringer learned a hard lesson from Saturday’s heartbreaking one-point loss to Mississippi State.

Stringer , who said he hasn’t stopped thinking about the play, committed a last-second turnover and spoiled an opportunity for the Tigers’ third Southeastern Confer-ence victory.

“I’ll become better at those sit-uations if I’m approached with them again,” Stringer said. “I should have tried to go to the basket faster. I won’t know until it happens again.”

Stringer will get the chance to erase the memory Wednesday when LSU (10-13, 2-6) travels to Ole Miss for an 8 p.m. tipoff against the surging Rebels.

Ole Miss (15-8, 3-5) won its last two games, including a 71-69 victory at home against then-No. 10 Kentucky .

LSU coach Trent Johnson blamed the missed opportunity against the Bulldogs on the team’s lack of confi dence and tendency to tense up during critical moments.

“They’re tight,” Johnson said. “I talk to them all the time and tell them to relax. There’s no reason to be tight.”

LSU is getting closer to claim-ing its third conference win, which has escaped the team in the past six games.

The Tigers lost their fi rst con-test of the six-game slide by 38 points to Kentucky. They’ve only lost their last two games by a com-bined nine points.

Wednesday night’s game is the second matchup in 18 days for the two teams. In the last meeting, Ole Miss, who was 0-4 in the SEC at the time, went into the halftime locker room with only a six-point advan-tage.

But the Rebels ran away with a 78-51 victory after LSU could only muster 19 points in the fi nal 20 min-utes.

This is the fi rst time this season each team is facing a familiar op-ponent from earlier in the schedule.

“Once you play a good team, you see what their strengths are,” Stringer said. “We knew what they wanted to do early from fi lm, but it’s different than when you see it.”

Junior forward Malcolm White returns for the fi rst time to Tad Smith Coliseum , where he played two sea-sons with the Reb-els.

“Mac was a good player, a good addition to our program for the two years he was here,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said on the weekly SEC teleconference. “It was good to see him in Baton Rouge. I know that he’s been playing well.”

White had four points and four rebounds in the fi rst meeting with his former team.

LSU freshman guard Ralston Turner was absent from the fi rst matchup with a stress reaction, but he is slowly regaining his early sea-son form since the removal of his walking boot and returning for the Alabama game Jan. 29 .

“I’m getting there,” Turn-er said. “I’m really close [to matching production from early in

the season].”The 6-foot-6-inch, 193-pound

guard contributed 13.7 points a night before the stress reaction,

only averaging 4.3 points in the three games since his re-turn.

Junior for-ward Storm War-ren took his turn in a boot while trying to overcome an Achilles injury. Johnson said War-ren should return

to the starting lineup Wednesday. “We should be as healthy as

we’ve been up to this point,” John-son said.

The news isn’t all positive, however.

Freshman forward Matt Deren-becker is probable with a left ankle sprain, and freshman forward Jalen Courtney is out with right knee problems.

Follow Michael Lambert on Twitter at @TDR_Lambert

The Daily Reveillepage 8 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

GYMNASTICS MEN’S BASKETBALL

Contact Rowan Kavner at rkavner@lsureveille.com

Contact Michael Lambert at mlambert@lsureveille.com

Michael LambertSports Writer

Rowan KavnerSports Writer

Guide features videos from gymnasts

White makes fi rst trip back to Ole Miss

LSU adapts to NCAA rulings with online-only media guide

Tigers to meet Ole Miss for rematch

‘‘‘Recruits will like the fact it’s online and you can go to it any time to watch it.’

Sarie MorrisonLSU freshman gymnast

‘‘‘Once you play a good team, you see what their strengths are.’

Andre StringerLSU freshman point guard

Chilly temperatures couldn’t cool off the LSU men’s tennis team Tuesday.

The Tigers (3-2) swept a doubleheader against in-state rivals Louisiana-Lafayette and UNO at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.

After dropping the first dou-bles match to ULL, No. 33 LSU battled back and won the final two matches to earn the opening point.

Senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski jumped out to a 4-0 lead and cruised to an 8-2 victory in doubles.

