In the past two days, three administra-tors have announced they will step down from their positions, highlighting the trend of upper-level deans and administrators leaving the University.

College of Agriculture Dean Kenneth

Koonce and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Gaines Foster added their names to a list of eight other upper-level positions in need of permanent re-placement Tuesday – a list Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell said probably has something to do with the an-nouncement of F. King Alexander as newly elected LSU President .

Bell said many faculty members see this transition period as a window for them to leave their positions and make room for a new team of leaders that will propel the University forward.

“I think we have a number of deans … who love LSU and who have given more than we probably should have expected them to give during a transition of tough budget times and leadership changes,” Bell said. “They said they were going to stay for the last lap, but it’s a good time for this new person to start a new race.”

Koonce, who wants to retire after more than 46 years at the University and 16 as

dean, said he hasn’t determined exactly when he will leave, although he plans to re-main in the position until the beginning of the fall semester at least. There are no plans for a search to replace him now, he said.

Foster said he will remain in his posi-tion until June 30, 2014, when he will return to work as history professor and historian. Retirement is many years away, he said.

Bell and Alexander, who will be back in Baton Rouge next week, have discussed moving all the search processes ahead, though Bell said Alexander has not spoken about any position specifi cally.

Filling some upper-level administra-tive positions must wait until the reorgani-zation process is further along, however, as many will be consolidated during the reor-ganization process.

Departure: Accepted provost and executive vice president position at University of Nevada on Oct. 23, 2012Replacement:

Guillermo Ferreyra serving as interim, search committee narrowing down potential candidates

Reveille� e Daily

Wednesday, April 10, 2013 • Volume 117, Issue 118www.lsureveille.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL: O’Bryant decides to stay for junior season, p. 7

15 GONE AND COUNTINGFoster, Koonce latest deans to step down in trend of vacancies

JOHN LOMBARDI System President

ERIC MONDAY Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative

Services and CFO

MICHAEL MARTIN Chancellor JACK HAMILTON

Executive Vice Chancellor and

Provost

KATRICE ALBERT Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity and Community

Outreach

THOMAS KLEIInterim Vice Chancellor of Research and

Economic Development

ROBERT KUHNVice Provost and

Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget

and Planning and Interim CFO

ROBERT DOOLOS University Registrar

JASON TOLLIVER Student Union

Executive Director

GAINES FOSTER College of

Humanities and Social Sciences

KENNETH KOONCE College of Agriculture

PETER HAINESCollege of

Veterinary Medicine

KEVIN CARMAN College of Science

ELI JONESCollege of Business

Alyson GaharanStaff Writer

ADMINISTRATORS

DEANS

Contact Alyson Gaharan at agaharan@lsureveille.com

Departure: Fired April 27, 2012Replacement: Position merged into LSU President, � lled by F. King Alexander

Departure: Accepted chancellor position at Colorado State University on May 25, 2012Replacement: Position merged into LSU President, � lled by F. King Alexander

Departure: Stepped down upon completion of his two-year appointment in summer 2012Replacement: Stuart Bell, former dean of School of Engineering at University of Kansas

Departure: Accepted a similar position at University of Kentucky on Dec. 4, 2012Replacement: Robert Kuhn

Departure: Accepted a similar position at University of Minnesota in System in Dec. 2012Replacement: No search currently under way

Departure: Awaiting replacement before returning to the Veterinary SchoolReplacement: Two inconclusive searches with a third under way

Departure: Announced retirement March 27, 2013Replacement: No search currently under way

Departure: Announced retirement MondayReplacement: Search committee currently accepting candidates

Departure: Accepted job as director of student unions at University of Arizona on Feb. 20, 2013Replacement: No search under way as of Feb. 21, and no replacement has been named

Departure: Announced retirement TuesdayReplacement: No search currently under way

Departure: Announced his decision to step down Tuesday to work as a history professor and historianReplacement: No search currently under wayDeparture:

Stepping down in DecemberReplacement: First search committee meeting was held Tuesday

Departure: Retired Feb. 28, 2013Replacement: Elaine Smyth serving as interim, no search currently under way

Departure: Accepted dean position at University of Arizona Feb. 29, 2012Replacement: Dick White serving as interim, search to begin in the coming weekscompiled by CLAYTON CROCKETT /News Editor

JENNIER CARGILLLibraries

Andrea Gallo • Editor in ChiefEmily Herrington • Managing Editor

Bryan Stewart • Managing Editor, External MediaKirsten Romaguera • Managing Editor, Production

Clayton Crockett • News EditorBrian Sibille • Entertainment Editor, Deputy News Editor

Albert Burford • Sports EditorAlex Cassara • Deputy Sports Editor

Carli Thibodeaux • Associate Production EditorKevin Thibodeaux • Associate Production Editor

Chris Grillot • Opinion EditorTaylor Balkom • Photo Editor

Alix Landriault • Multimedia EditorNatalie Guccione • Radio Director

Fatima Mehr • 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 email 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 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, April 10, 2013page 2

Syrian militant group unites with al-Qaida in Iraq against Assad

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida’s branch in Iraq and the most power-ful rebel extremist group in Syria have offi cially joined ranks against President Bashar Assad to forge a potentially formidable militant force in the Middle East.

The merger of the Islamic State in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra forms a new entity that could be an even stronger opponent in the fi ght to topple Assad and become a dominant player in what eventually replaces his regime.

The new group is called the Is-lamic State in Iraq and the Levant.Cuba to turn over Florida couple and two children to United States

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba said Tues-day that it will turn over to the United States a Florida couple who allegedly kidnapped their own chil-dren from the mother’s parents and fl ed by boat to Havana, ending days of drama that evoked memories of the Elian Gonzalez custody battle.

Foreign Ministry offi cial Jo-hana Tablada told The Associated Press in a written statement Tues-day that Cuba had informed U.S. authorities of the country’s decision to turn over Joshua Michael Hak-ken, his wife Sharyn, and their two young boys.

Student arrested in Texas’ Lone Star Community college stabbing

CYPRESS, Texas (AP) — A stu-dent went on a building-to-build-ing stabbing attack at a Texas com-munity college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people — many in the face and neck — before being sub-dued and arrested, authorities and witnesses said.

The attack at about 11:20 a.m. on the Lone Star Community Col-lege System’s campus in Cypress sent at least 12 people to hospitals, while several others refused treat-ment at the scene, according to Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Robert Rasa. Cookie Monster, Elmo and Super Mario get in Times Square trouble

NEW YORK (AP) — Cookie Monster stands accused of shov-ing a 2-year-old. Super Mario was charged with groping a woman. And Elmo was booked for berating tourists with anti-Semitic slurs.

Times Square is crawling with entrepreneurs who dress up as pop-culture characters and try to make a few bucks posing for pho-tos with visitors to the big city. But some of these characters are unlike anything you’ve seen on “Sesame Street” or at Disney World.

They smoke, they use foul lan-guage, and they can be aggressive.

(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal’s admin-istration announced Tuesday that it won’t seek to replicate a private in-surance Medicaid expansion model like Arkansas, despite requests from Louisiana lawmakers to consider it.

Jindal’s interim health secre-tary, Kathy Kliebert, told the Sen-ate Health and Welfare Committee that the federal guidelines outlined for the Arkansas proposal don’t of-fer enough fl exibility and leave too much uncertainty about future fi -nancing and regulations.

Arkansas has asked federal of-fi cials to let it use the Medicaid mon-ey to buy private insurance policies, and the Obama administration is working with the state on that idea.BP executive: Safety was top priority before Gulf Coast spill

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A BP ex-ecutive who oversaw the company’s Gulf of Mexico operations testifi ed Tuesday that he led a push to im-prove safety when he started the job more than two years before an April 2010 rig explosion killed 11 work-ers and led to the nation’s worst off-shore oil spill.

Neil Shaw, a witness for BP at a trial over the deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster, said safety was his team’s top priority.

Mob attacks cathedral, Egypt’s pope sharply criticizes president

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Coptic Christian pope delivered an un-precedented direct criticism of the Islamist president Tuesday after a mob attack on the church’s main cathedral, saying he had failed to protect the building and warning that the country is collapsing.

