Matthew Schute, philosophy junior, said he’ll likely spend today glancing over his shoulder with fear of bad luck lurking in the back of his mind. “I don’t do anything different, but I do think about it during the day and try to see if it’s anything different,” Schute said. Today is Friday the 13th, the second of three occurrences in the 2009 of the notoriously unlucky day — a day Thompson Davis, psychology professor, said might be considered unfavorable because culture defines it to be.This is the first time Friday the 13th has occurred three times in one calendar year in this millennium. The most recent occurrence was in February while the next occurrence is in November.Jennifer McCarty, biochemistry freshman, is just looking forward to another wonderful Friday.”To me, it’s mindset,” McCarty said of her sunny disposition. But McCarty is likely among the minority. “Because we know it’s supposed to be a bad day, we’re kind of just on the lookout for bad things,” Davis said. “We’re on the lookout for those kind of things more on that day because culturally we’re supposed to be.”Carolyn Ware, English professor, said the combination of Friday and the number 13 might be responsible for the superstition. Thirteen, commonly considered an unlucky number, can be attributed to its biblical connections — there were 13 people in attendance at the Last Supper, Ware said. Marty Young, director of the Pioneer Heritage Center — a center focused on interpreting Louisiana folklore at LSU-Shreveport, said there could be several reasons Friday might typically be considered an unlucky day.”[Allegedly] Friday is the day of the week that Eve actually tempted Adam,” Young said. “On a Friday the 13th in the year 1306, the pope and King Philip of France … had all of the knights templars arrested … After they had the templars arrested, they tortured and murdered all of them.”Young said Jesus was killed on a Friday, another possible reason for the hype surrounding the day.Psychologically, Davis said people use superstitions to avoid their fears.”If we get this kind of uncomfortable kind of sense in our bodies … And that superstition makes it go away, [we’re] more likely to do that,” Davis said. “Doing that behavior decreases a sense of discomfort in [our] bodies.”According to McCarty, the best way to ward off the discomfort associated with Friday the 13th is to approach it cheerfully — a month ago on Friday, Feb. 13, she made a 97 percent on her geography test. —-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]