the daily reveille - february 8, 2012
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News, Sports, Entertainment, OpinionTRANSCRIPT
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood often make news for their contributions to women’s health, but the organizations have recently become known for mak-ing waves instead.
For years, the Komen
Foundation has funded several Planned Parenthood programs, including breast health educa-tion, cancer screenings and mam-mogram referrals, but an Associ-ated Press story published Jan. 31 said the foundation decided to withdraw its support.
Following a public rela-tions backlash, Komen then re-versed that decision Feb. 3 and announced it would continue to support the organization.
Nearly a week after the ini-tial decision, campus is still buzz-ing from the news, and the social
media aftershock is still happen-ing. Komen attention abounded again Tuesday when the orga-nization’s vice president, Karen Handel, resigned.
According to The Associated Press, Planned Parenthood said the grants it received from the Komen Foundation totaled about $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before. In the time that Komen withdrew its support, Planned Parenthood received more than four times that amount
Reveille� e Daily
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 • Volume 116, Issue 87www.lsureveille.com
Crime Briefs: Students arrested for burglary, assault of of� cer, p. 4
Gymnastics: Former LSU star rocks Las Vegas show, p. 5
Women’s Basketball: Lady Tigers winning despite myriad of turnovers, p. 6
Fur-lined boots, galoshes or fl ip-fl ops?
The unpredictable weath-er of recent weeks has left stu-dents puzzled and unsure of climate-appropriate garb.
“It’s really hard to decide
what to wear,” said biological sciences freshman Kari Estep . “One day there’s rain, then no rain the next. It’s hot, then cold again.”
Barry Keim, geography and anthropology profes-sor, said the most signifi cant cause of this winter’s eccen-tric weather is the fact that the
nation is currently experienc-ing the effects of La Niña.
In La Niña, sea surface temperatures in the Pacifi c Ocean run colder than normal, disrupting the atmosphere’s general circulation, Keim said.
La Niña tends to make winters warmer and drier. The
country has been in a La Niña state since October of 2010 , Keim said, and Louisiana was already suffering a drought before it began.
Keim said the cold air fronts of winter typically originate in Canada, but this
Rachel WarrenStaff Writer
Rachel WarrenStaff Writer
Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]
REX C. CURRY / The Associated Press
Women protest Tuesday outside Susan G. Komen for the Cure headquarters in Dallas.KOMEN, see page 4
HEALTH
BR COMMUNITY
Students � nd cut to funds troubling
La Niña, cool Paci� c waters, to blame for recent scattered weather patterns
Komen reverses after backlash
Reggie’sproposal couple identi� ed
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WEATHER, see page 4
graphic by MELISSA RUSHING / The Daily Reveille
Mystery solved.The Daily Reveille reported Mon-
day that an unknown man proposed to his girlfriend with the help of a student band at Reggie’s Bar.
The lucky girl, animal science and technology junior Kellsey Fenley, said the couple has been dating for about four years.
“I had no idea what was going on,” she said. “I saw him waving at the band, and then all of a sudden he was on stage, and I heard my name being called.”
Her fi ancé, Baton Rouge native Tyler Varnado, recently joined the Army and wanted to propose before he left for basic training Tuesday.
Varnado said he hadn’t planned to pop the question at the bar but got the idea when he saw the band on stage.
“I knew I was going to do it any-way, so I thought, ‘Why not?’” he said.
The next morning, Varnado made sure Fenley knew he was serious by cooking her breakfast and hiding her engagement ring in a pancake.
Fenley said the couple will begin planning the wedding when Varnado returns from basic training in 16 weeks.
OH, WEATHER, WHY ART THOU?
Emily HerringtonStaff Writer
* Students in the Quad used these words to describe the recent weather.
cray
Matthew Jacobs • Editor-in-ChiefChris Branch • Associate Managing EditorRyan Buxton • Associate Managing Editor
Bryan Stewart • Managing Editor, External MediaAndrea Gallo • News Editor
Morgan Searles • Deputy News Editor & Entertainment EditorKatherine Terrell • Sports Editor
Mark Clements • Deputy Sports EditorKirsten Romaguera • Production Editor
Clayton Crockett • Opinion EditorBrianna Paciorka • Photo EditorTyler Daniel • Multimedia EditorSteven Powell • Radio Director
Annabel Mellon • Advertising Sales Manager
� e Daily Reveille
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recog-nize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clari� ed please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or e-mail [email protected].
The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Com-munication. A single issue of The Daily Reveille is free. To purchase additional copies for 25 cents, please contact the Of� ce of Student Media in B-34 Hodges Hall. The Daily Reveille is published daily dur-ing the fall and spring semesters and semi-weekly during the sum-mer semester, except during holidays and � nal exams. Second-class copies postage paid at Baton Rouge, La., 70803. Annual weekly mailed subscriptions are $125, semester weekly mailed subscrip-tions are $75. Non-mailed student rates are $4 each regular semes-ter, $2 during the summer; one copy per person, additional copies 25 cents each. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Daily Reveille, B-39 Hodges Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.,70803.
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INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL STATE/LOCAL
Nation & World Wednesday, February 8, 2012page 2
Red Cross: Chinese workers held in Sudan released, � own to Kenya
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Volunteers are pouring onto fro-zen rivers and lakes in the north-ern Netherlands to clean the ice of snow that is jeopardizing chances of a grueling speedskating race being held for the fi rst time in 15 years.
Organizers say locals took to the ice with snow shovels after organizers of the Elfsteden-tocht, or 11 Cities tour, warned that the snow is hampering ice formation.
Elder Pakistani woman saved after 31 hours under collapsed building
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Res-cue workers on Tuesday pulled a 65-year-old woman out alive after she was trapped for 31 hours in the rubble of a collapsed factory in an eastern Pakistan city, as the death toll from the accident rose to 18.
The three-story factory manu-factured medicine and collapsed Monday after several gas cylin-ders inside exploded. It had been set up illegally in a residential area of Lahore and continued opera-tions even though the government tried to shut it down three times, offi cials said.
California’s same-sex marriage ban, Prop. 8, ruled unconstitutional
Prosecutors request Sandusky kept indoors as part of bail conditions
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pros-ecutors asked Tuesday to have Jerry Sandusky kept indoors as part of his bail conditions, citing complaints that the former Penn State football assistant was seen outside and watching children in a schoolyard from the back porch of his home, where he remains under house arrest while awaiting trial on child molestation charges.
