College Sports Information Directors of America

Dear Friends,

On behalf of Louisiana State University and particularly our LSU
Athletics family, let me thank all of you for the outpouring of concern
and support in this most difficult time.  We in Baton Rouge count
ourselves among the fortunate that the wrath of Katrina did not
overwhelm us in the way that it has devastated our friends in New
Orleans and other communities in Southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast
Region.

It is important for you to know that in the most recent aftermath of the
storm, LSU has become not only an institution of higher education, but
for the short term, it has also become a major hub of the evacuation
efforts. To give you a snapshot of life today at LSU, let me share the
following: The Maravich Assembly Center has become a triage site where
medical personnel are performing surgeries and delivering babies, and
the Field House has become a hospital.  The LSU Outdoor Track now serves
as a helicopter landing pad for medical helicopters, and the Indoor
Football facility has become a hospital dedicated to patients recovering
from surgeries and treatment for serious injuries.  In addition,
portions of many of our facilities now serve as offices for FEMA as well
as the FBI. For our coaches and student-athletes the day is not only
filled with day to day activities that also include practice in their
sports, but they are now engaged in volunteer efforts on our campus.

Here is how all of this may affect you.  At the present time, two of the
greatest challenges in Baton Rouge are lodging and transportation for
both rescue workers and displaced victims of the storm.  For this
reason, we are asking that you encourage coaches on your staff that will
be traveling to Baton Rouge for contests in the months of September and
October to immediately contact the hotels in which they have
reservations to determine if those reservations will be honored.
Additionally, we would recommend that you also contact ground
transportation companies to confirm those reservations.  Particularly in
our fall sports, we have instructed our coaches and their supervising
associate directors to begin to anticipate the need for altering
schedules and/or sites of competition.

Thank you all in advance for your assistance as we work through this
uniquely difficult time.  It is with great hope and resilience that the
folks of Louisiana persevere, and we are thankful for our friends who
assist along the way.

Sincerely,

Skip Bertman
Director of Athletics
Louisiana State University