A high school robotics’ summer learning camp is now available through funding provided by Louisiana GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) through the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance’s Field Outreach Services Division of the Louisiana Board of Regents.

The collaboration includes Morehouse Parish Schools, Louisiana Tech’s Science and Technology Education Center (SciTEC), UTeachTech, the department of curriculum, instruction and leadership; and the National Science Foundation’s Noyce CyberTeach program.

In addition to the Louisiana GEAR UP-supported event, there will also be a middle school effort launched by the district. Through the partnership, approximately 128 students will be served during the sessions taking place June 6-24 and July 7-22 at Bastrop High School, Morehouse Magnet, Delta Elementary and Morehouse Elementary.

“This work matters because we’re providing our students the experience that most of them missed due to the pandemic, the opportunity to do hands-on, minds-on STEM activities that not only promote critical thinking but also helps build their communication skills, creativity, and collaboration among their peers,” said Maria Yabut, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) project director and district testing and accountability coordinator with Louisiana GEARUP.

Students who wanted to participate were able to apply and then choose which enrichments and month they wanted to attend.

Yabut said supplemental support to make this opportunity a reality for both middle and high school students was provided by the STEM Collective for Innovative Louisiana Stakeholders (SCILS) which is an initiative funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, and the 21st CCLC through the Louisiana Department of Education.

“Kids in rural parishes almost never get these types of opportunities. We are thrilled to be part of bringing this work directly to them this summer,” said project director and UTeachTech master teacher, Glenn Larson.

Additional instructional leads for the robotics efforts will engage through service as Louisiana GEAR UP counselors and Noyce CyberTeach interns.

“Programs that allow the intersection of STEM educational opportunities for secondary and post-secondary students are incredibly valuable, and we are pleased to be part of this effort to facilitate such rich learning experiences,” said Dr. Laura Bostick, principal investigator for the CyberTeach effort.

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Kids who dream of playing in the pros – or, kids who just love to play – can get registered now for the free Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Junior Training Camp next Saturday morning, June 26 in Natchitoches on the Northwestern State campus.

Parents can visit the LaSportsHall.com website, or call 318-238-4255, to complete a registration and waiver form for the JTC, which provides two hours of full throttle fun alongside Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame members and NSU coaches.

The camp runs from 9-11 a.m., starting with registration between 8-9 a.m. at the Webb Wellness and Recreation Center (WRAC) gymnasium. At 9 a.m., campers get introduced to the sports stars who will be coaching them for the next two hours, inside focusing on basketball skills, and outside at Turpin Stadium, with football instruction.

Kids ages 8-17 are welcomed. The registration and waiver form should be filled out before next Saturday. The camp is open until filled to 300 capacity and anyone who registers after capacity is reached will be on a waiting list.

The event is presented by the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office and Natchitoches Regional Medical Center. Every camper gets a free T-shirt and a coupon for a meal at Raisin’ Canes. Photos from the camp will be posted on the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Facebook page, including a group photo with campers and all the sports celebrities.

The goals of the JTC are simple – a fun, and thrilling, experience for the kids, free of charge; skills instruction from some of the best to ever play, or coach, the games; and promotion of health lifestyles and positive life choices.

The campers are separated into two groups. One stays inside for the first hour for basketball instruction, while the other is next door at Turpin Stadium, having football fun. The groups switch locations in the second half of the camp.

The kids will enjoy a star-studded lineup of celebrity coaches, including:

Sweet Lou Dunbar, the longtime “clown prince” of the Harlem Globetrotters;

Eight-year NBA standout Kerry Kittles, who helped the Nets reach the 2001 NBA Finals and had a 14-point career scoring average;

Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who helped the Bears and the Panthers reach the Super Bowl in a 13-year NFL career, and is a graduate of the FBI Academy;

Angela Turner Johnson, one of the greatest Lady Techster basketball stars, and the 1981 Final Four MVP for the first of two national championship teams.

And they’ll meet Mr. Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, who started at quarterback ahead of Terry Bradshaw in college until duck hunting got in the way.

Two Grambling legends will be there: eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, and 94-year-old legendary high school coach Mackie Freeze, al former Brooklyn Dodger spring training teammate of Jackie Robinson.

Several past Hall of Fame inductees are also expected to be there.

Parents are welcome to watch, and take photos and video.

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Gregg Smith will be at the Lincoln Parish Library on June 18 and 24 to assist renters and landlords with ERAP applications.