The state attorney general’s offi ce argued that Sandusky’s bail conditions should be revised so that he is not allowed outside ex-cept to seek medical treatment.
State retirement system leaders call Jindal retirement plan unfair
(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal’s pro-posed changes to benefi ts for state workers are unconstitutional, un-necessarily harsh and unfair to em-ployees vested in the system, state employee retirement system lead-ers said Tuesday.
Cindy Rougeou, executive di-rector of the Louisiana State Em-ployees Retirement System, said Jindal is targeting workers who are barred from lobbying on their own behalf to speak up in opposition.
“It’s interesting that they’re picking on the ones who have no voice,” said Trey Boudreaux, LASERS assistant director, in a phone interview.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
XERXES A. WILSON / The Daily Reveille
A squirrel enjoys a snack while perched in a tree Tuesday by Hill Memorial Library.
WeatherTODAY
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Partly Cloudy
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THURSDAY
@lsureveille, @TDR_news, @TDR_sports
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Bones found in historic Civil War cemetery may be reburied nearby
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bones uncovered at a South Louisiana slave cemetery where black Union veter-ans were buried after the Civil War will likely be reburied nearby to en-sure their reinterment doesn’t disturb other graves in the Kenner Cemetery, federal authorities have announced.
Four-foot-wide signs will give historical information about both cemeteries, each of which held 100 to 150 graves, and the adjacent sugar plantations where they were located.
Dutch clean ice to raise chances of � rst speedskating race in 15 years
BEIJING (AP) — Twenty-nine Chinese workers abducted by rebels in Sudan more than a week ago have been released and fl own to Kenya by the Red Cross, the group said Tuesday.
The rebels attacked a road construction site Jan. 28 where the Chinese were working, taking 29 hostages, while 17 man-aged to escape.
Chinese state media re-ported earlier Tuesday that a body had been found of one missing worker.
MARGRIET FABER / The Associated Press
Youths play ice hockey Tuesday in Amster-dam, Netherlands. Volunteers pour out to frozen rivers and lakes to shovel away snow, bettering chances for a skating race.
Today on lsureveille.com
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
63 50
SUNDAY
Read the Tiger Feed sports blog for a reaction to Ricardo Gathers’ comments Tuesday.
Feeling like the semester is � ying by? Read a comparison of spring semester’s pace by The Full Monty on the LMFAO entertainment blog.
Get the latest news by downloading the LSU
Reveille app in the iTunes Store and Android MarketReveille app in the iTunes
Check out the online exclusive account of the Louisiana Court of Appeals hearings at LSU Law.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A fed-eral appeals court declared Califor-nia’s same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional Tuesday, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge cor-rectly interpreted the U.S. Constitu-tion and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
More than 100 people from the University met the homeless, watched human trafficking and observed cyber bullying in Kirby Smith Hall on Tuesday evening.
The Depart-ment of Residen-tial Life hosted the “Tunnel of Op-pression,” where small groups were immersed in act-ing experiences that highlighted oppression and social justice.
Spectators were guided through rooms that depicted themes of homelessness, human trafficking, body images, LGBTQ and gender issues and cyber bully-ing in creative ways.
Various student organizations on campus sponsored the rooms, decided the theme and chose the medium for which the social awareness message was transmit-ted.
The Social Work Student As-sociation depicted the negative is-sues of body image by performing about insecurities.
“SWSA thinks body image is an important issue to commu-nicate because the media hypes it up so much,” said Hailey Verrett, social work graduate student.
The National Society for Black Engineers portrayed homelessness by transforming a dorm room into a homeless slum and having two actors hold
cardboard signs that said “will work for food” and “lost: unwant-ed by family.”
“We wanted to send out awareness that there are people struggling, and homeless stereo-types aren’t necessarily what they seem,” said Jeff Guillory, NSBE
member and pe-troleum engineer-ing sophomore.
After the groups visited all of the rooms, School of Hu-man Resource Education gradu-ate student Vicky Katsioloudes was
available to answer questions, make connections and share ways in which students can get in-volved.
“If we can change the behav-ior of one person because of this, that is a success,” Katsioloudes said.
Rony Die, residence life co-ordinator for Blake and McVoy halls, said he hopes students will “commit to trying to be a change agent.”
Sociology sophomore Alexis LeBlanc said she attended the event because her sociology teacher mentioned it in class as an extra-credit assignment.
“This is done to open every-one’s eyes,” LeBlanc said. “This stuff goes on every day, all day.”
Spectators were asked to make pledges to enforce and spread change. They wrote their pledge on note cards and stuck them to the “Wall of Change”
currently hanging in Kirby Smith Hall.
Die is also the chair of the So-cial Justice and Service Commit-tee for Res Life and pitched this project last fall. He said he has seen the “Tunnel of Oppression”
at other universities and wanted LSU to create its own.
Student submissions open today for the sixth annual LSU Student Digital Media Fest.
The competition is run by Communication across the Cur-riculum to promote student in-terest in communication through digital media and is meant to garner professional attention to student work.
Rebecca Burdette, Assistant Director of Communica-tion across the Curr icu lum, said students may submit work in the categories of film and vid-eo, creative a n i m a t i o n , technical and scientific, in-f o r m a t i o n a l and promo-tional, pho-tography and art, ideas and business plans and the catch-all “academic and extra-cur-ricular gum-bo.”
Students are limited to
seven works, one per category. They may use anything created within the last year, including school or professional work.
The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, Feb. 29. Submis-sions must be in a format that can be uploaded to a website acces-sible by the judges.
Submissions are first judged by a panel of faculty members, who will select the best 25 from each category. These are submit-ted to industry professionals and experts, who then narrow the field to five. The student finalists from each category must then de-liver a five-minute presentation outlining the ideas behind their work.
Winners in each category will receive a prize valued be-tween $250-500. In addition, the highest placing student from each college will receive a Dean’s scholarship award.
The Daily Reveille page 3Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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Gordon BrillonContributing Writer
Contact Gordon Brillon at [email protected]
TECHNOLOGY
Jacy BaggettContributing Writer
How to apply for the Digital Media Fest:
What: The sixth annual competition hosted by Commu-nication across the CurriculumWho: LSU studentsDeadline: Wednes-day, Feb. 29Where: online at digitalmediafest.comPrizes: Between $250-500
Entries open for Digital Media FestSubmissions due by February 29
CAMPUS EVENTS
‘Tunnel of Oppression’ targets injustices
Contact Jacy Baggett at [email protected]
MARIAH POSTLETHWAITE / The Daily Reveille
Actors re-enacted different versions of oppression Tuesday. Themes included home-lessness and human trafficking as part of the “Tunnel of Oppression.”
