Tagged: higher education

Jim talks with former LSU Chancellor James Wharton about the TOPS college tuition grant program and the state of Higher Education in Louisiana.

A Northwestern State University student is preparing for a prestigious summer internship at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York. Christina Palomo of Los Angeles will travel from Natchitoches to New York later this month to help Columbia scientists study the environmental consequences of the 2010 BP oil spill. The biology major said she’ll work alongside two geochemists.

After five years of steep budget cuts, some members of LSUnited, the faculty union, are hoping the legislature’s budget negotiations will raise enough revenue to prevent further cuts.

Lawmakers are looking at plans to cut tax exemptions and get rid of one-time funds, which might provide more stability to the state’s universities.

Michael Russo, a librarian and an instructor, said LSU’s finances are dismal.

"A half billion here, a half billion there," Russo said, "I don’t know what else they can cut."