If you’re trying to quit smoking, vaping may not be the answer. Halen Doughty has more from experts at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge…
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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The Upward Bound Program at Tulane University received a 2.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support college readiness programs. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Vaping may not be the best way to kick your cigarette habit, according to experts at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge. Physician assistant with the hospital’s smoking cessation program, Josselin Carter, says vaping can end up being a substitution for the same habit because many juices contain nicotine.
Carter adds doctors aren’t sure vaping is safer than cigarettes, as there is no long-term data to support that claim. She says there’s some overlap in chemicals from both e-liquids and cigarettes, but there’s other chemicals in the vaping solutions that could potentially be problematic.
Carter notes e-liquids come in a variety of nicotine concentrations. She says that can make it hard for consumers to know exactly how much nicotine they’re ingesting on a daily basis. She adds there are other factors that affect it as well.
To get more information on how to quit smoking, visit SmokingCessationTrust.org.
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Tulane University’s Upward Bound Program has received a 2.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help high school students who hope to become their first in their family to go to college. Upward Bound is a program aimed at helping prospective college students academically prepare for higher education. Cowen Institute Director Amanda Kruger Hill says low income students grade 9 through 12 can greatly benefit from this grant.
Hill says the program works with students three days a week throughout their four years in high school and supports the students through college. She says this opportunity is so important to at risk youth.
Hill says they work directly with high schools and the educators identify students who would be a perfect fit for the program. She says the Upward Bound staff is completely committed to changing life outcomes for their students.
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A small insect, commonly referred to as Phragmites or the Roseau Cane Mealy Bug is causing extensive damage to Roseau cane in southern Plaquemines Parish. LSU Ag Center entomologist Rodrigo Diaz says over 100-thousand acres of the cane in the wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta have been affected by this bug. He says this is a major concern…
The Roseau cane helps to reduce the wave action on the ground and helps to protect the state’s bird foot delta. Diaz says there are different varieties of the plant, some of which are not affected by Phragmites. He says they are hoping to learn why some are resistant to the bug.
Diaz says usually, insects in crops are controlled using insecticides. He says the problem they run across here is that many of these pest control measures are harmful to aquatic life, so much research has to be done.
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The Alliance for Excellent Education ranks Louisiana’s education plan one of the most promising in the country. Erin Bendily with the state Department of Education says Louisiana students are just as capable as students from other states. She says that’s why their plan sets ambitious but achievable goals for students and school systems.
Bendily says they’re also looking to provide more transparency about how schools are doing and making progress toward those goals. She says they want to help children and educators meet these goals by specifically looking at how each cohort is performing.
Cut 14 (09) “students performing”
State Education Superintendent John White says this plan is one of the reasons Louisiana’s high school graduation rate is higher than ever at 77 percent. Bendily says improving education outcomes isn’t just about helping students make it to graduation, it’s about preparing them for what comes after.
Cut 15 (12) “those opportunities”
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