Illustration by Caroline Boudreaux

• The candle pass is the most common wedding ceremony tradition. The bride-to-be’s sisters pass a candle, covered at the base with flowers. The sisters each say something about the bride-to-be, then finally pass the candle to the engaged sister to blow out. This ceremony announces the engagement to the chapter as well as celebrates the bonds of sisterhood.

• Brides may choose to wear their membership pin or sorority crest on their slip or somewhere on their gown for good luck. If the groom was in a fraternity, the bride may choose to wear his fraternity’s pin on her garter (as long as it is not on the garter she throws after the ceremony). The groom may also choose to wear his pin on his lapel.

• It varies among sororities, but most chapters have songs to serenade the bride. A groom’s

fraternity brothers often serenade the bride with their fraternity’s sweetheart song, and the bride’s sorority sisters serenade the groom with their sweetheart song.

• Incorporating sorority colors into bridesmaid dresses and including one’s sorority flower or the groom’s fraternity flower into the bouquet is a way Greek brides have celebrated their sororities.

• A bride can take a picture with her attending sorority sisters at her wedding reception and send it to her national magazine with the wedding announcement — it probably will be printed.

• Some sororities have “something borrowed” for sisters to wear at their wedding which often bears the crest or letters of their respective sorority.

• A sorority or fraternity cheer is commonplace in Greek receptions, especially to motivate Greek alumni to get up and dance.

Dr. Charles E. Coates, a chemistry professor, was LSU’s first football coach. Coates lost the only game he ever coached (34-0 to Tulane) in 1893, according to LSU.edu. He and his quarterback, Ruffin G. Pleasant were responsible for changing LSU’s school colors to purple and gold. They bought “purple and gold ribbon from Reymond’s Store in New Orleans to make rosettes and badges for their jerseys,” according to an LSUNews article by Nancy Little.

Troy H. Middleton was the youngest colonel in the American Expeditionary Forces during WWI in France. He served as LSU’s president until his retirement in 1962, according to “Troy H. Middleton” by Frank James Price.

James Francis Broussard received his undergraduate degree at LSU where he was editor of The Daily Reveille and the first student president of the Campus Athletic Association. He joined the staff of LSU immediately upon graduating, teaching romance languages to the first female undergraduates. It “was joked that he would fall in love with one of his female students, and The Reveille printed humorous poems mentioning this possibility. They were proven correct when he married Nora Mary Dougherty of the class of 1910,” according to history professor Paul E. Hoffman.

Germaine C. Laville received her baccalaureate degree in education from LSU in 1942. Eager to represent her family in the war effort during WWII, Laville enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. She died in one of the military’s Synthetic Training Buildings when a volatile floor cleaner hit exposed wires, causing the building to erupt in flames. She was last seen inside the building helping others escape, according to Linda Cates Lucy’s book “We are the Marines!: World War I to Present.”

Lillian Louise Garig “was one of the first women to attend LSU and the second woman hired onto University staff,” according to history professor Paul E. Hoffman. Her picture in the 1910 Gumbo is “accompanied by the text, ‘Louise says she is going to teach during her whole life, and be an old maid — in other words, never, never, never to marry. She is very exacting with the sterner sex.’”

Former Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards described being caught in bed with “a live boy or a dead girl” as the only ways to ruin a political career.

• Though never caught in bed with either, Edwards went to prison in 2002 for extortion.

• Maybe “a live boy or a dead girl” aren’t the only two things that can ruin a political career.

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• Rapper and Shreveport native Hurricane Chris’ hit song “She’s Fine” is commonly heard at parties and on the radio. Now, it has even hit the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

• Don’t believe it? Just watch the YouTube video of Hurricane Chris rapping the song in front of lawmakers. Thousands of Americans have viewed the video and much of the response has been negative.

• Democratic Rep. Barbara Norton arranged the performance as a way to show off her godson, Hurricane Chris, whom she describes as a role model to Louisiana’s children.

• She isn’t embarrassed about what her colleagues call an inappropriate performance. She said her actions couldn’t make Louisiana look laughable because the state’s legislature “has always been a joke.”

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• Some politicians have a checkered past of drug and alcohol abuse. Though Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t, he did perform exorcisms.

• Jindal wrote an essay in 1994 for the New Oxford Review where he describes taking part in the exorcism on his friend “Susan,” who had become emotional and disgruntled after a recent cancer diagnosis.

• In the article, Jindal recalls Susan cursing and convulsing, similar to someone having a “seizure.”

• After hours of chanting and asking Satan to relinquish his friend, Jindal and his Oxford buddies succeeded in coercing the “demon” to leave her body.

• So, Louisiana residents, if you have a problem, paranormal or political, who ya gonna call?

