In the lab: Southeastern Louisiana University celebrated on May 5 the opening of the Barrios Ng Family Lab for Global Marketing and Latin American Business at the College of Business. The new lab has five workstations with iMac computers and software access to Adobe Creative Cloud, Hootsuite and other resources used in marketing courses. The lab also features a 136-inch widescreen, interactive learning system called ActivWall, making Southeastern the first university to install the system which allows faculty and students to communicate in real time. The lab is named after Jose Barrios Ng, who attended the event with his wife, Veronica. Barrios Ng is a business director and entrepreneur from Panama and is a graduate of LSU. He is the president and board chairman of the Universidad Latina de Panama, one of the largest private universities in Panama. The institution works closely with the Southeastern Latin American Business and Development Initiative.
In reverse: Louisiana lawmakers are advancing a proposal to repeal a one-year ban on people convicted of drug-related felonies from getting food stamps and welfare benefits when they leave prison. The Associated Press reports the bill by Rep. Helena Moreno is part of a package of bills aimed at lessening Louisiana’s prison rate and improving opportunities for those exiting prison so they don’t reoffend. Moreno, a New Orleans Democrat, says only six states have similar prohibitions for their food stamp programs and 12 states for their cash assistance programs. She says in Louisiana, people convicted of violent felonies don’t face the one-year ban that drug felons do. Her proposal won approval without objection Wednesday from the House health care committee. It heads next to the full House for debate.
A matter of days: In the days before his firing by President Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey told U.S. lawmakers he had asked the Justice Department for more resources to pursue the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in last year’s presidential election, three U.S. officials tell The Associated Press. The officials said Comey met last week with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to make the request. Comey then alerted lawmakers with ties to the concurrent congressional investigations into Russia’s meddling, the officials say. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores denies that Comey had asked Rosenstein for money for the Russia investigation. Read more.
