Louisiana State University - Gumbo Yearbook (Baton Rouge, LA)

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Bengals Begin Road Back To Winning... Hopes were high when the 1977 football season rolled around. Visions of returning to the glory days on the LSU gridiron enter- tained the thoughts of everyone as the opening game approached. Hopefully gone were any remnants of the past three years -- years of disaster for LSU. Tiger supporters impatiently awaited this return a return to the days between 1958 and 1973 when Bengal football teams had won 132, lost 39, and tied 6. In the past three seasons of despair, dissension earmarked sea- sons of 5-5-1, 4-7 (LSU ' s first losing season in 1 9 years), and 6-4- 1 . Five-thousand fans went north to Bloomington, Indiana, for LSU ' s 1. Indiana surrounded Steve Ensminger in much the same way they surrounded the Tigers in a 24- 21 upset. (Ted Hicks) 2. LSU smashed highly- touted Florida 35-14, the Bengals ' most impressive victory of ' 77. (Schultz) 3. The Goodyear blimp passed over Memorial Tower on its way to the Ala- bama game. (Badeaux) 4. At the Kentucky game, Curtis-E trades a Courtesy is Contagious sticker for some peanuts. (Jerry Hazen) opener with the lightly-regarded Indiana Hoosiers. The Bayou Ben- gals were heavy favorites to beat Indiana for the second time. (The first one was a 20-14 win at Indian- apolis in 1924.) LSU marched down the throats of the Hoosiers on its first posses- sion for the 7-0 lead, and all assumptions of victory appeared justified. Then, the Bengals relaxed and allowed themselves to be over- taken 10-7. By the early moments of the final quarter, however, LSU had built a comfortable 21-10 lead, and were headed for more when haunting memories of 1974-75-76 struck in the form of the fumble. The Tigers coughed it up on the Hoosier 12 and within minutes were scored upon. Content in losing their opener, the porous Tiger defense gave way to another score. The result: a shocking 24-21 upset loss, and a bitter way to open what was supposed to be a good season. With Help Mac Pack signs in full bloom everywhere, the 0-1 Tigers were busy preparing them- selves for their first home game against the Rice Owls. Not since 1966 had the Owls bested the Tigers, and every LSU fan again expected victory, but not in the form of a 77-0 score. In the wildest scoring display since 1936, LSU bounced back with vengeance from their opening setback to humiliate the men from Houston. The 746 yards total offense against the Owls was one of the many school records broken. But Tiger fans were still not sold on this team. Florida, ranked ninth nationally, would be the true test. 170 Main Ingredients

