225BatonRouge.com

iPod ER

Anyone whose iPod has looked them dead in the eye and frowned knows it’s a bad sign. Ian Wills, 28, had been using the video iPod for a couple months when he first saw the dreaded “sad face.” What’s worse, because his wife bought it for him on eBay, it was no longer under warranty. Wills is an electronics technician for DEMCO, so instead of paying Apple $250, he replaced the hard drive himself and got the iPod rocking again. Curious, he then Googled “broken iPod.”

“About 9 million hits came up,” says the Chicago native and Navy veteran. “I’ve always wanted to own my own business, and this is something I’m good at.”

Handling battery replacement, broken screens and other troubleshooting, Wills launched My iPod Doctor out of his home this summer but is looking to rent commercial space near Sherwood and Coursey. Clients mail in their broken iPods for an estimate. Then if they agree Wills repairs it and sends it back. “It just struck me that [the problem] was so universal,” he says. “Anytime you have people running and working out with something that has a moving part—like a hard drive—attached to their belt, these things are going to happen.” myipoddoctor.com.

—JEFF ROEDEL

The hunt continues

The hunt for Mike V’s replacement continues. Dr. David Baker of the LSU vet school, who is handling the search, is working through a list of contacts to find appropriate candidates—either a male Bengal cub or juvenile tiger. Mike VI will not be bought, however. LSU insists on acquiring a donated tiger. LSU vet school’s public relations coordinator Ginger Guttner says there’s no hard deadline, giving Baker the luxury of holding out for a tiger that’s just right.

—TARA HARRIS

Walking all over them

If you happen to visit the LSU campus these days, be careful not to get walked all over. And we’re not talking about frat boys or football players.

LSU’s Recreation Center has challenged the faculty and staff to walk as part of fitness awareness program “Trek the MRT.” It’s developed into quite the on-campus competition.

Department team members were given pedometers to count their steps. They total them weekly to compete for prizes such as shirts and cookbooks.

The challenge for each competitor: walk (virtually) as much as they can of the Mississippi River Trail, the 3,000-mile stretch from Minnesota to Louisiana.

“Teams have been trash-talking to one another before the program even started,” says Amy Sparrow, healthy lifestyles assistant director.

225 learned of one enthusiastic staffer who walked so far from her home she got lost.

As of mid-July, pedometers had counted 196 million steps, and campus employees had virtually walked the MRT 11 times.

Many walkers find the pedometer addicting, constantly checking it to see how many steps they’ve taken that day. Plus, the team taking the most steps each week gets their photo posted on the Web site.

lsu.edu/urec

—T.H.

Harvest frustration

Ever wonder why a pair of Twinkies containing no less than 39 complex ingredients that are hard to produce and to pronounce costs less than a bunch of carrots from the farm down the road? Part of the answer lies in the federal Farm Bill that determines government subsidies for growers. Because the Farm Bill is only renewed every five years, farmers’ markets around Southeast Louisiana could go without any additional federal aid until at least 2012 unless they get a hand in the next month or so.

“As with any legislation it’s a battle between big business and the small family producers,” says Baton Rougean Benjamin Clark, who this summer worked with the national Rural Coalition in Washington, D.C.

Less than 1/10 of 1% of federal subsidies go to organic, sustainable growers and to small family farms struggling to get by and funding their produce with high interest rate credit cards.

Eric Morrow (below) is one local farmer who remains pessimistic. He believes any changes made to the legislation will only aid big business.

“We’re the red-headed step-child,” Morrow says. “There aren’t any senators out there looking out for small farmers.” farmandfoodproject.org