Editor’s note: The story on the LSU-Shreveport Archives has been updated to reflect a correction made by The Shreveport Times following its original publication.
Lasting legacy: Bobby Jindal left the governor’s office nearly two months ago, but his legacy permeates a special legislative session aimed at digging Louisiana out of deep financial troubles, The Associated Press reports. Louisiana’s worst budget crisis in nearly 30 years is threatening public colleges with cuts that could shutter campuses mid-semester and putting health care services for the poor and disabled at risk of elimination. State leaders blame the Republican former governor for creating—and hiding—many of those woes. Jindal, burnishing his fiscal conservative credentials for his failed presidential campaign, refused to hike taxes or approve any action that even resembled a tax hike, including trimming expensive business tax credits, even amid an economic downturn. Read the full story.
Growth spurt: Tulane University has announced a $35 million expansion of its A.B. Freeman School of Business this spring. In a statement, the school says the expansion will accommodate surging enrollment, as well as provide new, state-of-the-art learning spaces and enhance industry-leading programming. “Business students now account for nearly a third of all of our undergraduates,” Tulane President Mike Fitts says in a release. “With more than 2,900 students, Freeman is one of the largest of our nine schools. This expansion and renovation will cement Tulane’s reputation as one of the top destinations for the nation’s brightest students of business.” The school’s plans include renovating about 40,000 square feet of existing space and constructing an approximately 45,000-square-foot, four-story building to make the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex. Get more information.
Trickle-down effect: Rainwater from a recent storm drips through the roof into 10 black trash cans set out in a public area of the LSU-Shreveport Archives. Nearby, a bright floral-patterned plastic table cloth drapes over the head archivist’s computer to prevent damage to files from leaking storm water. The Shreveport Times reports the archives are in desperate need of a new roof. “When the roof leaks, it leaks on us,” head archivist Laura McLemore says. “Most of the leaks are in the reading and reference rooms. We are doing emergency preparedness right now for additional leaks. That is a major concern, because that information is an accumulated history of the area that can’t be replaced.” Read the full story.