The comments by Pope Tawadros II and the cathedral at-tack itself illustrate a new reality in Egypt, where institutions long seen as above the fray are being dragged into the country’s intense polariza-tion and political violence.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rebels from al-Qaida af� liated Jabhat al-Nusra wave their brigade � ag Jan. 11 on the top of a Syrian air force helicopter at Taftanaz air base in Idlib, Syria.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

MARY LEAVINES / The Daily Reveille

Construction piping lines Nicholson Drive on Tuesday. Submit your photo of the day to photo@lsureveille.com.

California lawmakers’ tax bill seeks to punish Boy Scouts for gay ban

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Cali-fornia lawmakers are considering taking some tax exemptions away from youth groups that do not accept gay, transgender or atheist members — a move intended to pressure the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay Scouts and troop leaders.

Some cities have withdrawn free rent and other subsidies from the Boy Scouts over the years, but legislation introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara would make Califor-nia the fi rst state to target the Scouts for its anti-gay policy.

TEAUNDRAE PERRYMAN / The Associated Press

A victim is loaded into an ambulance Tuesday after being wounded in an attack on the Lone Star Community College System’s Cypress, Texas campus.

Gov. Bobby Jindal will not seek to follow Arkansas on Medicaid

WeatherTODAY

6684

Sunny

6647

THURSDAY

7548

FRIDAY

7856

SATURDAY

7765

SUNDAY

After several attempts to get him off campus, LSU Police De-partment arrested Larry Houston, 56, of 206 Evergreen Drive in Baton Rouge. After officers ap-proached and questioned him, he pulled out a large, fixed-blade knife from his sock, Lalonde said.

Houston was arrested for possession of a weapon by a felon, vagrancy and possession of drug paraphernalia after po-lice found a glass pipe with pos-sible cocaine residue on it after arresting Houston, according to LSUPD Spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde.

Houston was booked in Ee-ast Baton Rouge Parish Prison, Lalonde said.

Police arrested Jon Reese Armstrong, 27, of 15557 Mem-oire Lane in Baton Rouge, after his ex-girlfriend called the police reporting that he had been show-ing up at multiple places where she was, sent her many unwanted texts and emails and had blocked in her car at East Campus Apart-ments, Lalonde said.

LSUPD tracked down

Armstrong’s vehicle, and, when they pulled him over, he refused to exit the car. Officers physical-ly pulled him out of his vehicle, Lalonde said

Armstrong was arrested for unauthorized entry of an inhab-ited dwelling, stalking, being on campus after being banned earlier for a similar incident, and resisting an officer. He was booked in EBRP Prison, Lalonde said.

LSUPD sent out emergency alert text messages and emails March 28 informing the LSU community of an armed robbery near West Parker Boulevard. and Highland Road.

Lalonde said the complain-ant said she was in the adjacent parking lot and was approached by a white male riding a bike in khaki pants, a dark hoodie and a mask. He demanded her cell phone, but she refused, ran to-ward Nicholson Extension, and the suspect rode toward West Parker, Lalonde said.

The victim told LSUPD the suspect had a gun, and the in-cident is currently still under investigation, Lalonde said.

�e Daily Reveille page 3Wednesday, April 10, 2013

LSU Libraries Film SeriesApril 17, “If A Tree Falls” 2 p.m. in the Hill Memorial Library

Refreshments provided.

DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?Call Sam at the Student

Media Office578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or

E-mail: admanager@tigers.lsu.edu

During the opening week of the 2013 Louisiana legislative session, certain bills are higher on the University’s radar.

University leaders are espe-cially keeping an eye on bills like Gov. Bobby Jindal’s tax reform plan, House Bill 194 that would allow public university management boards to increase tuition and mandatory fees, and bills regarding teachers’ tenure.

Jason Droddy, director of External Affairs, said students should pay attention to the bills because they could directly affect the cost and quality of their education.

Other bills address cost is-sues, such as House Bill 87, a constitutional amendment that would permit universities to de-cide how much to charge stu-dents, Droddy said.

He said students should also

look at bills regarding Univer-sity building renovations, includ-ing the French House and south campus Louisiana Business and Technology Center Business In-cubator.

Droddy said about 30 stu-dent-owned businesses are in the incubator, therefore renovations could affect what students want to do with their careers.

House Bill 194 would change the way students are charged for higher education. Droddy said students typically take 14 to 15

credit hours, but under the bill, stu-dents would be charged for credit hours exceeding 12. The bill would also allow for different tu-

ition for certain colleges within the University, Droddy said. For example, students in the College of Engineering or School of Mu-sic might have to pay more than those in the College of Human Sciences and Education.

Jindal’s tax reform has been the subject of many discussions and speculation.

Belinda Davis, associate

professor of political science, said Jindal will face harder ques-tions in the legislature.

The governor’s news releases said the reform will eliminate about $2.7 billion in personal income tax, corporate income tax and franchise tax that will be offset with a 47 percent increase in state sales tax and an increase in tobacco product taxes to $1.41 per pack.

Director of the Public Ad-ministration Institute James A. Richardson said the increase in state sales tax also includes items such as haircuts that are not cur-rently taxed.

Droddy said the University is not specifically monitoring the tax reform plan since it does not pay taxes.

Bills regarding tenure would only affect grades K-12, so the University Laboratory School is monitoring them appropriately, Droddy said.

The Lab School is also track-ing bills regarding child safety and teacher evaluation.

Contact Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez at fsuarez@lsureveille.com

Fernanda Zamudio-SuarezStaff Writer

CRIME

Campus seemed to be rela-tively quiet this spring break, as reflected by a halving of reported crime incidences from last year’s break.

During the 2013 spring break, the LSU Police Depart-ment had 21 fewer reported incidences than during the 2012 spring break, according to LSUPD Spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde.

LSUPD had six fewer thefts and three fewer drug arrests, and it saw the same amount of DWIs, hit and runs and traffic crashes at one, two and four, respectively, Lalonde said.

The primary reason for the reduction of crime numbers was the high amount of information-only reports – things like medical emergencies or suspicious per-sons – in 2012, Lalonde said.

Lalonde said this break was quieter than last year, but, as a whole, it was an average break.

“We don’t want to call it typical or not because it could make us complacent,” Lalonde said. “Though, this year we had a similar amount of calls and re-ports. The type of reports varies, but the number of total reports was average.”

Nic CottenStaff Writer

Bills concerning tuition, fees at forefront of LSU leader’s minds

Less crime reported during this spring break than last year

graphic by BRITTANY GAY / The Daily Reveille

Contact Nic Cotten at ncotten@lsureveille.com

Droddy : Students should monitor bills

‘It a�ects the quality of their education.’

Jason DroddyDirector of External Affairs

Man arrested for stalking his ex-girlfriend on campus

Vagrant man on campus arrested for carrying a weapon

Emergency text message: armed robbery still under investigation

STATE

(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal’s point person on tax issues indicated Tuesday that the governor is no longer seeking a dollar-for-dollar swap in repealing Louisiana’s in-come tax, after ditching his own unpopular swap proposal.

If lawmakers agree to repeal the tax without offsetting the lost revenue, it could require continu-ing cuts across state programs and services annually to shrink gov-ernment spending to a permanent-ly lower tax base.

Tim Barfi eld, executive coun-sel for the state Department of Revenue, suggested to a Senate committee that now that Jindal is supporting a tax phase-out, the loss of the revenue doesn’t have to be entirely offset.

The issue came up under questioning from Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton. Adley said he assumed that even though Jindal shelved his own proposal, the governor would still want to make up for the lost income tax revenue to keep the entire tax change “rev-enue neutral.”

“I think that would be the ul-timate desire,” Barfi eld replied. “But I think if you look at a long-term phase-out, you have a lot more leeway.”

Jindal abandoned his tax package that would have imme-diately eliminated state income taxes in exchange for higher sales taxes on a new array of services because the proposal was widely criticized and appeared unlikely to pass.

The Republican governor instead is asking lawmakers to phase out the income tax over several years. He’s provided no parameters.

Lawmakers and others are

questioning how — and if — they’ll offset the loss of $3 billion in tax revenue if they agree to re-peal income taxes. That is becom-ing the new central tax debate of the two-month legislative session.

Democrats said lawmakers should shift their focus from dis-cussions of tax repeal to crafting the state’s nearly $25 billion an-nual operating budget and pre-serving critical services.

“We should not even begin to discuss dismantling our tax system, the income tax. We just shouldn’t have that conversation. That shouldn’t be our priority, not in the fi fth year of budget cuts,” said Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

He said Louisiana has the fourth-lowest tax burden in the country, according to the Tax Foundation, an organization regu-larly cited by Jindal.

