Homecoming Edition 2013

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ROYALS AMONGST US

2012 Top Escort Heath Garner and Homecoming Queen Mallory Coxfill us in about their year living with the crown • PAGE 5

MEET THE 2013

HOMECOMING COURT

ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS

FINAL HOMECOMING GAME TYRONE DUPLESSIS

IS REMEMBERED

CENTENNIAL PLAZA BRICKS FINALLY

UPDATED

PAGE 3

PAGE 11

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A TECH TALK PUBLICATION

2 • The Tech Talk

HOMECOMING EDITION 2013

With my fourth and final homecoming week finally here, the transition from student to alumnus is just around the corner.That in mind, I have spent part of this week reflecting on my time

here at Louisiana Tech. The past four years have been unforgettable, and I have loved watching the person I have become because of this university.

Dear Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff,

LETTERFROM

THEEDITOR

Austin Vining

It boils down to more than academics. When Bulldogs move to Ruston, it does not take long before they are introduced to the Tenets of Tech: confidence, excellence, commitment, knowledge, integrity, respect, leadership, loyalty, enthusiasm, caring, hope and pride.

However, it did not really hit me until my last year here how much these qualities have become instilled in me during my time at Tech.

From the pride and enthusiasm I have felt cheering on the Bulldogs at foreign stadiums in the pouring rain to the leadership and hope I experienced from starting my own organization, Tech has helped to mold me into a stronger individual.

This university is full of people who complete similar but different journeys, but the one thing they all have in common is that they come out on the other side as a more well-polished version of themselves.

Tech has left a mark on me, and I hope to leave a mark on it as well. I am inspired to give back to the

university that has given so much to me.Alumni, it is strange — and bittersweet — to think I

will be joining you soon.Soon, my name, too, will be another brick on the

walkway symbolizing another graduate who spent their time learning and growing at Tech.

Although I have mixed feelings about leaving Tech and jumping headfirst into the world, I am confident my time at Tech has prepared me to do so.

But I’ll be back; soon enough Homecoming will mean more to me than floats, courts and special homecom-ing edition papers. Soon enough it will mean actually coming home.

It comforts me to know though, once I am on your side of things I will smile, as I have seen all of you do in years past, because I will know those students laboring on floats, and dressing up for the court and staying up way past their bedtime to work on the newspaper, I will know they are having the time of their lives.

The Tech Talk • 3


JAYDE HUGHESsenior speech pathology

Q: What are your plans after you graduate?A: “Hopefully grad school; I want to stay here at Tech for it.”

COREY GREENsr. vocal music education

Q: What are some of your hobbies?A: “I like to read. Right now I’m reading Tina Fey’s autobiography, ‘Bossypants.’”

KELSEY BAZZELLsenior speech pathology

Q: How does it feel to be elected to home-coming court?A: “I’m honored to be elected by the student body and nominated by Kappa Alpha.”

CARLTON GRAYsr. business management

Q: What are some of your hobbies?A: “I like to read and relax. My favorite book is John Green’s ‘The Fault In Our Stars.’”

MADISON BYLESsenior marketing

Q: What is your favorite thing about Louisiana Tech?A: “How diverse it is but how we all still come together as a family.”

NELSON DURANjr. industrial engineering

Q: How does it feel to be elected to Home-coming court?A: “I was surprised, happy and honored the ladies of Alpha Chi Omega nominated me.”

JESSI FITTSjunior psychology

Q: Who do you consider an influential person or role model?A: “My mom, because she’s been through so much and she always keeps a positive attitude and puts my sister and I before herself.”

TYLER WAGNONsenior speech pathology

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time? Interests, hobbies, etc.?A: “I really like to travel to away football games. The South-ern Miss game in 2011 was my favorite.”

MATTHEW TARVERsr. mechanical engineering

Q: What are some of your hobbies?A: “Duck hunt, hunt and fish, anything outdoors. I’m an outdoors man.”

JULIANNE TIPPENsenior biology

Q: Who do you consider an influential person or role model?A: “My mom. She always raised me by the Golden Rule, to be nice to others.”

BEN STRECKERsenior general studies

Q: What are some of your hobbies?A: “I like sports; hunting, fishing, golf and weightlifting are my top four.”

AUSTIN VININGsenior journalism and psychology

Q: How has Louisiana Tech helped shape who you want to be in your future career?A: “Tech has given me the skills I need to succeed. Not only in the knowledge I have obtained in the classrooms, but also skills such as time management, interpersonal skills and leadership abilities.”

MeetHomecomingyour

Court

TAYLOR GIDDINGSjunior English

Q: Who do you consider an influential person or role model?A:“Corre Stegall and Rick Simmons because they epitomize all that Tech is and are the tenants of Tech.”

ASHLEIGH MCINNISsenior biology

Q: Who do you consider an influential person or role model?A: “My grandfather, because he taught me to work hard for the things I want.”

CHRISTIAN MARCUSjunior accounting

Q: What is your favorite thing about Louisiana Tech?A: “The closeness of the university and how everyone is like a family.”

MAGGIE MCGUFFEEsenior clinical kinesiology

Q: What is your favorite thing about Louisiana Tech?A: “My favorite thing about (the concept) Tech is the Tech family! We’re so diverse but our love for the university brings us together.”

Skip Russell �s

Campus Washateria

Wesley

Homer St.