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The Arbor and Terrace is an assisted living facility seeking an RN or an LPN willing to earn RN licensing for the position of Wellness Coordinator. The following job duties are necessary for this position:

Strong communication skills to deal with residents, staff of hospice and home health companies and family members. This position works with families daily through each step of admission and all stages of living at The Arbor and Terrace
Strong knowledge of regulatory guidelines for assisted living practices as well as home health and hospice protocol
Proficient with record keeping and organizational skills, managing residents’ medical needs
Ability to inform and manage information to care staff and administration regarding resident care.
This position requires RN licensing OR LPN willing to pursue RN licensing in the next year.

Phone: 318-251-3116

EOE

*** PLEASE CALL THE ARBOR AND TERRACE FOR AN INTERVIEW***

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John E. Frazier studied industrial technology at Grambling State University (GSU) and went on to have a successful career at General Motors. Now an engineering technology professor at GSU, he eventually turned his skills to car restoration.

That hobby recently earned Frazier the top award and trophy at the 2021 Lincoln Parish Park Festival Car Show. The winning car was a restored blue and white 1955 Chevrolet Belair, with a 350 engine and two four-barrel carburetors.

It’s clear why the vehicle earned Frazier the title of the best overall winner. The time and effort he put into it shows in the shiny, pristine exterior, the powerful engine and the refurbished interior.

Frazier said his interest in all things automotive began when he was a teen.

“I started in high school with a love of cars,” he said. “When I was at Grambling State University, I majored in industrial technology. I was already rebuilding engines before I went to work for General Motors.”

After completing his undergraduate degree at GSU, Frazier worked as an industrial engineer/supervisor at General Motors Corporation, Flint Engines Division in Flint, Michigan.

He has over 30 years of experience in industrial engineering and teaching at Louisiana Technical College and Grambling State University. His main hobbies include gardening, building and flying drones, and restoring old classic cars. Other antique vehicles restored by Frazier include a 1970 Corvette Stingray and a 1978 Ford F-150 custom pickup truck.

GSU President Rick Gallot said the university is fortunate to have Frazier on its faculty.

“He is not only incredibly talented but he is able to transfer his knowledge on to our students,” he said. “The attention to detail that he displays in car restoration is also reflected in the classroom. He’s a class act and we are proud of his accomplishments.”

About Grambling State University
Grambling State University, located in Grambling, Louisiana, is a historically black university founded in 1901. The University has been accredited by 13 accrediting associations and holds accreditations in all programs required by the Louisiana Board of Regents. The 590-acre campus offers 43 undergraduate and graduate academic programs. Grambling State University is a member of the University of Louisiana System.

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Angela Turner – affectionately known as AT – was an extraordinarily versatile guard who led Louisiana Tech to back-to-back national championship titles in 1981 and 1982, and was the 1981 Final Four MVP.

She was signed out of Shady Grove High School in the late 1970s and became a major player in establishing the Lady Techsters’ long reign of national success. Angela will be enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on June 26 in Natchitoches. For information on the June 24-26 festivities, visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255.

Angela Turner Johnson lives in Carrollton, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education and her MBA with an accounting emphasis – both from Tech. She fielded LPJ questions with precision:

Q: What do you remember about being recruited out of high school and what led you to Louisiana Tech?

A: I remember coach Sonja Hogg walking into Shady Grove High School gymnasium and she had one a white mink coat. The gym was packed. We may have been playing a doubleheader against Jonesboro-Hodge. She had such a presence. Even though she was recruiting me, she talked to all of my teammates. She treated them like she was recruiting them too. She was very friendly. I also had a cousin, Laverne Henderson, who went to Louisiana Tech and played for the Lady Techsters. She still holds the record for the most rebounds in a game. My mother and Laverne’s mother were sisters.

Shady Grove was in the country. It was about 10 miles west of Jonesboro. It was about 5 miles or so from Saline. They shut down Shady Grove in 1996. Some of the students went to Saline High School and some went to Bienville Parish.

Q: What do you remember about your time at Louisiana Tech?

A: All of the wins. Going to the games. We played in old Memorial Gymnasium. I remember wading through the crowd hours before the game. We would get to the gym and the crowds were already lined up waiting to get into the gymnasium even before we were getting there for the game. On the inside, it was packed to the rafters. Everyone was so excited. It was something new for us and new for the town of Ruston and the surrounding areas. Everybody was going along for the ride.

They gym would be packed and the volume was so loud. The bleachers were almost on the court so there wasn’t much room. I remember the noise and the excitement. Even though it was loud, there were certain people you could distinguished their voices. I remember the excitement and being able to play in that atmosphere. The fans alone probably gave us a 10-point advantage.

