New skills: The second cohort of Baton Rouge Community College students will graduate from the Praxair’s Skills Pipeline program Thursday. The program trains student welders in Louisiana and aims to advance science, technology, engineering, and math education. More than 100 students have completed the program and have been offered jobs throughout Louisiana, a news release says. The program comprises four welding processes and four cutting processes.
Below average: So few college students are participating in Louisiana’s annual survey on issues of violence and sexual assault that the state’s top higher education board is suggesting the survey law should be changed. The latest results, presented to the Board of Regents today, had a response rate of 3.5%—too low to draw any conclusions or make generalizations about campus safety. A 2015 state law requires the survey. Participation, however, is voluntary, and the response rate has been poor both times the survey has been conducted. Regents staff suggested participation rates could increase if the law was changed to require the survey administration every three years.
Barreling down: Tropical Depression Harvey redeveloped today in the Bay of Campeche and is forecast to roar into the Texas or Louisiana coast as a hurricane later this week, USA Today reports. The National Hurricane Center says Harvey is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 10 to 15 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches over the middle and upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through next Tuesday. Heavy rainfall could begin as early as Friday morning. USA Today has the full story.
