Campus custodians possibly underpaid
I’m not sure this pertains to any articles that have been printed lately, however I feel that this is a topic that must be brought into the light. My roommate and I had disposed of a large box of trash that we had accumulated over the course of a few weeks by putting it next to the garbage cans located in the lobby across from the elevators. The trash consisted mainly of paper and wrappers from food articles, soda cans, and some smaller empty boxes. However, it also contained old pizza, half a gallon of rancid milk, and some stale potato chips that had been spilled on the ground, re-gathered and returned to their bag.
To my horror, the next morning when I entered the fourth floor lobby to get on the elevator, a custodian was eating some of my garbage. I am sure that the chips he was eating were the ones I had thrown out because as I entered the room he quickly placed the half-full bag back into the box of garbage from whence it came.
Originally I had been disturbed purely by the fact that someone would eat a stranger’s rubbish. Upon deeper thought, I decided (actually I hoped) that maybe the custodian had some extenuating circumstance that led him to eat from an unfamiliar person’s trash. In any case, it seems that the custodians that work on campus may need a pay raise so that they can purchase food and not eat from the garbage cans. Had I not walked into the lobby and interrupted his snack, I can only wonder if he would have dug deeper into the trash to find more sustenance.
While this instance may be an isolated one, it still makes me wonder if the custodians at our University are paid sufficiently or if it is time they are better compensated. Eating from the garbage not withstanding, they do seem to do a good job and deserve to be fairly compensated for their work.
Jonathan Roheim
Freshman — Economics
Kudos to LSU for its diversity
I am writing in regard to the article about African-American Ph.D. statistics in Thursday’s paper. I just want to say I am very proud to be part of a school that shows all races of people are intelligent. Some schools today only credit Caucasians on their achievements, so it is nice to see that LSU is thriving in diversity. All people should get equal opportunities in life to prove something of themselves, and LSU has all the tools to aid a student in doing so. As said in the article, the school has an ethnically diverse teaching staff who can serve as mentors to all the graduate students. The work of these African-Americans has brought much praise to LSU’s graduate program, and I just wanted to commend these individuals for that.
Bridget Conrad
Sophomore — Mass Communication
You’re a good man, Chancellor Emmert
In regard to the article “Evaluating Emmert,” I agree with Tracy. Mark Emmert is a nice guy and has proven himself in the past years to be a good investment for the University. He is a chancellor who has shown leadership, personality and heart when it comes to LSU. He has accomplished many goals that he has set forth for the University, and Tracy did an excellent job of recounting his accomplishments. He may have a summer home and a house overlooking the lake, but he deserves each bit. I think Emmert has earned his raise and that he should look at it as an incentive to do even better these next five years. So I congratulate Chancellor Emmert on all his endeavors and support his decisions for the years to come.
Meghann Hebert
Junior — Mass Communication
Comment degrades LSU, The Reveille
On Valentine’s Day, my long-distance boyfriend came to visit me from Texas A&M. He sat in a few classes with me and ended up reading the Friday, Feb. 14 edition of The Reveille. After reading the front page article, “On Alert,” he was appalled.
The article was a serious issue to many students. It spoke of an emergency plan, hurricane evacuation plan and chemical warfare precautions. But the comment made by Chase Courville, an LSU student, was degrading to the University as well as The Reveille.
“You won’t pick up The New York Times or any other newspaper and find, ‘I don’t think they have the balls’,” my boyfriend commented. It isn’t professional and puts a negative perspective upon the University — especially because there is a picture of LSU behind the article. When students come from other universities and read articles such as “On Alert” the integrity of LSU and The Reveille is lessened.
I would like to encourage the editors of The Reveille to take a better look at the content of their writers. The focus of our University’s newspaper should not be to make readers laugh but to provide them with knowledge and useful information so that they can form a better opinion about the issues surrounding LSU.
Megan Monsour
Sophomore — Mass Communication
In remembrance of Courtenay
The article “Mind the Mounds” quoted an article from the State Times concerning the fatality in 1984. The article said the girl’s name was Elizabeth Smoak, which is not exactly correct. The plaque in her honor also is incorrect stating her name as Courtenay Elizabeth.
I would just like to point out that her full name is Elizabeth Courtenay Smoak, and she was always known by Courtenay or Courte.
She was a freshman at LSU and had just turned 18 when she was killed. The driver who killed her was drunk. He wasn’t just a student doing things that all of the other students were doing at that time. After he ran over Courtenay and her date, who survived, he parked his car and watched as her date carried her horribly broken body to the campus police station. She never woke up after the accident and died shortly after her family made it to the hospital from Thibodaux. The man who killed her never paid any consequences for his actions. His life remained untouched.
Courtenay was my husband’s sister. He was only 13 when she was killed so I only know her through pictures and memories. I thought that her correct name should at least be mentioned.
Julie Jolissaint Smoak
Senior — Economics