The Legislature’s black cau-cus had been fl oating an alterna-tive tax rewrite plan to Jindal’s, but it’s unclear if the caucus will continue with that effort. Edwards said he doesn’t think it needs to be pursued.

“We should be looking at the budget,” said Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans and the second-ranking member of the House. “We should be focused on higher education and health care.”

Republicans appear mixed on how to proceed with the income tax repeal, with some GOP law-makers saying the proposal needs to be paired with ways to fi ll the lost revenue, while others say the state needs to shrink spending in-stead.

“I don’t believe we need to raise taxes to offset it,” said Rep. Simone Champagne, R-Erath. “I’m a true believer that we still spend too much money in state government.”

Republicans in the House is-sued a statement Tuesday pledg-ing to take a “responsible, delib-erative approach” in considering tax changes.

“There seems to be broad agreement that while an income tax repeal or phase-out is a desir-able goal, it should be done in a responsible way that protects our core priorities,” said Rep. Lance

Harris, R-Alexandria, chairman of the House Republican Delegation.

Meanwhile, nonpartisan gov-ernment watchdog groups are asking if lawmakers really have enough time to comb through tax ideas and study the implications of an income tax repeal in a two-month session.

The Council for A Better Lou-isiana urged lawmakers to “park” the entire tax overhaul effort this year, while the Public Affairs Re-search Council of Louisiana said the affordability and wisdom of an income tax repeal plan “still is a serious question.”

“And the short session, al-ready under way, leaves little time to invent and scrutinize a new, well-conceived plan,” PAR wrote in an analysis, urging that any tax cuts be replaced with either identi-fi ed spending cuts or new revenue.

� e Daily Reveillepage 4 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Reveille Radio91.1 KLSU

On the road? Listen to 91.1 KLSU for

Reveille news and sports updates at 7:20 and 8:20 a.m., noon and 3:20, 4:20

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Pick up the latest copy of LSU’s magazine, LEGACY, on stands today.

STATE

Gov. Jindal ditches tax swap proposal, so now what?Melinda Deslatte The Associated Press

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

Twitter: @TDR_news

The Twittersphere was buzzing about Gov. Jindal’s change to his tax plan. Here is what

some people had to say:

• Students are taking advantage of the easy accessibility of pharmaceutical drugs such as Vyvanse and Adderall.

• What are some of the most adventurous cocktails in Baton Rouge?

• Get to know the LSU Baseball Bat Girls, who add “a touch of fl air” to the Alex Box Stadium atmosphere.

�e Daily Reveille page 5Wednesday, April 10, 2013

DON’T REMEMBER? ... it still happened

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

DELTA DELTA DELTAPI BETA PHI

What do you think about administrators leaving?‘I think it will have some

impact, but me personally, I don’t

stay involved in University matters, so I

don’t know much at hand.’

Attie Stellykinesiology junior

‘People are going to be wondering

what’s so bad that’s causing

all these other people

to leave.’De’Andra Robertsmass communication

freshman

‘I think it’s going to have a really negative

impact because I’m out-of-state,

so things have to attract me

to want to stay here.’

Tori Masonpsychology/pre-law

freshman

‘If everybody keeps leaving then I guess

everybody won’t think of us as a stable university,

and maybe they’ll pick other job opportunities

over LSU.’Tyler Fremin

accounting junior

‘I’m not very informed

on it.’

Christian Rachalmass communication

junior

‘I don’t know too much about it, but I’m sure it will affect

the University because if

they’re high-powered, they’ve got to have some kind of control.’

Megan Serpaskinesiology junior

‘It didn’t change me wanting to come to the

college at all, that kind of

stuff, so I don’t know if people will really mind

it too much.’Michael Morgancomputer engineering

freshman

‘I think it will kind of make it harder to bring

in new students, but I think if

you want to go to LSU, you’re going to go

to LSU.’Trey Dugan

petroleum engineering freshman

compiled by MCKENZIE WOMACK and ANGELA MAJOR

‘I think a lot of people aren’t going to want to come here because I feel like LSU isn’t as prestigious as it should be

right now.’Kassidy Traigle

pre-pharmacy freshman

�e Daily Reveillepage 6 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

ORDERYOUR

yearbookyearbookLSU

TODAYlsugumbo.com

North Korea capital appears calmWORLD

The Associated Press

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

Twitter: @TDR_news

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Scores of North Koreans of all ages planted trees as part of a for-estation campaign — armed with shovels, not guns. In the evening, women in traditional dress danced in the plazas to celebrate the 20th an-niversary of the late leader Kim Jong Il’s appointment to a key defense post.

Despite more warnings from their leaders of impending nuclear war, people in the capital gave no sense of panic.

Chu Kang Jin, a Pyongyang resident, said everything is calm in the city.

“Everyone, including me, is de-termined to turn out as one to fight for national reunification ... if the en-emies spark a war,” he added, using nationalist rhetoric common among many North Koreans when speaking to the media.

The North’s latest warning, is-sued by its Asia-Pacific Peace Com-mittee, urged foreign companies and tourists to leave South Korea.

“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a ther-monuclear war due to the evermore undisguised hostile actions of the United States and the South Korean puppet warmongers and their moves for a war against [North Korea],” the statement said Tuesday.

There was no sign of an exo-dus of foreign companies or tourists from South Korea.

White House spokesman Jay Carney called the statement “more unhelpful rhetoric.”

“It is unhelpful. It is concern-ing. It is provocative,” he said.

The warning appeared to be an attempt to scare foreigners into pressing their governments to pres-sure Washington and Seoul to act to avert a conflict.

Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea’s army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.

North Korea has been girding for a showdown with the U.S. and South Korea, its wartime foes, for months. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula still technically at war.

In December, North Korea launched a satellite into space on a rocket that Washington and others called a cover for a long-range mis-sile test. The North followed that with its third underground nuclear test in February, a step toward mas-tering the technology for mounting an atomic bomb on a missile.

Tightened U.N. sanctions that followed drew the ire of North Ko-rea, which accused Washington and Seoul of leading the campaign against it. Annual U.S.-South Kore-an military drills south of the border have further incensed Pyongyang, which sees them as practice for an invasion.

Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un enshrined the pursuit of nuclear weapons — which the North characterizes as a defense against the U.S. — as a national goal, along with improving the economy. North

Korea also declared it would restart a mothballed nuclear complex.

Adm. Samuel Locklear, com-mander of U.S. Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tues-day that he concurred with an assess-ment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calling the tension between North Korea and the West the worst since the end of the Korean War.

“The continued advancement of the North’s nuclear and missile pro-grams, its conventional force posture and its willingness to resort to asym-metric actions as a tool of coercive diplomacy creates an environment marked by the potential for miscal-culation,” Locklear told the panel.

He said the U.S. military and its allies would be ready if North Korea tries to strike.

Heightening speculation about a provocation, foreign diplomats re-ported last week that they had been advised by North Korea to consider evacuating by Wednesday.

However, Britain and others said they had no immediate plans to withdraw from Pyongyang.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has sought to re-en-gage North Korea with dialogue and humanitarian aid since taking office in February, expressed exaspera-tion Tuesday with what she called the “endless vicious cycle” of Seoul answering Pyongyang’s hostile be-havior with compromise, only to get more hostility.

U.S. and South Korean defense officials have said they’ve seen noth-ing to indicate that Pyongyang is preparing for a major military action.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said there was “no specific information to suggest im-minent threat to U.S. citizens or fa-cilities” in South Korea. The U.S. Embassy has neither changed its security posture nor recommended U.S. citizens take special precau-tions, he said.

Still, the United States and South Korea have raised their de-fense postures, as has Japan, which deployed PAC-3 missile intercep-tors in key locations around Tokyo on Tuesday as a precaution against possible North Korean ballistic missile tests.

In Rome, U.N. Secretary-Gen-eral Ban Ki-moon described the ten-sions as “very dangerous” and said that “any small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgment” may “create an uncontrollable situ-ation.”

Also Tuesday, citing the ten-sion, North Korea pulled out all 53,000 workers from the Kaesong industrial park, which combines South Korean technology and know-how with cheap North Korean labor. It was the first time that production was stopped at the complex, the only remaining product of economic co-operation between the countries that began about a decade ago when rela-tions were much warmer.

