LRN PM Newscall June 26th

Students fees are going up at most of the colleges within the University of Louisiana System, but the hike is the lowest increase in a decade. Jeff Palermo has more…

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The USDA awards nearly one million dollars to the LSU AgCenter for honeybee research. Don Molino reports…:

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The LSU AgCenter receives nearly one million dollars from the USDA for honeybee research. Entomologist Kristen Healy says any given year there’s higher than normal losses in honeybee colonies, and many studies look at what stressors contributes to these losses. One factor they’ll look at is the mite population in the hives. She says Varroa mites can be devastating to honeybee colonies.

Cut 3 (11) “these colonies”

Healy says it’s important to protect the bee population because one out of every three bites of food we eat relies on bees for pollination. She says the mites also transmit pathogens to the bees, and they’ll study the effects of those diseases, like the deformed wing virus.

Cut 4  (09) “transmitting as well”

Healy says they also want to study movement as a stressor. She says beekeepers move their colonies around the country for pollination services every year, including almond pollination in California. She says researches will look at stress physiology in the bees after these migrations.

Cut 5  (08)  “for example”

The AgCenter’s $935,000 grant is one of seven handed out to universities to study pollinators.

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Universities within the UL system will see their lowest fee increase in a decade, as their Board of Supervisors approved a hike of less than three percent for the nine public colleges. Fee increases range from $98 to $212. UL System president Dr. Jim Henderson says Louisiana still ranks dead last in total resources per student among southern states.

Cut 6 (09) “per student”

Henderson says because the TOPS award has been decoupled from tuition and fee increases, the taxpayer funded scholarship will not cover the cost of this increase for students. The increase will cost students an extra 108-dollars on average. But Henderson says college students will pay less for their education this year, because TOPS is fully funded

Cut 7 (08)  “two thousand dollars”

Henderson says while any increase in out of pocket costs is significant for students, the hike is necessary to provide classroom resources and compete to retain and recruit faculty. He says compared to other states in the region, Louisiana ranks 7th for tuition and fees per student, but 15th in state support. He hopes with more state support, he can one day announce no fee increases on students.

Cut 8 (09) “to increase”

Grambling State University and the University of New Orleans are the only two institutions not to increase fees this year.

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A tourist visiting New Orleans remained in critical condition at last report after a brutal beating during a robbery in the French Quarter. NOPD Chief Michael Harrison says the entire incident was caught on video:

Cut 9 (09)  “coming for you”

Investigators are seeking assistance in identifying and locating four suspects wanted in connection with the second degree robbery. Harrison says they are also asking for additional video from the community if it’s out there…:

Cut 10 (08) “community’s help”

Harrison says there were two victims and they were in town visiting from the Boston area. Harrison said the incident occurred shortly before 9pm Saturday night…:

Cut 11 (06) “incident happened”

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A strong contingent of LSU fans are making their way to Omaha for tonight’s Game One of the championship series of the College World Series. Baton Rouge resident Jacques Berry is a lifelong LSU fan, who decided shortly after the Tigers beat Oregon State on Saturday that he wanted to be at the C-W-S in person…

Cut 12 (10)    “ready to go

LSU will face Florida in a best of three series that starts tonight in Omaha. The Tigers had to beat top-seeded Oregon State twice to get to this point. Berry says the LSU fan base has a lot of faith in Coach Paul Mainieri’s squad, because they are playing so well as a team…

Cut 13 (07) “Bertman days”

Berry and three other fans were in Kansas City at lunchtime and planned to be in their seats for the start of tonight’s game. He says they’ve been seeing LSU fans during their 950-mile journey…

Cut 14 (12) “saw some”

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