Loui

siana

Ave

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Texa

s

Ala

bam

a

Keeny HallWyly Tower

CampusWashateria

Just East of Tech CampusNext to University Apartments behind Wesley Foundation

• Open 24 hours / 7 days a week• Cleanest in town• New machines• Air Conditioned

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEKSERVING TECH STUDENTS SINCE 1965

YOUR PARENTS WASHED WITH US

We miss you, and your quarters! AlumniWelcome Back,Skip Russell �s

Campus Washateria

Wesley

Homer St.

Loui

siana

Ave

.

Texa

s

Ala

bam

a

Keeny HallWyly Tower

CampusWashateria

Just East of Tech CampusNext to University Apartments behind Wesley Foundation

• Open 24 hours / 7 days a week• Cleanest in town• New machines• Air Conditioned

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEKSERVING TECH STUDENTS SINCE 1965

YOUR PARENTS WASHED WITH US

4 • The Tech Talk

INSIGHT

EVERYONE’S ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN OPINIONBeing Greek during homecoming

KELSY KERSHAWManaging Editor

On Monday there was "Paint the Town,” on Tuesday the Union Board talent show, on

Wednesday the unity step show, on Thursday the volleyball tournament, on Friday beach wars, then the pep rally and finally on Saturday the pa-rade followed by the game.

Well, “Paint the Town” clean-up is Sunday before meeting, then you blink and it is Monday with a new week full of classes and work.

This is the life of a Kappa Delta during homecoming week.

Most of these events are manda-tory to attend since sisters will be participating, but also because KD loves Louisiana Tech and our Bull-dogs.

KD is not the only Greek orga-nization that participates in home-coming week festivities.

All fraternities and sororities

make it a priority to participate in all of the above events plus some dur-ing the week.

Being a Greek during homecom-ing festivities gives an adrenaline rush like that of a roller coaster.

Weeks prior to homecoming, your chapter has multiple practices to perfect its step show routine, practice its volleyball plays and work on its float for the parade.

Members also bring in canned goods to donate to the Student Gov-ernment Association’s canned food drive.

Nothing beats that feeling of sit-ting in the audience at the unity step show and watching your sisters kill it on stage.

As they chant your important facts about your history, your heart swells with pride.

While watching the volleyball game your heart races as you sit on the edge of your seat with every serve of the ball.

Then to top it all off, when you are sitting at the pep rally Friday night listening to homecoming court be announced you cannot help but cheer and yell with pride and excite-ment as your beautiful sisters are es-corted out onto the floor.

As a Greek member, homecom-ing week ranks in the top five best weeks of the year alongside big/little week, recruitment and Greek week.

There is so much activity and fun planned, you get to spend qual-ity time with your sisters and watch the bond of Greek unity grow ever so stronger.

I do wish everyone could experi-ence being Greek during homecom-ing week, and I could not be more thankful or blessed that I am.

Kelsy Kershaw is a junior journalism and MCS major from Jennings who serves as managing editor for The Tech Talk. Email comments to [email protected].

Homecoming is all about coming home.

Not only does the football team return

home after two away games, a bye week and a “home” game in Texas, but many alumni and Tech sup-porters return home as well.

It’s an opportunity for the Tech family to come home together. The alumni association will pro-vide events throughout the week for students, faculty, administrators and alumni to interact and to grow relationships.

It’s the one time a year we’re all here, and it’s a great time to learn about our university’s past and plan for our future.

The alumni come back in large numbers. The class of 1963 will be inducted into the alumni’s golden society, and the classes of 2000 to 2012 will finally have the opportu-nities to see their bricks in our re-cently updated alumni walkway.

Talk to them. They know the stories of Tech’s past, and it’s awe-some to see where we’ve come from.

The faculty and administration will be out. President Les Guice, plans to attend many homecoming week events, including Breakfast with Champ, the alumni walkway ribbon cutting and the parade. The deans will be in charge of their re-spective open houses, a new ad-dition aimed to allow alumni to reminisce in the places they spent much of their time.

Talk to them. They’re making themselves available as part of our family for this week, so make sure to tell them they’re appreciat-ed. They’re putting a ton of work into this homecoming week, and it’s because of them it will be suc-cessful.

But while the alumni, faculty and administration are great parts of the university, homecoming week needs only one thing to be successful. It needs students.

Students have to come out. They have to leave their dorms, come back to campus, push their worries aside and actively par-ticipate. All of the hard work is for the students. They keep our doors open.

Hopefully they’ve enjoyed the events so far this week, but there are still more to come.

The pep rally Friday at 6 p.m. in the quad will have a special guest all the students will want to see, and the parade at 10:30 a.m. Sat-urday will go right through campus and be hard for students to miss.

Come out. Take ownership of our school and our homecoming. Come home by remembering what you love and why you came here.

Together, let’s make Homecom-ing 2013 one for the books.

