SUSAstudent

I believe the purpose of the redesign was to make it blend with the buildings in the Warehouse District. It'll be interesting to see how it looks when completed.. Hope it doesn't look cheaply built.... (Perkins Rowe)

Took the words right outta my mouth Antrell. The concrete thing is popular now. Personally, I prefer the exposed brick, kinda warehousy look (look over that lol) like Cotton Mill in New Orleans. But new construction projects tend to lean that way now, (see 930 Poydras, New Orleans)

Also, don't "spin" my comments towards a racial intent. I acknowledge that when SUNO was founded, it was because of racial tension. Im personally tired of all things race related and choose to not focus on it. I chose to speak from published facts that I research and stay up to speed on. Your comment about having historically white colleges (which sparked the founding of HBCUs) seriously needed a response. So I made an attempt to answer. You choosing to conveniently end that quote there really just pissed me off.........

There's no "spin" to the situation. Look at the number of graduates SUNO produces in relation to its student enrollment and you will see thats CLEARLY not 6%. Im not making excuses for SUNO, I'm saying that policy is the main issue. If the graduation rate was allegedly so bad, or SUNO such a horrible school, why are they at record enrollment? Why are they growing every semester at an average of 7%? Taxpayers should look a little deeper rather than stating flawed "facts." The formula for the graduation rate for our colleges and universities needs to be revised.

Many highly marketable students are also at the private institutions as well. Dillars and Xavier are big for those higher rate or more academically sound students. We have a strong history of HBCUs here in LA.

I will agree that program offerings at SUNO are not exactly ideal for a higher Ed campus. Idk this issue has always been touchy, even for Southern system students and educators

There's always going to be some back and forth regarding SUNO. Personally I would like to see SUNO stay, I think the mistake was the location, but that doesn't surprise me, seeing that it was the 50s. SUNO's enrollment grows an average of 7% a semester, and the graduation rate is bullcrap. U can't graduate over 400 students each semester and have a 6% graduation rate on a campus of 3500 students! It's the way the graduation rate is calculated that needs to be changed. But regardless, it's definitely not stunting SUNOs growth. My issue comes when the legislature messes with Southern U.

Coming from a Southern student, there WERE historically white colleges, that's why HBCUS were established. You can't necessarily say the existence of HBCU's is "racist" when our government paved the way for them to be created. The truth of the matter is, we have a very ugly history in the US when it comes to race. Also, when you consider states like Louisiana and the state of our education system, a great majority of our aspiring students don't meet LSU or UL standards. HBCUs, like Southern and Grambling, are starting to move forward with increasing admissions standards, which has hurt enrollment specifically, but it opens the mission of HBCUS (which were formed for minorities in general, not just black students) to diversify programs and student body, and to also compete with peer institutions. If HBCUs don't produce, thats an issue. But when we rank, that's another one. We can backtrack just 50 years ago when minorities weren't even allowed on PWI campuses, so don't knock why it's "OK" to have HBCUs. I can talk about this for days. lol bottom line is, these schools are still very much necessary and relevant to higher education. Sorry if this came across as a history lesson.

I'm starting to see downtown Baton Rouge with more of a European influence. Not necessarily in terms of architecture, but in height. The majority of cities in Europe have lower lying, dense skylines, with very few "skyscrapers" in the mix.. The same as Washington DC. I think that downtown BR needs to focus on building taller 12-20 flr, energy efficient buildings, to bring in businesses. I can also see a smaller, scaled back version on Perkins Rowe (maybe three buildings housing retail and residential; 6-8 flrs). This will dub downtown Baton Rouge as an entertainment hub as well as bringing up the amount of residents in the area.

I'd personally like to see a signature tower in Baton Rouge. The downtown area, although it has become pretty popular, still SUCKS when it comes to having ANYTHING to do besides a club on Third Street. I'm a regular @ the Shaw Center and the lounge @ the Hilton, but that just about sums up downtown ! lol I would LOOOOOOOVE to see a signature mixed use tower (much like Canal Place in New Orleans, though much more attractive) that would attract shoppers in the area as well. The advantage is that occupancy in downtown BR is really high, so there's somewhat of a demand for more office space there. I guess it's that "build it and they will come" mentality. And I believe if One American Place doesn't do some sprucing up, occupancy will be pretty low. I know of two tenants that moved from OAP to II City Plaza. As far as a design is concerned, I'm really big on Louisiana culture. I would love to see something ultra modern built downtown, but I only see it as standing out from the skyline.

man what happened to design with character in mind.. particularly in that area of downtown. . the old state capital is directly in front of it, and they propose that monstrosity of a building to put behind it? So what is the plan, to completely surround the old state capital with modern buildings or what. That design makes the Shaw Center look traditional lmao. I'm all for modern, but throw sumthin in it to give it some character. ...besides.. that building was just plain hideous !!

I think a full blown facelift and remerchandising of Cortana would be in the best of interest for everyone. . Clearly we all see that Mall of Louisiana is taking big steps to becoming more of a high end shopping venue. . why cant Cortana remerchandise to better suit the needs of the middle class.......... or better yet, since Cortana is the largest mall in the state, transform the mall into mini-Galleria, if you will (I think we are the only state without one . . well, Mississippi..lol) and that area will really spark growth . .. just my two cents. .

HEYYYY that was taken frm Southern !!!! I dont care what anybody says, that campus and our views from the bluff are second to none !!