Q: Looking back, do you think you and your teammates understood the magnitude of what you were accomplishing back then?

A: No, I don’t. When you are in the moment, you are in the moment. For me I didn’t have a chance to think about it because I was in the moment. Once I graduated and left Louisiana Tech, I realized the magnitude of our accomplishments. Even now at my age – and I’ve been gone a good number of years – the evidence is in the numbers: two Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, five Women’s Basketball Hall of Famers, seven Louisiana Tech Sports Hall of Famers, five Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers … all from those two national title teams. That tells you what kind of a team and the coaches we had. In the moment, I never realized it.

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Ronnie Whitehead
August 31, 1941 – June 12, 2021
Visitation: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Service: Providence Baptist Church, Friday, June 18, 2021, 2:00 pm
Cemetery: Acree Cemetery, Friday, June 18, 2021

Cindy Stanfield Conville
April 19, 1959 – June 15, 2021
Visitation:  Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe; Friday, June 18, 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Service:  Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe; Saturday, June 19, 2021, 10:00 am
Cemetery:  Driskell Cemetery; Saturday, June 19, 2021

J. T. “Tiny” Goodwin
February 21, 1931 – June 15, 2021
Visitation:  Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe; Saturday, June 26, 2021, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Service:  Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe; Saturday, June 26, 2021, 10:00 am
Cemetery:  Hasley Cemetery;  Saturday, June 26, 2021

Mary “Cookie” Harris Grant
November 18, 1951 – June 15, 2021
Visitation:  Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – Ruston; Thursday, June 17, 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Service:  Dubach United Pentecostal Church; Friday, June 18, 2021, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Cemetery:  Pine Grove Cemetery in Bernice;  Friday, June 18, 2021, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

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Lincoln Parish Library Board of Control 910 N. Trenton Street
Ruston, LA 71270

Regular Meeting – June 16, 2021; 4:00 P.M.

AGENDA

I. Call to Order
II. Approval of Agenda
III. Public Comments
IV. Approval of Minutes:
• May 19, 2021 (Attached Below)
• May 19, 2021 (Attached Below)
• May 27, 2021 (Attached Below)

V. Welcome New Board Member- Bill Jones
VI. Friends of the Library Report- Jay Ligon
VII. Website Overview
VIII. Interim Director’s Report
IX. Statistics
• May 2021
• Summer Reading to Date

X. Adjournment

The general public is welcome at all Library Board of Control meetings. Each board agenda reserves time for comments from the public. A person wishing to speak before the board must sign the sign-in sheet before the board convenes. All speakers are limited to a maximum presentation length of 3 minutes. Groups wishing to present to the board are asked to designate one person to make the presentation. A copy of all information provided the board about agenda items, with the exception of those items to be discussed in executive session, is available for public view.

THE LINCOLN PARISH LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL MAY CHOOSE TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LOUISIANA STATE LAW.

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Victoria Sullivan is a Board member and Ambassador with the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. She works as a Market Development Specialist, Mortgage Loan Originator and CCUFC at Centric Federal Credit Union.

Q&A:

What motivates me to work hard?
My members. I would be nothing without the constant support of the community and the people who trust me with their business. It is constant motivation when members continue to come to me and allow me to handle all aspects of their finances and transactions. God has given me a unique opportunity in my workplace and I do everything that I can to make sure that I am giving Him all the glory in helping my members. I strive to be “unmatched” as my mentor would say, so that is what keeps me going.

What is my favorite thing about my career?
The Chamber blessed me with the opportunity to work at Centric by letting me know of an open position. I am so grateful that Centric took a chance on me and that I now work for a company that has allowed me the opportunity to grow more professionally than I could have ever imagined possible. My favorite part about my career is that I can be a solution to anyone who walks in my office. As a Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor, I am able to help people achieve goals that once seemed completely unattainable to them. As a Mortgage Loan Officer, there is no greater feeling than calling someone to tell them that they are approved for their first home. It is never a no, but a WHY and a WHEN. If you have a goal, we can achieve it at Centric.

What is my proudest accomplishment?
My family. Brody and Mattison are the best things to ever happen to me. My life would be absolutely nothing without them and they are my motivation to be and do better. I thank God every day for blessing me with more than I could ever deserve.

