Chancellor's Notes

April 28, 2006

As you know, we have been identifying potential housing. Due to legal constraints, a website is being developed where housing options will be posted. I have asked that this be expedited, and will keep you updated.

Here is Ronnie Smiths latest update on campus recovery progress:

REMINDER: A domestic water shutdown in the Resource Center is scheduled for Saturday morning, April 29th from 8:00 12:00. This will allow LSUHSC plumbers to change out the shutoff valves on toilets on floors 3, 4 and 7.

* The remediation contractor cleaned the air handling unit on the 8th floor of the Resource Center. The crews will finish the cleaning on the 8th floor Friday morning.

* The remediation contractor has crews and shifts working 24 hours a day to complete the installation of the floor tiles in the Residence Hall.

* The manager at Stanislaus Hall has just reported that the freight elevator shut down last Friday. The two other elevators serving the building have also been reported to be operating erratically at times. The contractor is investigating, but suspects that the problems may be due to high temperatures in the 16th floor equipment room.

* The city water pumps in Stanislaus Hall are both making noise when turned on. We will be unable to start up the chilled water system until this is resolved. The contractor has been notified.

* The fire alarm contractor is replacing damaged system devices and tracing the wiring to facilitate the installation of the fire panel in the Resource Center.

* The Nursing/Allied Health Building is ready for the inspection by the State Fire Marshal on Monday. Fire phones for the building are still back ordered, but this will not affect the occupancy of the building.

* In the Residence Hall, the fire alarm contractor will be testing the punch list repair items on Friday.

* LSUHSC electricians are checking the wiring connections to the CSRB exhaust fans and making new, more permanent connections as part of their efforts to address the recent building power outages.

* The carpet contractor continues working in the Resource Center on the 3rd floor and has started working on the 5th floor hallways.

* Resurfacing of the Residence Hall parking lot is nearing completion. Additional gravel and leveling and new parking stops for the adjacent two student lots will immediately follow. Repairs to all of the electronics that control parking gates, etc. should begin in the next week or so. At this time only the Roman Street Garage has working access control, and all registered parkers will initially park there until the other lots are available.

Yesterday was a busy day. The PriceWaterhouseCoopers report was presented to the Public Health and Healthcare Task Force of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The report supports the construction of two new university hospitalsone in New Orleans in conjunction with the V.A. in New Orleans as well as a University Hospital in Baton Rouge.

Also yesterday, we learned at a meeting with State Facilities Planning that because of contractual issues, University Hospital in New Orleans will not be ready to admit patients until October.

Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Joseph Savoie announced a program yesterday at the annual Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities to provide need-based grants of up to $1,000 each to student enrolling or re-enrolling in Louisiana institutions of higher education. The Rebuild Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Program will be funded from the $95 million awarded to the Louisiana Board of Regents by the US Department of Education for hurricane relief. The legislature voted this month to carve out $8.5 million of that funding to support the program. Patrick Gorman, Director of Student Financial Aid, reports that our students will receive a total of $51,925 to be distributed through 52 awards for the 2006-07 academic year.

And our faculty, staff, and students living on the Finnjet, were invited to the LSU Museum of Art yesterday evening for an event in their honor. The museum, located in the Shaw Center, overlooks the river and the Finnjet. The museum staff have had a daily reminder of the plight of those living aboard and the hardships they have faced. They wanted to do something special for us, and the residents of the ship just fit their limited capacity. It was a lovely evening and an even lovelier gesture.

I have appointed an Executive Committee of the LSUHSC Research Council. This committee will seek active participation of all interested faculty to foster translational research and to strengthen the overall research culture of the Health Sciences Center. Members are Dr. Nicolas Bazan, Chair, and Drs. Augusto Ochoa, Art Haas, Steve Nelson, David Martin, Paul Fidel, Bronya Keats, Terry Fontham, and Steve Lanier. Dr. Joseph Moerschbaecher is an ex-officio member. The first meeting will be on May 17.

And finally, Johnson and Johnson, a contributor to the building of the Isidore Cohn, Jr., MD Learning Center, is sending a team in to determine what needs to be done to restore it. I gave a presentation to them when I was in Washington this week to give the keynote speech at the Johnson and Johnson Health Leadership Awards breakfast honoring the Heroes of Katrina. They also sent me home with a $10,000 check from Johnson and Johnson to support the New Orleans Musicians Clinic.