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• Stormy Daniels, registered Democrat and adult film star, may be known from such films as “Operation: Desert Stormy,” “No Cuntry for Any Men” and “Good Will Humping.” But could this Baton Rouge native’s next role be in “Polidicks?”

• Fans created the Web site draftstormy.com to recruit Daniels to run against Republican Sen. David Vitter in the 2010 election.

• Daniels still hasn’t decided if her name will be on the ballot — whether it be her legal name Stephanie Gregory Clifford or her stage name — but her exploratory campaign has already hit a speed bump.

• Daniels’ political adviser’s car blew up during the same week in July that Daniels was arrested and charged with battery following a domestic dispute with her husband, Mike Moz.

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• Federal agents found $90,000 in Democratic Rep. William “Bill” Jefferson’s freezer in 2005. The money was hidden in several frozen food containers and was part of $100,000 bribe to Atiku Abubakar, vice president of Nigeria at the time.

• After the scandal broke, the eight-term congressman ran again in 2006 … and served his ninth term while in and out of court.

• Jefferson was up for reelection November 2008 against six other democratic contenders. He beat his fellow party members but was defeated by Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao.

• A federal jury found Jefferson guilty of 11 corruption charges last August. Jefferson has yet to be sentenced, but he wouldn’t be the first Louisiana politician to go to prison … or get out of going to prison.

The Athletic Department raked out an average of $62,000 per month earlier this year to pay for Tiger Stadium’s utility bills from January through July.

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• The old Alex Box Stadium’s utility bills from July 2008 until January 2009 totaled more than $23,000.
• After spending that $23,000 on a stadium that’s scheduled to be torn down, the Athletic Department coughed up more than $21,000 to cover the costs of the January and February utility bills for the new Alex Box Stadium.
• The University could have used that $44,000 to purchase 26 wind turbines that produce more than 15 kilowatts of energy.
• In other words, the Athletic Department spent more than $21,000 in two months on a stadium that hosted a total of six games during this time. It also shelled out an additional $23,000 for utility bills for a stadium that will never host another game.

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• Facility Services currently has 207 vehicles in service — none of which are hybrid vehicles.
• The University spent nearly $874,000 on gas for these vehicles over the course of the last four years.
• That’s more than $18,200 per month on gas.
• The nation-wide average of E85/Flex Fuel gasoline is $2.71* per gallon.
• Facility Services could have bought more than 6,666 gallons of Flex Fuel per month — at its current per gallon price — with that $18,200.

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• The Campus Committee for Sustainability was developed to “prepare a comprehensive inventory of LSU’s existing carbon footprint, document LSU’s existing efforts toward achieving sustainability, develop an action plan to improve LSU’s sustainability efforts and promote public awareness of LSU’s efforts toward sustainability.”
• The committee was formed a year ago.
• Chancellor Mike Martin said, “LSU continues to work in large and small ways to address the complex issues associated with global climate change. We have a number of activities and initiatives underway.”
• Cas Smith, Assistant Director of Campus Development, said “a very minimal amount” of money has been spent on the Sustainability program. “The only real costs [we have incurred] have been additional manpower.”
• How does the University expect to go green if it continues to put forth “a very minimal amount” of money toward its Sustainability program?

Old Alex Box Stadium’s Utility Bills (July – October 2008)

Old Alex Box Stadium’s Utility Bills (November 2008)

Old Alex Box Stadium’s Utility Bills (December 2008 – January 2009)

New Alex Box Stadium’s Utility Bills (January – February 2009)

Tiger Stadium’s Utility Bills (January – June 2009)

Tiger Stadium’s Utility Bills (July 2009)

In 1960, Dr. George Mickey, dean of the Graduate School, was accused of murdering a UNO professor, Margaret McMillan, and dumping her body off River Road just outside campus.
Mickey was cleared and released because of “tampered evidence,” despite McMillan’s bloodstains and fingerprints in Mickey’s car, as well as a faulty alibi.
This is just another example of why we need CSI: BR.
In 1925, agronomy professor Oscar Turner arrived to his office the night before a final exam to find that the exams had disappeared.
The morning of the final, Turner returned to his office and was decapitated, supposedly by the student who was returning the stolen exams.
No one was ever convicted, but more importantly, everyone still passed the exam the next day.
In 2000, LSU’s dean of students, John Baker, was stabbed in his driveway by a recently disciplined philosophy student.
The student, Marques Smith, attacked the dean after receiving a letter accusing Smith of altering his grades.
Obviously, Smith, a sane and rational individual, would never do something as extreme as altering his grades.
Former LSU football player Cecil “The Diesel” Collins was arrested in 1998 after breaking into women’s apartments and demanding sex.
He went on to play for the Miami Dolphins, only to be arrested again in 1999 for similar charges, claiming he only wanted to watch the woman sleep. His release date is 2014.
You wouldn’t think it would be that hard for an NFL player to get laid …

Steve Danos, a former LSU student and serial “cuddler,” was arrested in 2003 for sneaking into girls’ apartments near campus and watching them sleep.
While in the apartments, Danos would straighten up, do the girls’ laundry and occasionally crawl into bed with them.

