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Pooyie 11.30.11

Wednesday Novemeber 30, 2011

news2C'est Bon
Kudos to Secretary of State Tom Schedler for at least getting the conversation started. As our oft-amended state constitution attests, Louisiana has too many elections — 70 in the five-year span from 2005 to 2010. The result, as Schedler theorized in a recent interview with The Advocate, is “voter fatigue” that manifests itself in abysmally low turnout on election day. Roughly 22 percent of voters in Lafayette Parish turned out for the Nov. 19 runoff, besting Schedler’s statewide prediction of 20 percent or fewer. But can any elected official sent to office by fewer than one in five voters discern a directive much less a mandate from his or her constituency? One of Schedler’s predecessors, Al Ater, is tossing out a novel idea: Make voting more “user-friendly” by allowing it at such well-traveled locales as shopping malls.
























news3Pas Bon
The main function of the multi-million-dollar Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise is evidently dysfunction. Last week saw another high-profile departure from the place that does technology stuff — or something like that, we think — as Chief Operating Officer Monica Lavergne quit or was fired or was pressured to resign or took permanent modernity leave. The Daily Advertiser reported that LITE interim CEO Robert Twilley (who is not listed in the facility’s phone directory although he’s been on the job since August of 2010 yet reportedly expected to be replaced by July of this year) confirmed that Laverne is not with the facility, but would not release any additional information on her departure. Laverne also declined to comment to the paper. The COO’s exodus is the latest in a rash of high-level staff shake-ups at LITE that includes eight resignations, five layoffs, one known termination and two position eliminations. But, hey, the egg is pretty at night.


















3Couillon
Hear the one about the Cajun who went to Arizona and got robbed? It happened Saturday at Arizona Stadium in Tucson as UL’s bowl-bound Ragin’ Cajun football squad, hampered by a flurry of yellow flags thrown by a nit-picky and/or hallucinating Pac-12 Conference officiating crew, fell to the Arizona Wildcats 45-37. The Wildcats, who are (not) coincidentally a Pac-12 team, drew three penalties for 20 yards to the Cajuns’ 10 for 106 yards. Questionable calls included an offside flag on the Cajuns defense that replay showed was more likely a false start against Arizona; an unnecessary roughness call against Cajun cornerback Melvin White for playing manly football and a bizarre defensive holding call on an Arizona field goal attempt. A frustrated Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth tried to be diplomatic in a post-game interview with the Associated Press: “Penalties absolutely killed us — 10 to their three. I’m totally shocked they only had three and totally shocked we had 10.”



Comments (16)add
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written by RCajunrunner , November 30, 2011 - 06:00 am
Putting voting machines in shopping malls is an absolutely dumb idea and simply caters to the willingly ignorant/lazy vote. If someone is too lazy to care about the issues before election day, and they are too lazy to take extra time to get to an official designated voting place, why should we then still "beg" for their participation in the polls?
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written by Always Ragin , November 30, 2011 - 08:23 am
"Putting voting machines in shopping malls"
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Why not public toilets? You can do your business and vote at the same time. After all, everyone has to go. Besides, toilets and politicians have something in common.
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written by ragin_cajun , November 30, 2011 - 08:55 am
I'm glad to see that the editorial staff at theIND is finally "seeing the LITE" about this government boondoggle that has been touted for years now as "economic development".

I hope that theIND will now give some thought to the larger issues at play here, and recall for the readers all of the enthusiasm and outright salesmanship of all our local politicians when pushing the LITE center. How about a little ink recalling Durel, Gouthreaux, the luminaries at the Chamber of Commerce, Page Cortez and Mike Michot, and their big ideas about all the jobs that the LITE center would create, and how useful it would be to the oil industry, too.

How much of that has come to pass--none. Isn't it reasonable for us to consider the failure of the LITE center when we consider future government "investment" in "economic development"?

How about theIND spend an hour or two writing up how much money the LITE Center has lost in the last 2-3 years? The financials are on the State Auditor's website.

How about theIND just recap the history of the project, who spearheaded the project, who built it, who really pushed to get it built? Ask them what they think about it now, what they think went wrong, whether they'd do it all over again.