“We’re playing well,” Carls-son said of himself and Skupski. “This is our fourth win in a row, so this is a good start for the rest of the season.”

Sophomores Stefan Szacin-ski and Roger Anderson teamed up to earn a victory, 8-4.

All six singles matches against the Ragin’ Cajuns were decided in straight sets, five go-ing the Tigers’ way. The only loss came when junior Mark Bowtell fell to Ragin’ Cajun junior Carlin Murray, 6-3, 6-3.

Senior Julien Gauthier picked up where he left off Sun-day against Rice, defeating ULL’s Ted Nilsson, 6-3, 6-1.

Carlsson gave LSU a 3-0 lead by topping Brandon Farine, 6-2, 6-4, while Tom Knights, a junior from London, downed Carl Alberton, 6-3, 6-3, clinching a Tiger victory.

Skupski and Szacinski fol-lowed suit, providing LSU’s fifth

and sixth points.In the nightcap, the Tigers

were too much for the outmanned Privateers. UNO, playing with just five players, failed to earn a point.

“With the temperatures the way they were, it was a lot about keeping the guys focused,” said LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown. “The only match we lost today was against a very good player, so I think we accomplished all of our goals.”

LSU has now won three straight matches after falling in its first two.

“The match on Sunday was very big for us confidence-wise,” Carlsson said. “These two wins have us going in the right direc-tion.”

Meanwhile, the LSU wom-en’s team fell to 0-3 on the season after a narrow loss to Rice, 4-3.

LSU split the singles match-es, 3-3, after dropping all three doubles matches to begin the day.

Junior Whitney Wolf got back on track with a 6-4, 7-6, win against Rice’s Rebekka Hanie.

Sophomores Ebie Wilson and Kaitlin Burns both notched their second consecutive win, as Wilson took down Daniella Tri-go, 6-4, 6-4, and Burns battled back from a set down to knock off Jessica Jackson, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Sophomore Keri Franken-berger and freshmen Yvette Vlaar and Ariel Morton were all beaten in straight sets.

“I’m disappointed with the loss,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis in a news release. “I am also proud of this young team. We are coming together.”

The Daily Reveille page 9Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

RANKINGS TENNIS

Track and field stay in nation’s top five

Skupski, Carlsson lead rout of in-state rivalsWomen fall to Rice in close road match

Gymnastics team moves to No. 19

Hunt PalmerSports Contributor

Contact Hunt Palmer at hpalmer@lsureveille.com

The LSU track and field teams are staying put.

Both the men’s and women’s teams kept their rankings in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 this week.

The Tigers check in at No. 2, while the Lady Tigers sit at No. 3.

It’s the second straight week at No. 2 for the Tigers. The Lady Tigers have been No. 3 for five straight weeks.

Both teams participated in the New Balance Collegiate Invi-tational last weekend. The Tigers took the overall men’s title, while the Lady Tigers nabbed a second-place finish in the women’s com-petition.

The only team ahead of the Tigers in the standings is de-fending NCAA Indoor Cham-pion Florida. Texas A&M, who trounced LSU on Jan. 22 at the Texas A&M Invitational, stops in at No. 3.

The Lady Tigers trail only No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Texas A&M. Behind them are No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Tennessee.

GYMNASTICS RANKED NO. 19The LSU gymnastics team

saw some love in the poll after its best performance of the season against BYU on Friday.

The Tigers moved up to No. 19 in the GymInfo national rank-ings, five spots up from last week’s No. 24 ranking. The leap can be attributed to the 195.875-point outburst against the Cougars.

LSU’s season average is now up to 194.650.

Amazingly, the ranking saw LSU stay in the poll for the 519th consecutive week and 144th con-secutive poll.

Other Southeastern Confer-ence teams in the poll are No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Al-abama, No. 11 Arkansas and No. 21 Auburn.

The Razorbacks will travel to Baton Rouge next weekend to tussle with the Tigers at the PMAC.

The Tigers also saw a spike in event rankings, where they rank No. 12 on the vault, No. 18 on the beam and No. 23 on the floor.

