An apology on behalf of the fans
I would like to personally apologize to Jennifer Bahner and her family for the behavior of the LSU fans they encountered.
I am embarrassed (as should be the rest of the student body) to say that these persons were fellow Tigers fans. Their behavior was inexcusable.
I would like Ms. Bahner to know, however, that they are not a representation of all Tigers fans. The majority of our fans are very considerate people.
But Ms. Bahner is right. Some of our fans do tend to be obnoxious and exceptionally rude to the opposing team’s fans, players, and even band members.
We have the No. 1 football team in the nation, why can’t we have the No. 1 fans too? Don’t get me wrong, we have the greatest fans when it comes to cheering and supporting our athletes, but unfortunately that Southern hospitality ends at the state line.
Again, I would like to apologize to Ms. Bahner and I hope that she will give Louisiana and LSU fans a second chance to make a better impression.
Courtney Kelly
LSU Alumna
Parking a bigger problem every year
Wednesday’s “No Parking” was a lovely one-sided article expressing the same opinion from five different people. “Renovations of the upper west deck of Tiger Stadium will begin next week, causing mixed feelings among students.”
What mixed feelings? Everyone said basically the same thing. I don’t understand why the Reveille didn’t choose to explore the story further.
The LSU Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation’s Web site reports that as of the first of this month, 31,774 students have some sort of parking permit. Of those, 19,504 are listed as commuters.
Under the FAQ section, they report that there are 21,500 total parking spots on campus.
Throughout the years that I have been here, I’ve seen parking lot spaces erode away each semester. It’s great that this university continues to grow, but must it grow over our parking lots?
How long before we’re parking out on the levee? When I first arrived at LSU, the entire South Stadium lot was up for grabs, until they built that mystery building on it and cut away half of the parking. Recently, commuters lost sections of Hart and Kirby Smith lots because of the campus apartments built out there. Now, spaces in the West stadium lot are disappearing as well.
The article stated that a plan for more parking was in the works. It seems to me that they’ve been humming that tune for quite awhile, and yet no one questions it?
Today, I had to park on Nicholson, up against the north gates, and not one transit shuttle passed me on my long trek to Coates.
Why is it that everyone thinks we should grin and bear this? Because it makes us sound lazy? Why isn’t Student Government or the Reveille speaking out about this? Commuters make up the majority of this school, and yet our needs are being put on the back burner time and time again. In my opinion we have a right to be upset and the powers that be have a responsibility to find other places to build than on top of our parking lots.
Claire Cummings
Senior
General Studies
RHA member responds to letter
I would like to respond to Ms. St. Pierre’s letter concerning parking.
As a member of Hall government and RHA for the past four years, I am well aware of the parking situation for on-campus residents. This problem has been brought up and addressed many times in the past. However, this is a problem that is just too complicated to be corrected overnight.
Giving out individual parking spots to residents will not solve the problem. There are just not enough close spaces to each hall/apartment to satisfy everyone. All this will do is cause an even bigger argument over who should get closer spots.
The only way to get more close spaces is to demolish a building, which appears to be happening. A parking garage is supposed to be built where Highland Cafeteria is now. The cafeteria is to be relocated to the Laville Food Emporium, which is scheduled for demolition in April.
This is something that RHA has been looking into so that on-campus residents will benefit.
Finally, since there are no traffic cops patrolling at night, call LSU Police if you find illegally parked cars impeding traffic. They will come and tow those vehicles.
Phillip Brubaker
Senator
Laville Area Council
LSU the only national champions
There really should be no dispute as to who the real National Champions are. USC is a great team, but let’s compare their season to LSU’s. First of all, USC lost to California, a team that struggled to make a bowl game; while LSU’s only loss came to a talented Florida team that will be ranked in the top 10 before the next season starts.
When examining the win column, you will see a USC team that only beat one ranked team in the regular season, Washington St., while LSU beat Ole Miss once and Georgia, an elite program consistently ranked in the top 10, twice. And although LSU beat no other ranked teams, SEC competition is much tougher than PAC-10 competition. Teams like Oregon St., California, and Washington can’t even step on the field with Arkansas, Georgia, or Florida.
USC doesn’t even play a conference championship game. So for them to complain about Oklahoma going to the National Championship because they didn’t win their conference is ludicrous. If Oklahoma played in a conference that had no title game, then no one would have disputed their reaching the Sugar Bowl, because they still would have been unbeaten.
As for the bowl results, LSU’s win was more impressive than USC’s. Beating an overrated Michigan by 14 points is not nearly as impressive as LSU’s win over an Oklahoma team that many media members called “one of the best college football teams ever,” over the course of the season.
USC won primarily because of the offensive talent it possessed. So there’s no way anyone can honestly think that USC would have a chance against LSU after watching LSU’s defense dominate the Sooners No. 1-ranked scoring offense. LSU gave up 154 yards of total offense to Oklahoma, who was averaging almost 300 yards more than that per game in their previous 13 games. And Heisman winner Jason White, who threw for 40 TDs and only 8 INTs over the season, went 13-37 with 2 INTs and zero TDs.
What many people do not realize is the fact that USC was ranked ahead of LSU at the end of the season simply because they lost before LSU.
Everyone wants to blame the computers, but the computers got it right this year. Oklahoma and LSU were the two best teams in college football this year, without question. And LSU clearly proved that they are the best team in all the land.
Philip Adra
Junior
Finance