‘If we can change the behavior of one person because of this, that is a
a success.’ Vicky Katsioulouds
human resources education graduate student
winter, almost every front to touch Louisiana was born on the Pacifi c coast.
“The circulation this year is wildly different from what it typ-ically is,” Keim said.
The groundhog Punxsutaw-ney Phil may have seen his shadow this year, indicating six more weeks of winter, but Keim is skeptical of the groundhog’s prediction.
Even though Louisiana has a history of low temperatures during February , Keim said he doesn’t think southern Louisiana will see much more cold weather.
“I’m not saying winter’s over, but as long as we’re in the La Niña pattern, it seems more likely than not that we will re-main in a warm and dry pattern,” he said.
Even though there has been moderate rainfall in the past two weeks, the state continues to ex-perience drought.
John Saichuk, AgCenter pro-fessor and rice specialist , said Louisiana’s rice has been affect-ed by this year’s heat and water shortage.
Saichuk said the water
shortage is the chief concern for farmers because they usually pump from surface water, which has been in short supply because of the drought.
The shortage of fresh wa-ter also leads to a migration of salt water, which is unusable for planting, Saichuk said.
“We need at least another 10 to 12 inches of rain to get us back into good shape,” he said.
The heat affects plant re-production, and there aren’t any heat-resistant rice varieties, Saichuk said. Some farmers were forced to abandon their fi elds over the summer because of the immense heat and dryness.
But there may be a silver lining.
Louisiana’s summer heat is particularly devastating to farm-ers, and the only option left is to plant earlier than normal, Saichuk said.
And this mild winter opens the possibility for an earlier plant.
Kenneth Gravois, AgCenter sugarcane specialist , said this warm, dry winter is benefi cial to the crop.
“A dry winter never killed a sugarcane crop,” Gravois said.
He said the opposite — cold, wet conditions — would be
stressful to sugarcane. Though sugarcane is resil-
ient, Gravois said the drought is still harmful to the crop. He said the tropical storm during last La-bor Day weekend was a blessing in disguise for sugarcane.
Keim said the outlook for February, March and April pre-dicts warmer-than-normal tem-peratures and below-normal pre-cipitation.
This year’s weather is simi-lar to last year’s, which eventu-ally led to the fl ooding of the
Mississippi River, Keim said. The same pattern persists, but he said he fi nds the event unlikely to recur because the North experi-enced less snow this year.
“The potential is there,” Keim said. “It’s hard to imagine that it’ll be as bad as it was last year.”
� e Daily Reveillepage 4 Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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in private donations. “The outpouring of support
online for Planned Parenthood and women in need of breast can-cer screenings has been nothing short of astonishing,” accord-ing to a statement by Planned Parenthood. “And because of it, the Planned Parenthood Breast Health Fund has received more than $3 million from thousands of people across the country in only three days.”
The story said the charity stopped funding Planned Parent-hood because of newly adopted criteria that keeps it from fund-ing organizations that are under investigation. Planned Parent-hood is currently the focus of an inquiry launched by a Republican representative from Florida.
But Planned Parenthood of-fi cials said on its site that the Komen Foundation withdrew support because it was facing “pressure from anti-women’s health political organizations.”
English sophomore Megan Shay said she found the Komen Foundation’s initial decision dis-heartening.
“It’s kind of sad that they’re getting caught up in politics,” she said.
Shay said the biggest conse-quence could be the way people view the foundation.
“Either way, no one’s go-ing to be happy,” she said. “Pro-life people are going to be mad they’re supporting Planned Par-enthood, and pro-choice people are going to think they’re fl ip-fl opping. It was just a bad move.”
Alex Fields, anthropology sophomore, said she thought the foundation’s initial decision was upsetting because of the many services Planned Parenthood of-fers to people who may not be able to afford them otherwise.
“They have all this money, and they’re fi ghting breast can-cer, which is a great cause,” she said. “But they’re also promoting awareness — that’s what Planned Parenthood does.”
KOMEN, from page 1
WEATHER, from page 1
Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]
Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]
CAMPUS CRIME BRIEFS
An investigation about a se-ries of robberies in November and December at the Kappa Al-pha and Kappa Sigma fraternity houses led to the arrests of three men on Feb. 2, according to Capt. Cory Lalonde, LSU Police De-partment spokesman.
LSUPD investigators re-ceived a tip that 19-year-old bio-logical sciences student Jordan Alexander Lewis, of 18049 For-rest Hills in Prairieville, was in-volved with the burglary.
Two other men were later identifi ed, including 20-year-old psychology student Anthony Randolph Ferguson II , of 110 Bellemeade Blvd. in Gretna , and 19-year-old Terris Michael Bier-ria Jr., of 338 Stafford Place in New Orleans .
When the three men were questioned, they acknowledged their involvement and assisted offi cers in recovering some of the stolen property. Lalonde said a TV , Xbox consoles, vid-eo game accessories and other
A University student was ar-rested Feb. 1 after beating and resisting an offi cer, according to Lalonde.
The incident occurred when 18-year-old psychology fresh-man Brandon Lamar Addison , of 11140 Idlewood Court in New Orleans , punched and kicked offi cers.
Three men arrested for series of fraternity house robberies
personal items were stolen from the fraternity houses.
Lalonde said Bierria Jr. also admitted to stealing an iPad in the Quad during November.
While police were recover-ing the property, Lalonde said Ferguson was found with 27.5 grams of marijuana along with small bags that are typically used in the sale and distribution of marijuana .
The men were all arrested on two counts of burglary. Bierria Jr. was also arrested for theft.
All three were booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison .
Student resists, assaults of� cers, is transported to hospital
Offi cers traveled to LeJeune Hall at 7:36 p.m. on a marijuana-related dispatch , Lalonde said. He said while conducting an in-vestigation, offi cers came into contact with Addison .
When offi cers tried to talk to him, Addison was non-respon-sive, leading offi cers to contact EMS to check on him.
While EMS offi cials at-tempted to attend to Addison , he became irate and belligerent. When offi cers tried to calm him down, Addison became physical.
After a brief struggle, of-fi cers subdued Addison . He was transported to Baton Rouge Gen-eral Mid City for medical atten-tion.