The week

that brings

everyone

together

MANAGEMENTEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Austin Vining

ASSOCIATE EDITORChad Merritt

MANAGING EDITORSKelsey KershawHannah Schilling

NEWS EDITORAllison East

ENTERTAINMENT EDITORAddie MartinSPORTS EDITOR

Kaleb CauseyPHOTO EDITOR

Deepanjan MukhopadhyayPHOTOGRAPHERSDevin Dronett

Kayla FrithDerek J. AmayaMULTIMEDIA EDITORRaney Johnson

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVEDerek J. Amaya

ADVERTISING MANAGERElliott Terral

ADVISERSDr. Judith RobertsT. Scott BoatrightADVERTISING ADVISER

Dr. Reginald OwensPRODUCTION MANAGERMichael LeBlanc

ADVERTISING PRODUCTIONMichael LeBlancDEPARTMENT HEAD

Dr. Reginald Owens

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FOR A RANEY DAYThe real new slaves

RANEY JOHNSONMultimedia Editor

I find myself eagerly waiting to watch the critically acclaimed movie “Twelve Years a Slave,”

a story about a free man from the North sold into slavery in the South.

However, I found myself shocked after learning in my world geogra-phy class this still goes on today.

According to current estimates, there are about 27 million slaves in the world today.

I repeat that number, 27 million. There are more slaves today than there ever has been in the past.

This number is shocking. It in-cludes sex slaves, forced laborers and many other types of slaves.

Many of these slaves don’t get the “Taken” or “Taken 2” treatment; they are not middle to upper class young girls who are kidnapped on a vacation and sold into slavery, though I am sure those exist.

The slaves are immigrants being trafficked from one country to an-

other by force, lies or bribery or the poor in a country who are forced to work for little or nothing.

These are men who are de-graded to nothing, women who are forced to work in conditions un-imaginable and raped every day for pay or for free and children who are forced to work hours not expected of the strongest man and also raped.

The majority of these slaves are in Southeast Asia and Latin America, but there are slaves in the U..S., too.

This is a sad fact in the world to-day, and I am sure many people are either ignorant to the fact, unwilling to do anything because they feel they can do nothing to help or are apathetic toward the issue.

My world geography professor told the class about a website we could go to learn our slavery foot-print. The website is slaveryfoot-print.org.

The site inquires about different parts of a person’s life for instance, how much food a person eats or how many clothes a person has,

along with giving some interesting facts about slavery along the way.

Using this information, the website gives the consumer the total number of slaves owned by the consumer.

This slave owner discovered he has 29 slaves working for him. Even if my number was just one slave, I would still be shocked. Everyone should go to this site, not to feel guilty, but to be informed on how many slaves exist in this world.

In a country that waged a war just to end slavery, the evils of slav-ery should fully be realized.

There is so much even a col-lege student can do to stop mod-ern day slavery, and there are web-sites such as, slaveryfootprint.org, freetheslaves.net, madeinafreeworld.com and castla.org that can give more information on the issue and ways to help.

Raney Johnson is a junior journalism major from Shreveport who serves as multimedia editor for The Tech Talk. Email comments to rcj008@latech.

BELIEFS OF A BLUNT BLONDEChange in homecoming tradition

ADDIE MARTINEntertainment Editor

Year after year, I watched my three older sisters attend homecoming after home-

coming, and it always seemed like the best time of the year.

Homecoming was stressing about a date, finding the perfect dress and having the most magi-cal night of your life.

In my case, it also meant go-ing out with that crush and get-ting to stay out later than my usual curfew.

To me, homecoming was my one night every year that I got to feel like Cinderella.

However, the definition of homecoming has changed greatly since I entered the college world.

In college, the focus is not a school-wide formal; in fact, there is no dance at all.

Homecoming is taken literally

among the young adults, in that it is a time to unite with the alumni and celebrate the achievements of our university.

It is no longer about the dance but focuses on the love we all have for Tech.

We may not have a special dance in the school gym, but there is so much more!

The festivities are not just one night but last an entire week.

Students from every organiza-tion across campus participate in the creative contests, such as eating and cooking battles and parade competitions.

This year there will even be volleyball tournaments and beach wars.

There is nothing like friendly Tech family rivalry to bring every-one together.

It is about welcoming our fam-ily as they come back home, and if we play a few games when they

get here, that just makes it better.We do all of these competi-

tions during the week before homecoming to get pumped for the best part of it all, homecom-ing day.

On homecoming day the alum-ni will eat too much at Breakfast with Champ before joining us at tailgate to eat once again.

We have to eat to get our en-ergy to cheer on the ‘Dogs in America’s favorite sport and yell for our friends that have been vot-ed homecoming court.

At Tech, we laugh a lot, eat a lot and yell a lot as we root for the ‘Dogs, and I would trade my Cinderella night for a full week of everyday fun any day.

Addie Martin is a junior English and journalism major from West Monroe who serves as entertainment editor for The Tech Talk. Email comments to [email protected].

The Tech Talk • 5


AUSTIN VININGEditor-in-Chief

A time-honored tradi-tion at Tech, with each Homecoming comes the crowning of a new king and queen.

Adding to the list of elected royalty were last years, Heath Garner and Mallory Cox.

Cox, a graduate student in education, said being queen was a surreal mo-ment for her.

“After the homecom-ing court was introduced at the pep rally, we were seated on the side of the court,” she said. “I just re-member talking to Heath about how excited we were and how we could not be-lieve we were there at that moment.”

Cox said she recalls looking up at everyone in the stands and seeing the posters with her name on them during the long pause before king and queen were announced.

“I felt a sudden burst of nerves and excitement before hearing him call out my name,” she said. “I would have never imag-ined that I would have the opportunity to be the homecoming queen of my university.”

