Voila 2007 Fall (PDF) - Nicholls State University

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Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes emerged after hurricanes Katrina and Rita as top Louisiana producers of citrus. Don Dufresne (pictured) and George Toups of the Nicholls agriculture program are conducting a series of tests on citrus trees at the university farm to enhance early ripening of fruit and establish optimum sugar-acid ratios. College of Arts and Sciences Fruits of Labor Ag faculty lend a hand to citrus growers. By Dr. Anita Tully Look along any south Louisiana highway in the fall and you’ll likely see roadside stands (often in the form of battered pickup trucks with bright blue tarps stretched to block the sun) boasting “Fresh Louisiana Satsumas” or “Sweet Louisiana Oranges” in hand-lettered signs. It’s as much a part of the landscape as swamps and hopeful New Orleans Saints fans. But hurricanes Katrina and Rita altered that landscape forever. Almost overnight, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes became the state’s leading citrus producers. Plaquemines Parish, once the leader in Louisiana’s $6 million citrus industry, lost more than half its trees to wind, saltwater intrusion and other storm-related problems. That left a large gap in citrus production that Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes are trying to fill. Enter George Toups and Don Dufresne of the Nicholls agriculture program. The two have stepped in to offer their support to growers. Toups, associate professor and coordinator of the agriculture program, and Dufresne, instructor of plant science, have planted six varieties of citrus at the Nicholls farm as part of a research initiative to support local citrus producers. Their trees include a pineapple navel orange, three Hamlin sweet orange, two Washington navel orange, a Brown’s select satsuma, two Owari satsuma, a Meyer lemon and two ruby red grapefruit. They’re trying to enhance early ripening of fruit and establish optimum sugaracid ratios for each citrus species by testing soil conditions and irrigation methods, monitoring rootstocks and nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus levels and trying different tree varieties. Home growers also play an important role in the health of the industry. For them, Toups and Dufresne say two factors are most important: First, be sure to test soil around citrus to determine the presence or absence of essential nutrients such as zinc, calcium and magnesium at the root/soil interface, and, second, obtain laboratory analyses of leaves to assure that minerals are reaching all parts of the plant. Soil and leaf tests can be arranged by county agents for a minimal charge. To start or expand a home citrus garden, a local chapter of Future Farmers of America can be contacted to purchase trees that grow well in your area. Citrus Tips • Look for firm, heavy fruit with smooth skins free from soft spots. • Don’t let color be your only guide. Even skins with light green color can hide ripe fruit. • Citrus will keep several days at room temperature or for several weeks in the refrigerator in vented plastic bags or vegetable bins. • Small fruit can be just as juicy and sweet as large fruit. • Navel oranges make excellent juice, but acids make the juice bitter within four hours. Drink it fresh. • Lemon juice frozen in ice cube trays and stored in plastic bags will provide “fresh” lemon juice for many months. Source: Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service College of Business Administration ‘I Launched My Own Corporation’ (AKA ‘What I Did Last Semester’) Kelsi Guidry has dot-com dreams. The Cut Off native owns TeenWants Inc., three web sites and has corporate investors and a board of directors. Not bad for a 21-year-old college student. Now he’s the first tenant in the Entré Lab, the new business incubator in the College of Business Administration. Guidry’s career as an entrepreneur began at 17 when his frustration with existing teen web sites drove him to create his own. “I was searching for, but not finding, a web site for teens,” he says. “They either weren’t teen-oriented or they were too childish, so I decided to build my own site where teens can get everything they want in one place.” Fired with determination, he started building teenwants.com. Four years later, now a Nicholls senior studying athletic training, Guidry also owns collegewants. com, a site where college students can chat or buy and sell items such as textbooks, and pokerwants.com, a site all about the game of poker. In March 2007, he started his company, TeenWants Inc., and already has investors providing capital. He moved his business from his Thibodaux apartment to the Entré Lab in May and immediately began holding business meetings with investors and making use of the lab’s seven laptop computers, projector, fax machine, copier, printer and filing space. “I was operating from my apartment with just one computer and a printer,” he says. “I didn’t have access to the kind of equipment I have in the lab.” Guidry calls his teenwants.com a “Yahoo for teens,” with topics like entertainment, school, shopping, sports, health, work, music and movies. “It’s like a combo of MySpace and Facebook, mixed with Yahoo and MSN – but all for teens,” he says. His dreams are anything but small: He wants teenwants.com to be the top web site in the world. “I’ve seen a lot of good web sites taking off and selling for millions and billions. I want to grow as big as we can. The Internet is huge, but it’s not yet as big as it can be.” 26 | Voilà! 27 | Voilà!