Addison was issued a misde-meanor and released.
Contact � e Daily Reveille’s news sta� at [email protected]
The LSU softball team and first-year Tiger coach Beth Torina will be searching for the “it” fac-tor this season against some of the nation’s best teams.
Torina, who leads the Tigers into the 2012 season after four years at the helm of Florida Inter-national, took the reins from former LSU coach Yvette Girouard after
the 2011 season.Torina said she’s thankful for
the team and facility Girouard left behind and will strive for success to honor the now retired Hall of Fame coach.
“This team was selected 100 percent by her, and I love them like they were my own,” Torina said. “We thank her everyday for ev-erything she has done for this pro-gram.”
Torina also jokingly thanked Girouard for the robust slate of opponents the Tigers will face in 2012, with tongue in cheek.
“[Girouard] obviously thought very highly of this team because she has truly challenged us this year with the schedule we have,” Torina said.
LSU will play five of the eight College World Series teams from
last season, including out-of-con-ference contests against California, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, which loom in advance of a South-eastern Conference schedule that features meetings with Alabama and 2011 World Series runner-up Florida.
Along with the challenge, se-nior catcher Morgan Russell said it’s a privilege to face such talented teams.
“It’s a motivation, and I think our team is very capable of keeping up with these other teams and actu-ally being on top,” Russell said. “I definitely think we have the talent to do all of that.”
The Tigers’ eight seniors have reached the NCAA Regional the past three seasons, where their run
When competitive gymnasts find themselves at the end of their collegiate careers, it’s often the end of the road.
Seldom is there an outlet to continue to display the skills they spent their entire life refining, and continuing their passion becomes a fantasy.
Former LSU gymnast Kelly Phelan is living that dream. Phelan currently performs as an acrobat and a dancer in
the Wynn Las Vegas production “Le Rêve,” French for “The Dream,” utilizing the skills and mindset she developed while competing at the University.
“A lot of the stuff is similar to gymnastics, but it has its own tech-nique,” Phelan said. “It’s a very unique challenge.”
The show takes place in an inti-mate arena-style theater above a tank containing 1.1 million gallons of fil-tered water and features aerial acrobat-ics, choreographed dance routines and avant-garde special effects. It was created by Franco Dragone, the former creative director of Cirque du Soleil.
Phelan participates in several perilous segments, including one where she plunges into the tank from a 55-foot high-dive, and the Triton, a trapeze-style apparatus where the acrobat is kicked off 32 feet in the air by another performer.
Casting director Louanne Madorma said the Triton spot is highly sought after by the actors despite its dangerous nature. It’s reserved only for acrobats who have been “exceptionally trained.”
Phelan also performs in dance numbers, highlighted by the “Red Men” solo, in which she has a minute and a half to per-form alone while encircled by her male castmates.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant sank a jumper from the top of the key Monday night with 5:07 left in the second quar-ter against the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s a shot Bryant has drained countless times in his stellar NBA career.
The only thing different about that jumper — it buoyed him past former Laker teammate Shaquille O’Neal for fifth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
It’s a tremendous achieve-ment for the 16-year veteran, who has spent all 16 of those seasons in a Laker uniform.
When you add that Bryant has won five NBA titles, been named an All-Star 14 times and was the league’s MVP in 2008, one begins to consider where Kobe ranks among the all-time greats to don the purple and gold of the Los An-geles Lakers.
The players that come to mind when I think of the Lak-ers include Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For Kobe to be mentioned with those NBA legends is an honor in its own right.
There’s still one thing Bryant needs in order to feel completely vindicated about his time spent in the NBA — a sixth title.
SportsWednesday, February 8, 2012 page 5
Best Laker of all time: Bryant or Johnson?
BRYANT, see page 7GYMNAST, see page 11
SOFTBALL, see page 11
XERXES A. WILSON / The Daily Reveille
LSU senior pitcher Brittany Mack discusses her expanding repertoire of pitches Tuesday at Softball Media Day at Tiger Park.
SOFTBALL
Scott BransonSports Contributor
MIC’D UPMicah BedardSports Columnist
DREAMliving a
Former LSU gymnast performs in Las Vegas show ‘Le Rêve’Alex CassaraSports Contributor
Torina ready for first year as Tiger
Torina
‘When you see Kelly for the first time, you know
immediately she’s right for this
kind of show.’
Louanne MadormaLe Rêve casting director
[Top] File photo [Bottom] photos courtesy of TOMASZ ROSSA
[Top] Kelly Phelan attended LSU from 2003 to 2007, earning All-American honors. [Bottom] Phelan performs in the Las Vegas show “Le Rêve.”
Eight seniors to lead Tigers into daunting 2012 schedule
With every travel or errant pass, LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell gives a pained look from the sideline — it has happened 452 times this sea-son.
The coach went so far as to make members of her team carry basketballs with them everywhere to try and reverse the effects, but the Lady Tigers are still racking up turnovers at an alarming rate.
The Lady Tigers beat No. 5 Kentucky last weekend by double digits, surprising considering the team’s frequent miscues.
LSU had 26 turnovers in the game against Kentucky — just four fewer than its 30 shot attempts for the entire game — and needed to rely on a stellar defense to win the game.
It’s been the same script LSU has followed all season. The ebb and flow of prolonged winning or losing streaks has coincided with the effectiveness of the defense, but the turnovers have remained un-changed.
In LSU’s eight losses, it’s actually averaging fewer turnovers (18.6 per game) than it is overall for the sea-son (19.7).
Even during their 10-game win streak, the Lady Tigers averaged 19.2 turnovers per game.
The problems have come when LSU doesn’t have the stifling defense to match its propensity to hand the ball back to the other team.
LSU gave up 67 points per game in its eight losses — 14 points per game more than its
season average.“When you turn it over, you
can’t allow them to score the next basket,” Caldwell said. “We’ve got to cancel out that turnover, and the way that you do that is through your defense.”
While Caldwell realizes that LSU’s defensive performance is the key to victory, the team’s con-
tinued inability to hang on to the ball dampens what has been at times a prolific offense.
The Lady Tigers have had double-digit turn-over numbers in each of their 23 games played this
season, and posted 20 or more turn-overs in 12 games.
Some of the inflated turnover numbers could correlate with the fact that LSU has played this entire season with just one point guard on its roster, sophomore Jeanne Kenney.