Freshman Sarie Morrison rose seven spots in the bars, where she now sits at No. 15 with a 9.840 average.

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

Staff Reports

The Daily Reveillepage 10 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

If you thought Brett Favre was having a bad week, take a look at so-cial media in the sports world.

First, Ole Miss signee and five-star linebacker C.J. Johnson took

Mississippi State out of the running for his services be-cause of overbear-ing fans accosting him on Facebook.

Mississippi State’s techno-logical horror continued when basketball star

Ravern Johnson helped the Bulldogs become the first Southeastern Con-ference team banned from Twitter af-ter tweeting this shot at MSU coach Rick Stansbury:

“Starting to see why people Transfer you can play the minutes but not getting your talents shown because u watching someone else wit the ball the whole game shooters need to move not watch why other coaches get that do not make sense to me.”

The week’s real winner, how-ever, came when Auburn commit-ment Cyrus Kouandjio was besieged on Facebook by thousands of fans from both sides of the Iron Bowl ri-valry after wavering from his Auburn pledge and ultimately signing with Alabama.

Any time grown men are send-ing a high school student messages like “Go die,” it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate things.

Leave it to Mormons to show

unrepentant SEC fans the way.BYU student Michelle Peralta

wrote a letter to the editor of the Dai-ly Universe, BYU’s student newspa-per, bemoaning the constant love on campus for NCAA Player of the Year candidate/cult hero Jimmer Fredette.

“I can’t walk across campus without hearing Jimmer Fredette’s name a dozen times,” the letter be-gan. “His name comes up every-where: in class, at work, during lunch

… really, people? Cut it out with the Jimmer worship. Last time I checked, idol worship was very much frowned upon in the scriptures.”

And so it continued until ending with a plea to “let me live my own dreams in peace, even if they don’t include ever sitting in the Marriott Center screaming my brains out.”

What happened next is some-thing that should serve as a lesson to the death-happy fans of the SEC.

Dogged and resourceful BYU fans tracked down her Facebook page and began commenting en masse on her status announcing her letter to the editor.

But here’s the thing — despite lacking the to-the-point approach fa-vored by Alabamans (“Go die”), the comments are almost all hilarious, witty … and (not surprising consid-ering the religious background of most posters) clean.

To spare you the trouble of read-ing through the many hundreds of Jimmer-worshipping lines, here are some of my favorites:

“Forgive Michelle for she knows not what she says.”

“On the Marriot Center court, The Jimmer brought a dying lamb back to life by nuzzling it. As the on-lookers gathered, the lamb sprang to life. The Jimmer then shot it through the net from 40 feet, killing it instant-ly. This was to prove that the good Jimmer giveth, and the good Jimmer, He taketh away.”

“Double Jimmer all the way across the sky.”

“Too bad you haven’t had a ‘Jimmergasm’ yet.”

“You are here by invited to at-tend the first church of Jimmer! we

worship every Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon.”

“Jimmer never said it was easy, he only said it would be worth it.”

“One time the BYU basketball team was walking on the beach and they looked back and saw only one set of footprints!”

“It is better to dwell in the Mar-riott Center and cheer for Jimmer, than with a contentious and an angry woman.”

“Jimmer is the 11th command-ment.”

“You obviously haven’t asked Jimmer with a sincere heart OR real intent, because He would have mani-fested the truth unto you.”

“I for one am going to try to befriend Michelle. It is what Jimmer would do.”

And so goes almost every single comment, spreading the Gospel of Jimmer in a way that is hilarious, biting, and — most importantly — printable.

Even if it’s not being delivered door-to-door, it’s an example worth following.

FIRST AND GINN

The Jimmer giveth a Facebook lesson to all SEC fans

Ryan GinnSports blogger

Contact Ryan Ginn at rginn@lsureveille.com

ANDY CARPENEAN / The Associated Press

BYU guard Jimmer Fredette reacts after drawing a foul for a 3-point play dur-ing a game against Wyoming on Feb. 2. BYU won that game 69-62.