What did I want to be when I was young?
A Veterinarian. I now know that I could never possibly give an animal a shot or even place a bandage on one, but I can definitely rescue plenty of animals off the side of the road and keep them at our house. I’ve been rescuing animals since I was a little girl and don’t plan on stopping any time soon. We now have two rescue dogs, Dak and Louie, who happily view themselves as our children.

What would I sing at Karaoke Night?
“You’re Not Sorry” – Taylor Swift (TAYLOR’S VERSION, if you know you know)

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Dr. Chris Martin, Dean of Louisiana Tech University’s College of Business, recently announced the “Just Business” grant award recipients for 2021.

“Our committee members were impressed by the quality and number of applications received this year, and I’m confident the projects funded this cycle fully support the College’s mission to connect business with technology and innovation,” Martin said. “With membership in this leadership giving society more than doubling over the past year, I’m grateful to our alumni and friends for their collective support that allowed us to fund seven worthwhile projects.”

“Just Business” is a giving circle comprised of College of Business alumni and friends who pool financial resources, then jointly decide how the funds will be invested. The group awards grants for student, staff, and faculty projects that advance the mission of the College of Business.

Projects funded include:

• Research for effective ways of implementing gamification tactics (leaderboard, quests and badges) to increase student engagement within Computer Information Systems courses
• BoardEx, a global database with 1.5 million executives across two million organizations, used for research projects, publications, speaking engagements, and development work
• Top Pup Competition prize money for first-year College of Business students in all sections of BUSN 110 to promote entrepreneurship and provide early exposure to entrepreneurial thinking
• Purchase of certificate study materials for the National Association of Black Accountants, a new student organization in the College
• Subscription renewal for IMPLAN software used in the Regional Economic Analysis (ECON 425) course to simulate economic impacts at the state, parish, and municipal levels
• Production of podcast affiliated with the College and the Center for Information Assurance that will translate academic information regarding security and privacy into a form that is accessible and useful to the general public
• Allows the Investment Society, a new student organization focused on increasing knowledge and skills in investment, to begin a hedge fund simulation and investment research

For more information or to become involved with the “Just Business” giving circle, contact Executive Director of Development Mary Susan Britt at marysusan@latechalumni.org.

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Lily St. Amant and Athena Scott, members of the Lincoln Parish Library’s Teen Advisory Board, assembled craft bags for the Children’s Department. The library’s Summer Reading wouldn’t be what it is without amazing volunteers.

TAB is a great opportunity for teens in Lincoln Parish to get volunteer hours! It teaches responsibility, problems solving skills, communication skills, and so much more. Ask Kris how you can get involved today!

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As Grambling State University launches its innovative Cloud Computing program, a new industry partner has joined to support the effort.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has signed on with its AWS Educate program to offer support to the institution’s unique computer science programs.

Grambling State University is Louisiana’s top producer of African American computer science and computer information system graduates. The newly launched Cloud Computing program is the first of its kind in the state.

Through AWS Educate, the company’s global initiative to support cloud learning for students and faculty, educational organizations receive benefits such as:

• Guidance in building an educational institution’s degree programs in Cloud Computing to ensure that the program outcomes align with the skills necessary to prepare a student for AWS industry certifications and employment in the field of cloud computing.

• Access to curriculum resources – including syllabi, instructional content, hands-on activities and assessments – that support student learning in Cloud Computing.

• Access to content to support professional development and technical training for faculty members who will deliver program coursework.

• AWS Promotional Credit to ensure that students have an opportunity to practice and apply their knowledge using the AWS console.

• Access to the AWS Educate Job Board, which contains cloud-related job postings from Amazon and our customers and partners, to help match Educate members with employers looking for cloud-skilled talent.

“We’re continuously working to prepare students for the enormous opportunities in today’s economy,” said President Rick Gallot. “We are grateful for partners like AWS who support these important efforts.”

Gallot was invited to meet the president of AWS, and the relationship that led to this designation for Grambling State was born. AWS support helped Grambling State earn state approval of the program.

Since Gallot made the AWS connection, three Grambling State professors have attended AWS Academy and Cloud Computing curriculum has come to the campus.

Dr. Yenumula Reddy, professor and program coordinator in the department of computer science, is working hand-in-hand with AWS Cloud Computing experts to develop the curriculum. They are continuing to work together on AWS course contents, Dr. Reddy said.

Cybersecurity student Alexis White is among those interested in learning about Cloud Computing.

“We are in need of more professionals that have a passion for Cloud Computing,” she said. “That starts with our students at Grambling State University being the catalyst for our future.”