Kenney hasn’t been immune to the turnover bug — she sports the
team’s highest single-game turn-over number this season, with eight in both the Kentucky win and a loss to Florida on Feb. 2.
But after not being able to find a solution to the problem, Kenney talked to Caldwell about which turnovers were acceptable and which weren’t.
“We had this talk and it was very difficult for Coach Nikki to say this, but there’s a good turn-over and there’s a bad turnover,” Kenney said. “The good turnovers are when it’s a dead ball situation and they have no hope of coming in transition.”
The bad turnovers are the op-posite, presenting the opposing team a chance for a fast and easy basket.
Caldwell has said at times this season that the turnovers are some-thing she’s going to have to live with as a coach — as long as the team wins in spite of them.
Even though the LSU men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tourna-ment hopes are on thin ice, the Ti-gers will get at least one shot on a big stage tonight against Vanderbilt.
The Commodores’ home court, Memorial Gym, is notorious for its unusual bench placement and an at-mosphere LSU players described as “theatrical.”
“They got the lights down and the court raised, so you’re in the mid-dle, with all eyes on you,” said ju-nior forward Eddie Ludwig. “Then, the benches are behind the basket, so it just adds to the isolation a little. Communication is different.”
The trip marks the end of a bru-tal stretch of Southeastern Confer-ence away games for the Tigers (13-9, 3-5 SEC). LSU lost to Arkansas, No. 25 Alabama, No. 15 Florida and No. 16 Mississippi State in games away from the PMAC in January.
The task gets no simpler to-night, as Vanderbilt (16-7, 5-3 SEC) fields the league’s deepest and most experienced roster.
“There is nobody like Vander-bilt in this league,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson.
The Commodores regularly ro-tate 10 players into games and have trotted out 11 different starting line-ups this season. Nine contributors play double-digit minutes, including six upperclassmen.
The ‘Dores depth means Vandy coach Kevin Stallings will likely run full-court pressure at LSU, a strategy that has given the Tigers fits in recent road outings.
“I don’t expect the press, but
we’ll be prepared if they [pressure] full court,” said LSU junior cen-ter Justin Hamilton. “The Arkansas [win] showed we can slow it down better.”
While Vanderbilt boasts an un-usually deep lineup, it doesn’t sacri-fice explosive individual scoring for that depth.
The SEC’s top two scorers are Commodores. Junior shooting guard John Jenkins averages 19.9 points per game, and senior combo guard Jeffrey Taylor adds 17.7 points per game.
“They have some guys that are efficient offensively, which obvious-ly makes defending difficult. Jenkins and Taylor are dangerous from the perimeter,” Hamilton said.
But Johnson said he’s more con-cerned with Taylor’s impact when the senior doesn’t have the ball.
“He can guard a one, two or three, and really take guys out of the game,” Johnson noted. “Last year, he was very effective against us defen-sively.”
Vanderbilt has lost its last two games, dropping road tilts at Florida and Arkansas last week, but has won six straight against LSU dating back to 2006.
Ludwig was part of a stellar LSU bench performance during the Arkansas win, scoring 12 points, and said the Tigers will need to match Vanderbilt’s depth to ensure a hot start to the final half of league play.
“A lot of people probably aren’t giving us a fair chance to win this game,” Ludwig said. “We look at this like a must-win.
The Daily Reveillepage 6 Wednesday, February 8, 2012
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL MEN’S BASKETBALL
LSU winning despite turnovers Tigers to face mature Vandy squad in Tenn.Luke Johnson
Sports Writer
Chris AbshireSports Writer
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]
Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]
12 Games with 20 or more turnovers30-
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‘We’ve got to cancel out that turnover, and the way you do that is through your defense.’
Nikki CaldwellLSU women’s basketball coach
graphic by KEVIN THIBODEAUX / The Daily Reveille
LSU will look to add to its al-ready hefty abundance of NFL tal-ent, as eight Tigers received invi-tations to the 2012 NFL Combine, held Feb. 22 to 28 in Indianapolis.
The list includes linebacker Ryan Baker, defensive tackle Mi-chael Brockers, cornerback Ron Brooks, quarterback Jordan Jeffer-son, cornerback Morris Claiborne, tight end Deangelo Peterson, wide receiver Rueben Randle and safety Brandon Taylor.
Quarterback Jarrett Lee did not receive an invitation.
ESPN.com Draft Analyst Mel Kiper ranks both Claiborne and Brockers as two of the top prospects in the 2012 class, with Claiborne sitting at No. 6 and Brockers at No. 12 on the Big Board.
The eight invitations tie the Tigers for second most invites in the Southeastern Conference along with University of Georgia. The two fall behind only Univer-sity of Alabama, who will send nine players.
Senior jumper Damar Forbes and junior sprinter Kimberlyn Dun-can were named the Southeastern Conference’s Athletes of the Week on Tuesday, for their showing at the New Balance Collegiate Invitation-al in New York last weekend.
The award marks the third week in a row two LSU Track and Field members were recognized for the honor.
Forbes posted a season-best 51-10 1/2 feet in the triple jump to earn a fourth-place fi nish overall and a fi rst-place fi nish among col-legians in the fi eld.
Duncan claimed the women’s 200-meter title with a national-leading time of 23.22, becoming the fi fth Lady Tiger in meet history to win the event.
The honors spilled over to the gymnastics team as well, as fresh-man Rheagan Courville earned SEC Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, following her efforts in No. 14 LSU’s 196.125-195.050 vic-tory over Kentucky last weekend.
Courville won the all-around, vault and beam titles against the Wildcats, setting season highs on both the beam and the all-around.
All-American LSU corner-back Morris Claiborne received the Thorpe Award Tuesday night, given annually to the top defensive back in college football following in the footsteps of former Tiger star Pat-rick Peterson.
Claiborne racked up 46 tack-les, six interceptions and six pass break-ups, leading the Southeast-ern Conference with 173 intercep-tion return yards en route to earning unanimous First-Team All-Ameri-can honors.
Along with the shiny silver, Claiborne’s award comes with a cowboy hat and pair of boots, which he collected from Teener’s Western Outfi tters in Oklahoma City on Tuesday before the ceremony.
Kobe told reporters after the game that he was more than hum-bled with the accomplishment of passing O’Neal on the all-time scoring list, but also said he wants to have six rings when it’s all said and done. If Kobe is able to de-liver a sixth NBA Championship to the city of Los Angeles, he will be without a doubt the best player in Lakers history.