The Daily Reveille page 11Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

we’re excited to see him.”Gausman, a Centennial, Colo.,

native, also went 9-2 his senior sea-son at Grandview High School, re-cording 88 strikeouts and 14 walks with a 3.12 ERA.

“I played in the California Col-legiate League this summer, and it

definitely helped me out getting used to college hitters because it’s such a big jump coming from Denver in high school,” he said.

Gausman said he expects a few butterflies when he takes the mound in front of the LSU faithful for the first time, but he’s confident they’ll disappear after the first pitch.

“Say to yourself you’ve done it

thousands of times before,” he said.In 2008, LSU had six pitchers

with ERAs under 4.00 and a team ERA of 4.11.

In LSU’s 2009 National Cham-pionship season, the Tigers had a 4.02 ERA and a whopping 679 strikeouts. Six pitchers notched ERAs under 4.00 once again.

The regression was monumental

in 2010 as the Tigers had 472 strike-outs, and only Alsup and then-senior Paul Bertuccini recorded ERAs un-der 4.00.

Junior outfielder Mikie Mah-took said new arms should change the decline.

“I’m glad I have to face them in the fall and not the regular season,” he said. “They’re going to help us a

lot. I think anybody that follows this program and is a fan of LSU is going to be impressed and excited.”

Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner

PITCHERS, from page 7

BAILEY, from page 7

RECRUITS, from page 7

Contact Rowan Kavner atrkavner@lsureveille.com

Contact Katherine Terrell at kterrell@lsureveille.com

Contact Rowan Kavner atrkavner@lsureveille.com

quarterbacks on scholarships.Mettenberger, a four-star recruit

from Butler Community College, has enrolled and will compete for the quarterback spot this spring. Riv-ers, a three-star recruit from Athens, Ala., will enroll in the fall.

Walk-on quarterbacks have never gotten much playing time un-der Miles. Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch started three games in 2008, but he was the exception to a list of walk-ons that have come and gone.

Hatch played two seasons at LSU, in which he completed 26-of-47 attempts for 286 yards and two touchdowns. After Hatch, only Jim-my Welker and T.C. McCartney got playing time, limited to handoffs and the Victory formation.

“With the new recruits coming in ... it was the right time for me to leave,” Bailey said. “I enjoyed my time with the team. It was a great ex-perience, and I don’t regret it.”

2008 Butkus Award Finalist Perry Riley were only three-star recruits.

That’s not to say all three- or four-star recruits will outperform their five-star counterparts.

The 2007 class included five-star safety Chad Jones, who led LSU in interceptions in 2009, and five-star lineman Joseph Barksdale, who started the final 39 games of his ca-reer.

“Those five-star guys were part of a team that won a national cham-pionship,” said Derek Ponamsky, recruiting analyst for BayouBengal-sInsider.com. “That’s a high level of production.”

In 2008, LSU grabbed another successful five-star recruit in Bed-narik and Thorpe Award-winner Pat-rick Peterson.

The 2007 draft class included Scout two-star kicker Josh Jasper, the only consensus All-American placekicker in school history, and the 2008 class included three-star start-ing offensive linemen Alex Hurst and P.J. Lonergan.

The trend continued in 2009. Five-star defensive lineman Chris Davenport has not started a single game, while three-star cornerback Morris Claiborne led LSU in inter-ceptions in 2010.

“Claiborne, coming out being a 175-pound high school quarterback, has now bulked up to be an SEC cornerback and a successful one at that,” Dixon said.

Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner

The last line of any perfor-mance is the most crucial of all.

It is an opportunity to thank those who made the experience possible and reflect on the trials and tribulations that brought about the victorious outcome.

This is nothing new. Athletes and celebrities alike have always taken full advantage of remember-ing their benefactors in the midst of receiving due praise.

But strangely enough, it’s a rare occurrence when those who actually helped earn the victory receive mention.

What the hell, I’ll just come out and say it: People like to thank God when they are victorious.

Our beloved Breesus followed in this tradition after the New Or-leans Saints smote the Indianapo-lis Colts last year with a postgame pronouncement of “God is great” toward his heavenly Father.