The Louisiana Technical and Community College System also is preparing a two-year Cloud Computing curriculum that will bridge to Grambling State’s four-year program.

“When universities work hand in hand with industry partners to identify the skills needed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing sector students always benefit,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed. “As the state focuses on developing talent so Louisiana prospers, new programs like cloud computing will play a major role in attracting new students and graduating them in high demand, high-wage careers. Grambling has been laser focused on creating a top-notch degree and we recognize their innovation and persistence.”

Professionals with these skills are projected to remain in high demand for decades to come.

According to Forbes, in 2019 there were 50,248 cloud computing positions available in the U.S. from 3,701 employers and 101,913 open positions worldwide.

“Grambling State University is excited about the approval of the new program in Cloud Computing,” Dr. Connie Walton, vice president of academic affairs and provost, said. “The global Cloud Computing market size is expected to grow to $623.3 billion by 2023. The degree program in Cloud Computing will allow Grambling State University to play a major role in ensuring that workforce needs related to cloud computing can be met.”

Beginning with the graduating class of 2024, Grambling State alums can do the title of Cloud Architect, Cloud Consultant, IoT Engineer and many other high demand tech-based positions with a median starting salary over $80k for many positions.

Other industry partners for Cloud Computing include LED, Oracle Academy, Oracle NetSuite, Cisco Networking Academy, Microsoft, IBM and Google Analytics Academy.

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Louisiana Tech softball student-athlete Lindsay Edwards is Louisiana Tech’s representative among the 2021 Spring Conference USA Spirit of Service Award recipients, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Edwards, a junior infielder from Plano, Texas, earned the award for her efforts and skills in the classroom, on the field and in the Ruston community. She is majoring in kinesiology and health sciences, earning a spot on the Dean’s List eight times and the President’s List seven times. Edwards is also a nine-time AD Honor Roll recipient, three-time C-USA Honor Roll recipient and two-time C-USA Academic Medalist.

Off the field, Edwards has spent the last two years serving on Louisiana Tech’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and will be the 2021-22 SAAC Secretary Treasurer. Edwards’ other community service activities this year include the Load Up for Lake Charles, voter registration drive, Peachtober, and first year experience (FYE) classes.

On the field, Edwards appeared in 20 games during the 2021 season, including 14 starts. She batted a .156 with seven hits and registered one double. Edwards scored four runs and drove in two runs during the campaign. She was two-for-two in stolen bases and walked a total of eight times. Edwards finished the season with a .304 on-base percentage.

PHOTO:  courtesy Louisiana Tech Athletics

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By GREG HILBURN
Written for the Louisiana Sports Writers Association

When A&E Network officials approached Duck Commander Phil Robertson about creating a reality show in which he and his Louisiana family would star, he agreed on one condition.

“I informed the A&E people that I would not be available for filming during duck season; I didn’t care if they were paying $50 million,” Robertson said while stroking his signature beard and cradling a shotgun. “They said, ‘You’re not going to budge? I said, ‘No.’”

“Duck Dynasty” may have made the Robertson family famous in mainstream America, but the Robertsons have long been celebrities among hunters for their duck calls, hunting videos and outdoors TV hunting shows.

And long before his rise to “Duck Dynasty” fame, Robertson was a tall, talented quarterback at Louisiana Tech University in the late 1960s, where he and future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw were competing for the starting job.

Phil was more interested in answering the call of the wild rather than the call of cheering fans in a stadium.

He has often repeated a conversation he remembers having with Bradshaw.

“I said, ‘Bradshaw, here’s the deal. You’re a big strong kid, you’ve got a strong arm and you want to play in the NFL and you want to play football,” Phil recalled. “He said, ‘That’s right.’ I said, ‘I’m going after the ducks full time. I’d rather hunt ducks than have large violent men stomp me in the dirt . . . You go for it and I’ll see you later.'”

That decision has landed Robertson in the 2020 class of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as an outdoorsman rather than a football player.

Robertson will be inducted in Natchitoches, home to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, during festivities June 24-26. Visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255 for information and participation opportunities.

Phil designed the first of his famous series of calls in 1972, and he and his wife “Miss Kay” and their four sons Al, Willie, Jase and Jep have built an outdoors empire around it from their West Monroe headquarters in the decades since.

Phil, who blows his calls with the same passion as a master trumpeter, perfected his mallard music as a young man after leaving Louisiana Tech.

