This Tuesday, 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger was found dead in Mary-Kate Olson’s SoHo apartment. He was found at 3:26 pm, according to police, and pills were strewn on the bed around his naked body, though it hasn’t been confirmed whether they are prescription or over-the-counter. It’s not clear why Ledger was at Olsen’s apartment, since she is reportedly in California.

It’s unclear whether the cause of Ledger’s death was deliberate, or a drug overdose. Considering Ledger has been a fairly successful actor in popular movies such as “10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Patriot,” “A Knight’s Tale,” and “Brokeback Mountain,” and was cast as the joker in the upcoming sequel to “Batman Begins,” suicide seems unlikely.

Many celebrities have fallen prey to Hollywood’s partying and drug scene. Some, like Amy Winehouse, Pete Winz, and Lindsay Lohan, have made multiple trips to rehabilitation to try to correct this. Others, such as Ledger and Elvis Presley, haven’t been so lucky.

Drug abuse a serious issue that affects people of all ages across America, not just celebrities. According to a survey taken by the U.S. Bureau of Justice, drug use in teens was much more prevalent in the ‘80s than now. However, despite the efforts of D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and other organizations devoted to stamping out drugs, many Americans still struggle with drug addiction.

By Susie LeJeune

This week in Saudi Arabia a teacher was sent to prison for naming the teddy bear at a local school Teddy Bear Muhammad, because the people saw it as an offense against the great prophet, Muhammad. Others however, believed that her actions were highly unforgivable and began to protest in the streets, claiming that the teacher be put to death for her actions. There were also those who believed that no punishment should be taken and that she should simply be excused of her actions. The teacher wasn’t the one who named it though; it was given the name Teddy Bear Muhammad because it was given to it by the class, and however the protesters believed that she shouldn’t have allowed it to be named that.

The prophet Muhammad was once one of Saudi Arriba’s most religious and well respected leaders, who is believed to be the head source of Saudi Arian worship. And a huge majority of the population could easily be classified as huge followers, leading towards a drastic outrage given the following events. I fear to see what would happen if our government came in to this matter, to attempt freeing the prisoner. Sure, what she did was a minor mistake but I don’t believe we know the meaning of negotiation. Going there and interfering would not only worsen our ties with Saudi Arriba even more, but may also severe our trade with OPEC, the worlds head source of oil. This would be bad on a major scale, meaning that we should simply stand back, or take a very cautious and different approach towards this issue. The very last things we need are to be cut short of oil, and starting another war while still at war with another nation would give the United States government a bad reputation, especially seeing as how both areas are closely connected and major sources of oil, a desperately need resource it our society.

By Robbie Gomez

Each year, Evangeline attends the Natchitoches, City of Lights, Christmas Festival. My family and I attended the festival on November 30-December 2 this year. The Natchitoches Christmas Festival is on the Cane River, and downtown Natchitoches is covered with beautiful Christmas lights. The decorations on the bridge, river, and throughout the town were unlike any I have ever seen.

Friday night we watched the boat parade on the Cane River. There was band with tons of food and people walking around just enjoying the festival. Saturday was the festival’s parade. The Natchitoches Christmas parade is one of the largest parades in the country. Before the parade, all of the visiting queens were invited to a reception, where we ate, got to know each other, and just had a good time. There were festival queens from festivals all around Louisiana in Natchitoches, ranging in age. I was able to meet many queens throughout Louisiana. During the parade, I rode on one of the three visiting Queen’s floats. After being in the parade, I definitely see how it is one of the biggest parades in the country. It was amazing and I have never seen so many people at a parade, it was unbelievable.

A thirty minute firework show also took place Saturday night, which the Natchitoches Christmas Festival is also known for. The firework show was a beautiful show with music, lasers, and spot lights, and I’ve never seen anything like it. I had a great time with my family and the new girls I met at the Natchitoches Christmas Festival, and it will always be a great memory of mine.

By Corrine Reeves

As most of us know from the news and the traffic the interstate has been closed for the past 2 weeks. This closer was caused by a natural gas leak in Rama, Louisiana.

When the leak first started it melted everything around it, including some cars passing on the interstate. Because of the intense heat and the unpredictability of the flame the state decide that it would be safest to close the interstate from Henderson to Port Allen. After their first prediction of the opening date passed they decided to open Henderson exit going west bound so local traffic would run more smoothly. The State Government gave the new opening date as December 7.

Although some people were not affected by the closer most truckers lost a lot of money and time because they had to go all the way around to Hwy 190. This detour was good for the business on Hwy 190 but bad for businesses right off the interstate in Grosse Tete like the Tiger Truck Stop. The “Tiger” most people call it is normally filled with 18 wheelers, but last week the Tiger Truck stop looked almost dead. The diner closed down for the two weeks because it did not get its normal business.