Other projects from previ-ous eras of cooperation such as re-unions of families separated by war and tours to a scenic North Korean mountain have been suspended in recent years.

Though the North Korean For-eign Ministry advised foreign em-bassies to evacuate, tourism officials are continuing to welcome visitors.

National carrier Air Koryo’s daily flight from Beijing was only half full Tuesday. Flight attendants in red suits and blue scarves artfully kept in place by sparkling brooches betrayed no sense of fear or concern.

Tourist Mark Fahey, a biomedi-cal engineer from Sydney, said he thought a war was “pretty unlikely.”

Fahey, a second-time visitor to North Korea, said he booked his trip to Pyongyang six months ago, eager to see how the country might have changed under Kim Jong Un. He said he chose to stick with his plans, suspecting that most of the threats were rhetoric.

“I knew that when I arrived here it would probably be very different to the way it was being reported in the media,” he told The Associated Press at Pyongyang airport. He said his family trusts him to make the right judgment, but “my colleagues at work think I am crazy.”

DAVID GUTTENFELDER / The Associated Press

A North Korean soldier stands Tuesday beneath roadside propaganda that reads “Let’s Uphold the Military First Revolutionary Leadership of the Great Comrade Kim Jong Un With Loyalty” in Pyongyang.

He’s a McDonald’s All-Amer-ican, a first team All-Southeastern Conference member and has led LSU in scoring and rebounding, but there’s one honor LSU forward Johnny O’Bryant III still can’t claim.

“I want to take these guys dancing,” O’Bryant said.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore will have a shot at that NCAA Tourna-ment experience as he announced Tuesday his intent to return to LSU for his junior season, ending nearly a month of speculation about his future.

Making his announcement at a news conference attended by seven of his teammates, O’Bryant said he made his decision last Wednes-day after various meetings with his family and LSU coach Johnny Jones.

“The impact Johnny made on our team this year and the attention that we received at the latter part of the season speaks volumes about his future,” Jones said. “I think it’s a sign of maturity for him to pro-cess that type of information in a timely fashion and come to a deci-sion.”

O’Bryant paced the Tiger of-fense with 13.6 points per game, finishing second in the SEC with 15 double-doubles, highlighted by a 30-point performance in a win against South Carolina.

Hampered by a lower leg in-jury at the beginning of the season, O’Bryant missed two of the Tigers’ non-conference contests and was

reduced to only five minutes in another.

Still, the C l e v e l a n d , Miss., native said he received positive feedback from professional scouts

but made a decision his family deemed best.

“I got great news back,” O’Bryant said. “But me and my

family decided it was the best

decision if I stay. We’re going to have a great team next year, a great opportunity.”

Jones wasn’t coy about his re-action to O’Bryant’s pledge, recall-ing he leapt across his desk to wrap

The question often arises whether LSU freshman short-stop Alex Bregman is actually human, and from the way the underclassman has performed in his 2013 campaign, the inquiry is valid.

By looking at his numbers, some might say he’s a machine in the batter’s box.

Bregman is currently rid-ing a 21-game hitting streak, where he is 46-for-90 (.511 bat-ting average) with 22 RBIs, 29 runs, eight doubles, five triples and seven walks. He has had

multi-hit performances in 16 of those 21 contests.

The Albuquerque Academy product has exceeded the ex-pectations set by members of the media, but his teammates predicted he’d be a star for the Tigers.

“I’m not surprised [by his production],” said senior first baseman Mason Katz. “He’s such a good hitter. The guy sees all pitching the exact same. It doesn’t matter if guys are throw-ing 95 or 85, he sees everything the same, and that’s why he’s so good.”

Bregman said he doesn’t try to think about the hitting streak

when he steps to the plate, but something that is more impor-tant.

“The times that I think about [the streak], I end up only getting one hit instead of two,” he said. “When I don’t focus on that and just focus on winning, I do fine. I don’t ever really worry about [the hitting streak]. I just worry about winning games.”

LSU coach Paul Mainieri inserted Bregman into the No. 3 slot in the batting order on open-ing day, and the freshman hasn’t moved from the spot since. He hasn’t been intimidated by the

SportsWednesday, April 10, 2013 page 7

Tigers defeat Southern, 11-2

Catherine ThrelkeldSports Contributor

LSU pays homage to Ponti� Jr.

Thrice is NiceO’Bryant foregoes draft to return for junior year

Bregman dominating SEC pitchers as season progresses

BASEBALL

BASEBALL

PONTIFF JR., see page 15JOB III, see page 15

STREAK, see page 15

Lawrence BarrecaSports Writer

RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille

LSU freshman shortstop Alex Bregman (30) swings at a pitch March 2 during the Tigers’ 7-1 victory against Brown at Alex Box Stadium. Bregman is currently riding a 21-game hitting streak.

RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille

LSU sophomore forward Johnny O’Byrant III answers a question Tuesday in the Athletic Administration Building about his return to LSU for his junior year. O’Bryant III �nished second in the Southeastern Conference in double-doubles with 15.

Chandler RomeSports Writer

Read what our sports columnist thinks

about O’Bryant III’s decision, p. 9.

METAIRIE — LSU raked in its 31st win of the season coincidentally dur-ing the game honoring former LSU infielder Wally Pontiff Jr., who wore No. 31.

The Tigers (31-2, 11-1 South-eastern Conference) dominated Southern University (12-13) 11-2 during the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Foundation Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie on Tuesday night.

Several Tigers honored Pontiff by wearing their socks up, a trait for which Pontiff was known.

“We did that for Wally tonight because we wanted to play the game like he did and we all know he played the game the right way,” said fresh-man shortstop Alex Bregman.

But there might be more than memorializing Pontiff to the high socks. Bregman, who is riding a 21-game hitting streak and batting .439, said there’s magic in the high socks.

Case in point, junior second baseman JaCoby Jones, who had a single against Southern after post-ing a .615 batting average during the Kentucky series.

After sweeping all five titles at the Columbus Regional on Sat-urday, the LSU gymnastics team captured the No. 5 overall seed and a spot in the first semifinal session of the NCAA Champion-ships on April 19 in Pauley Pavil-ion in Los Angeles.

The Tigers will share the floor with No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Georgia, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Stanford and No. 12 Illinois. The three schools with the high-est scores from each of the two semifinal sessions will advance to the Super Six competition the following day, where the high-est scoring team will be crowned champion.

Three Tigers earn All-America honors

LSU heads into the final competition of the season with a handful of regular season All-Americans.

Sophomore all-arounder Rheagan Courville was named to the first team on vault and all-around while also receiving second team honors for balance beam, and junior all-arounder Sarie Morrison brought in a first team nod on bars. Sopho-more all-arounder Lloimincia Hall garnered a spot on the first team for floor exercise as she led the nation with a 9.950 regional qualifying score.

LSU hauls in multiple regional accolades

The Tigers added four more awards for this year’s squad as Courville, coach D-D Breaux, as-sociate head coach Jay Clark and assistant coach Bob Moore col-lected Central Region honors.

Courville won Central Re-gion Gymnast of the Year to go along with her Southeastern Con-ference Gymnast of the Year title. The sophomore all-arounder also grabbed the all-around, beam and vault titles at the SEC Champion-ship three weeks ago.

Breaux was awarded Cen-tral Region Coach of the Year for the sixth time in her career, and her team’s score of 197.700 in its third place finish at the SEC Championship was good for the third highest score in program history.

Clark and Moore shared the distinction of Central Region As-sistant Coach of the Year. Clark coached the Tigers to a 49.260 regional qualifying score on uneven bars in his first season with the team. Moore earned the award for the fourth time in his career, and his vaulting squad is first in the nation with a 49.495 regional qualifying score.

Perhaps the most significant adjustment LSU is undergoing during spring practice is taking place on the defensive line.

The Tigers are looking to fill a gaping hole left by four linemen declaring for the 2013 NFL Draft, and the defensive line’s perfor-mance will be vital to LSU’s suc-cess.

“Ultimately [our goal] is to get better, not only as a player, but as a leader as well,” said ju-nior defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. “… If we want to get better as a team, we have to take charge because we are where it starts at.”

What the LSU defensive front lacks in experience, it more than makes up for in confidence. LSU defensive tackle Ego Fergu-son said he uses people’s skepti-cism as motivational fuel.