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Graduation: It ' s a Time for Joy? This May, 2.079 students gradu- ated from LSU. Thirty-two states and 28 foreign countries were rep- resented in the graduation. Men comprised 57 per cent of the graduating class and 43 per cent, women. About 24 per cent of the graduating class were married. Of the 2.079 students receiving degrees, only about one-half of the students began their college careers at this University. Bachelor ' s degrees were awarded to 1466 students. The mode age for undergraduate students was 22, although three graduates were only 20. and John Hooper received h is Bachelor ' s at the age of 69. Master ' s degrees were awarded to 256 students and 29 students received doctorate degrees. Professional law degrees were awarded to 168 students; profes- sional social welfare degrees were awarded to 90 students: and 47 stu- dents received degrees in veterinary medicine. Thirteen students received specialist degrees in educa- tion: eight master ' s of education degrees were awarded, and two stu- dents received doctorate degrees in musical arts. Job Outlook Hazy How will these graduates fare in the highly competitive employment hunt? 1. Graduates prepared to line up outside the Assembl) Center for the commencement exer- cises. (Schrodt) 2. Most graduates first enrolled at LSL during the 74-75 school year, although one undergraduate had enrolled as early as 1948. (Schrodt) 3. Master of Ceremonies Chancellor Paul Murrill divided his speech into three topics: You and LSL. You and the World, and You and Yourself. (Tnifant) 4. Miriam Coe, age 75. was the oldest graduate at LSL. finishing in Decem- ber. Ms. Coe was a fine am major and planned to seek a graduate degree. (Schultz) College placement directors reported that on-campus recruiting was up for the second year in a row. It must be taken into consideration, however, that the 1975-76 school year was the worst year in campus recruiting history. But. according to the 1978 Grad- uate Magazine, published annually by the 13-30 Corporation, there is an oversupply of college graduates this year, and there will be for many years to come. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about one out of every four graduates will take jobs for which they are technically over- qualified. The 1978 Graduate reported that the greatest employment opportuni- ties existed for engineering, com- puter science, and business majors. In fact, engineering offers last year accounted for 55 per cent of the total offers made to bachelor-level graduates. Starting salaries for petroleum engineers this year aver- age over $1500 a month. Experts in banking, credit, and insurance will also enjoy prosper- ous job searches. Demand for accountants are strong, but the sup- ply has increased too, reported the Graduate. This is exemplified at LSU with the Accounting Depart- ment holding an enrollment of over 700. second only to general studies. According to the Graduate, accounting majors will find jobs, but not without looking. Computer science majors will have no trouble finding jobs, according to the magazine. The number of unfilled computer spe- cialists jobs this year is around 15.000. the Graduate reported. Health-related majors, including occupational and physical thera- pists, medical technologists, physi- cians ' assistants, and. of course, doctors and nurses, continue to be in short supply. Surprisingly enough, the Gradu- ate reported that art majors may be finding more opportunities this year, particularly if they are willing to form their own art galleries or theater companies. Because energy has become such a major issue, national energy research required more financial and technical workers. According to the National Edu- cation Association, public school openings will exist for only half the expected teaching graduates for the next eight years. Law school graduates will have trouble finding positions with firms. They will fare better working with the government. Students with degrees in foreign languages will find jobs scarce, but the mastery of a foreign language plus another skill will give a compe- titive edge over all job seekers, the magazine reported. Counseling, social work, therapy, personnel administration, and rec- reation have become overcrowded fields. Journalism suffers from the same over-popularity. The LSU School of Journalism holds the largest enrollment in the College of Arts and Sciences. According to the Graduate, there will be 20,000 jour- nalism graduates competing for the approximately 5,600 media job openings. Advertising agencies are hiring, but newspapers, radio, and television have few openings and usually refuse to hire new, inexperi- enced graduates. Is post-graduate work the key that opens the door to employ- ment? Not according to the Gradu- ate Magazine. According to the magazine, graduates who pursue advanced studies in hopes of win- ning over the competition will be disappointed. According to the magazine, the glut of Ph.D. ' s in 1985 is expected to be threefold: 580,000 Ph.D. ' s hungering for only 187.000 positions. Graduation 169

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Curtis E Is Contagious Anyone fairly familiar with ath- letics knows the impact of fan sup- port on the final outcome of a con- test. But when this enthusiasm turns to hostility, the whole game suffers. W. Evans (Blackie) Howell, pres- ident of the CM3 company, a man- agement consulting firm, approached the athletic department to institute a Curtis E courtesy program for the 1977-78 seasons. With the financial support of seven Louisiana firms, the campaign attempted to promote courtesy with the help of all 2,000 game personnel and the 68,000 plus fans who invade Tiger Stadium for each game. In place of more security person- nel or police d ogs for crowd con- trol, Howell thought fans were probably rowdy because they were never asked to behave. He felt bot- tle and ice-throwing, fighting and post-game highway accidents could be curbed through a more courte- ous spirit of competition. So when fans began arriving at Tiger Stadium for the LSU-Rice game, they were greeted by a rooster named Curtis E (Howell himself!). Buttons, banners and bumper stickers exhorting fans to be friendly decorated Death Valley. Courtesy is contagious -- help us spread it and Have a good time - help others have a good time were the slogans that spread the word. The courtesy program, continued through other sports competitions, has proven effective. Jack Gilmore, assistant athletic director for busi- ness said, We ' ve been pleased with the results of the program. Games management personnel said there were fewer problems and more awareness at games. Football 171