As the traffic drives down the interstate from Baton Rouge towards Grosse Tete they were detour off the interstate at Lobdell and told to go to Hwy 190. This made some Thanksgiving travelers very unhappy.

The gas leak not only affected us as humans but it also affected the surrounding wildlife. The leak killed many different kinds of fish and birds. Hunters this year were disappointed when some of them could not get tot heir hunting spots in Rama. They are also disappointed to see that most of the deer have died or fled the area.

By Jessica Harrell

Today’s gas prices are once again at a high with the recent increase, added about a week ago. The current price for gas is about $2.90 a gallon for unleaded gas alone in Louisiana, but shows no sign of dropping soon. Furthermore, the price for gas is at an almost record high for November being almost four dollars a gallon. American drivers have never paid this much for gas in November, and the sudden rise could continue as demand for home heating oil and international tensions tighten the world market. Last years prices were almost an entire dollar below the current prices as well. The over all current prices average at about $3.06 for regular, $3.24 for medium, $3.36 for premium, and $3.39 for diesel.

The reason behind these increases is still slightly unclear; however, it most likely has something to do with the newly introduced ethanol, which is only $2.29 a gallon. This alternative fuel is not only cheaper, but safe for the environment as well and gives a higher engine performance than unleaded gas, and attempting to change the type of fuel worldwide is far too big a problem, meaning the two are at completion with one another. Another factor behind the increased prices may involve the euro, which has recently become more valued than the American dollar in currency exchange. This is already bad seeing as how the minimum wage increases due to occur within the next several years will make it even more unvalued. In my opinion, I would prefer that we become dependent on ethanol, in order to help the environment.

Unfortunately, it is not that simple, seeing as how the cars that run on ethanol are very pricey this may never occur. These cars are most likely not going to become cheaper, seeing as how people need their jobs to roll in lots of money. There are probably many reasons behind this.

Below is a link for a listing of all 50 states’ gas prices:

By Robbie Gomez and Brooklyn Landry

For those of you who don’t know what the blue law is, the blue law is a law that prohibits the retail of liquor and wine on Sundays. Beer was still allowed to be sold. The blue law was just a traditional law made from the old social taboo of Louisiana. If I had to guess it revolved around the church society and how it used to be very powerful in Louisiana. Now days, from the growing urge to drink from young people this was a problem. People weren’t able to buy drinks at a bar on Sundays.

On October 20, 2007 East Baton Rouge Parish could vote on a proposal to lift this blue law. Surprisingly a lot of people voted for this. In the Sunday paper (The Advocate) Scott Dyer wrote, “ By a landslide margin, East Baton Rouge Parish voters on Saturday passed a proposal to legalize Sunday retail sales of liquor and wine”. So that would be the answer to how many people care about this. Roughly 70,000 people voted in favor of lifting this law. Wow, what has the world come to when that many people vote on drink liquor on Sundays. It’s just one day of the week. Is it really that big of a deal? Apparently it is.

So it looks like people are going to be able to drink on Sundays now. This goes to show that America is slowly but surely moving away from all morals whatsoever. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because now we really are separating church and state which before was just a law that had to be passed but now America is taking action. What will be next, who knows? One thing is for certain, America’s uprising generation of young people is changing the country in a huge way and we will all see how it unfolds soon.

By Scotty Baldwin

As we already well know, the new Evangeline 2007 as been crowned. Corrine Reeves, Miss Evangeline,
along with her 14 princesses are to be honored this weekend for their accomplishments and admittance onto the court. A special Acadian Festival mass will be held on Saturday, followed by the arrival of Miss Evangeline and her princesses on the bayou via canoe. Princess Jessica Harrell admits, “I am scared that I might fall out of the canoe! I would hate to ruin my outift and be drenched for the remainder of the day”. Princess Susie LeJeune had similar ideas, “If I either fall or get pushed out of the canoe I will be disappointed. I really want the night to special. Honestly, I’m not sure anything could ruin it, not even the rain!”

Immediately after the water ceremony, Reeves will be officially crowned Evangeline 2007 by former Evangeline, Erin Francise. A reception is planned to be held at the Carl F. Grant Civic Center and is open to the public. Each princess has her own table, so come with a big appetite! A formal dance will begin at 9 PM and end around 12 am. “I sure hope I can manage to stay up and not doze off!”, said Susie Lejeune.