Garner, a senior biology major, said the experience was made even more spe-cial due to the fact he was able to share it with Cox.

“Mallory and I knew each other very well before that,” he said. “We played in the band together at Temple Baptist Church be-

fore, so it was really good to be able to share this honor with her.”

Garner and Cox both said the honor was even more special because it was voted on by their peers.

“It was different than any other award I’ve got-

ten before because stu-dents voted on me,” Gar-ner said. “I was extremely humbled.”

The 2012 queen also said the 2013 court should feel honored and respect their accomplishments.

“All of you have been se-lected by your peers – what

an honor,” Cox said. “You are admired and respect-ed. Now, you are provided an additional privilege to be a leader at Louisiana Tech. Know that others look up to you. Continue to be a positive influence on those around you by en-couraging, supporting, lov-

ing, and serving them. A smile is contagious; a posi-tive word is uplifting; and an act of service speaks volumes. I am proud of each one of you for being a leader on campus.”

Garner said he really looks forward to one of the changes of this year’s homecoming, announcing the king and queen on the football field at the game this year.

“It builds up the excite-ment and adds more shock value,” he said. “Every-one is there and everyone is cheering and no one knows until that very mo-ment.”

Cox said although this Homecoming will be a lit-tle bittersweet as she pass-es on her cherished crown, she is still looking forward to being back in Ruston this week.

“I am looking forward to seeing everyone again,” she said. “Having moved to Shreveport, teaching junior high math and continuing as a full-time grad student, I have been a little busy. It is great to come home and catch up with friends. I have missed being on Tech’s campus.”

Email comments to [email protected].

A year in the life of royalty

File Photo by Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay

The Homecoming King and Queen for 2012, Heath Garner and Mallory Cox, embrace after being introduced at the pep rally.

to all the deserving women on Homecoming Court 2013!

Love, your Panhellenic Council

Kelsey BazzellMadison Byles

Jessi FittsTaylor Giddings Jayde Hughes

Maggie McGuffee Ashleigh McInnisJulianne Tippen

B A P T I S T C O L L E G I A T E M I N I S T R Y

Freshmen JourneyMondays at 7 PM

Soul Food $1 LunchTuesdays at 11:30 AM

56 Student WorshipTuesdays at 7 PM

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6 • The Tech Talk


ADDIE MARTINEntertainment Editor

The year 2013 seems to have become a year of change for Tech: a new president, a new football coach, a new athletic direc-tor and even a new alumni walkway.

However, Tech as a university is not undergo-ing changes and additions alone; Homecoming Week has made some changes as well, such as adding Breakfast with Champ, the school’s costumed human mascot whose identity tra-ditionally remains anony-mous.

Ryan Richard, director of Alumni Relations, said the Breakfast with Champ is hosted by the Louisiana Tech Alumni Association from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, with the main goal of getting alumni and their families back on campus.

For only $10 per person and free for children nine years old and under, at-tendees can enjoy breakfast in the Tech Cafe, balloon animals, having your picture made with CHAMP, shop-ping at the Bookstore, locat-ing your brick in Centennial Plaza, and much more.

“With the numerous other events that take place

on Homecoming Day, we felt what better way to start the day than to have breakfast on campus, then walk around and see all the changes that are taking place,” he said.

Richard said Breakfast with Champ is a time for the Tech family, old and new, to meet Champ, get a picture and start Homecoming Day with a Tech smile and a lot of school spirit.

The Tech family attend-ing are not the only ones ex-cited though; Champ is just as excited about the event and endless pictures.

Champ said the event is a great chance for the cheerleaders and himself to get involved with the com-munity, as well as, the stu-dent body.

Richard said local pho-tographer Kevin Beasley will take the pictures in front of a green screen, which will allow him to put in a backdrop that will make it look like those in the picture are standing on the 50 yard line of Joe Aillet Stadium.

“Pictures allow moments of pure joy (especially in children) when they first see a 6-foot-tall bulldog acting goofy to be captured and savored,” Champ said. “Not to mention it gives me a quick break from all the silli-ness to take a breather!”

This is not like any break-fast ever before because the cheerleaders will be pump-

ing everyone for the game, while Champ makes it clear he might try to eat your food.

“The breakfast should go off without a hitch,” he said. “As long as people continue to enjoy the food, enjoy our cheers, and enjoy my com-pany, there should be no problem at all. It’s food after all; people can’t turn down good food!”

They certainly cannot, as Jeff Pace, a Tech alumnus, and his family have indicat-ed they are looking forward to the breakfast.

“I think anytime you can get alumni back on cam-pus, it definitely gives them a renewed sense of pride,” he said. “For some families, this may be the only time all year that they have a chance to make it back to Ruston and to Tech.”

Pace said he has noticed that many of the homecom-ing activities this year are centered around the fam-ily. That is something he and his wife like about Tech Homecoming.

“We are excited about the opportunity to get our

two children on campus for a day of activities that starts with the Breakfast with Champ,” he said. “I hope it is an opportunity to start a new tradition with my family, even as our kids get older.”

Champ said it is a bril-liant idea, bringing everyone together for Homecoming to bask in the glory of the old days at Tech and take notice of improvements since their school days.


