Tuesday . October 31, 2017
Volume 69 . Issue 8
www.southerndigest.com
What’s the Risk: College of Business Greater Baton Offers Opportunity for Students Rouge BY JAMES EAGLIN, JR.
SOUTHERN DIGEST - STAFF WRITER
The Risk Management & Insurance concentration offered through the College of Business at Southern University may be only six and a half years old, but it offers potential graduates a lifetime full of opportunities. The Louisiana Department of Insurance recently donated $460,000 to the College of Business. With the Risk Management & Insurance program benefitting from the increased scholarships and enrichment opportunities it can now serve a larger portion of the student body. The University of Louisiana in Lafayette (ULL) and the University of Louisiana in Monroe (ULM) are the only two other colleges offering risk management and insurance programs in the state of Louisiana. In terms of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Howard University is the most notable institution other than Southern that offers the program. College of Business Dean, Donald Andrews, could not help but to express gratitude towards Assistant Commissioner for Diversity & Opportunity, Patrick Bell, and his team for their “understanding and
DIGEST ART
initiative to move this program forward.” “My vision is to have [Southern’s] program so successful, companies would be in a bidding war. ‘Oh no, I saw him first, no I’m first.’ You know...just to try to get [students] to work for them,” Bell commented. Students unsure of a career path could look to the insurance
industry. Bell referenced a 2013 article from insurancebased news platform, Property Casualty 360, which stated that 400,000 positions would need to be filled by the year 2020, due to older generations retiring from the industry. That same article referenced that more than 40 percent of the future job market is not interested in pursuing insurance
Louisiana is Drowning: Coastal Erosion a Growing BY GABRIELLE HUTCHINSON SOUTHERN DIGEST - STAFF WRITER
This April, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency, calling attention to our deteriorating coastline. “If we get heavier than expected rainfall, time will be of the essence,” Edwards warns. Every year, Louisiana crosses its fingers through an unpredictable hurricane season with tropical storms threatening to flood the south. The coast, which consists of the swamps and marshes we call wetlands, is the first area to suffer. According to coastal reporter Travis Lux, the coast loses roughly one football field of wetland every hour, quickly becoming “the nation’s most rapidly deteriorating shoreline.” These wetlands are responsible for much of Louisiana’s commercial fishing and 20 percent of the country’s maritime
commerce. The problem is growing to be increasingly severe and is taking a toll on our economy and the two million southerners who work and live there. While erosion is a naturally occurring phenomenon, it has also been provoked by man’s interference with nature. As a result of climate change, the world’s ice caps have been melting and causing sea levels to rise. That water needs a place to go, and can seemingly be found right on campus at Scott’s Bluff. “[ . . . ] frozen ice thawing into the Mississippi River makes the river higher for a couple of months, and over time the water goes down, creating that nice little fishing spot down by the Bluff,” sophomore music education major, Dale Whitley, explains. Southern University has been situated along the Mississippi at Scott’s Bluff for more than one hundred years. Here, students visit to eat, fish, take pictures, or
as an occupation. A lack of internships and publicity were cited as possible causes for why young adults are not interested. Bell and Andrews agreed that any student can benefit from a career in insurance. The insurance business is ‘recession-proof’. It is also flexible to majors outside of business. “Everything we buy has some element of insurance tied to it,” Bell added. Becoming a claims adjuster can also benefit local communities, limiting places of worship, residence, or business from being improperly insured due to an agent from a contrasting background handling the case. Andrews believes that students should not allow race to play a factor in choosing insurance as a career. “If you have talent, then you can go anywhere. If you don’t have talent, whether you red, green, black, blue, or whatever, you still have a problem, because you can’t do much if you don’t know much. The more you know, the more you can do,” Bell added that today’s society demands companies
State Fair BY ACE WHEELER
SOUTHERN DIGEST - STAFF WRITER
The Annual Greater Baton Rouge State Fair made its way into town on Thursday, October 26, and is here to stay until Sunday, November 5th. This year will be the fair’s 52nd anniversary, so the festivities are sure to be at an all time high. There will be over 40 carnival rides for those in attendance to enjoy in addition to a variety of games, food, music and shows for the entire family. One of the family oriented shows include the amazing Magician, Tim Spinosa, who performs illusions and card tricks that may leave the audience in wonder of his abilities. In addition, there is the Swifty Swine Racing Pigs, which animal lovers may enjoy. And for the more adventurous group, there is the famous Noah’s Way Exotic Petting Zoo. This zoo is a long held tradition at the fair. It allows a close up encounter with extraordinary animals like zebras, camels, and antelopes. Also included are domesticated animals like deer, sheep, and goats. For those looking for
See RISK page 3
See FAIR page 3
DIGEST ART
to simply enjoy the scenery. Similarly, mankind has contributed to coastal erosion with Louisiana’s system of levees, locks, and dams. Not only do they prevent the flow of floodwater, they also prevent the accumulation of sediment from the Mississippi River, which would otherwise counteract erosion. Reversal of this would call for the destruction of even more land and levees. Even if man had never gotten involved, erosion has
been expedited for decades because of hurricane and tropical storm activity. In essence, coastal erosion is a silent killer feeding on Louisiana wetlands. “If we want this to stop or slow down, we need to address global warming. Littering, smoking -- all that makes it worse even if we don’t see it happening,” suggests sophomore Biology major,
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
See EROSION page 3