“I hear everybody saying that we are not going to be a defensive line this year, and that motivates me a lot,” Ferguson said. “I feel like a lot of people are doubting us because we are young and lost a lot of people. I understand that. We are just trying to prove them wrong.”

Johnson and Ferguson will provide most of LSU’s experi-ence in the trenches next season. The duo played in all 13 games in 2012, combining for a total of 44 tackles and three sacks.

As roommates, the two have developed a strong connection during the past couple of seasons, both on and off the field.

“[Johnson] is like a brother,” Ferguson said. “When I play I feel like I can’t let him down, and I have to make the play. He feels the same way. We keep each other motivated and when one is falling down, we pick the other up.”

Former defensive ends Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo left some big shoes to fill, combining for a total of 75 tackles – 23 for a loss – and 12.5 sacks.

Junior defensive end Jer-mauria Rasco has emerged as a virtual lock to start one of these positions. Rasco finished last sea-son with 10 tackles in 13 games.

With the other position still up for grabs, the Tigers have moved sophomore Ronnie Feist from linebacker to defensive end.

“I played defensive end for most of high school, but I got a little rusty after playing lineback-er for so long,” Feist said. “… I just want to help this team suc-ceed the best that I can and get the opportunity to play on Sat-urday and make a name for my-self.”

Feist continued by saying he looked forward to the challenge of competing at the position at the college level.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore would normally be considered small for the position, but Johnson displayed nothing but confidence in Feist.

“He was always a good pass-rusher, but he’s learning his tech-nique now,” Johnson said. “… It is not really about the size. It is about the heart and the technique of the player, and if they want to do it, they will.”

Ferguson said he thinks these transitions at the defensive line will actually benefit the Tigers by the start of next season.

“With all these people leaving, you have a lot more people hungry right now trying to prove themselves,” Fergu-son said. “That is what we are coming to do.”

�e Daily Reveillepage 8 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

LSU looks to rebuild defensive lineFOOTBALL

Johnson to lead the team in the trenchesTyler NunezSports Writer

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

Sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Johnson (90) chases Towson running back Dominique Booker September 29, 2012, during the Tigers’ 38-22 win against Towson in Death Valley.

Contact Tyler Nunez at tnunez@lsureveille.com;

Twitter: @NunezTDR

THE DAILY REVEILLE ARCHIVES

LSU junior defensive end Jermauria Rasco (59) assists his teammates in bringing down Idaho running back Ryan Bass on Sept. 15, 2012, during the Tigers’ 63-14 vic-tory against the Vandals in Tiger Stadium.

GYMNASTICS NOTEBOOK

Tigers receive No. 5 seed at NCAAsMarcus RodrigueSports Contributor

Contact Marcus Rodrigue at mrodrigue@lsureveille.com

Johnny O’Bryant III wasn’t ready to play in the NBA, and the LSU men’s basketball team wouldn’t have a chance at an NCAA Tourna-ment run in 2014 without him.

Luckily, neither side will have to worry about that after O’Bryant shocked nearly everyone at a news conference Tuesday with 10 little words.

“I’ve decided to return to LSU for my junior year,” O’Bryant said.

I couldn’t believe it. And it wasn’t because he’s a bona fide NBA prospect who was guaranteed to be taken in the NBA Draft in June — he without a doubt would have gone un-drafted if he did indeed declare.

O’Bryant passing up his two remaining seasons of eligibility just seemed like a foregone conclusion.

When I showed up for the news conference, all signs pointed to O’Bryant ditching the purple and gold.

JOB III’s careers stats were available at the door, two tables were reserved for members of his family and I didn’t see the logic in calling a news conference for anything but

declaring for the NBA Draft.I was wrong. But O’Bryant

made the right decision for himself, his coach and his teammates.

ESPN had JOB III ranked as the No. 37 power forward in the 2013 draft class. He wouldn’t even be taken in the first round of a power forward draft, let alone a draft with only 60 spots.

O’Bryant had a monster sopho-more season. The Cleveland, Miss., native was a coaches’ first team All-Southeastern Conference selection, posted 15 double-doubles and was a big reason why LSU coach Johnny Jones’ first season at the helm result-ed in a 19-12 record.

But O’Bryant isn’t ready to compete with the big boys just yet. Another year of college basketball under his belt will help him tremen-dously.

It’s hard to get recognition when your team doesn’t play in the post-season. Take Michigan freshman forward Mitch McGary, for example.

Before the NCAA Tournament started, McGary was a second-round pick at best. His five double-doubles in the Big Dance helped the Wol-verines make it to the championship game and probably assured him a first round selection if he decides to leave after his freshman season.

The same kind of exposure can help O’Bryant shoot up draft boards

if he helps the Tigers get an invite to the tournament for the first time since 2009.

And JOB III definitely has next March on his mind.

“I just want to take those guys to the dance one time before I leave,” O’Bryant said.

Without O’Bryant next season, LSU would be a bubble team at best. Maybe the Tigers would have made it to the NCAA Tournament, but the trip wouldn’t have lasted long.

O’Bryant’s return gives LSU a chance to stay at the Big Dance for a couple more songs. The Tigers’ front court was a weakness this sea-son, but it will be an asset during the 2013-14 season.

Next season has potential to be a special one for the Tigers. With O’Bryant’s return, LSU should con-tend for the SEC crown along with Kentucky, Alabama and Florida.

O’Bryant has a chance to im-prove his draft stock and help his team to the NCAA Tournament by returning for his junior season.

Good move, Johnny.

Micah Bedard is a 22-year-old history senior from Houma.

The No. 20 LSU men’s tennis team will begin its final week of regular season play with a South-eastern Conference match against No. 11 Mississippi State at 3 p.m. today.

The Tigers (13-9, 4-6 SEC) were originally slated to take on the Bulldogs (15-7, 5-5 SEC) on March 24, but Mississippi State postponed the match due to high winds. LSU assistant coach Danny Bryan said while wind is occasionally an issue, the lack of indoor facilities at LSU ultimately lead to the cancellation.

“We felt like it was not that windy [on the courts],” Bryan said. “Once the new [indoor] facility is done, we won’t have to worry about this ever again.”

With that decision, Mississippi State set up the rarity of a midweek conference game for the Tigers, who claimed their fourth top-20 win over the weekend against then-No. 6 Tennessee. Bryan said he is not worried about the change in routine affecting the players.

“I think the guys are excited [to play Mississippi State],” Bryan said. “We are obviously on a roll, and I think we all just want to keep

playing and see how many wins we can get to try to stay hot for the SEC tournament.”

With the conference tourna-ment right around the corner, the Tigers find themselves in 11th place in the SEC, but could rise as high as sixth by the end of the weekend because of a logjam of teams sitting one or two games ahead of them. The only teams that have clinched their spots are No. 3 Georgia, the top seed, and last place Arkansas.

“[Before the Tennessee match] I think the team didn’t think they

were really that good,” Bryan said. “We would win an emotional match and then think that was going to be our one great day for the year, which led to some of the letdowns on Sunday matches. This time it is different because now we have [a body of work] that has them thinking they can play at that level more consistently.”

�e Daily Reveille page 9Wednesday, April 10, 2013

LSU hosts midweek SEC matchMEN’S TENNIS

Cole TravisSports Contributor

MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille

LSU sophomore Chris Simpson hits the ball March 17 during a doubles match against Michigan in W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.

O’Bryant III helps himself, Tigers by returning next year

MIC’D UPMICAH BEDARDSports Columnist

Contact Micah Bedard at mbedard@lsureveille.com;

Twitter: @DardDog

Tigers on a roll against top teams

Contact Cole Travis at ctravis@lsureveille.com

� e Daily Reveillepage 10 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

‘I just want to beat Alabama.

If we are going to get someone by paying them then that’s � ne by me.’

Lillian Milleranimal science

freshman

‘I don’t think so. It’s not like regular students get paid.’

Elon Beasleymass communication

sophomore

‘I think they should be given

some kind of stipend for food

or groceries since they can’t get jobs outside

of school.’Kyle Hannanpsychology junior

‘They should be paid

because they are big guys

and need more food

than the rest of us.’

Sterling Atkinsaccounting freshman

‘This is a platform for

them to develop their skills

and hopefully make it

professionally, then get paid.’

Pak Wongpetroleum

engineering junior

‘Absolutely not.