How about some hard-hitting, in-depth, activist journalism on THIS?
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written by LostatLITE , November 30, 2011 - 12:15 pm
I second that Motion ragin! LITE was supposed to bring big technology business to Lafayette and make us the "Technology Center" of the south. All it has done is blow money, lay off good, hard working people, and decorate the landscape with a multi-colored Egg. LITE's greatest accomplishment...THE EGG. That's pretty bad. And if they don't watch out, they won't just be laying off (firing) good people like Monica, but working hard just to pay the bill to keep the egg lit. Had they pulled in the tech companies like they were supposed to, then it wouldn't be circling the toilet. I thought HP had signed on to LITE prior to it being built? What about the other big TECH companies? Someone needs to do some serious investigation into what went wrong, and where all the money is going. Something is just not right!
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written by Thye Naked Emperor , November 30, 2011 - 01:00 pm
This is another piece of LEDA's fiefdom, finaced by you the taxpayer. More paper shuffling busy work to justify Greg Gouthreaux's gorging at the public trough. Another taxpayer liability in the name of "Development". If it's a non profit in Lafayette with the word "Development"in the name, bend over taxpayer.
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written by Layne St.Julien , November 30, 2011 - 04:26 pm
Runner, I don't think that's the important question here. I think the question is, how do we engage eligible voters to take more of an interest in government and in who's running it? Finding an answer to that question is essential to keeping our Democracy in good working order. Many people are convinced that those who hold political power are so out of reach that their votes -- or anyone's votes -- don't really matter at all. Voting machines at shopping malls won't change that, but something needs to. Otherwise, we'll continue to have governments elected by a tiny sliver of the population, ever more indebted to corporations that make campaign contributions -- and that's not what this country is supposed to be about.
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written by RCajunrunner , November 30, 2011 - 07:08 pm
One minor correction, Layne. We are a Republic (by our Constitution), not a Democracy.

Which, if you ask me, means I'd rather have votes counted from those who actually pay attention rather than a bunch of votes from those who accept a 6 pack of beer and a ride to the polls to vote the distributed "ticket".

Think that doesn't happen? You should have been around Acadia Parish last month.
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written by ragin_cajun , November 30, 2011 - 08:54 pm
There are unions making campaign contributions, too. Much of our government is indebted to, paying dues to, and negotiationg contracts with, and even on behalf of, unions.

There is also an out-of-control media industry that warps public perception of candidates and issues, intentionally misinforms, and actively promotes some candidates and viciously trashes others.

These are modern twists on the historic problem of "factions" that the Framers of our Constitution spent so much time thinking and writing about. They created a Republic that would contain the ill effects of factions without stealing the liberty that allows these factions to thrive.

The problem now is that there has been, for about a century now, a concerted effort by the political class to eliminate the limits placed on the national government that would lessen the effects of these "factions" on our political process. Constitutional limits on Federal power proved too great an impediment to "progress" and "Social Justice" to be allowed to remain in effect--so they are no longer there.

THIS is what needs to be addressed. THIS is what our citizens need to learn. WHY our government was constructed the way it was, how it has been degraded over the years, and what dangers await a society that does not understand the history of tyrrany and oppression that make up the bulk of human existence.

I would agree that more engaged voters would help. But they need to know the WHOLE story, some history and education instead of the steady diet of rhetoric and propaganda that passes for "information" these days.

How many of us have read the Federalist Papers, the Constitution, the speeches and writings of past Presidents? In the 50's and 60's, citizens read all that in school. Now, NOBODY has read any of that, not even professional pundits. THAT'S the problem with this country today -- not corporations, or low voter turnout.











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written by Rinkelstein , December 01, 2011 - 08:38 am
Just to clarify to all the LITE detractors, you do know that's Pixar's largest office outside of California is at the LITE center? Also the majority of the interior design on the new Lourdes hospital was done at LITE. This place will attract the right opportunities, it just needs the right leadership.
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written by Peppi Galapagos , December 01, 2011 - 10:32 am
by Layne St.Julien "continue to have governments elected by a tiny sliver of the population"

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You have a right to vote or not.
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written by IMJacquemo , December 01, 2011 - 11:03 am
LITE was a boondoggle from the getgo.
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written by Peppi Galapagos , December 01, 2011 - 02:10 pm
by Rinkelstein "to all the LITE detractors, you do know that's Pixar's largest office outside of California is at the LITE center?"
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That maybe true, but that's California.
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written by ben , December 01, 2011 - 04:21 pm
Rinkelstein, you forgot to mention that Pixar does not pay any rent. Any business woild move in for free rent.
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written by by the numbers , December 04, 2011 - 02:13 pm
the June 2011 financial audit shows that "total revenue" earned by LITE is $500,000. "Salaries and Benefits" was $1.8 million. thats more than 3 times the total revenue. Total Net Income was a negative $5,000,000. Now tell me again how that makes sense.
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written by by the numbers , December 04, 2011 - 02:18 pm
To Rinkelstein: also the state of la. give them a 35% tax credit on employee payroll and 25% tax credit on rent (which they don't pay) and equiptment. In other words, the state pays them an average of 30% of their cost. LITE is not why they are here. It's the subsidy only.
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written by Point the Finger , December 05, 2011 - 10:11 am
by the numbers June 2011 financial audit shows that "total revenue" earned by LITE is $500,000. "Salaries and Benefits" was $1.8 million.
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Of course it makes sense, it's a government project.

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