SIDESBaked Beans, Potato Salad, Cole

Slaw and Peach Cobbler

SALADSBeef Brisket, Chicken, Ham,

Pork, Sausage, Turkey

Ranch, Thousand Island, Honey-Mustard, Italian or Fat Free

PLATESBeef Brisket, Chicken, Ham, Pork, Ribs, Sausage, Turkey

Each plate is served with 2 sides, Texas Toast, BBQ Sauce and Relish

MEAT BY THE POUNDBeef Brisket, Ham, Pork,

Sausage, Turkey

1, 1/2 & 1/4 pound

SANDWICHESSandwich, Sandwich Plate,

Kids Plate, Lunch Special

Sandwich plate served with 2 sides, kids plate served with 1. Special served Mon-Fri 11am-2pm

SOUPSLoaded Bake Potato Soup

Seasons

FAMILY PACKSEach Family Pack is served with

your choice of 2 sides, Texas Toast, BBQ Sauce and relish

POTATOESBeef Brisket, Chicken, Ham,

Pork, Sausage, Turkey

Loaded includes: Butter, Cheese, Sour CreamBacon Bits, and Green Onions

DRINKSCoca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Pink Lemonade,

Diet Coke, Barq’s Root Beer, Iced Tea

254-80101911 FARMERVILLE HWY • RUSTON

CATERING IS OUR SPECIALTY!

Open 11am-9pm • Mon-Sat

Homecoming Breakfast with Champ

From the in-zone, Champ cheers for Tech against University of Nevada, Las Vegas while waiting for a touchdown.

Champ shows his muscles and his support at the 2012 Louisiana Tech Red Out game. File Photo by Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay

File Photo by Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay

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PARADESTART/FINISH

The Tech Talk • 7


IAN EDWARDSStaff Reporter

The cars, children and candy typically lining the streets of Ruston the Thursday of Homecoming Week will be noticeably absent this year.

Instead, more cars, more children and more candy will line the streets Saturday at 10 a.m.

Katherine Strahan, a senior history major and director of student affairs, said the Stu-dent Government Association is excited about moving the parade to Saturday.

“SGA is hoping to pro-mote the parade and raise at-tendance,” Strahan said. “We hope the move to Saturday will allow more community mem-bers to attend.”

Strahan said the idea for moving the parade came from the Tech faculty.

“It was actually the faculty’s idea to move the parade,” she said. “We in SGA agreed with them, and we were allowed to choose the date and time.”

Strahan also said she be-lieves the move to Saturday will give participants more time to get ready for the pa-rade.

“I think people will be posi-tively affected by this change,” Strahan said. “Now, more students, alumni and community members can prepare their float or contribution without having work and school interfere with their plans.”

Ryan Richard, director of Tech’s Alumni Association, said he felt the move will be especially helpful to alumni.

“We are trying to encourage alumni to come back and be involved with campus activities,” Richard said. “Moving the pa-rade from the traditional Thursday eve-

ning allows our alumni from in-state and out-of-state to participate in the parade.”

Richard said the majority of alumni would already be coming in on Saturday for the game and other events.

“Many of the alumni will already be returning for the Breakfast with Champ event at 9 that morning and to see their bricks on the Centennial Walkway,” he said. “It’s a per-fect fit, really.”

Strahan said she and the SGA members are striving to make this homecoming mem-orable for the Tech family.

“The members and I are very excited to give Tech and the Ruston community a great homecoming week,” she said. “We hope more members of the Ruston community get in-volved and we look forward to all of the great events.”

For more information on the parade, contact the SGA office, or visit latechalumni.org/homecoming2013 for a

list of all homecoming events and a map of the parade route.


Parade changes day and route

RICHARD

STRAHAN

Please present this coupon for discount. One coupon per person. Valid at Orange Leaf

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Congrats to our 2013 Homecoming Court

GO BULLDOGS!

Letters today. Leaders tomorrow.Louisiana Tech Fraternities

8 • The Tech Talk


JOHN SADLERStaff Reporter

The Band of Pride is a large part of Tech’s sporting events, firing up the teams and fans alike. This year for Homecom-ing Week, they are planning a series of activities to keep school spirit high all week long.

“We’ve got plenty of stuff lined up, from marching in the parade to our alumni band per-formance, the week is going to be packed,” said Carolyn Smith, a senior theater major and band member.

Smith said that the alumni band is a tradi-tion that allows past students to still feel at home at Tech.

“They come and play with us at the pregame show and perform with us in the stands,” she said. “They can come back and it’s like they never left. I’m excited to know that even after I graduate I can still be a part of the band.”

Jeff Fink manages the alumni band and said he brought it back from almost complete aban-donment after he graduated.

“When I got out the program was pretty small, so I sent out letters to everyone and got a

pretty good response,” said Fink, who graduated from Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Fink said the response to the program has been positive.

“The band is family, so it’s just like coming back home,” he said. “The whole thing just runs it-self. Everyone is just happy to be there.”

Jim Robken, director of bands, is eager for the alumni band’s par-ticipation.

“I get to see for-mer students, and sometimes they come back with families,” he said. “It’s exciting. I get to hug their babies and listen to them play again. I miss them.”

Robken said the band always treats Homecom-ing as a special event.

“The current students are al-ways pretty fired up about it,” he

said. “We’re going to go all out.”Kevin Keeler said he is

thrilled about the activities the band has planned this year.

“We’re just as important as

the sports groups,” said Kee-ler, a senior music education major. “We love supporting everyone; it’s just what we do.”