Education comes � rst, and they are getting that

for free.’Kyle Durandpetroleum

engineering junior

‘I’d say no because

they get a lot of bene� ts

as it is.’Dana Scalf

industrial engineering sophomore

‘I think they could get a little

compensation or reward, but

paid, no.’Josh Solite� nance senior

‘No, because they are already

pretty much getting school

paid for.’Taylor Fontenotkinesiology freshman

‘They already get school,

housing and dining. Why

do they need to get paid?’

Mallory Bourgeoisart & design sophomore

‘A stipend would be

reasonable to help them be

� nancially stable.’Faisal Alswailem

petroleum engineering freshman

‘Their scholarships are enough.’

Osamah Almansourpetroleum

engineering junior

‘No. They are students just like us. If they get paid, we

should get paid.’

Travis Mamon� nance freshman

‘Not by the school, but I think they should be allowed

to accept sponsorships.’Reed Wilson

petroleum engineering freshman

‘No. I mean they get

scholarships, don’t they?’

Sarah Pineauelementary education

junior

Should college athletes be paid?

compiled by COLE TRAVIS and ANGELA MAJOR

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Geno Au-riemma and Connecticut are back on top. With freshman Breanna Stewart leading the way, it might be a while before they relinquish that spot.

Stewart scored 18 of her 23 points in a dazzling first half and Connecticut won its eighth national championship with a 93-60 rout of Louisville on Tuesday night. It was the most lopsided victory in a title game.

The title tied Auriemma and the Huskies (35-4) with Pat Summitt and Tennessee for the most in women’s basketball history.

“The fact that I tied Pat Sum-mitt’s record puts you in the category of the greatest women’s basketball coach that ever lived,” Auriemma said. “I’m just thrilled for our se-niors. This team accomplished an amazing feat this last month.”

It might not take long for Au-riemma to pass Summitt the way Stewart and the rest of his Huskies played. His prized freshman was un-stoppable, hitting shots from every-where on the court to earn Most Out-standing Player honors for the Final Four. Even her father in the stands watching repeatedly said “wow” as his daughter took the game over.

“This is unbelievable,” she said. “This is what we’ve thought about since the beginning of the season. And now to be here and actually win it, it’s a great feeling and I don’t think it’s going to set in for a while. I just played really confident and stopped thinking. When I second-guess myself, nothing good comes out of that.”

The loss ended an unprecedented

tournament run by Louisville. The Cardinals became the first No. 5 seed to make the championship game, pulling off the greatest upset in tournament history when they beat Brittney Griner and Baylor in the regional semifinals. Jeff Walz’s team then beat Tennessee in the regional final before topping Cal in the Final Four.

The Cardinals just didn’t have enough to beat their Big East foe. Louisville was trying to become just the second school to win both the men’s and women’s championship in the same season and the first since UConn in 2004.

Louisville men’s coach Rick Pi-tino, fresh off his team’s 82-76 win in the title game over Michigan on Monday night, was sitting behind the Cardinals bench, trying to spur on the women’s team. He talked to the players at their pregame meal and told them to just enjoy the moment and have fun in the game.

It wasn’t to be, and Pitino was thoroughly impressed by Stewart, too.

“This is one of the best fresh-man in basketball,” he said in a half-time interview.

This trip to the Big Easy marked the beginning of the Stewart era. The heralded freshman had one of the most remarkable runs of any first year player in the history of the NCAA tournament. She finished with 105 points in the tournament in only five games — she missed the first round rout of Idaho to rest a sore calf. It’s the most by any first-year player since 2000, according to STATS. UConn’s Maya Moore held the previous mark with 93 points.

The 6-foot-4 star passed Moore

with a neat tip-in with 7:04 left in the first half. She scored seven points during a 19-0 run that turned a four-point deficit into a double-digit lead and put the Cardinals in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

“We rushed a lot, we started to panic a bit,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “They started executing.”

Stewart later swooped in for an incredible offense rebound that she put back to make it 39-23. The Hus-kies led 48-29 at the half as Stewart had 18 points. The 19-point advan-tage fell four points short of the championship record set by Tennes-see against Louisiana Tech in 1998.

UConn dashed any hopes of a Louisville comeback going on a 12-2 run after the Cardinals had cut its def-icit to 60-44. The only question over the last 10 minutes would be whether this was the biggest blowout in title game history, and the Huskies easily surpassed Tennessee’s 23-point win over Louisiana Tech in 1987. The Huskies beat Louisville by 22 points in the 2009 title game.

Stewart’s exploits are reminis-cent of two of the all-time greats. As freshmen, Cheryl Miller guided USC to a title in 1983 and Chamique Holdsclaw led Tennessee to a cham-pionship in 1996.

Louisville was trying to become the lowest seed to win a NCAA championship on the women’s side. Villanova, as an eight seed, was the lowest ever to win it on the men’s side back in 1985.

The Schimmel sisters who car-ried Louisville in the tournament had a rough go against UConn. Shoni Schimmel missed her first six shots and finished with just seven points on 3 of 15 shooting. Jude Schimmel

was saddled with three fouls in the first half.

With UConn’s victory, the Big East conference won a ninth na-tional championship. The confer-ence, which will split apart after this season, has been the most dominant in women’s basketball over the past decade.

And having both teams in the championship game was a fitting end to its current configuration. Neither team will be in the new Big East next season as both teams will be in the American Athletic Conference.

Louisville will then head to the ACC the year after.

This was the first of UConn’s championships when the Huskies didn’t win a regular season or Big East tournament championship, making it a little bit sweeter for se-niors Kelly Faris, Caroline Doty and Heather Buck. UConn’s other na-tional championships came in 1995, 2000, 2002-04, 2009-10.

�e Daily Reveille page 11Wednesday, April 10, 2013

UConn women rout Louisville for eighth title, 93-60NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Associated Press

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

Twitter: @TDR_news

GERALD HERBERT / The Associated Press

Connecticut guard Kelly Faris (34) goes up for a shot against Louisville guard Jude Schimmel (22) Tuesday during the national championship game of the women’s Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament in New Orleans.

DAVE MARTIN / The Associated Press

Connecticut players celebrate Tuesday after defeating Louisville 93-60 in the national championship game of the women’s Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament in New Orleans.

The Daily Reveille wants to hear your reactions to our content. Go to lsureveille.com, our Facebook page and our Twitter account to let us know what you think. Check out what other readers had to say in our comments section:

In response to Alyson Gaharan’s story, “Times-Picayune joins Andrea Gallo, Advocate in suit against LSU,’” readers wrote:

“So let me get this straight...

LSU is in a huge budget crisis that only seems to be get-ting worse and the editor is suing them? Does this mean my tuition dollars are going into an attorney to “vigorously defend” the charg-es? If so, I do not support it. This is beyond childish...

Five years ago, my under-grad institution ran a presiden-tial search in the same manner as LSU. They picked a private firm who spit out several names. The board narrowed it down to five finalists and only released the names of the five. No one had a problem with it. In fact, no one really cared. Does anyone

besides a select few LSU students even care? If so, I have yet to find any.

I think these lawsuits are petty and have been filed by vain prima donnas who still yell and scream when they don’t get their way. I guess LSU does admit 5-year-olds…”-jb

In response to the David Scheuer-mann’s story, “Treasury should remove ‘In God We Trust’ from money,” readers wrote:

“Thomas Jefferson was after all a Deist.

The ‘Treaty of Tripoli’? Which copy? Their isn’t an ‘original’ with the words you re-fer to (Article 11) according to historians….”- Commish255

“It should more accurately be changed to ‘In Greed We Trust.’”- ed-words

In response to the Landon Mill’s story, “Debate of Proposition 8 based on biased arguments,” readers wrote:

“And what, pray tell, will the anti-equality crowd cite as

evidence in their favor? To date, there has been zero evidence that suggests that gay marriage is harmful to society or that is has any negative impact on straight marriages.

Of course the arguments are ‘biased.’ That’s the point. Each side will present evidence sup-porting their point of view. Oth-erwise, it’s not an ‘argument.’”- WMB

�e Daily Reveille

Opinionpage 12 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

�e Daily ReveilleThe Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille is an independent entity within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, paper or University. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to 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 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“In some cultures, they only eat vomit. I never been there, but I

read about it...in a book.”

White GoodmanDodgeball

2004

Andrea GalloEmily Herrington

Bryan StewartKirsten Romaguera

Clayton CrockettChris Grillot

Editor in Chief

Managing Editor

Managing Editor, External Media

Managing Editor, Production

News Editor

Opinion Editor

Editorial Board

A True Underdog Story

Violence is a staple in describ-ing American society. From the Wild West to urban street gangs, it is something that has been a part of our society throughout its history.

