Abstract
Louisiana encompasses an area of 51,844 square miles and is the 31st largest state in the United States. This paper examines the topography of the state, examining areas such as geographic regions, lakes and rivers, forestland, plant and animal life and climate.

From the Paper
"Various types of natural lakes exist. Cut-off or oxbow lakes (for example, False River, Bruin, Larto) form when a stream "cuts off" the neck of a meander (bend) to create a new course. Particularly along the valley of the Red, raft lakes (Caddo, Cross, Bistineau, Black, and others) were formed from waters dammed by the Great Raft, a logjam that clogged the river until it was finally removed. Lakes form along the coast when cheniers (beach ridges) act to slow the flow of rivers while also protecting the resulting lake from encroachment by the Gulf. Lakes Pontchartrain, Maurepas, and Catahoula exist in grabens, depressions in the earth bounded by faults. Other natural lakes are associated with the drainage in the vicinity of rivers, deltas, and salt domes."

Tags:softwood, Gulf, of, Mexico

Abstract
This paper provides both a summary and an analysis of Thomas Fleming's book 'The Louisiana Purchase', a book detailing the history of the purchase of Louisiana by the United States. According to this paper, Fleming examines the process that led to the purchase of the Louisiana territory from its inception to the very end.

From the Paper
"The Louisiana Purchase added over 830,000 square miles of land to the territory possessed by the United States, virtually doubling the country's size. The land that was added would eventually be divided into a number of the current southern, Midwestern, and western states. Such an extensive addition to a country does not happen overnight, nor can it happen without collaboration between many people. The Louisiana Purchase was no exception. Thomas Fleming's book, 'The Louisiana Purchase', looks at many, if not all, of the factors that went into this massive undertaking."

Tags:louisiana, jefferson, napoleon

Abstract
This paper gives an overview of the costs involved in rebuilding the state of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to the paper, Fall 2005was the busiest hurricane season on record. It further describes the devastation to Louisiana following Katrina and the massive costs in rebuilding the state.

From the Paper
"Fall 2005 is still the busiest hurricane season on record. Three major hurricanes hit areas of the Mexican Gulf Cost within a two month period. Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. Hurricane Rita on September 24, 2005. Hurricane Wilma on October 15, 2005. Wilma passed over Florida and then hit the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Katrina and Rita, however, caused damage to overlapping areas of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Rita passed to the west of New Orleans..."

Tags:katrina, rita, louisiana

Abstract
The paper describes how Louisiana has suffered much devastation from the loss of wetlands, which is an environmental hazard for oil, gas companies and fishing industries. The paper reveals that as the wetlands deplete from flooding and other natural disasters, communities are feeling the impact in terms of losing businesses and residences. The paper shows how the small levee systems are not protecting these businesses and residences from the flooding, hurricanes and tornados.

From the Paper
"Louisiana has suffered much devastation from the loss of wetlands, which is an environmental hazard for oil, gas companies and fishing industries. As the wetlands deplete from flooding and other natural disasters, communities are feeling the impact in terms of loss businesses and residences. The small levee systems are not protecting these businesses and residences from the flooding, hurricanes and tornados: The Louisiana coast "is home to many rigs and pipelines, crucial infrastructure for the domestic oil and natural gas industries and for petroleum arriving ships from foreign sources...the wetlands act as..."

Tags:wetlands, losses, louisiana

Abstract
The paper presents a comparison of tax liability in the states of Georgia and Louisiana. The Primary focus is on state income taxes, state and local sales tax and property taxes. The paper discusses the impact of variables on tax liability.

From the Paper
"The purpose of this research is to compare tax liabilities in two states - Georgia and Louisiana. The primary focus of the comparison is on a state income taxes ..."

Tags:Tax liability, Georgia, Louisiana

Abstract
This paper analyzes how different political factors are affecting the restoration and destruction of southern Louisiana's wetlands, and the wetlands' significance in the state's economy, multiple industries, and government. The paper describes many of the area's environmental problems, including an area named Cancer Alley, whose inhabitants exhibit a high incidence of cancer, birth defects, and respiratory disorders. The paper explains that environmental reform will involve not only political change, but also the intervention of agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), state government, the oil industry, and non-profits. The paper notes that the wetlands' ecosystem is important not only for its own good, but also for the economy of Louisiana and the nation, thousands of species of birds, fish, reptiles, and marine animals, and people. This paper analyzes how different political factors are affecting the restoration and/or destruction of southern Louisiana's wetlands. In conclusion, the paper warns that if Louisiana's government does not start working with non-profit organizations, citizens, industry, and federal government, it is likely that we will see the economy of Louisiana crumble, and see voters begin to vote differently as more and more people become affected by the wetland loss in the region.