Some NBA experts before the season thought the 33-year-old was past his prime, saying fans would never see fl ashes of the old Kobe.
He’s silenced those doubters so far this year, leading the league in scoring with 29.4 points per game.
After Michael Jordan retired in 2003, Bryant has been the most dominant force in the NBA.
The biggest argument against Kobe being the best Laker in the history of the franchise is that he never won a title by himself.
When the Lakers won the title
three years in a row from 1999 to 2002, Kobe played second fi ddle to O’Neal in all three of the cham-pionship runs. No denying that.
But, in the last two titles that Bryant won with the Lakers, he put the team on his back. There were no legitimate superstars on the roster with him on those teams. Looking at you, Pau Gasol .
The only player I believe might stand in his way for su-premacy as the best Laker is Mag-ic Johnson.
Johnson revitalized the Los Angeles basketball scene in the ‘80s with his ability to play every position and fast-paced up-tempo style that got his teams dubbed the “Showtime” Lakers.
Kobe and Magic both have the same amount of NBA Cham-pionship rings and All-NBA First Team selections.
But Kobe has performed un-der some of the most daunting circumstances — his rape trial in 2003 and now he’s in a divorce with his wife.
When fans of the NBA of the
last 20 years think about the Lak-ers, Kobe’s name is usually the fi rst one that comes to mind.
This year’s Laker team might be the least talent Kobe has had around him since before the trade that brought Gasol to Los Ange-les.
In a shortened lockout season this year, Kobe has the steep task of leading a team with so many new players and a new head coach to the promised land.
This is Kobe’s chance to show the basketball world he’s still the Black Mamba and to ce-ment his legacy as the best Los Angeles Laker of all time.
Micah Bedard is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Houma. Follow him on Twitter @DardDog.
� e Daily ReveilleWednesday, February 8, 2012 page 7
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SPORTS BRIEFS
Contact Micah Bedard at [email protected]
BRYANT, from page 5
Eight Tigers invited to 2012 NFL Combine in Indianapolis
Forbes, Duncan named SEC Athletes of the Week, Courville earns award
Claiborne receives Thorpe Award
Contact � e Daily Reveille’s sports sta� at [email protected]
Are conservatives stupid? What about racists and homo-phobes?
I wouldn’t hesitate to say southern Louisiana and most of the South would probably say they aren’t.
But it turns out they’re wrong — conservatives, racists and ho-mophobes may be a little dumb, a new study said.
The study, conducted by psy-chology professors at Brock Uni-versity in Ontario, Canada, set out to fi nd the relation between cognitive ability and explana-tions of prejudice in more than 15,000 people.
While some may call such a conclusion liberal bigotry, the fi ndings have a lot to show us as a society.
The study assessed groups of people’s childhood intelligence at ages 10 and 11 and reassessed them for their political ideologies and racism in adulthood between the ages of 30 and 33.
Social conservatism was as-sessed in terms of respect and submission to authority and sup-port for conventional sex roles. Statements that tapped into con-servative values were rated.
“Give law breakers stiffer sentences” and “Family life suf-fers if mum is working full-time” were some of the statements sub-jects rated.
Finally, racism was assessed by rating statements such as “I wouldn’t mind working with
people from other races” and “I wouldn’t mind if a family of a different race moved next door.”
African-Americans are not out to shoot you or steal your car. Arabs are not out to blow up your plane. Homosexuals aren’t posing any threat to “traditional moral values.”
Actually believing those things makes you ignorant.
If we put it in terms of the 2012 elections, we’re talking Rick Santorum and Rick Perry dumb.
Carlos Hunter, fi nance and economics senior, said he thinks the study is not representative of conservatives as a whole.
“Look at CEOs of major companies,” Hunter said. “Those guys are mostly conservative.”
Here’s another reason why many typically conservative states are socially conservative: lack of adequate education.
States throughout the South are notorious for having the worst public education and for being conservative.
In fact, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi were in the 10 dumbest states list, accord-ing to Morgan Quitno Press, a re-search company that specializes in state data.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again — we need better education in the South.
With better, more compre-hensive education, people will learn to use critical thinking be-fore making judgments purely based on emotion and fear — which are typical of most socially conservative ideologies.
We’re now at a point in time when everyone should realize
that racism and homophobia are both entirely unwarranted beliefs of hate against humans.
In the end, social conser-vatives may have stupid view-points, but that can change if they learn to think analytically.
We need to change the way we think of humans. And change is nothing to be afraid of.
Chris Grillot is a 20-year-old English and mass communi-cation senior from New Orl-reans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.
In response to the recent tragic death of Baton Rouge cyclist Na-than Crowson, many stories and letters have been written that em-phasize the lack of respect in Ba-ton Rouge for bicycles as vehicles and the astonishing carelessness of motorists. While the non-cyclists may quickly tire of the numerous (but greatly needed) calls for new bike lanes or paths around town, perhaps they would spare a few
moments to read about the con-sequences of seemingly “minor” careless driving practices.
Three months ago, I was hit by a car while commuting by bike to LSU. I was on the Dalrymple bike path in a crosswalk, and a motorist with whom I had made eye contact before crossing accelerated while, I imagine, looking over his shoul-der for cars rather than in front of him for bicycles (and other cars). I am currently fi ghting to have the city repaint that crosswalk and erect caution signs, but regardless, motorists should always be con-scious of their surroundings while moving, and particularly while ac-celerating.
The second incident has
occurred several times in one loca-tion on my commute to LSU. Dal-rymple Drive at State Street curves sharply so that the bike path at that spot is obscured to motorists trav-eling north on Dalrymple. But mo-torists still fl y around that curve, and I have been grazed several times by cars that cross over the line onto the bike path. White lines are not physical barriers; they do not protect us cyclists from care-less motorists. I have also almost been run over twice in that same spot by appallingly dense motor-ists who drove onto the bike path in an attempt to pass a car making an illegal left turn onto State Street.
During my short time so far living in Baton Rouge, I have come
to realize that it is, in fact, not com-mon sense that bike paths are not for cars and that motorists should drive as if they are operating a high-speed, multi-ton mass of steel on streets shared with tiny human bodies and lightweight bicycles. My daily commute, and that of fel-low cyclists, would be made much less stressful if motorists would simply be careful. I promise to smile and nod at you if you go out of your way to not hit me.