Fun fact: Breesus said the

identical transliteration of the ever popular Arabic “Allahu Akbar,” though I doubt anyone checked his pads for explosives.

Even Ricky Gervais, the infa-mous lewd host of the recent Golden Globes, managed to thank God at the conclusion of his perfor-mance — but for making him an atheist, of course.

And for a more recent — and less satirical — example, it was only Sunday that Green Bay Pack-ers wide receiver Greg Jennings took the proverbial pious knee as he exclaimed “To God be the glo-ry” over and again.

Jennings apparently be-lieves the Judeo-Christian God divinely intervened so he and his

teammates could obtain a victory over the evil and sinful Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sounds a little strange when put in this light, does it not?

But while the absurdity in this claim seems a bit much, it isn’t re-ally a new way of thinking.

The Bible is littered with sim-ilar victory claims from the “righ-teous,” though the biblical gridiron is usually littered with corpses and the entrails of the enemy after the “big game.”

But what should we as a 21st century “secular” society think when an athlete or celebrity gives all their thanks to a deity on na-tional television following a win-ning performance?

For one thing, it is tribalism at its finest.

By this, I mean it establishes and promotes the idea that God has chosen one group over anoth-er. This form of divine favoritism,

most notable in the Israelite con-quests of Canaan, still exists today.

The problem with tribalism: It dehumanizes and dismisses the “other” team as not included in God’s divine favor.

And for a second — and more serious — concern, this sort of thinking neglects the complexities of the claim itself.

For instance, the next time you hear someone thank God for their victory, ask yourself, “Why should God care if this particular person or team won?”

Were they more righteous? Or maybe they prayed harder during halftime. Perhaps God had some money riding on the game and divinely intervened on His or Her own behalf.

The point I’m getting at is this: If there is a God, I sincerely doubt He or She cares who can throw or catch the pigskin at the right mo-ment or whether an offense can

run the option efficiently.We should all dismiss a God

who would allow children to starve to death worldwide, but at the same time intervene so the Packers can take the Vince Lom-bardi trophy back to Green Bay — good grief.

We are no longer in Bronze Age Palestine, despite what you may want to believe.

So in the event you find your-self victorious, first thank your parents, then your mentors and finally, when it’s all over — go “thank” yourself.

Andrew Robertson is a 24-year-old English writing and culture senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Arobertson.

The Daily Reveille

Opinionpage 12 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

The Daily ReveilleThe Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communi-cation. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to opinion@lsureveille.com or delivered to B-26 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must have a contact phone number so the opinion editor can verify the author. The phone number won’t be printed. The Daily Reveil-le reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration without changing the origi-nal intent. The Daily Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Daily Reveille’s editor-in-chief, hired ev-ery semester by the Louisiana State University Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

Editorial Policies & Procedures Quote of the Day“My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Four-tunately) everybody drinks water.”

Mark TwainAmerican Author

Nov. 30, 1835–April 21, 1910

Editorial BoardSarah Lawson

Robert StewartStephanie Giglio

Steven PowellDevin Graham

Editor-in-ChiefManaging Editor, ContentArt DirectorManaging Editor, External MediaOpinion Editor

SHOW ALL COMMENTS

Stop thanking God for winning, go ‘thank’ yourself

Andrew robertsonColumnist

Contact Andrew Robertson at arobertson@lsureveille.com

As usual, the Opinion Section of our website, lsureveille.com, has been absolutely buzzing with reader comments. Check it out to-day, and let your voice be heard.

Regarding Marcelo Vieira’s column, “Competition: why Amer-icans have to be the best in the world,” readers had this to say:

“Who are you talking about? You contradict yourself with your last article about prejudices. Are all Americans obsessed with com-petition?”