From the Paper
"As public opinion shifts, non-profit organizations will become more powerful, which could be just the fuel needed to change environmental policy in Louisiana. The organizations in Louisiana range from large, national organizations like the Sierra Club and Audubon Society to very small, local organizations like the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana or the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Each one has a particular goal, whether it is rebuilding New Orleans Lower 9th Ward or providing at risk kids with after school activities. However, each one has a common goal and that is to promote and issue they think needs to be better addressed by using public opinion to pressure legislation or to gain popularity in a community."

Tags:coastal, USACE, oil, industry

Abstract
This paper states that Thomas Fleming's strong research in preparation to writing "The Louisiana Purchase" indicated that the United States wanted to gain control over access to the Mississippi River to be able to ship goods through to Spain and to provide safe harbor for American ships servicing the southern states. The author points out that Fleming argues that possibly Napoleon was willing to sell the Louisiana territory because he was more interested in diverting his attention to the unconquered areas of Egypt and India rather than the undeveloped areas of Louisiana. The paper stresses that the Louisiana Purchase was a victory with the rival French, established the U.S. as a world power and gave Americans a vast new and different land in which to acquire new lifestyles.

From the Paper
"It is obvious from the book that after the "Quasi War" or the undeclared war with France, relations were at a definite strain. These battles fought only at sea and lasted from 1798 to 1800. The tensions manifested themselves with France when they began seizing American ships and goods that were trading with the British. The hostilities between the U.S. and France became a major cause of frictions and physical confrontations primarily due to the greed over land and power that permeated the world at the time."

Tags:napoleon, victory, waterways, negotiations, educational

Abstract
This paper examines how Louisiana's brand of poverty offers some challenges that are almost unique, especially in terms of disease caused by a combination of poverty, national greed and local corruption. It looks at how the problem is endemic and unlikely to be reversed as long as its own state government and leaders continue to misuse executive power to prevent interested parties from helping.

Outline
Louisiana's Poverty Profile
Louisiana Lifestyle Matters
Higher Education for Louisiana's Poor?
The Ultimate Solution to Poverty
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Environmentalists, sociologists and economists worry about the toxic releases in the Mexican maquilladores, the industrial sites just across the Mexican border that lured U.S. companies, especially environmentally significant companies, after NAFTA. However, Louisiana has had its own 100-mile stretch of unmitigated industrial problems that are blamed for causing an exceptional incidence of cancer. In fact, "Locals call it Cancer Alley" (Koeppel 1999, 16). In a 100-mie stretch between Baton Rouge and south of New Orleans, there are seven oil refineries and between 175 and 350 heavy industrial plants, all of which produce "staggering amounts of waste, much of which they treat on-site or spew into the air, land and water."

Tags:education, disaease, poor

Abstract
This paper discusses the Louisiana literacy test, which was implemented in the late 1800s in Louisiana. The paper explains that the federal government had given blacks the right to vote, but the state implemented an ingenious, yet sinister, literacy test to bar them from ever entering the polls. The paper claims that literacy tests had been used in several states as a means of disenfranchising a specific class of citizens. The Louisiana literacy test was specifically designed to keep blacks from voting and had little to nothing to do with actual literacy. The paper describes and examines the questions on the Louisiana literacy test, contending that they were worded in such a misleading and often ambiguous fashion that it was nearly impossible to answer them all correctly.

From the Paper
"Imagine being a Louisiana black man in the late 1800s. Freedom had come, but at a price. Suffrage had come to the South, but begrudgingly so. The federal government had given blacks the right to vote, but the state implemented an ingenious, and yet sinister, literacy test to bar them from ever entering the polls. The Louisiana Literacy Test was the white man's last effort to keep the black man from voting. Literacy tests had been used in several states as a means of disenfranchising a specific class of citizens. The first literacy tests, in the United States, were used by Connecticut and Massachusetts, in 1855 and 1857 respectively. These tests were directed at disenfranchising foreign-born citizens. 17 additional states would adopt some type of literacy qualifications before 1924 (Spencer). One of the most infamous was the Louisiana Literacy Test."

Tags:racism, suffrage, reading

Abstract
This paper explains that, in "Duncan vs. Louisiana" (1968), the challenge by the defendant was that Louisiana had violated his right to a trial by jury. The author relates that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant claiming that Louisiana had violated the man's constitutional rights. The paper reviews the chronology of due process and the right to impartial judgment, beginning with the fundamental constitutional standards and challenges to these rights. The paper stresses that this case indicates the development of a system, which extends the right of a trial by jury to any defendant who is facing a sentence for a crime that would break the six month federal minimum mandatory sentencing rule.

From the Paper
"Duncan clearly had his rights violated when he asked for a jury trial and did not receive one. Especially given that the conviction was held on conflicting and limited witness testimony that was likely highly charged and differential. In the end is it possible that battery occurred simply because the defendant touched the other individual and yet it is unlikely that intent to do harm, an aspect of battery could have been proven in a court of law without a reasonable doubt."

Tags:tumez, trial by jury, due process, testimony, minimum mandatory sentencing