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The Southern University Ag Center recently held an official ribbon cutting ceremony for the Sustainable Ag Urban Demonstration Farm located on the Baton Rouge campus, March 19. Two local schools attended along with 20 farmers and all of the dignitaries to include Hon. Mike Strain, Commissioner, LA Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry; Melvin “Kip” Holden, Mayor-President, EBR Parish; State Representative Dalton Honore, District 63; Monique Winfield, Vice President, SU System; Flandus McClinton, Interim Chancellor, SUBR; Adell Brown Jr., Ph.D., Executive Vice Chancellor and VC for Research, and Gina E. Eubanks, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Extension, SU Ag Center. ONLINE: http://suagcenter.blogspot.com/
More than 50 girls ages eight to 18 gathered at the Louisiana Technology Park for the first Girls, Gigabytes and Gadgets: 3G Summit, Saturday, March 14. The summit is an innovative, daylong session to get young women and girls engaged in the Internet, technology and digital space. The girls participated in multiple workshops featuring topics on app development to social media mastery. Organizers said the summit was designed with one simple message in mind: girls and women aren’t just to be users of technology, but creators, designers and influencers as well. The girls coded games on computers, programmed robots, and made cosmetics. Door prizes, including calculators, a computer, and Android tablets, were raffled and each girl received bags and notebooks to continue their technological pursuits. Senate President Pro-Tempore Sharon Weston Broome, Senator Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb, State Representative Regina Ashford Barrow, and State Representative Patricia Haynes Smith hosted the summit in conjunction with The National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women.
A five-judge panel and a three-judge panel of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal held oral arguments March 11 and 12 at SULC Edward L. Patterson Moot Courtroom. Attorneys representing clients with appeals pending before the First Circuit presented before Judge Ernest Drake, Judge Michael McDonald, Judge John M. Guidry, Judge Mitchell R. Theriot, and Judge Guy Holdridge (pictured l to r). All first-year law students enrolled in the day division, as well as some upperclassmen, attended the arguments, providing them with a practical appreciation of the practice of law at the appellate level.
Teen Insight Radio Project invited Pretty Brown Girls to the show on Saturday, Feb. 28. Radio host Jadavian Serf covered the topic of poverty. Guests discussed their dreams of becoming doctors, musicians, lawyers and being famous. The show airs every Saturday at 1pm on WQTQ 106.1 LFM. Photographed L to R are Sarah Holliday-James, Jadavian Serf, Deana McClain, Albert Torregano, Zipporah Williams, Jasmine Hawkins, Tura Singleton, Kathey Dunn, Kayla Anthony, Gabrielle Hamilton, Paris McClain, Gisele Haralson, and Dana Primus.
Genealogical DNA expert and manager of the Family DNA Projects Robert B. Noles, presented “Everything You Want to Know About Genealogical DNA,” Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Bluebonnet Library. His talk included an overview of DNA testing, from choosing the right test to understanding/using the results. He covered the National Geographic project and as well as new advances in DNA. A question and answer session will follow the talk. The program is sponsored by the Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society.
The Butterfly Society Meet and Greet held on Thursday, Feb. 12 in the Goodwood Library. The Butterfly Society is a nonprofit domestic violence organization. The organization empower communities to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT to end domestic violence. President- Quanda Charles, executive director Twahna P Harris, vice president Dr. Sheila Lewis, board member attorney Lisa Freeman, secretary attorney Erika Green, and not pictured are treasurer Kashanna Bradford and board members Cleve Dunn Jr. and Tyra Banks.