Jase explained how the empire began: “Dad was hunting on the (Arkansas-Louisiana) state line at Moss Lake in 1972 when his buddy told him he ought to manufacture the call because the ducks like them so much. He told Dad, ‘You don’t just call the ducks; you command them.’ That’s where the Duck Commander started.”

“The idea is for you to get ducks to think you’re one of them,” Phil said while standing on the bank of the Ouachita River outside his home deep in the pines and hardwoods of Ouachita Parish. “It will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck when you call one down.”

Robertson said his friends and Miss Kay were pensive about his entrepreneurial plan in 1972 to build and sell duck calls.

“I told them we’d just fish out of the Ouachita River until the duck call thing got going,” Phil said. “Kay said, ‘We may starve to death.’ I was getting 30 cents a pound for buffalo and (gasper) goo and $1 a pound for catfish.

“Isn’t that right Al?” Phil called to his oldest son.

“We ate a lot of fish,” Al said, laughing.

Phil recalled a few of his college friends visiting him in the early 1970s.

“They said, ‘Robertson, you’ve got a master’s degree in education and you’re out here fishing and talking about duck calls?’” Phil said.

“They later confessed that as they drove off they said, ‘Robertson’s an idiot,’” he said, smiling. “(Forty) years later they were calling me a genius.”

Starting next Saturday night, he’ll be called Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer.

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Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) in Bossier City, and Louisiana Tech University are celebrating the first anniversary of the Global Strike National Security Fellowship Program.
Administered through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with AFGSC, the program brought together 13 fellows and four professors from Louisiana Tech and three AFGSC Project Champions for the program last June.

“The fellowship program reinforces the Command’s commitment to being innovative and collaborative, strengthens the relationship between academic institutions and the Department of Defense, and presents participating students the opportunity to gain real world experience,” said Craig Spohn, CIC executive director. “It will result in a new generation of future hires with technical skills and experience that will benefit the Command by fostering new ideas and accelerating change.”

Through the PIA, the Command is able to capitalize on existing local resources to catapult innovation and build out new technology solutions in AFGSC. By executing the fellowship program through the CIC, costly contracts can be avoided while the partners work to grow capabilities.

“It has been incredible to see the energy and outside expertise these students are able to provide to the Command,” said Lauren Wheless, a CIC program manager. “The fellowship program serves PIA initiatives for innovation and technology services while also strengthening the relationship between military and local academia.”

Seven graduate and six undergraduate Louisiana Tech University students with a variety of academic backgrounds served in the first group of fellows. With the assistance of their faculty leaders, these students partnered with AFGSC Project Champions to provide innovative solutions to three focus areas: Portfolio-Level Digital Engineering Platform (PDEP); Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3); and Knowledge Management (KM).

“This fellowship program provided unparalleled opportunities to our student fellows to solve four unique, diverse problems of interest to our partners at AFGSC,” said Louisiana Tech’s Dr. Sumeet Dua, who helps lead the Fellowship Pilot Program. “Project champions from the AFGSC provide invaluable expertise, experience, and collaboration. Our faculty researchers provided mentoring to those students and developed a novel alliance with the project champions.”

This program benefits both fellows and AFGSC project champions by broadening horizons through a natural knowledge transfer. It also provides experience to fellows and accomplishes AFGSC’s technology transfer and transition objectives via meaningful outreach to academia.

Rebecca Bradley, Louisiana Tech’s program manager for the fellowship, said the fellows are able to provide crucial external expertise to the U.S. Air Force.

“The Fellowship Program provided a unique benefit to both Tech and AFGSC,” Bradley said. “While students benefited by gaining real-world experience in their fields of study, AFGSC benefited from high-caliber students accomplishing the goals established within each focus area. During the final presentations given in May, it was clear that the progress made over the last year would have a lasting impact on the fellows and AFGSC.”

The fellows presented their final capstone projects May 19 at the Louisiana Tech Academic Success Center in Bossier City. Successes presented included lessons learned in deciphering data for PDEP, methodologies developed for NC3, and work done to stand up and boost awareness of the KM office across the Command.

“This interdisciplinary network of expertise around shared threads of scientific pursuit offers a scalable and impactful framework for a continued relationship with our research partners,” Dua said. “We’re excited about the future of this project and the impacts our students and faculty will continue to make through their research endeavors.”

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Grambling’s football program has reached back into its most successful season under coach Broderick Fobbs by naming Erich Rhodes as the new cornerbacks coach.

According to a GSUTIgers.com announcement late Tuesday night, Rhodes returns to Grambling after five years away. He was on staff at Chowan University where he coached defensive backs.