-Anonymous

“Marcelo, wonderful com-ments and thanks for supporting the philosophy of the Rio Interna-tional cello Encounter ,which be-lieves that all cellists have some-thing important to say. Looking forward to you coming to Rio this summer to collaborate, your audi-ence is asking for you and we all look forward to seeing and hearing you again, as ever David”

-David Chew OBE, president and artistic director Rio Interna-tional Cello Encounterwww.riocello.comwww.davidchew.com.br

Regarding Andrew Shockey’s column, “Science teacher leaves his mark on former student,” read-ers had this to say:

“Louisiana citizens who agree that the Louisiana Science Educa-tion Act is an embarrassment to the state and to our students can help in Zachary Kopplin’s effort to repeal the bill in the upcoming legislative session that begins on April 25. See http://www.repeism.com.”

-Barbara Forrest, Louisiana Coalition for Science

“Regarding the Tesla coil burn allegation, the referee, that over-saw the hearing, had this to say:

Due to the sensational and provocative nature of this specified ground, it and the facts and cir-cumstances surrounding it became the focus of the curious, including those in the video, audio, and print media. Once sworn testimony was presented, it [became] obvious that speculation and imagination had pushed reality aside.

The referee also said, ‘On the average, Freshwater students performed at or above the state requirements and expectations for eighth grade science students.’(For more info, see http://www.ac-countabilityinthemedia.com/ )”

-mountvernon1805

“That is awful. Check out my blog on this topic. http://anaffirmingflame-creation-ism.blogspot.com/”

-Yannis

Regarding Clayton Crock-ett’s column, “Iran, Ahmadinejad untrustworthy in nuclear arms game,” readers had this to say:

“You are soooo right!! they cant be trusted!! just ask them,and they will tell you...their religion tells them to lie and deceive na-tions!! HELL,it actually encour-ages them to do so!!! ITS VERY

EASY TO TELL WHEN IRAN IS LYING,THEIR MOUTH WILL BE MOVING!!!”

-Anonymous

“Exactly, “Anonymous” above. It’s called “al-Taqiyya” which means “the Concealment” which is deliberate lying to the Infidel (non-Muslims) about any-thing concerning Islam. Believe

psychopath Ahmadinejad as much as you’d believe Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot or Idi Amin. Mass-Mur-derers, all.”

-Anonymous

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

BEST AND WITTEST

cartoon courtesy of KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

CANCEL THE APOCALYPSE

Every day, we eat food com-prised of a host of substances. Just look at the often-lengthy in-gredient list of any canned, fro-zen or boxed food.

One thing we think is fairly simple, though, is tap water. We even know its atomic structure: H2O. However, two-thirds of the United States’ drinking water of-ten has a significant amount (0.7 to 1.2 mg/L) of a foreign, po-tentially harmful substance in it: fluoride.

Fluoride is an ion that comes from the element fluorine. It’s most commonly known as the stuff in toothpaste that helps prevent cavities, but it’s also in many food products like chicken nuggets, baby food, peas and tap water.

Fluoride naturally occurs in ground water at varying lev-els. For instance, Baton Rouge’s fluoride level is 0.2 mg/L, or 0.2 milligrams of fluoride for every 1 liter of water. A water supply is said to be naturally fluorinated when it contains between 0.7 and 1.2 mg/L.

Towns with a fluoride level within this range usually have better dental hygiene than plac-es outside of this range. Many health organizations, like the World Health Organization and American Medical Association, support artificially fluorinating drinking water.

In Louisiana, only 37 per-cent of the population has access to fluorinated water. To help the state’s dental health, many want to fluoridate the water, and in 2008, the Louisiana Legislature

passed a law requiring water sys-tems to determine the expense of fluoridation.

Ultimately, the cost would be covered by grants or the state’s budget. If 15 percent of a town dissented and petitioned, the community could resist fluorida-tion.

The expense of this process wouldn’t be too cumbersome for the state. According to the Cen-ters for Disease Control, the in-frastructure would cost about 50 cents per person in large commu-nities and $3 per person in small-er towns. For every $1 spent on fluoridation, $38 would be saved in dental treatment costs.

Despite fluoridation’s ben-efits, many scientists, research-ers, dentists and even Nobel lau-reates oppose the practice. This opposition varies in stance and virulence, but it generally claims fluoridation does not greatly help dental hygiene and contributes to a myriad of health problems like weaker bones and lower IQs in children.

