There are some things that puzzle you as a child but you figure out with age. As a child I was always puzzled as to why the McNeese football team stood on the opposite side from the press box.

In all other stadiums that I have either seen in person or TV, the home team always uses the press box side of the stadium as the home side and the visitors all stand facing the press box.

Now some 40-plus years later, I still don’t know why the Cowboys stand on the “wrong” side. Why does the McNeese football team stand on what most would consider the visitors side, facing the press box, as opposed to standing where the press box is to their backs?

According to Louis Bonnette, who was the university’s sports information director for nearly a half-century, the Cowboys have always occupied the east side of the stadium because that’s where the students and the band sit.

Candace Townsend, McNeese public information director, said Bonnette, the school’s first sports information director, assumed his post in 1966, a year after the stadium opened. He retired last year.

Online: www.mcneesesports.com.

Calcasieu clerk site soon to get face-lift

The Calcasieu clerk of court’s residential homes sales Web page has been down since last June. Can you check to see when this service will be available again?

Calcasieu Clerk of Court Lynn Jones said on Wednesday that his office is revamping its website and has been unable to update the home sales information — a service that he said his office pioneered in Louisiana.

The new site should be up within the next couple of weeks, hopefully as soon as next week, Jones said.

Online: www.calclerkofcourt.com.

Medicare calls effort to part people, cash

A reader recently called The Informer to say that both she and a friend of hers had received calls from people purporting to work for Medicare and requesting bank information.

The calls are part of a long-running scam to gather people’s personal data and plunder their accounts or steal their identities. They have nothing to do with Medicare.

“Don’t give your information out over the Internet, over the phone, or to anyone who comes to your home (or calls you) uninvited. Only give personal information to doctors or other providers approved by Medicare. …,” reads a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fraud primer.

“However, if you choose to join a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) or Medicare Prescription Drug Plan over the phone, you may be asked to give this information to the plan.”

Similarly, if you initiate calls to agencies like Medicare, the Social Security Administration or plan providers, you can safely provide such information.

To report identity theft scams, call the Federal Trade Commission at 877-438-4338; the TTY number is 866-653-4261.

Online: www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/10111.pdf.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(American Press Archives)

Karen Wink