However, what seems to be developing in American society is not a cure for violence but only a “wimpification” of our society.

In Windham, N.H. schoolchil-dren will not be allowed to play dodgeball as a result of the Sandy Hook shooting. The reasoning: “Being hit by a hard-thrown ball does not help kids develop confi-dence.”

Apparently, “human target” games teach violence. So that would include any form of tag and peg-outs in kickball as well, right? Seemingly, the cure-all for vio-lence is the perennial hand-holding of our future generations.

Such dainty rules suggest that we must either level the playing fields or get rid of them — sounds to be in tune with communists fun-damentals.

But please do not discredit me as some McCarthy-ian communist hunter. I do not declare we’re being over run by communist or that our president is a socialist.

Presently, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” ranks in USA Today’s best sellers. What happened to the Duke? What about underdogs like Danny Larusso?

What kind of confidence building is this? Teach the kids to

be passive and submissive, and not to worry — it will all work out. Nonsense. It’ll work out if you make it work out.

Now it’s writers like Jeff Kin-ney, who reminisce about their days when mom used to call them sweetie pie, instead of writers like Hemingway — war hero and ad-venture seeker.

Daydreams used to be about hunting lions on an African sa-fari or sailing the ocean blue. I as-sume kids now dream about smart phones and iPod minis.

Children used to dream of be-ing Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield. Now they associate with Greg

Heffley, Diary’s pansy protagonist. My glory days were spent roll-

ing through river mud in my school uniform and cursing contests with my neighborhood buddy.

So much of what American pop culture was has been demas-culinized. I tend to associate Nash-ville with this dilemma. Instead of Johnny Cash and the Highway-men, we have skinny-jeaned and Converse-wearing “country boys” who couldn’t hack it as a rocker.

It’s the new, trendy America. Somewhere between the Baby

Boomers and Generation X, we’ve become especially considerate not to have our feelings hurt. Maybe

it’s the warmer temperatures or the liberals, as any old, cranky conservative would aver.

The problem is not that we promote too much violence — we promote too little confidence.

Conflict and insult is inherent. We cannot control their exis-

tence — we can only control how we react. Having confidence kept that grain of salt in our mouths so we could brush it off when we got plugged by a “hard-thrown” ball and someone laughed at us.

It’s called growing up.Mass communication senior

C.C. Jaeger shares in my disap-pointment claiming that “our

country has become obsessed with making it OK to be average.” What made America great is our zeal to be the best.

Jaeger elaborates saying, “Competitiveness breeds confi-dence. Yet, we’re preaching inferi-ority and complacency.”

What we need to do is teach kids to have a little more grit and to remember that this is the land of equal opportunity — not equal greatness. If all greatness were equal, there would be no greatness.

That’s called communism. Such bans as in Windham are

knee-jerk reactions by overly sen-sitive community-position holders looking to be portrayed as helping the little guy. It’s not the violence they’re scared of, it’s the lawsuit that gets them shaking in their boots.

Unfortunately, many Ameri-cans believe they deserve punitive compensation for just about any-thing they deem offensive.

Nevertheless, I do trust there is still enough red blood in America, but I can only imagine what kind of games my children will play in P.E. class — it won’t be dodgeball.

At this rate, P.E. class will most likely become a dieting class, because all physically competitive activities for children are liable to be banned.

Chris Ortte is 22-year-old political science senior from Lafayette.

THE TRADITIONALISTCHRIS ORTTEColumnist

Contact Chris Ortte at cortte@lsureveille.com; Twitter: @TDR_chrisortte

WEB COMMENTS

photo courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Exactly 4,983 students, faculty and staff participate in a game of dodge ball, attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest dodgeball game. Windham, N.H. recently banned dodgeball in schools in response to the Sandy Hook shooting.

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

Twitter: @TDR_opinion

N.H.’s banning dodgeball prevents students from learning to stand up for themselves

�e Daily Reveille

OpinionWednesday, April 10, 2013 page 13

Red light cameras cause more wrecks, need to go

Baton Rouge’s Red Light Safety Program, which includes the infamous red light camera system, is an invaluable money well that will never run dry as long as humans and not robots operate vehicles.

The Louisiana Regular Leg-islative Session began Monday, and Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-New Orleans, introduced House Bill 217, which would allow voters to decide whether to keep the traffic cameras through municipal elec-tions, The Advocate reported.

“I think this is the fairest way of handling it for both the citizens and the municipalities who have come to depend on the bankroll coming in,” Arnold said, adding that he has proposed variations of the bill for the past several years. “I think it has very little to do with safety.”

And that’s the issue. Supporters of red light

cameras argue that the cameras

dramatically cut down the amount of red light-related traf-fic accidents, especially fatal ones. Opponents, however, say the cameras exist mostly so local governments can make money without working. They also say the amount of car crashes actual-ly increases in intersections with cameras because rear-end colli-sions arise due to drivers slam-ming on their brakes to avoid running red lights.

There is no question the city makes gobs of money through its contract with American Traf-fic Solutions, Inc., the privately owned company that manages the city’s red light cameras.

Drivers paid more than $13.3 million in fines from 2008-12, The Advocate reported. The ATS kept almost $5 million, leaving the remaining $8 million to the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Talk about easy money. The city simply signed a contract with ATS, and now BRPD rakes in about $2 million a year, on aver-age, in free cash. The only cost the city deals with involves pro-cessing claims from drivers who say they’re innocent.

Beyond the money, the

waters of this issue become murky, if not opaque.

Making a direct correlation between the cameras and reduced traffic fatalities is nearly impossi-ble. What about improved safety features on cars? Or safer driving in general?

Many studies from the In-surance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit organiza-tion dedicated to reducing traffic accident fatalities, claim that the life-saving effects of red light cameras range somewhere be-tween those of oases in deserts and guns in a knife fight.

“A 2011 Institute study com-paring large cities with red light cameras to those without found the devices reduced the fatal red light running crash rate by 24 percent and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized inter-sections by 17 percent,” accord-ing to a post on the IIHS website.

Feel free to judge the statis-tics presented in that discombob-ulating sentence yourself.

In cities such as Philadelphia and Los Angeles, news organiza-tions reported that accidents ac-tually increased in intersections with the traffic lights.

Again, attributing the in-crease in accidents directly to the traffic cameras is nearly im-possible. What about the driver scrolling through Twitter on his phone? Or reading a text mes-sage? Or staring at a digital map because he has absolutely no idea where the heck he’s going (we’ve all done it)?

A fine for running a red light in Baton Rouge is $117. That’s worth at least 20 late-night meals at McDonald’s. Or 50-something packs of gum. Or one carnivorous date-night at Texas de Brazil.

The fines and the cameras should disappear until a study that would be practically impos-sible to conduct can prove a de-finitive and direct correlation be-tween reduced fatalities and red light cameras.

In order for that to happen, though, citizens have to get mad.

To start, I suggest calling up your state representatives and begging them to support Arnold’s bill.

It would at least give voters, not lawmakers, the opportunity to decide for themselves if they think the program provides more safety than annoyance.

Ben Wallace is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Tyler, Texas.

BWALLY’S WORLDBEN WALLACEColumnist

Contact Ben Wallace at bwallace@lsureveille.com;

Twitter: @_benwallace

Cassidy is legitimate competition for Landrieu in 2013

I don’t know what to think about Sen. Mary Landrieu.

On one hand, she’s a liberal democrat who is in President Barack Obama’s pocket on most national issues.

Landrieu received an 88 per-cent approval rating from Planned Parenthood in 2013, a 3 percent approval rating from Citizens Against Government Waste in 2010, a 17 percent approval rat-ing from Gun Owners of America in 2012 and a 0 percent approval rating from the Family Research Council in 2012, according to votesmart.org.

On the other hand, she’s tried to do what’s best for Louisiana on state issues, such as agriculture and energy.

Although she’s been good for Louisiana at the state level, our boot-shaped home is just too conservative for her to easily win another election with all the sup-port she’s shown Obama.

That’s why U.S. Rep. and Dr. Bill Cassidy, who currently repre-sents Louisiana’s 6th District (the one with Baton Rouge), decided to hop in the race last Wednesday.