Recently, some of these con-cerns were confirmed when the CDC reported that overfluorida-tion was discoloring teeth, and consequently reduced the opti-mal range from between 0.7 and 1.2 mg/L to just 0.7mg/L. I am unaware of Louisiana’s plans to alter their own fluoridation pro-gram’s levels.

I am unqualified to comment on many of fluoride’s health benefits and detriments, but as a researcher of intelligence, I can speak to its effects on children’s IQ. In some studies, fluoride lev-els at 1.8 mg/L were found to harm children’s cognitive devel-opment.

Basically, researchers look at two similar groups of children who, except for one group, has more fluoride in their drinking water. When the group with more fluoride ages, their average IQ is significantly less than that of their peers.

This sort of research is cor-relational, not causal. In other words, you can’t say definitively that fluoride dampened these kids’ cognitive development. Also, 1.8 mg/L is significantly higher than 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L. Yet, the correla-tion is quite strong, and when one

considers how many foods con-tain fluoride, adding more to our water seems risky.

Because of the state’s bud-get situation, fluoridation has lost its steam, but it will probably re-emerge sooner or later. When it does, remember that children, especially those ages 0-3, are in a critical stage of their cognitive development, and anything that might be harmful should be re-garded as such.

This may seem overprotec-tive, but once those years are gone, they are gone forever

Missed chances at cognitive growth are difficult to make up.

This isn’t to say that chil-dren’s dental health isn’t important, because it is. It’s just not as important as children’s brain development.

Daniel Winkler is an education doctoral student. He studies brain development in children.

The Daily Reveille

OpinionWednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 page 13

GUEST COLUMNIST

The dumbest column you could ever enjoy – stupidity sellsStupidity is at an all-time

high. Knowledge and intelli-gence seem to be losing value, and things that can raise interest in the empty and self-absorbed minds of our generation are grad-ually being put aside.

Before lamenting the amount of praise stupidity gets through major media outlets, let me make an important distinction to define what kind of idiocy I am talking about.

I realize there’s an important side of human life that needs sil-liness. Everything can’t be about work and seriousness all the time. That’s the great purpose of comedy, and although comedic expressions in theater and TV seem easy and fun, being funny requires a lot of insight and hard work.

The stupidity I’m bringing up here mostly isn’t intended to be funny. To give practical

examples, let’s ask ourselves why Sarah Palin, Jersey Shore and the University’s latest YouTube hit, “Pizza Girl,” are so popular?

It’s hard to say.While we ask ourselves what

kind of stupid-ity is making the charts, we should also ask if the knowl-edge being produced by our education-al institutions is good enough to beat the idi-

ocy of the world around us.Apparently not. Being stupid

from an early age at school can warrant popularity and attention. Keeping it up while you grow up and go to college obviously works to your advantage.

But why are there so many people making money and fame

by portraying themselves as talk-ing monkeys? If real monkeys could talk, they might be doing a better job.

If you read my columns last semester, you can remember I commented on a TV clown who was elected to Brazil’s Congress with a record number of votes. After the election, he had to go through a test to prove his litera-cy — which he almost failed.

He’s not a smart clown, like many. He’s famous for ... well, being stupid.

Although I think American politics are much more serious and interesting than Brazilian politics, America does not lack its own political clowns. I don’t need to give any examples.

Stupidity is taking over, and ultimately, my goal is not to fight it — although I think I am fighting it just by trying to be a good student, artist, professional

and person.My concern is how much at-

tention and prestige we are pay-ing to idiots who manage to get their asse(t)s on national and in-ternational television.

Or why doing something stu-pid on camera and uploading it to YouTube can change anybody’s life from today to tomorrow. If you have a camera on you at all times, you might make a hit. But it just has to be stupid.

It’s sad, but I think we are running out of options.

Maybe our faiths should dis-miss that which doesn’t really feed the better faculties of our minds. However, given some of the greatest demonstrations of ignorance, bigotry and misun-derstanding shown by religious leaders — those who should be leading the “faith” business — it’s hard to believe faith can make much of a difference in saving us

from our stupidity.While we offer the sacrifice

of our minds to the goddess of stupidity, the resources we could be using to spare the scarcity that afflicts society and the creativity we should be stimulating are go-ing down the drain.

