The Wake

I was asked to write about my experience being evacuated from Tulane University in New Orleans. Fortunately, out of consideration for my audience, I’ve come to realize that my story is rather boring and elicits little more response than, “that sucks.” I didn’t lose my house, my college is relatively undamaged, and all of my stuff is safe and un-looted in my dorm room (albeit totally inaccessible). So, rather than ramble on about how much water there was, and how much it really sucks to be here, I’ve decided to share with you the feelings of my non-freshman Tulane friends. To begin, there’s no reason why I should be here in Minnesota for this semester, on the complete opposite side of the country from my intended college. And, as expected, many returning Tulane students are unhappy to have their residences heavily damaged or destroyed, and their semester ruined by what they feel was a largely manageable disaster.

Unfortunately, governmental oversights have allowed Katrina to provide Tulane University with an unwanted moat. The city of New Orleans would not be largely underwater had the federal government elected to spend its initial massive surplus on domestic affairs rather than unwarranted military actions abroad. Whether you agree with our current involvement in the Middle East is irrelevant — domestic issues should have taken precedence. New Orleans’ levies could have been rated to category five; modern engineering allows us to do this. What modern engineering does not allow, however, is to have a levy system rated to category three withstand a hurricane of Katrina’s caliber.

But the storm happened, and there’s nothing we can do except rebuild. But here again, the current administration has fallen short. Instead of helping local employers and schools, the Bush administration has decided to funnel millions of dollars into their friends’ companies to “fix” the area. Halliburton has received more no-bid contracts, while local businesses and universities have nothing to ensure their continued existence. Even though I am not attending, Tulane is insisting that I pay full tuition for this semester despite its cancellation. With that being their only option, why shouldn’t they? Universities are some of the largest employers in the New Orleans area, with Tulane, Xavier, and Loyola. These schools are one of the main reasons for New Orleans’ success. Why shouldn’t they be given relief funds by the federal government? They have rebuilding to do. It’s not just universities suffering from the government’s current rebuilding plans, either, but the local contractors and businesses as well — they could surely use the work. We give millions of dollars to large corporations to rebuild the area while simultaneously destroying the economic infrastructure that allowed the city to thrive.

Forget about the Red Cross and their questionable ways of handling donations, and forget about FEMA and their general mismanagement of practically everything — very little can actually be done about any of that now. What remains is the long and very expensive project of rebuilding New Orleans and the surrounding areas. This means keeping major employers in the area afloat through this semester, especially when they’ve incurred excess costs, such as taking care of the students they’re evacuating. This needs to be done by supporting a non-partisan, independent commission to oversee the recovery efforts, as well as directing relief funds toward long-term, sustained economic reconstruction of the area. When it comes right down to it, this isn’t a case of what to do, but rather the means by which we do it.

Finally, I would very much like to thank Tulane, for taking care of the student population at considerable expense to the university; Jackson State University for providing shelter; Georgia Tech, for their fantastic student volunteers, hot showers, and general assistance on such short notice; and finally, all of the universities who are accepting displaced students, especially the U of M, for being extremely accommodating.