Keeler said the parade is the event that brings the most people from outside of the campus.

“The parade just brings the whole town together,” he said. “It’s so much fun. Tons of people come out and get pumped up.”

Robken said that the pa-rade is just one part of a full week.

“We’ve got the pep rally, parade, recognition of alumni and the football game,” he said. “It’ll be a busy week, but a fun and exciting one.”

Keeler said he hopes that the game will have a large turnout.

“The football team is having a tough year, but they’re get-ting way better,” he said. “Ev-eryone needs to make it to the game to cheer them on.”

Smith said she agrees that the Homecoming game is the one with the biggest need for student turnout.

“Homecoming is the best game for all of us, past and present,” she said. “We aren’t just cheering on the football team. We’re cheering on the school as a whole.”


Band celebrates Homecoming

Photos by Devin Dronett

Above: Band Director Jim Robken leads the band during practice. Below: A trombone player shows his Tech pride as he plays his part during practice. “We’re just

as important as the sports groups. We love support-ing everyone; it’s just what we do. ”

KEVIN KEELERsenior music education major

IMAGINE • BELIEVE • ACHIEVE

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The Tech Talk • 9


KELSY KERSHAWManaging Editor

Blue and red colors are ev-erywhere, and excitement buzzes around every corner, the earliest signs that it is Homecoming Week.

Homecoming Week is not just an exciting time for students and faculty, it is a time of unified excite-ment between the Louisiana Tech family and the Ruston community.

Without the pep and energy of the Louisiana Tech cheer team, that excitement would be useless.

Steven Ehrhard, the coach of the cheerleaders and Champ, Tech’s costumed mascot, said his team members put forth a lot of time to prepare for homecoming week festivities.

“During Homecoming Week, the team practices about 10-12 hours,” he said. “They commit to multiple other events in prepara-tion for the pep rally and game day.”

Ehrhard said his group is al-ways eager and excited to show spirit and support for the Bulldog family.

“Meeting and interacting with the alumni and fans is always excit-ing,” he said. “Then having the abil-ity to support the football team and cheer them to a victory; there is nothing like game day in Ruston.”

Interacting with the community and the positive energy are what his team members look forward to dur-ing homecoming week, especially

the female captain, Makayla Hill.Hill, a junior kinesiology major,

has been a member of the team for three years and said she still gets the same thrill for homecom-ing that she did during her first year.

“Being a cheerleader during homecoming week is an honor,” she said. “We get to participate in different activities, make presen-tations and meet a lot of people around the community.”

She said one of the best parts of being a spirit member during homecoming week is being recog-nized at those different events in the community. However, she said that is not her favorite part.

“The best part of homecoming week is being by the homecoming court and seeing their faces when they announce the winner,” Hill said.

Ben Strecker, a senior general studies major and cheer veteran, said his favorite part is seeing the weeklong motivation on the side-lines when the week comes to an exciting close at the game.

“It’s pretty exciting during the week because everyone gets pumped for the game,” he said. “I’m fortunate enough to carry that momentum onto the field.”

Strecker is one of the spirit leaders who get to sprint across the field at the game’s opening holding one of the flags that spells out “TECH.”

In the midst of all the posi-tive energy and excitement, the

cheerleaders have to keep a smile on while they deal with the added stress from the week, Hill said.

Ehrhard said flexibility is key for them during homecoming week.

“Between school, practice and requests that happen at a mo-ment’s notice, the cheerleaders have to be able to respond and be in places very quickly,” he said.

“These are the moments we pre-pare for.”

Email comments [email protected].

Spirit leaders share enthusiasm Cheer team members said they train for moments like Homecoming week

This photo illustration released by the university is to announce Tech’s new live bulldog mascot at the pep rally Friday in the Quad.

would like to congratulate the 2013 homecoming court!

Kelsey Bazzell Madison Byles Nelson Duran

Jessi Fitts Taylor Giddings Carlton Gray Corey Green Jayde Hughes

Christian Marcus Maggie McGuffee Ashleigh McInnis

Ben Strecker Matthew Tarver Julianne Tippen Austin Vining Tyler Wagnon

10 • The Tech Talk


RANEY JOHNSONMultimedia editor

An idea to give students a little something more started with two students and then Housing Director Jim King.

Nineteen years later he is able to see the re-cent completion of a two decade-long project. Con-struction on the walkway began in 1993 as part of the university centennial project said King, who has been involved with the proj-ect from the beginning.

“It started as an assem-bly space,” said King, vice president for student affairs. “The university didn’t have a place for students to get together in front of our Stu-dent Center.”

King said the idea to build the alumni walkway started in 1992 and was funded through a student fee. He said no patio exist-ed where the red tables cur-rently are because a street ran between the Student Center and Harper Hall.

“There were 8,500 cars every day that came down that street,” King said. “We came to realize that there were 900 students an hour crossing this intersection, so it was a mess.”

King said the traffic coming through was dis-ruptive and dangerous, and the road was deteriorated.

“That’s when we exca-vated the site, constructed the tower and installed the alumni walkway,” he said. “It was about a $3.6 million project start to finish.”

King said the columns where the first alumni brick of Harry Howard is laid, the columns between the Student Center and Tolliver Hall and the clock tower were all modeled after the original columns near Keeny Hall, which served as one of the original en-trances to Tech.