Not even this stupid column could give you an answer.

Maybe we should just stop and try to figure out why the dif-ficulties of a troubled world are winning this round — but doing that just sounds stupid.

Marcelo Vieira is a 33-year-old jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_MVieira.

Marcelo VieiraColumnist

CAMPUS-RESIDENT ALIEN

Contact Marcelo Vieira at mvieira@lsureveille.com

Putting flouride in water supplies possibly dangerousDaniel WinklerSpecial to The Daily Reveille

BEST AND WITTIEST

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

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Miscellaneous

movement, she said.The recent uprisings in Tuni-

sia have not been the main inspi-ration for protests in Egypt, she said.

Meshal said Egyptian citi-zens’ desire for democratic rule has been brewing since 2008.

“Tunisia might have been a spark,” Meshal said.

However, none of the panel-ists denied unrest in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen could have great infl uence on other Mid-dle Eastern countries.

Khannous said Morocco may follow the current protest patterns.

“Democracy has failed [in Morocco],” she said.

Khannous said 40 percent of Moroccan citizens’ income is spent on food, yet many are un-able to be properly fed because of high unemployment rates among young people. The median age in Morocco is 26, Khannous said, and Internet is easily accessible to even the poorest citizens.

These facts suggest high probability for pro-democracy protests, Khannous said, and un-satisfi ed Moroccans could use Facebook and other online re-sources for organization in ways similar to the methods of many Middle East protesters.

Gasiorowski said political changes that may occur in the Middle East could mean the U.S. will lose much of its infl uence in the area.

If protesters are success-ful and democratic government spreads to many of the countries, the U.S. will still have power but not as much as in past years, he said.

Democratic leaders con-stantly focus on re-election, Gasi-orowski said, meaning foreign leaders may care more about public opinion than what the U.S. wants.

Gasiorowski said radical Is-lamic takeover in many areas would be disastrous for the U.S., but re-established regimes would be in foreign policy makers’ favor.

The panelists agreed the non-violent nature of the protests has promoted a more positive per-spective of Middle Eastern people among many Americans.

Ahmed Abdel-Khalek, civil engineering graduate student and a Cairo native, said the panel did not focus on what was truly hap-pening in Egypt and Tunisia, but the discussion has inspired more people to talk about the Middle East and be more aware.

Abdel-Khalek said he dis-agrees with the panelists’ opinion that the Egyptian military has re-mained neutral during protests.

Emily Halk, international

studies senior, said the panel-ists were well chosen, and the discussion was sensitive to the emotions of many Arab students in attendance.

“They acknowledged that it was a diverse and complex issue,” she said.

Rima Massasati, Syrian stu-dio art junior, said she understands the U.S. will do what it has to do to maintain power in the Middle East, but she said people should

not be denied democracy. “There’s no limit to democ-

racy,” she said. “If you’re stand-ing for democracy here, why are you not standing for democracy there?”

The Daily Reveille page 15Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011

Center, said Chancellor Michael Martin decided to close campus af-ter the LSU EOC Core Committee warned icy conditions might make commuting dangerous.

The National Weather Service issued a severe winter-weather warn-ing Thursday , forecasting freezing rain and as much as an inch of ice on the roads.

Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Wednesday be-cause of the storm.

State offi ces and public K-12 schools were closed Thursday and Friday . Private schools and other universities in the area, includ-ing Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College , were closed Friday.

CANCELLATION, from page 1

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

7:20 a.m., 8:20 a.m.

Noon, 3:20 p.m.4:20 p.m., 5:20 p.m.

BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

Touria Khannous, foreign language and international studies professor, speaks Tuesday about Morocco during a panel about the unrest in North Africa and Egypt. Panelists highlighted the impact of protests on U.S. infl uence in those countries.

UNREST, from page 1

Contact Brian Sibille at bsibille@lsureveille.com

The Daily Reveillepage 16 Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011