He was a part of the GSU football program in 2016 where he served as a graduate assistant coach for defensive backs. Rhodes helped the Tigers to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship as the G-Men ranked in the NCAA FCS top 10 in scoring defense and total defense.

That team captured the 2016 Air Force Reserves Celebration Bowl Championship, giving Fobbs’ program the HBCU national championship. Rhodes also prepared and organized the team’s defensive playbook, assisted in breaking down weekly film, and assisted strength coach with speed and weight training among other duties.

Prior to returning to GSU, Rhodes spent his last four years at Chowan University where he led the defensive backs to the third-best interception mark in the NAIA Division II Central Independent Athletic Association in 2018. He helped develop the program’s first ever all-conference first team selection George Parker as a defensive back along with Connor O’Brien and Jamal Hampton who both earned All-CIAA freshman honors.

Rhodes spent two seasons at Louisville (Ky.) Butler Traditional High School as an assistant coach mentoring the secondary, running backs, and special teams.

Rhodes was a defensive back at Kentucky Wesleyan and was named All-Great Lakes Football Conference honorable mention during his junior and senior seasons (2010, 2011). He was on the Football Leadership Council for the Panthers.

The Louisville native graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in sports and fitness management and a minor in business administration. Rhodes received his master’s degree from Grambling in 2016 in sports administration.

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Ronnie Whitehead
August 31, 1941 – June 12, 2021
Visitation: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – West Monroe, Thursday, June 17, 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Service: Providence Baptist Church, Friday, June 18, 2021, 2:00 pm
Cemetery: Acree Cemetery, Friday, June 18, 2021

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John Belton District Attorney for the 3rd Judicial District Joins Billy West Live

John Belton, District Attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of Louisiana, representing Lincoln and Union Parishes, joins Billy West Live to discuss the upcoming race for Attorney General for the State of Louisiana. District Attorney Belton discusses his career as a prosecutor and his diverse background.

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Billy West Live Profile

 

Billy West has been a practicing attorney in Louisiana for 32 years with an active practice in all areas of civil and criminal law.

Mr. West has been recognized as a distinguished Alumni of Louisiana State University and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Mainstay Independence Bowl. Mr. West has hosted sports related radio shows for years in Louisiana and has been a frequent color commentator for High School and Collegiate radio and television broadcasts.

Billy West has long been involved in Louisiana politics and has been an acute observer of the political landscape that has drastically changed in Louisiana and the United State of America from the late 1970s to the present date. The Billy West Live Podcast will inform, entertain, promote debate and potentially anger the listeners. Billy West will have present, former and potentially future elected officials join the show to talk about issues. Billy West Live will cover topics related to politics, sports, science and general information of interest to Louisianian’s, southerners and all Americans. Archive and link the Billy West Live Podcast to stay informed and be entertained.

Four women with ties to Louisiana Tech University will compete in this coming weekend’s Miss Louisiana pageant. Competitors are:

Miss Louisiana Tech University Gracie Reichman of Colfax. Reichman is a Kinesiology major.
Miss Louisiana Stockshow Jordan Smith of Tyler, Texas. Smith is majoring in Kinesiology.
Miss Cane River Jacie Brent of Minden. Brent received her degree in Communication in May 2021.
Miss Red River City Sharity Brent of Minden. Brent received her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics in Spring 2018 and her graduate certificate in Dietetics in Summer 2020.

The Miss Louisiana competition will be held June 17- 19 in Monroe, and Saturday night’s finals will air locally on Channel 8 at 8 p.m.

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Jim Wilkerson/Opinion

Ruston is voting this fall on whether the city will provide its residents broadband internet service. This form of government-provided broadband is commonly referred to as “municipal broadband.” Nowhere in Ruston have I seen a debate over this issue, other than a poll of thirty-eight people posted by the Ruston Daily Leader. I hope to start a dialogue here by arguing against municipal broadband, as it is economically unsound.

“At the core of the issue,” T. Randolph Beard, et al., wrote in this year’s first issue of the Federal Communications Law Journal, “is the uneconomic nature of municipal broadband.”

One of the central failures of municipal broadband is that it offers an expensive service to customers at an absurdly low price that does not generate enough revenue to cover initial and maintenance costs. In short, municipal broadband loses money, unless heavily subsidized by taxpayers and electric customers. When municipal broadband does achieve a yearly profit, the profit is so minimal that it cannot pay back the initial debt within the system’s expected lifespan (roughly thirty to forty years). Ultimately, municipal broadband burdens its residents with increased debt and higher taxes. While one may argue that higher taxes are worth it if it means poorer citizens receive broadband, municipal systems inevitably become too burdensome for the rest of the population to justify keeping them around.

