Summer 2008
LSU Moves into
Top Tier on U.S. News & World Report Rankings
In U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 edition of America’s
Best Colleges, LSU is ranked in the first tier for “Best National
Universities” for the first time.
LSU Teams
With EA Sports for Video Game Excellence
Electronic Arts Inc., more commonly known to gaming buffs throughout the
world as EA Sports, announced a partnership with LSU and the Louisiana Department
of Economic Development that will result in a new global quality assurance
center – the first of its kind in the United States – located
on LSU’s South Campus.
Preparing
for the 10,000-Year Storm
With the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rapidly approaching,
flood protection continues to be of critical interest to the public. Bruce
Sharky, professor of landscape architecture at LSU, recently took 15 students
to the Netherlands for three weeks to study how the Dutch deal with flooding
and windblown storm surge not unlike what occurs from hurricanes.
Getting Gold
H. Jesse Walker, Boyd Professor Emeritus in the LSU Department of Geography
& Anthropology, is the 2008 recipient of the Royal Geographical Society’s
Patron’s Medal, which is one of the two most prestigious awards given
by the society. Walker was awarded the gold medal “for the encouragement,
development and promotion of coastal geomorphology.”
STARTALK
Treatment
Students came to LSU to learn Arabic in the STARTALK program, a multi-agency
effort to expand foreign language education in under-taught critical languages.
Along with Arabic, the initiative also promotes the teaching of Chinese,
Hindi, Persian and Urdu.
Author
Shares Stories of Rwandan Holocaust
On Thursday, July 31, Immaculeé Ilibagiza, author of One Book One
Community selection Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan
Holocaust, addressed community readers at during a free public event
at LSU’s Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes.
Ilibagiza discussed the events leading up to the and through the 1994 Rwandan
holocaust.
Meet LSU Chancellor
Michael V. Martin
Dr. Michael V. Martin assumed the chancellorship of Louisiana State University
and A&M College on August 1, 2008. Prior to his appointment as LSU’s
eighth chancellor, Dr. Martin established a distinguished career in higher
education, serving most recently as president of New Mexico State University.
Engineering
a Generation
LSU’s College of Engineering hosted two pre-engineering camps for
high-school students: REHAMS, or Recruiting into Engineering High Achieving
Multi-Cultural Students, sponsored by Shell Oil, and Xcite!, the eXploration
Camp Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers, for girls, sponsored by Fluor
Corporation. Both camps were meant to give groups of students typically
underrepresented in engineering the opportunity to gain exposure to the
field.
Jump Start
On July 1st, Eli Jones took office officially as the seventh dean in the
history of the E. J. Ourso College of Business.
Fresh
Perspective
Approximately 3,500 students received their first taste of life as an LSU
student this summer as the University held its annual orientation programs.
Through six sessions hosted in June and July, incoming freshmen and transfer
students along with their parents were able to learn about life on LSU's
campus.
Camp Counseling
LSU researchers have put theory into practice with BIOS, the Biology Intensive
Orientation for Students. Students who participate in BIOS, a week-long
intensive biology camp held the week before LSU’s fall classes begin,
not only consistently score better grades in their introductory classes,
but also end up with a significantly higher GPA after four semesters than
other LSU students.
Federal
Express
For LSU graduate students Adam Shilling, Allison L. Snell, Ryan Williams
and Ryan Machtmes, 2008 has been a year of opportunity. They have all been
named finalists for the 2008 Presidential Management Fellows program, a
prestigious and highly competitive program administered by the U.S. Office
of Personnel Management.