Cathy Newman Biology graduate student
� e Daily Reveille
Opinionpage 8 Wednesday, February 8, 2012
� 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“Nothing in the world is more
dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Martin Luther King Jr.American civil rights activist
Jan. 15, 1929 — April 4, 1968
Editorial BoardMatthew Jacobs
Chris BranchRyan Buxton
Bryan StewartAndrea Gallo
Clayton Crockett
Editor-in-Chief
Associate Managing Editor
Associate Managing Editor
Managing Editor, External Media
News Editor
Opinion Editor
Compiled by SHANNON ROBERTS
eanutThe
GalleryP
Following Thursday’s ruling that
California’s Prop. 8 is unconstitutional,
do you think it’s wrong to ban
gay marriage?
‘I completely do. It’s not the
government’s job to
regulate people’s
personal life.’Michelle Landrychemical engineering
sophomore
‘I don’t know if it’s unconstitu-tional, but I think people
should do what they
want to do.’ Ricardo Castrillointernational trade and
� nance sophomore
‘I’m for gay marriage.
I think it’s one’s personal choice
to marry who they want to.’
Michelle Kimbiological engineering
sophomore
‘Yes, I think everyone has
their own right in their social life. No one should be able to
regulate that.’ Luke Jonesmass communication
junior
‘I’m a believer in the Bible, but I don’t
think it’s up to humans to decide whether or not
something’s a sin.’
Stephanie Dickerson
biological engineering sophomore
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Contact � e Daily Reveille’s opinion sta� at [email protected]
Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]
Social conservatives dumb, not representativeTHEC-SECTIONCHRIS GRILLOTColumnist
Bike commuter recounts troubling
road experience
TIM MORGAN and ROLAND PARKER / The Daily Reveille
Fifty-nine points and 160 pag-es.
That’s the reality of Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s dull economic plan to jump-start the economy.
When Romney published the so-called “59-Point Plan” in Sep-tember , he neglected to take into account that the American people have no interest in reading 160 pages of essentially useless cam-paign rhetoric.
Five months later, Romney’s vision for America is just as blurred as it was then. The question many are asking is: Does Romney even have a real vision for America?
After back-to-back wins in the Florida primary and Nevada cau-cuses, Romney has left much to be desired. Sure, a win is a win, but the victories have more to do with Romney’s substantial advantage in resources than his stance on the is-sues that matter to voters. This fall, that’s not going to cut it.
Should Romney win the Re-publican nomination, he won’t have the luxury of advantage in resources against President Barack Obama , who raised $68 million in the fourth quarter alone .
Romney is going to have to campaign and win on substance and issues, something he has yet to prove capable of. Running as a management consultant or
businessman alone isn’t going to resonate with voters.
In a recent poll released Sun-day by Washington Post-ABC News , Obama leads Romney in a hypothetical general election test, 51 to 45 percent .
By more than 2 to 1, Ameri-cans say the more they learn about Romney, the less they like him .
What is there to learn, you ask? Well, a lot.
Romney is the human weath-ervane of politics. He’s been no-torious for wavering on populist stances, ranging from abortion, im-migration, taxes and healthcare.
In his 1994 Senate run, Rom-ney argued that he was more pro-choice than Ted Kennedy .
During a debate with Kennedy in 1994, Romney said, “I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice.”
It was revealed in 2011 that Romney used polling data from Richard Wirthlin , Ronald Reagan’s former pollster , to determine that he would run as a pro-choice can-didate in Massachusetts for that race.
After losing to Kennedy in a landslide, Romney again cam-paigned as pro-choice in his suc-cessful 2002 gubernatorial cam-paign .
And then he started thinking about national offi ce as a Repub-lican.
In a 2005 Boston Globe op-ed, Romney came out as pro-life after
vetoing a bill to increase access to emergency contraception .
Talk about your all-time fl ip-fl ops. It doesn’t end there.
In a GOP debate in October , Romney commented that he had never hired an illegal immigrant in his life. Less than three minutes later, he admitted to hiring a lawn service that employed illegal im-migrants. Maybe it wasn’t know-ingly, but Romney’s tendency to make misleading statements is laughable.
In 2002, Romney refused to make “a pledge in writing” on tax-es . Four years later, he signed one and touted it as a selling point for his candidacy .
In a GOP debate in 2008, Rom-ney stated, “I support the Bush tax cuts. The Bush tax cuts helped get our economy going again when we faced the last tough times.”
However, in 2003 Romney re-fused to endorse the tax cuts, and The Boston Globe cited him telling the state’s congressional delegation that he “won’t be a cheerleader” for tax cuts he didn’t agree with .
In 2009, when comparing his own Massachusetts healthcare re-form to President Obama’s , Rom-ney commented that “the presi-dent’s copying that idea. I’m glad to hear that.”
In 2011, he called the reform “bad news.”
Half of the time, I’m not even sure Romney actually knows what he’s talking about. Not to mention his bewildering tendency to mud-dle statements, adding to the uncer-tainty on his views.
“Corporations are people. I’m not concerned about the very poor,” Romney infamously stated .
With comments like this, it’s no wonder people are reluctant to rally behind the man .
In December, Time magazine published an issue showing a gri-macing Romney on the cover with the headline asking “Why don’t they like me?”
Well Mr. Romney , a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and you’ve cemented your-self as a man of vague ideology.
Outside of looking like a wax
fi gure, which Romney has pulled off fl awlessly, the American people are going to need more.
By that I mean anything that bears resemblance to a coherent political stance — of which I’m not sure Romney is capable.
Matthew Westfall is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from Winchester, Va. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mwestfall.
� e Daily Reveille
OpinionWednesday, February 8, 2012 page 9
Clues you are an fan
• “Callin’ Baton Rouge” is your ringtone.• You hate Saban even if you did not
attend LSU during his tenure.• You never truly decided if you wanted
Jordan or Lee to play.• You learned to cook by tailgating.• If it is a home game, you do not evacuate
town for a hurricane until the game is over.
• Without a true SEC rivalry, you feverishly bait and fl ame UA fans in an attempt to create one.
• You, plus voodoo dolls of the opponent’s kickers, plus shotgunning brew, equals pre-game festivities.
• Popeye’s chicken is fi ne dining.
• You can’t use proper spelling. Ex: twenty one to zeruex (sic).
• You like to beat up opposing fans after you lose at your home stadium.
• You think eating grass is an endearing quality.
• You also tell people you’re not from Mississippi (we can at least all agree that place sucks).
• You think Better Than Ezra is a band worthy of being in an LSU promo.
