Weiss talks curriculum changes, budget cuts

If higher education is cut as substantially as it is being discussed, the impact would be detrimental to the flagship agenda of LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Chancellor Jack Weiss told members of the Baton Rouge Press Club today. If higher education is cut by $146 million, the law school is looking at a $4.1 million, or a 40%, cut, not counting federal stimulus money. Even with stimulus funds, there would be about $1.5 million in net cuts from last year. Facing cuts of that magnitude would damage programs already in place that conform to the institution’s flagship agenda, Weiss says. That agenda includes recruiting students and faculty from out of state and staying competitive with other law schools in the region and nation. Weiss also reviewed several changes to the school’s grading system and curriculum that will be presented to the LSU Board of Supervisors in December. While the changes are moving the institution closer to becoming a more competitive environment, they could be undermined by lack of funding next year, he says.—Emma James

St. George buys land on Airline for $1.8 million

The St. George Fire Protection District has purchased 8.1 acres of land on Airline Highway and plans to build a training-maintenance-administrative center there. The fire district paid nearly $1.8 million for the land near Barringer Foreman Road, in a deal that closed Friday. The purchase allows St. George to consolidate some of its operations at a single site and improve its training facilities. Right now, the administrative offices are on Perkins Road, equipment is stored on Highlandia Drive and training takes place in rented space in Barringer Foreman Technology Park, says Eldon Ledoux, the public information officer for St. George. "This is something we've been looking at doing for a long, long time," says Gerard Tarleton, St. George fire chief. Tarleton says St. George plans to start training on the property as soon as January, but construction of the new facilities won't begin until late summer or fall 2010. Tarleton says plans are to spend three to five years building out the facility.—Timothy Boone

Louisiana seeing busy fall filming season

With hurricane season ending, film and TV production in south Louisiana is picking up, and New Orleans is on track to break last year's filming record. David Simon, creator of The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street, started shooting the first season of his HBO series Treme in New Orleans this month, and actor Jason Statham had a downtown office building bustling with production of a scene for the action thriller, The Mechanic. They are among at least eight film and TV projects in the New Orleans area this fall—and more than a dozen statewide—providing an end-of-the-year boost after a sluggish summer, says Sherri McConnell, head of the state film office. "Summer is usually a slow time for us," McConnell says, citing higher production costs during hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30, as a factor. But this year film industry strikes, the economy and uncertainty over the future of Louisiana's entertainment tax credit program were also to blame, she says. Before the state Legislature approved a 5% boost in incentives for movie and TV makers this spring, the 25% tax credit was set to drop to 20% in 2010 and 15% in 2012. McConnell says her office received 25 applications for projects in the first half of 2009, but since July 1 more than 60 have come in. If all the projects get under way before the end of the year, the state might reach its filming record of 84 projects, set last year.

Veteran administrator named Grambling interim president

A 36-year veteran administrator at public universities around the country has been named interim president of Grambling State University. A committee of the University of Louisiana System's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to hire Frank Pogue, who most recently served as interim president at Chicago State University. He was president of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania from 1996-2007. Pogue, who holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, will be paid $200,000 per year beginning Dec. 15. Grambling has been without a president since Oct. 31, when former president Horace Judson resigned after five years.

Executive spotlight: Wendy Pick Herschman

The rain might be pouring down and the wind might be thrashing, but Wendy Pick Herschman, the executive director of local nonprofit The Red Shoes, and her dog Spanky are going for a walk. Twice a day, rain or shine, the pair takes a stroll. “It clears my head and his bladder,” she says. But it isn’t stress over a job she can’t stand or a worry that she hasn’t given enough of herself to help others. Herschman works with an organization that she not only loves, but that she helped create. No, Herschman isn’t escaping her work, merely taking a quiet moment to herself before she goes back to the business of building a stronger, healthier community. “I love the community The Red Shoes builds around education, empowerment and understanding,” she says. “Helping people, primarily women, emerge with a greater sense of who they are and the potential they have to change the world is important to me.” Read the full Q&A with Herschman here.

Here is a sample:

What is your prescription for life?

Act in harmony with your belief system, at home and at work. Follow a path that supports your values and surround yourself with people who respect and bring out the best in you.

Time running out to enter Fittest Exec competition

Think you are more fit than your peers? There's just a few hours left to find out. The deadline to enter Business Report’s second Fittest Execs competition, in which Capital Region business executives compete in four categories (men 44 and under, men 45 and over, women 44 and under and women 45 and over), is 5 p.m. today. The competition is open to executives (C-level, president, vice president, owner, partner, executive director or retired executives) and mid-level managers. In addition, companies with a minimum of five participants are eligible for a team competition. Fitness appraisals will take place at Bally Total Fitness Baton Rouge through Friday, with the results to be announced in the Dec. 29 issue of Business Report. Click here to register or for more information.

Lanes on major streets closing for I-10 work

Traffic will narrow to one lane on parts of Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard at night, beginning today. The sections of the streets at the Interstate 10 overpass will be narrowed from tonight to Wednesday, beginning at 9 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m. I-10 from Essen Lane to Pecue Lane will also be reduced to one lane, to allow for embankment and overpass work. The eastbound I-10 frontage road between Bluebonnet and Siegen will be reduced to one lane from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, to allow for realignment of pavement markings.

Business Report planner: Green energy seminar set ... Fontenot to speak to LSU business group ... 'Make an Impact' on carbon emissions ... Chancellor talks to Forum 35

Today: A seminar on "Repowering Louisiana With Clean Energy" will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at Baton Rouge Community College's Bienvenue Student Center. The event will feature panel discussions with representatives from LSU, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College, the Sierra Club and Standard Renewable Energy.

Tuesday: Teri Fontenot, the president and CEO of Woman's Hospital, will be the guest speaker at LSU Executive Education’s “Breakfast to Business” meeting at 7:30 a.m. at Café Americain. Fontenot will discuss Woman's expansion and the implications of national health care reform. Admission is $25. For more details or to register, go to bus.lsu.edu.

Thursday: "Make an Impact,” a program to highlight the dangers of climate change and what steps people can do to reduce carbon emissions, will be held at 10:30 a.m. at LSU's Energy, Coast and Environment Building. The event is sponsored by The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Entergy, America’s WETLAND Foundation, LSU Center for Energy Studies and Office of the Mayor-President.

Friday: Van Chancellor, LSU women's basketball coach, will be the guest speaker at Forum 35's monthly luncheon meeting. The event will begins at noon at Juban's. Admission is $15 for Forum 35 members and $20 for nonmembers. To register, e-mail teepell@mac.com.

For the complete list of events, click here.

News roundup: Arkansas-LSU set for 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPN ... 'Unfriend' named Word of the Year

Tigers vs. Hogs: LSU's regular-season finale on Nov. 28 against Arkansas in Tiger Stadium will be televised by ESPN at 6 p.m. This will be the first time the Tigers and Razorbacks have played on a Saturday since 1996. A longstanding agreement with CBS to show the game the day after Thanksgiving has expired. LSU's next game, Saturday at Ole Miss, will be televised by CBS at 2:30 p.m.

Other notables 'netbook,’ 'birther' and 'tramp stamp': "Unfriend,” the act of removing someone as a friend from a social networking Web site, such as Facebook, was named as the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year. Officials with the dictionary noted the word is well known with the social networking world and it has potential longevity. Other finalists for word of the year came from technology, such as "netbook,” which refers to a small, very portable laptop; while others come from politics, such as "birther,” which refers to a conspiracy theorist who believes President Barack Obama was born outside the U.S.