College of Education Beyond Finger Painting Learning the Realities of Teaching Jane is a new second-grade teacher. One afternoon in October, she is confronted by the upset parents of Charlie Johnson, one of her students. Charlie, they say, told them how Jane unfairly made him sit in the time-out chair because he was talking. How could Jane do such a thing, they ask Didn’t she ask Charlie’s reason for talking before she punished him Why is she being unreasonable When college students set their sights on guiding the next generation of students as schoolteachers, they often have fond visions of helping curlyhaired little girls finger-paint or smiling little boys proudly recite their ABCs for the first time. What they sometimes overlook are the ups and downs of also dealing with the parents of their students. It’s a package deal, says Dr. Deborah Bordelon, dean of the Nicholls College of Education. “Teachers not only have to work with parents, but they should make it a priority,” she says. It’s part of what Bordelon calls the “tripod of support” that makes children successful in school: a collaborative effort by parents, educators and students. It takes some effort to make this work, though. Especially when most college courses for future teachers focus on developing lesson plans, assessing student performance and using innovative teaching methods – skills that won’t help when faced with an irate parent. That’s why education seniors at Nicholls are required to go to instructors like Annette Breaux, Nicholls teacher induction coordinator, before they begin their semester of student teaching. She’s something of a guru of practical tips for young teachers. Her seminars and private lessons put the practical spin on all the theories they’ve learned as college students. “New teachers aren’t really prepared for these real-life situations,” she says. “They’ve studied the theories, but it just isn’t real to them yet.” Breaux can tell them that the appropriate response in the scenario described above is: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, we still might disagree when you leave here today, but I have to tell you Your Parental Role in Education: Priming Your Child for Success By Dr. Deborah Bordelon 1. Begin early College prep doesn’t begin in high school. When your little scholar is exploring the joys of finger painting, your job has begun. You’re not overbearing when you want to know whether little Suzy is learning her ABCs and her colors and shapes at preschool – it’s your job to know. And a good teacher will welcome your interest. 2. Be involved Student success starts with communication. It may be easier to do when little Charlie is in kindergarten, but it’s just as important when he’s diagramming sentences in elementary school or learning about the mystical properties of π in high school. Parental involvement shouldn’t stop at fourth, eighth or even 12th grade. Get to know your child’s teachers, find out what Charlie’s learning and where he excels or struggles. If education isn’t a priority for you, then it won’t be for your child, either. 3. Develop critical thinking At the university level, expectations center on self-directed learners who are able to monitor their own learning. This is a skill that needs to be practiced, not unlike sports or the arts. Decision-making and critical thinking need to be infused in the school setting and at home. Help develop these skills by providing your child with opportunities to make choices and to examine the consequences. how much I respect your coming here and taking an active role in Charlie’s education. Thank you. Now, let’s sit down and talk. A calm response like that one will immediately defuse the situation, she says. And that’s one of the keys to working together as a team with parents and students. The same strategies that apply to students apply to parents: don’t be defensive, let students or parents vent their anger or frustration before you speak, remain calm (at least on the exterior) and avoid all kneejerk responses, show concern rather than anger, always save reprimands for private, and never, ever yell. Breaux also advises her students to be proactive and get parents involved from the beginning. “The first contact most parents have from a teacher normally happens when their child has done something wrong,” she says. “But teachers need to reach out and establish consistent positive contact right away, to set the tone for future dealings. I tell them to sit down at the end of each day and send home a positive note to the parents of one child. It takes 20 seconds. But imagine being a parent and receiving a note from school that includes a compliment for your child rather than the dreaded report of bad behavior.” “This is just one of the simple tricks of the trade that none of us learned when we started teaching,” Breaux says. This extra layer of support provided by Breaux to future educators and new teachers is part of the teacher induction program at Nicholls. It is designed to smooth the transition for teacher candidates as they move from being students of teachers to becoming teachers of students. Breaux spearheaded a similar program when she worked with the Lafourche Parish school system. The program was so successful in reducing the loss of new teachers (from 50 percent to 7 percent in two years) that it was adopted by the state. “It’s much easier to teach the well-behaved, studious child,” Breaux says. “But for children who struggle or have behavior problems, their lives can be literally changed by good teachers. That’s when you grasp the amazing impact of being a teacher.” 28 | Voilà! 29 | Voilà!
Page 2 and 3: Voilà! Fall 2007 Editor Lydia Szan
Page 4 and 5: From the President As I enter my fi
Page 6 and 7: Success has indeed been sweet for s
Page 8 and 9: Chef Jonathan Lanius (B.S., 2007) K
Page 10 and 11: A wall of vinyl siding takes shape
Page 12 and 13: in the attic of the old Lafourche j
Page 14 and 15: Shalonda Johnson, graduating sociol
Page 18 and 19: College of Nursing and Allied Healt
Page 20 and 21: Opening doors Doors have played a r
Page 22 and 23: By Brandon Rizzuto With the sun bea
Page 24 and 25: Just Plain Barb A woman of few word
Page 26 and 27: Honor Roll Honor Roll ULS Foundatio
Page 28 and 29: Honor Roll Honor Roll Mr. Mathew G.
Page 30: Nicholls State University Foundatio

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