Let me guess: He up and left and never called? Obviously, he just wasn’t that into them.

• More than one-third of American women consider money more important than good sex to the success of a marriage.
• In 75 percent of households, women manage money and pay the bills.
• The number one fantasy of most women is financial in nature, while the number one fantasy of most men is sexual. Thus the loving (and mutually beneficial) relationships between strippers and middle-aged men.

• Money is the leading cause of disagreement in marriages.
• 92 percent of people would rather be rich than find the love of their lives.
• Both the average American wedding and the average American divorce cost $20,000. At least watching Dr. Phil’s marital counseling is free.

• If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 50 percent of the time, but most likely 49 percent. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom. So if you pick tails, you’ll have a slightly better chance.
• On the Canadian $2 bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is the American flag.
• There is more Monopoly money printed in a year than real money printed around the world. The government is even considering offering Get Out of Jail Free cards to balance the deficit.

• For $1 million, 65 percent of Americans would live alone on a desert island for a year.
• One in every 14 people would murder someone for $10 million.
• One in every four people would sell their spouse to Somalian pirates for $10 million. The other three in four wouldn’t settle for less than $15 million.

• Idreamofhillaryidreamofbarack.com features real dreams people have about Clinton, Obama and McCain.
• One woman dreamed Obama was pumping breast milk in an elevator. A gay married man dreamed he had an affair with Barack, who told him, “It’s not really cheating if one of you is a politician.” (They were caught by McCain’s mother.)
• One woman (blogname “hrclint”) dreamed Barack had to forfeit the election due to a debilitating stomach virus and the first runner-up accepted the crown, uh, nomination.

• Thanks to improveverywhere.com, on January 12, 2008, 2,000 people took off their pants at 5:28 p.m. in Grand Central Station. This day was dubbed “No Pants 2k8.”
• The website is also responsible for people breaking out in spontaneous musical dance numbers in public, faking a suicide jump off a 2-foot ledge and staging a reading by Anton Chekhov, who has been dead over 100 years.
• The latest project from the trickster website is the plot to convince moviegoers that Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are serious actors. Gotcha!

• Popular website craigslist.com has a section called “Missed Connections,” where people try to reconnect with strangers whom they admired from afar or briefly flirted with.
• One McDonald’s patron still yearns for the “bolt of beauty” who “sauntered into McDonald’s” and smiled at him eating his Big Mac. Others wrote about the meaningful eye contact made with fellow Whole Foods shoppers.
• Oh, and if you’re reading this and you are the guy whose hand I brushed reaching for orange juice at Winn-Dixie, I can’t stop thinking about you …

• If you want to attend coordinated cuddling sessions with groups of strangers, go to cuddleparty.com.
• At cuddle parties, pajamas must be worn at all times, no sexual contact is permitted and you must ask permission before you cuddle.
• Related interests might include eharmony.com, benandjerrys.com and desperateandlonely.com.

• In the 1950s, Mike the Tiger was kidnapped by Tulane fans before a game. He was found abandoned in New Orleans — he and his cage both spray-painted Tulane green.
• In 1981, pranksters broke open Mike’s cage and released the tiger. He ended up in the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
• That same day, track trial records were broken in every running Division.

• The founder of eBay is a Princeton University alumna who also created pBay, which is eBay with Princeton exclusivity.
• Scientists at Rutgers University almost discovered something way more significant than eBay; in December 2004, they revealed they were close to finding the cure for HIV by inhibiting reverse transcriptase.
• Though the cure is a work in progress, what the university did accomplish was the creation of Cheez Whiz.

• Bengal Punch was a sports drink created in 1958 for the LSU football team. It is believed to be the first sports drink ever created, pre-dating Gatorade by seven years.
• The simple introduction of electrolytes sealed the throne for Gatorade as an official sports drink.
• Bengal Punch’s original recipe of sugar and water can be found in one of the most unsung heroes of thirst quenchers: Jungle Juice.

• “Spaghetti Westerns” were films made in the mid-60s usually starring mediocre American actors, so named because most were produced by Italian studios.
• Even before Spaghetti Westerns, German Westerns, which were generally called “Sauerkraut Westerns,” were popular in Europe.
• When Asians made Westerns they were never called “Rice Westerns.” We simply refer to them as cult classics.

• Barry Manilow sang, but did not write, the 1976 charttopper “I Write the Songs.”
• Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
• While casting the 1984 movie “The Terminator,” O.J. Simpson was considered to play the title role, but producers rejected him as they thought he wouldn’t be taken seriously as a terminator of any kind.