Saturday will be a big night, not just for the Indian Princess court, but the Knights of Columbus as well. I’m sure as much attendance as possible will be greatly appreciated. Come and show your support for our Knights of Columbus and this special event that has been and will continue to be a rich part of our parish and state tradition.

By: Meagan Himel

One of today’s biggest problems is childhood obesity, an eating disorder that can be the result of a combination of factors. Some of these factors include greasy fast foods, school foods, depression, and many more. For example, many children today will complain about the foods served by their school cafeteria; this means they probably did not eat the food, which will cause hunger problems. Then, the child may end up overeating fast foods after school as a result, which is a common issue.

One of the most common ways to end this hunger include McDonald’s, which according to a survey is convincing enough to make children eat anything with their logo on it. According to a study, 12 children were given four different food products, two of which were products of McDonald’s, and the other two were not. In the test, one of the McDonald’s foods was left in its package; the other was removed and replaced with a non-McDonald’s food product. The results reported that the children liked both foods in the McDonald’s package, but disliked the others. Therefore, even when not hungry, children are most likely to seek meals from fast food stops, which greatens the chances of childhood obesity.

Most children also enjoy eating sweets with many sugars, which could increase the chances of diabetes developing over time. These risk get yet another increase due to the fact that most kids are not physically active, which does not allow for this fat to be burned off, and the more they gain, the less likely they are to become active. Other things such as anger, sadness, and boredom may lead children towards overeating. Unfortunately, today’s rapidly growing video game sales are targeting children, which is yet another risk toward children becoming overweight.

There are some cases where this trait may be entirely brought about by generic traits alone, and if both parents possess the trait and the chances are doubled. There are ways to stop childhood obesity from occurring, which include healthy eating, which is always a good thing to do, and restraining yourself from eating out, especially if the food is grease-heated. Another good idea is exercise.

Doing these things, and avoiding any of the bad habits mentioned above, should not only improve your health, but also give you a body that will most likely be accepted by the standards in today’s American Society.

By Robbie Gomez and Brooklyn Landry

Many college students, faculty, and fans of Louisiana State University have been crushed since the death of their mascot Mike V in May of this year due to renal failure. Following the heartbreaking news, staff at LSU has been searching in desperate hope to find a replacement for the beloved tiger. After months of searching, David Baker, Mike the Tiger’s primary veterinarian, announced that a replacement has been found. Two-year-old Roscoe, born at Great Cats of Indiana in Idaville, Indiana, is being trained at this very moment. He is expected to train for at least two weeks before setting paw on the LSU football field. These two weeks also serve as a quarantine or “acclamation” period, for health and safety precautions. This seems only necessary before the tiger is officially given the title of Mike VI.
Roscoe is a Bengal-Siberian mix currently weighing in at around 300 pounds. Within the next seven years, Roscoe is expected to weigh around 700 pounds. This extreme weight gain would make him LSU’s largest tiger ever.

Currently Roscoe is living in the LSU habitat’s “night house”. Once he is named Mike VI; he will have freedom to roam the habitat as he wishes. Although Roscoe represents LSU, he will not attend any initial games in Tiger Stadium. No one knows quite when the tiger’s first big appearance on the field will be.

There were many concerns raised that Roscoe may be under extreme stress, considering he was taken away from his family and placed in an area in which he has never been before. Although concerns continue, LSU staff believes the tiger will do an exceptional job. “He is extremely confident, interactive, inquisitive, and friendly toward people,” Baker says. Hopefully, Roscoe will be able to easily adjust to such a large audience.
By Meagan Himel

On August 25, the Indian Princesses went through the judging that determined the next Evangeline. They each had a ten-minute interview with four judges from Baton Rouge. After the Indian Princesses waited four hours to find out who was Evangeline, the time came to announce it.Corrine Reeves received the title of Miss Evangeline 2007. In an interview she was asked about the competition and said, “I was very surprised that I won and I think this will be a very good experience and also a lot of fun.” This year Reeves will be very busy being Evangeline. She will be traveling to Washington to be in a ball and also many other events around Louisiana.

Our first runner-up was Christina Sharon, who will take Evangeline’s place if she cannot fulfill her duty for any reason. When she was asked about the competition she said, “I was very surprised that I got first runner-up and I was also excited. At first I was nervous, but when it came my time for the interview the judges made me very comfortable and I answered every question to the best of my ability. I am looking forward to being in the in the events and supporting Corrine all the way.”

Of course, last but not least, our second runner-up was Meagan Himel. When asked about the try outs in becoming Evangeline she said, “I think every one deserves it to win. I also thing all the girls had qualities and different personalities to be Evangeline but some stood out more than others and I was very surprised that I got second runner up.”

By Dallas Landry