Cassidy, who’s represented his district since 2008, will be Landrieu’s major opponent during

this election cycle.There are some other Re-

publicans who have publicly stated that they haven’t ruled out a run. Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry — who just lost an elec-tion to Rep. Charles Boustany when their districts were merged — is the most notable, but Fam-ily Research Council president Tony Perkins and Board of El-ementary and Secondary Edu-cation (BESE) president Chas Roemer, the son of former Gov. Buddy Roemer, have also expressed interest.

If any of them decide to run, Louisiana’s open primary system will probably force a runoff be-tween Cassidy and Landrieu.

So should the 17-year in-cumbent be worried?

Of course she should.The biggest win Landrieu

has ever had during U.S. Sen-ate elections was against current Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy. She beat him by more than 100,000 votes at a 52-to-46 percent margin. A libertarian and some other candidates pulled in another 40,000 votes.

Cassidy is not Kennedy.Cassidy is well respected by

the Republican base in Louisiana. Kennedy was a Democrat until 2007 (he ran against Landrieu in the 2008 election).

Cassidy has represented Louisiana’s most important dis-trict for the past four years with-out doing anything stupid. Before 2008, Kennedy had already lost elections for state attorney gen-eral and U.S. Senate running as a Democrat both times.

Additionally, President George W. Bush was in office the last two times Landrieu had an election, and conservative states seemed more willing to elect Democrats to the legislature in that case.

We are now in different times. The continuing partisan divide has led to a great empha-sis on national issues, and Obama has upset a lot of Louisiana con-servatives over the last five years.

First, he got elected. Strike one.

Then he created a vast so-cial program: The Affordable Care Act. Even though some in-dividual parts of it are popular, conservatives have done a great job renaming it a dirty word — Obamacare. Strike two.

Lately, Obama has been scheming to send federal agents to every house in America and take everyone’s guns. Well, I mean, kind of. Strike three.

Landrieu is going to be

Louisiana’s scapegoat for these things, and she’s going to have a tough time separating herself from Obama on these issues.

One of the first things Cas-sidy pointed out in his announce-ment video was that Landrieu has voted with Obama 97 percent of the time.

She’s going to have a hard time convincing people that she’s the best choice for Louisiana after they hear that, especially when they don’t particularly care for the president.

Landrieu has done a good job as a Democratic senator from Louisiana. She made sure to take care of our two most important industries, and they like her for it.

She’s been a good role model for our state’s children — some-thing that’s getting harder to say about politicians.

Even so, she’s never run against someone as capable of winning this type of election as Bill Cassidy, and the stars are aligning in his favor.

She’s got my respect, and she should have yours, too.

But Cassidy’s got my vote.

John Parker Ford is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Alexandria.

Contact John Parker Ford at jford@lsureveille.com;

Twitter: @JohnParkerFord

THE PICKUP PERSPECTIVEJOHN PARKER FORD Columnist

MANUEL BALCE CENETA / The Associated Press

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is considered vulnerable as she seeks a fourth term.

MARY LEAVINES / The Daily Reveille

Traf�c cameras watch the intersection at Nicholson and Burbank on Tuesday.

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� e Daily Reveillepage 14 Wednesday, April 10, 2013

“You saw with JaCoby — start-ing wearing [his socks] up, starting raking,” Bregman said.

The magic was in the air at Zephyr Field as 12 of 14 LSU bat-ters notched hits. Senior first base-man Mason Katz — on a 13-game hitting streak — and catcher Michael Barash led with two hits each. Breg-man had his own 3-RBI triple in the fourth inning.

“Alex Bregman is amazing,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He comes up with the bases loaded and two outs and triples off the left-cen-ter field wall and breaks the game open there.”

Junior pitcher Kurt McCune had his 2013 season debut, pitching three innings and giving up two runs.

“I think Kurt can be better than that,” Mainieri said. “It was a good first outing for him. I don’t think it was a world-beating outing for him, but it could have been a lot worse.”

The LSU bullpen came in clutch as senior pitcher Brent Bonvillain issued seven strikeouts in three in-nings and New Orleans-bred junior Nate Fury allowed zero hits and a strikeout.

Freshman pitcher Mitch Sewald admitted to having a few butterflies during his first inning on the mound for the Tigers, pitching the last two innings and allowing two hits.

“I knew I had a chance to pitch coming into the game, but I didn’t actually know I was going to pitch until the inning before,” Sewald said.

Coming into the game, Sewald was the only player on the LSU ros-ter without any game time.

“I thought [Sewald] was pretty encouraging today,” Mainieri said. “He threw a lot of good low fastballs in the strike zone and had good ve-locity on it. He still needs to work on his off-speed pitches, but it was good for him to get out there for the first time.”

LSU will face Southern again at 7 p.m. tonight in Alex Box Sta-dium, with freshman left-handed pitcher Hunter Devall starting on the mound.

O’Bryant in a bear hug to signify the enormity of his choice.

O’Bryant asserted he will take more of a leadership role with a top-10 recruiting class coming in – correcting a criticism the profes-sional scouts gave him.

Along with bolstering his lead-ership, O’Bryant cited his stamina as another flaw in his game and an aspect he’ll work to refine in the summer.

“I want to continue to im-prove my conditioning,” O’Bryant said. “Be in the best shape pos-sible next year and continue to stay consistent.”

Although O’Bryant made the decision last week, Jones said he advised him to “sleep on it” to make sure it was the right choice and even held another 45-minute meeting with O’Bryant and his mother Monday.

It proved to sit well with O’Bryant, who kept the decision exclusively to himself, leaving his teammates to wait until Tuesday’s news conference.

“I didn’t even know,” said sophomore guard Anthony Hickey. “I am happy he made the decision to come back, mature himself and get better. I want to see him make a good impact to this team.”

Hickey lauded O’Bryant’s

humility and family-first mentality and said if O’Bryant felt the best choice for him was to pro-vide for his family, he would have supported him wholeheartedly.

But Hickey kept coming back to a conversation he and O’Bryant had just before he made his deci-sion and couldn’t help but smile after his classmate’s decision.

“One thing that me and him talked about was getting to that dance,” Hickey said. “He gonna dance before he go.”

�e Daily Reveille page 15Wednesday, April 10, 2013

4-9 ANSWERS1. Sherman 2. Hodges3. Midleton

pressure of being in the heart of the Tigers’ order.

Rather, he’s thrived in it, hit-ting for a team-leading .439 bat-ting average with three home runs, 34 RBIs and a .478 on-base per-centage.

Nineteen of Bregman’s 60 hits in 2013 have been for extra bases, essentially setting the table for the veterans who trail him in the lineup.

“Alex Bregman is having not just a freshman All-American season, but an All-American sea-son,” Mainieri said. “Bregman has seamlessly made the transi-tion to college baseball. He’s been the guy who has really made a difference for our team.”

The underclassman’s work ethic has been applauded by the likes of his head coach and fellow teammates. Bregman is adept at slapping the ball to right field, a quality that is acquired through countless swings in the batting cage during practice and

before games.“He works so hard, and he

deserves [the success],” Katz said. “He comes out here every day and goes down to the cages

to make sure he’s doing every-thing.”

Bregman at-tributes his suc-cess to that extra work off the dia-mond.

“[My work in the batting

cage] is huge,” he said. “I feel so confident when I’m in there now. The game is slowing down a lot. I know I’ve put in the work, and I deserve to be success-ful, and I feel like that’s why I am successful.”

STREAK, from page 7

Contact Lawrence Barreca at lbarreca@lsureveille.com; Twitter: @LawrenceBarreca

‘I feel so con�dent when I’m in there now. �e game is

slowing down a lot.’ Alex Bregman

LSU freshman shortstop

JOB III, from page 7

PONTIFF JR., from page 7

RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille

LSU sophomore forward Johnny O’Byrant III (right) and men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones (left) clap Tuesday after the announcement of O’Byrant’s return to LSU for his junior year in the Athletic Administration Building.

Contact Chandler Rome at crome@lsureveille.com;

Twitter: @Rome_TDR

Contact Catherine Threlkeld at cthrelkeld@lsureveille.com

ANGELA MAJOR / The Daily Reveille

LSU junior second baseman JaCoby Jones (23) slides into home plate Sunday during the Tigers’ 11-4 victory against Kentucky in Alex Box Stadium.

�e Daily Reveillepage 16 Wednesday, April 10, 2013