02/09 Thursday: F. King Alexander, Mark Ballard, Mary Stein, Gus Weill

Hour One

F. King Alexander

F. King Alexander is the president and chancellor of Louisiana State University and stopped by to give us updates about what is happening on campus. He was previously the president of two other universities: California State University, Long Beach and Murray State University.

Mark Ballard

Mark Ballard of the Advocate joins the show to give updates on affairs going on in the state of Louisiana. Ballard is the editor of the Capitol News Bureau.

Hour Two

Mary Stein

Mary Stein is the Assistant Director, Administrative Services at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. She joined the show to discuss Baton Rouge's bicentennial and its connection to Mark Twain.

Gus Weill

Political consultant and former PR specialist Gus Weill joined the show to discuss the presidency of Donald Trump. He originates from Lafayette, Louisiana and now resides in New York City. 

08/16 Tuesday: Host Stephanie Riegel; LSU Pres. King Alexander, Warren Drake, Patrick Mulhearn and Jay Dardenne

HOUR ONE

F. King Alexander

LSU's President Alexander joins the show to talk about the status of the university since the flooding.  He explains that they are still looking to have move in day on Wednesday and continue with the semester.  Alexander also talks about how the flood has affected faculty and staff and he mentions TOPS.

Warren Drake

East Baton Rouge Superintendent of Schools Warren Drake assesses the damage done by flooding to schools in the community.  Drake estimates how many students  and faculty were displaced by the flood and what he and his team are doing to accommodate those students.

HOUR TWO

Patrick Mulhearn

Director of Studio Operations, Patrick Mulhearn tells the story of how the 150000 square feet of design-built stage space became home to many Baton Rouge inhabitants.

Jay Dardenne

Source

The commissioner of Administration discusses FEMA and its involvement in the Baton Rouge flood.  Dardenne estimates how long it will take Baton Rouge to get back to normal and estimates who and how many were affected by the disaster.  

WEDNESDAY: President of LSU F. King Alexander, 2016 Presidential Election, Baltimore Riots, and Healthy Living

HOUR ONE: 

President of LSU F. King Alexander joins the show to discuss the potential budget cuts to higher education and the effects on the flagship school.  

LSU ranks 46th in the country as what the school spends on its students.  

Only 13% of LSU is funded by the state.  That is a budget of 110 million dollars.  The cuts would bring the budget down to about 28 million dollars.  

He discusses the balancing out the growing TOPS program.  

"Everything needs to be on the table, and everyone needs to pay their fair share," he says, calling the film industry a "questionable investment."

They comment on the march that will take place tomorrow at the Baton Rouge Capital.  

"Tenure is there for professors to challenge society to be a better place... we need to uphold that." 

"We want to be able to invest just enough in our students to create a new economy," Alexander concludes.  

Louisiana spends 7 times more per prisoner than per student.  

HOUR TWO: 

Pollster Elliott Stonecipher comments on the Louisiana Legislative Session.  "I think Governor Jindal is going to be exactly as he has been all these years," he says, regarding the raising of taxes.  

"This slow moving crash has been going on for the better part of 8 years," he says of potential higher education cuts.  He says that colleges used to be designed for a specific purpose.  "If you wanted to teach, you went to Northwestern.  If you wanted to be an engineer, you went to Tech." 

He comments on the governor's race and the amount of money each candidate has raised.  

5 months and 26 days until the governor's election.  

JR Ball from Nola.com comments on the events in his hometown, Baltimore and the Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago White Sox baseball game that was played in an empty stadium.  

He comments on the rally tomorrow at the State Capital in which LSU students will march around the capital building at 1 pm.  

Authors Justin and Erica Sonnenburg share their book The Good Gut.  They are both professors at Stanford University.  

"The microbes in our gut influence not just digestive health, but fundamental processes in our bodies... metabolism, immune system..." 

Humans used to consume 100-150 grams of fiber per day.  Now a US citizen struggles to consume 15.