Why, exactly, do municipalities offer broadband at such a low price? The primary reason private broadband is not provided in certain areas is that those potential customers are not willing to pay prices that will cover the costs to build and maintain broadband infrastructure. Some local governments ambitiously believe they can do what private providers cannot and offer broadband to areas private companies avoid. However, if those local governments were to offer the service at a price that would cover the initial and maintenance costs, most of the potential customer base would not buy the product because the price would be too high. In other words, municipal broadband would fail before it ever began. So, local governments offer the service at an illogically low price that, by itself, will not cover the costs. This means that municipal broadband is invariably dependent on subsidies and will ultimately fail.

Thus, for every “positive” example proponents of municipal broadband give, there is an underlying financial disaster. The poster child for municipal broadband changes from city to city – from one failed network to another that has not yet failed. Right now, the poster child for municipal broadband is Chattanooga, Tennessee, a.k.a., “Gig City.” Yesterday it was Tacoma, Washington that was “America’s first 10 gigabit city.” And before that the media hailed Salisbury, North Carolina as “America’s most wired city.” Both Tacoma and Salisbury, among many other examples, hemorrhaged tens of millions. So will Chattanooga. And so will Ruston if municipal broadband is voted in.

The challenge for municipal broadband advocates is the same as the challenge for socialists: Find one system that is self-sustainable. None have been presented thus far.

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Louisiana Tech University will partner with LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) and Grambling State University (GSU) to establish a regional hub to share SARSCoV-2 genomic data for cases of COVID-19 in north Louisiana. This partnership will increase the reach of a Rockefeller Foundation program designed to strengthen global capabilities to detect and respond to pandemic threats.

As COVID-19 variants continue to drive surges of outbreaks, reliable viral genome sequencing will help accelerate timely analysis and inform response measures to keep countries one step ahead of the virus and counter emerging threats in the future. The three teams will work together to build trust-based relationships with underrepresented communities and the organizations that serve their needs and increase the ability of health-care providers to respond quickly when a pandemic threatens.

“Fast, accurate genomic sequencing information is the key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and the suffering it has caused. Yet today only 14 countries, all of which have developed economies, are sequencing five percent or more of their cases and sharing them through global databases,” said Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation. “For that reason, The Rockefeller Foundation is strengthening global sequencing capacity – to end this pandemic for all as soon as possible.”

People who do not enjoy regular access to health care may not understand why they should participate in projects like this one, according to Dr. Jamie Newman, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Applied and Natural Sciences.

“Individuals may not trust what scientists and governments are doing with their samples,” Newman said. “Developing trust with communities – particularly marginalized and underserved ones – is necessary when we work to bring together data that truly represents a community and allows for appropriate decisions in public health to be made and resources to then be equitably distributed.”

Both Louisiana Tech and GSU, with efforts led by Newman and Dr. Paul Kim respectively, will work to develop outreach activities, educational materials, and public dashboards to share the basic concepts associated with viral genome sequencing. The universities will also establish, maintain, and harness partnerships with local organizations, like the Lincoln Health Foundation and the Health Hut, and private entities to provide high quality testing and sequencing for minority and marginalized communities. Dr. Jeremy Kamil at LSUHS will serve as the project leader.

“Our long-term goal is to help establish a sustainable framework for ongoing monitoring capacity,” Newman said. “Throughout the pandemic, Tech’s Centers of Excellence have been integral in helping to build bridges between health-care providers and the populations they serve.”

The partnership with LSUHS and GSU will be a logical extension of Louisiana Tech’s prior work with state and local health care organizations and research partners to slow the spread of COVID-19, increase vaccinations, and discuss good health and safety practices, said Dr. Sumeet Dua, Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships.

“Collaborations like this one allow each partner to make a positive impact on our community,” Dua said. “Our efforts at ensuring the health of our community and neighbors in this region are more effective collectively than when we work separately.”

“As the virus evolves, we have to ensure that vaccines, our best tools for stopping it and its deadly toll on individuals, families and communities, remain effective,” said Dr. Rick Bright, Senior Vice President of Pandemic Preparedness at The Rockefeller Foundation. “Rapidly sharing genomic sequencing information from all corners of the globe enables us to see and understand how the virus is changing and adapt our tools accordingly. Without this information we risk the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on our lives.”

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