• Crossing the 50-yard line is cause for celebration.
• “Tiger bait” is not only a rallying cry,
but what you use to catch dem der gatahs.
• Ever seen the shows “Swamp People” or “Bayou Billionaires”? Enough said.
• You celebrate the birthday of Troy Landry. “Choot ‘em ‘Lizabeth!!!”
• You might be an LSU fan if at your wedding everyone toasted with Hand Grenades.
• The greatest roller coaster you have ever been on is called “Les Miles’ tenure at LSU.”
• You’re still living in your FEMA trailer fi ve years after Katrina.
Contact Matthew Westfall [email protected]
FOR THINKERS ONLYMATTHEW WESTFALLColumnist
Romney’s strategy to capture voters — be vague
After publishing a list of jokes compiled by a feature writing course here at the University about fans of the University of Alabama following the BCS Championship game, the Reveille received plenty of feedback answering the obvious corollary: What makes an LSU fan? While mixed, the answers transcended state borders, with the vast majority of input hailing from Alabama. Here are some of the submissions we received.
WINSLOW TOWNSON / The Associated Press
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney listens to a speaker at VFW Post 8641 in Merrimack, N.H., on a Dec. 30, 2011.
photo courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ever seen the shows “Swamp People” or “Bayou Billionaires”?BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille
You never truly decided if you wanted Jordan or Lee to play.
“The feel is aggressive,” Phelan said. “You’re supposed to be a man in woman form. It’s very fi erce.”
The solo’s mood suits Phel-an’s personality. LSU coach D-D Breaux , known for her own aggres-sive coaching style, said she enjoyed the intensity and enthusiasm Phelan brought to the gym, despite strug-gles early in her career.
“She was challenging, but she got better,” Breaux said. “She worked hard in our system and re-ally thrived.”
Breaux said Phelan had a prob-lem with focus when she fi rst got to LSU. Phelan said she didn’t man-age her time well and slept through classes, and her grades suffered.
On top of academic problems, a doctor told Phelan, an all-arounder, that she would only ever compete on the uneven bars again due to a back injury.
Her disagreement with the di-agnosis, and an appeal from Breaux, transformed her attitude to the one her mentor now praises.
“D-D told me she was very disappointed [in my grades], so that kind of made me jump-start and get back into the swing of things,” Phelan said.
Two months of relentless physi-cal therapy and copious hours of
studying primed her for a career in which she earned two All-American and two Academic All-American titles.
“LSU created that competitive edge in me,” Phelan said.
She worked in marketing at Walk-On’s in Baton Rouge for a pe-riod after graduating in 2007 before moving back home to Florida. She worked at Disneyworld, impersonat-ing Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and performing in acrobatic parades.
“It was fun, but it wasn’t physi-cally demanding,” Phelan said.
It wasn’t until Madorma con-tacted Breaux , whom she had met at gymnastics meets prior, about up-coming auditions for “Le Rêve” that Phelan got to satisfy her aggressive tendencies.
“When you see Kelly for the fi rst time, you know immediately she’s right for this kind of show,” Madorma said. “She’s a really tal-ented gymnast obviously, but she has a glowing personality, and she moves really well, so she has a great performance value.”
She would need both her gym-nastics prowess and her indomitable will to get through the grueling nine-hour audition and subsequent three-day work shop in Las Vegas.
Phelan recalled picking herself up repeatedly after falling when others were giving up. Madorma
noticed that Phelan was battered and bruised but kept bouncing back.
“They told me, ‘We saw you falling and you kept getting up, and that’s why we picked you’,” Phelan said. “That was kind of cool, be-cause I know that’s what you also need for gymnastics.”
Phelan debuted in “Le Rêve” in August 2010 and hasn’t forgotten who bred that mindset or where she developed the talents that allowed her to live a dream.
She calls Breaux a second mom. Her former coach said she got the “this is my momma” treatment when she recently went to see Phel-an perform during a recruiting trip to Las Vegas.
“She’s gone from someone that we’ve recruited, to someone we’ve coached, to someone we feel like is a friend,” Breaux said.
Phelan still feels close to not only Breaux , but also to the LSU community as a whole, and said she becomes fast friends with anyone associated with the university.
“LSU is my life,” Phelan said. “It’s more than the four years.”
ended each year. They have also never won an SEC championship .
Senior outfi elder Ashley Lan-goni said winning a championship is the team’s highest priority.
“It doesn’t matter what cham-pionship it is,” Langoni said. “It could be an SEC championship or
national champi-onship, as long as we get one.”
Torina said the Tigers talked about creating a team “it” fac-tor to hopefully remedy the Ti-gers’ postseason woes in 2012.
“It’s kind of that intangible factor that you can’t put words on,” Torina said. “It’s determina-tion, it’s chem-
istry, it’s work ethic. All of those things go into creating that ‘it’ fac-tor.”
In addition to enforcing a team “it” factor, Torina also tasked the Ti-gers with completing a puzzle from puzzle pieces given to the players for exceptional performance on and off the fi eld.
Puzzle pieces are given to the day’s “practice player of the day,” for classroom achievements and for individuals who exceed expecta-tions.
The puzzle — 270 pieces in all — features tiny images of people who have the “it” factor, including the likes of Michael Jordan and for-mer LSU athletes. The overall pic-ture, which is a mystery to the play-ers, will be revealed as more pieces are added to the puzzle throughout the season.
Langoni said the puzzle is a constant motivator for multiple reasons.
“We’re just so anticipating what the puzzle is going to be, so all of us want to work hard every day at practice, weights and condition-ing to actually get a puzzle piece to see what picture comes out,” Lan-goni said.
Sophomore infi elder Tammy Wray said she likes how Torina hands out the puzzle pieces because she tells the players why they de-served the recognition that day.
“It’s cool to be rewarded and to know that you were noticed if you do things great,” Wray said.
� e Daily Reveille page 11Wednesday, February 8, 2012
“A man who stops advertisingto save money,
is like a man who stops the clock to save time.”
-Henry Ford
got ?get lifepages.lifepages.com
View the LSU yearbook online at lifepages.com
GYMNAST, from page 5
SOFTBALL, from page 5
Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]
Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]
‘[Girouard] obviously
thought very highly of this team because she has truly challenged us this year with
the schedule we have.’Beth Torina
LSU softball coach
File photo
During her time as a gymnast at LSU, Kelly Phalen earned two All-American and two Academic All-American titles.