“The architects played off of that, because it was the centennial of Tech,” he said.

King said the making of the bricks was more dif-ficult and costlier in 1993 than it is today.

“We did in the original creation of all these bricks

some 72-74,000 engraved bricks,” King said. “Back then the process required a stencil be created and it would be sand etched and painted with a chemical

similar to how tombstones are created.”

He also said all the bricks had to be laid by hand.

“One man laid everyone of them. He couldn’t read,” King said. “So the students and I had to lay them out and place them in the right order in order for the ma-son to put them in the right order.”

King said this was one of the reasons construction of the walkway was stalled.

“There are a number of reasons why the university fell behind,” he said. “The labor intensiveness of it kind of prohibited us from keeping it going.”

Emily Essex, coordi-nator of intramurals and sports clubs, along with others from the Lambright center were helpful hands in solving the labor-inten-sive problem.

“They laid out all 20,000 bricks ahead of the con-tractor,” King said.

Essex said it was a hot and strenuous job, so they would go out early in the morning to lay bricks.

“We had several of our guys come out and help,” Essex said.

Essex said 18-wheelers would bring in the pallet of bricks.

“We would have to take them from the pallets and lay them out in alphabeti-cal order,” Essex said. “We

laid about seven to eight years in two and a half weeks.”

She said sometimes a person’s brick would be missing, so they would just lay a blank one and order a brick for the former stu-dent.

“It was very rewarding,” Essex said. “We got to see the excitement of people checking out their bricks.”

King said there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on Homecoming this Sat-urday.

“We’ve already com-memorated the walkway, but it is just more of an in-vitation for people to come back, if you have graduat-ed in the last decade,” King said. “The parade route goes right by there, so by the time the band comes around we should be cut-ting the ribbon.”

King said the bricks tell a story because students can see its growth from one graduate to multiple and how world events such as the world wars led to the decrease in the num-ber of male graduates and the increase in the number of female graduates.

“It is a history lesson about the school,” King said. “It has a rich tradi-tion.”


Alumni walkway tradition continues

Above: Jim King stands in front of construction on the alumni walkway and clock tower. Below: The recenlty added 2012 alumni bricks continue on the tradition started in 1993.

Submitted Photo

Photo by Raney Johnson

CONGRATULATIONS!

Madison Byles and Kelsey Bazzell!HOMECOMING COURT 2013

Love, your sisters of Alpha Chi Omega

The Tech Talk • 11

SPORTS

REMEMBERING

Tyrone Duplessis died on Feb. 2, 2012, at the age of 21 due to a massive heart attack. This would have been his final season with the Bulldogs.

CHAD MERRITTAssociate Editor

his was supposed to be Tyrone Duplessis’ year.

A year for great-ness. A year for ex-citement. A year to

never forget.He never got that year.Duplessis died unexpect-

edly, long before he got his year. Duplessis, a run-ning back for Tech from 2009-11, would be playing his last Homecom-ing game Saturday.

Kendrick James, a senior defensive end, remembers that fateful day viv-idly.

“I was at home when my mom called me and told me Tyrone was be-ing rushed to the hospital,” James said.

Suffering a major heart attack, Duplessis died on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, after a normal night of a workout and dinner with his fiancée.

“You think to yourself, this doesn’t happen to young people. This doesn’t hap-pen to people like Tyrone,” Sonny Dykes, head football coach for the University of California, Berkley, said in a telephone interview.

Dykes, the head football coach for Tech at the time of Duplessis’ death, said while driving to the hospital he

kept thinking to himself that Duplessis would be ok and that he would get through this like he had all his other life obstacles.

Life obstacles were much easier to overcome for Duplessis in high school. The two biggest challenges he faced were a bad knee and his 5-foot-8 body.

“Tyrone always found motivation when c h a l l e n g e d , ” James said. “Be-fore a game in high school, the other team said how they would stuff the box and stop Tyrone com-pletely. He ran for 300 yards and four touchdowns against them.”

Duplessis and James met in eighth grade at O. Perry Walker High School in New Orleans and became best friends. They played football from the time they met all the way into their col-lege careers.

Duplessis’ mother loved watching her son play all of his high school football games.

“Some of my favorite memories of Tyrone are watching him play football,” Mary Duplessis said. “He was so happy and full of life, and watching him out there was so awesome.”

As determined and moti-vated Duplessis was on the

JAMES

T

TYRONE

> see DUPLESSIS page 12

Photo courtesy of The Times-Picayune/Landov

Photo courtesy of Media Relations

Photo courtesy of Media Relations Photo courtesy of Media Relations

12 • The Tech Talk

SPORTS

FROM THE SPORTS DESK

Now is the time

for seniors

s my final Home-coming week as an undergraduate of Louisiana Tech has started, it is hard not

to look back on all of the great things I have seen the Tech athletics program ac-complish in my time here.

However, this column is not meant to focus on what the athletics programs have done, but what you can do for the athletics program.

Once you graduate, Lou-isiana Tech does not leave you. It is a part of you and a part of your history. I will forever be a Louisiana Tech fan, even as an alumnus.

What is great about athletics programs is they encourage alumni involve-ment.

There is not a game that I have been to that did not have some rowdy Tech alumni in the stands cheer-ing on their team.

Homecoming is a per-fect example of this.

Our alumni do great things for this university. Al-though, as with most things, it could always improve.

