Capitol idea: Sometimes the best way to learn is by doing it on the job. That’s what LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication hopes will happen with its students set to take a new course in reporting on state government beginning this fall. Manship Dean Jerry Ceppos says in an email newsletter that Martin Johnson, the school’s Reilly Chair in Media and Public Affairs, will teach a one-semester course in the fall, based at the Capitol, about the inner workings of state government. Professor Jay Shelledy will lead a class in the spring in which students will file reports on legislative affairs. The students’ work will be distributed by the Manship News Service, which sends out articles to Louisiana and south Mississippi news organizations. Ceppos also says in his letter that LSU will begin a reporting program in Washington, D.C., starting in June.
Disenfranchised: More than half of U.S. franchisees can’t earn a decent living from their business, according to a survey. As Bloomberg reports, about 52% of U.S. franchisees don’t think they make a fair profit, according to a survey of 1,122 franchisees across industries including fast food, lodging and real estate. The poll, released Thursday by FranchiseGrade.com, was paid for by Change to Win, a federation of unions that includes the Service Employees International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Franchisees sometimes face conflicts with their parent companies over rent, royalties and other fees they’re required to pay. The survey also found that 91 percent of franchisees were in debt, and about two-thirds of them operated at a loss or zero profit. Bloomberg has more.
Backed up: On his way recently to pick up a load of bedding at the Port of Virginia, truck driver Albert Newcomb was stalled for two hours before his rig could make it through a mile-long line to one of the port’s terminals. A key reason for the holdup: a surge of containers from three large ships at dock was straining the port’s capacity and tying up dockworkers and cranes. As The Wall Street Journal reports, such congestion is becoming increasingly common at major U.S. ports—a problem that could have profound implications for the $900 billion worth of goods transported to and from the U.S. each year by container ships. The slow movement of imports and exports illustrates how the logistics of global trade have fallen terribly out of sync. Read the full story here.