Sure, not every alumnus will live in Ruston, but that does not mean you cannot continue to support the uni-versity through athletics.

Donations, returning for Homecoming and other games and just rooting on your team wherever you may be are all ways that you can continue to advance our great university.

We have seen through projects like Paul Millsap Vision, Dawgzilla and Quest for Excellence that alumni donations can do great things for our university.

Returning home for games is always a great en-couragement for students who may need that extra push to go to games. Who does not love seeing Mr. Boris from Prescott Memo-rial Library at basketball games?

Finally, to any alumni who may be reading this, thank you for continuing to support your university. You have helped make it great for students like me.

To those of you who are soon to graduate, remem-ber to always be active and love your university and it’s teams. Even if you are an underclassman, please con-tinue to support this great university.

Kaleb Causey is a senior politi-cal science and journalism from Jonesboro. Email comments to [email protected].

A

with Kaleb Causey

The Louisiana Tech University football team plays the North Texas Mean Green at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Ruston. This game will be Homecoming for Tech.

The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network and can also be listened to on 107.5 FM.

The Bulldogs lead the series between the teams (6-5).

>DUPLESSIS from pg. 11

Overall record:(2-4,1-1 C-USA)

Points per game:20.0

Touchdowns (rushing/passing):

9/5

Kenneth Dixon - RB554 yards

6.2 yards per carry3 touchdowns

Trent Taylor - WR133 yards14.8 yards per catch1 touchdown

IK Enemkpali - DB25 tackles

7.5 tackles for loss6.5 sacks

Daniel Cobb - LB50 tackles8.5 tackles for loss1.5 sacks

DYKES

Overall record:(3-3,1-1 C-USA)

Points per game:27.4

Touchdowns (rushing/passing):

8/8

Derek Thompson - QB1,346 yards

269.2 yards per game8 passing touchdowns

Darnell Smith - WR401 yards11.1 yards per catch3 touchdowns

Zachary Orr - LB50 tackles

3.0 tackles for loss1 sack

Marcus Trice - DB42 tackles1 interception2 blocked kicks

football field, he was equally as relaxed and fun to be around when away from football.

“He was a big jokester,” James said. “A fun guy to be around, he was always pulling practical jokes on everybody he knew. Whether you knew Ty-rone or not, you could always laugh with him.”

James said he decided to at-tend Tech the summer before his senior season. Duplessis, who was undecided at the time, decided to attend Tech with James as they both felt it was an up-and-coming program and saw something special for each of them.

Mary Duplessis said she was excited knowing her son was going to play for Tech.

“Knowing my baby was going play for a school like Tech made me very excited,” Mary Duples-sis said.

The excitement for Duples-sis to play at Tech extended far from his home though.

“The thing I remember most was that although he wasn’t a big kid, he had a big smile,” Dykes said. “Tyrone embraced oppor-tunity. He had a great sense of

humor and a great personality.”Dykes said that Duplessis

was very determined and be-came even more so after a knee injury forced him to sit out for an entire season.

He was getting ready for his year. He had done everything right. And it was all taken away from him.

With 30-40 players at the hospital when the doctor told them Duplessis had died, everyone was left with a sense of shock.

Dykes recalls that there were so many people around, but nobody knew what to say or what to do.

Through the tragedy of Duplessis’ passing, comfort was found in the outreach of the Tech and Ruston communities.

Mary Duplessis was helped by the support she and her fam-ily received after Tyrone’s death.

“I can’t thank Tech and Rus-ton enough for all the good things, love and support showed to us,” Mary Duplessis said. “I really appreciate it. We know you all enjoyed him and he was always thankful for that.”

The tributes for Duplessis

extended far beyond the weeks after his death.

James decided he would change his number to 22 as a tribute to his friend.

“It feels good knowing he is still represented by me,” James said. “Since we were so close, I feel like I’m playing with the ability of two people when I put his jersey on.”

James finds even more support when he looks into the stands during a foot-ball game and sees everybody holding up “2s” in the stands.

“It gives me an energy boost seeing the 2s,” James said. “I know this is Tyrone’s quarter, and I get this powerful energy for me to go out there and finish strong.”

The support for Duplessis has been phenomenal at Tech, but has extended to multiple other universities. Deron Wil-son, defensive back for the Uni-versity of Southern Mississippi, and Cortez Johnson, defensive back for the University of Okla-homa, were both teammates of Duplessis and James in high

school and both wear number 22 in honor of Duplessis.

“When you graduate high school you expect to distance yourself a little from your good friends,” James said. “But after Tyrone passed, we all started talking a lot more. Cortez, Der-on and I talk every other day now. We try to talk as much as we can now because we know how fragile life is and what can happen.”

A year and a half after he died, it finally happened. All of his hard work paid off.

This is Duplessis’ year.Although the hole in James’

heart will always be there, he knows that Duplessis will be re-membered.

James said Duplessis’ smile just made everything better. He could brighten your mood and turn everything better.

“If I could say one last thing to Tyrone, I would tell him that I love you,” James said. “I would tell him thank you for putting all the smiles on the faces he did.”

For more on Tech athletics, follow The Tech Talk Sports Desk on Twitter at twitter.com/techtalksports.

Email comments [email protected].

BULLDOGTHIS WEEK IN FOOTBALL

Documents

Homecoming Edition 2013