I
t
>
Sept. 17. 2007
The News Argus
NAnONAlNEffi
College students key to
New Orleans’ recovery
Drew Daniels
Ri ACK COLLEGE WIRE
College students must play a major part in the rebuilding
of New Orleans, a hurricane recovery activist told an
audience gathered at Dillard University to commemorate
the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
"Students learn to be civically engaged if they are civically
engaged in college," said Marcus Littles of the Louisiana
Disaster Relief Foundation.
Dillard President Marvalene Hughes told those
at the forum that students are eager to be part
of the recovery efforts. "Students are
required to have 140 units of community
service hours completed upon gradua
tion," Hughes said. "Since Katrina,
students have asked to take that
limit off because they know^ they
will exceed that."
About 300 residents, students
and activists filled Dillard's Lawless
Memorial Chapel in New Orleans to partici
pate in a recent forum to focus attention on the condi
tions still facing the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The event
featured activists who discussed such issues as affordable hous
ing, quality education and envirorimental safety.
"The federal government should take over the responsibility of
redeveloping and repairing this infrastructure, getting these
schools rebuilt, getting these clinics back in and getting these
libraries back up," said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
Community organizers expressed concern at the forum about
lack of progress in the rebuilding of the entire Gulf Coast
region. Groups of business, civic and entertainment organiza
tions expressed those concerns to government officials.
But Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said the recovery is not just
a state and local problem.
"We want to make sure people across the country understand
that this is a national issue because of the incompetence of the
administration, after the storm," he said.
According to Jefferson, 58 of 128 schools are open in New
Orleans and the New Orleans school district is about $60 mil
lion in debt.
Jefferson also announced that about 60 percent of New
Orleans residents have returned, up from about 50 percent this
time last year, _ ' . '.' ' ’
College students comprise a significant part of the returning
population. Administrators report that enrollment has climbed
to between 60 percent and 75 percent of pre-Katrina levels at
most of the New Orleans universities.
"As college students we have a large voice," said Christopher
Stewart, a Dillard senior political science major from DaDas.
"Being active around Hurricane Katrina projects is a way we
can help rebuild and improve the communities in which we
attend school every day."
Photos courtesy of MCT Wire Service
Reconstruction volunteer Kristin WIcNeal, 21, with the volunteer group College Students for New
Orleans, carries rubble and debris while gutting an abandoned house in the Lower Ninth Ward in
New Orleans.
New Orleans: Then and Now
Natalie Pompilio
MCT WIRE SERVICE
When Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, it was
labeled the most destructive natural disaster in U.S. his
tory, killing 1,800 people across the Gulf Coast and leav
ing more than 800,000 people homeless.
Here is a snapshot of how New Orleans has changed.
□ Population: The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
estimates the current population at 294,000, a figure supported by
U.S. Postal Service statistics. Other organizations put the figure
around 274,000. The pre-storm population was around 450,000.
□ Demographics: Hispanic immigr.ants, many from Mexico, are a
growing population. They are the laborers who are rebuilding e
city. Their culture is slowly melding with that of this multi
national dty.
□ Crime: Statistics released this month show violent crime —
including murders, rapes, armed robberies and assaults — ^ up
31 percent, compared with the same period in 2005 be ore e
storm. At the current rate, the city is likely to end the year as the
country's most deadly city. Police Superintendent arren ey
says the figures are disturbing, but he believes the epartmen is
stabilizing after two years of rebuilding infrastructure, strugglmg
to recruit officers, and negotiating a battered court system.
□ Schools: The city's public schools were in disrepair lo^ before
the storm. Different entities oversee the current system. The
Orleans Parish School Board, which once manage e s oo ,
now has control of 17. The Recovery School Distort now over
seen by former Philadelphia Schools Chief Paul VaUas, manage
107 low-performing schools grouped together a^r the stoim.
VaUas also has loose oversight over a
movement. Parochial and private schools atirart half the at/s
dent population, estimated at 32,000 this year.
□ Tourism: The New Orleans Convention
reports the city's No. 1 industiy is commg on stiong^
tion and meeting business is back to ^ f°Thp French
levels and over^l tourism is at about 60
Quarter the Garden Distrid and the Maga^me Sti-eet area
- touri'st-popular areas before the storm that were untouched by
flooding — are thriving.
□ Levee System: Tlie U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports ^at
^ Levee aysie pre-hurricane stirength. Federal offi-
dl a pl® that w^ld signific^tly boost the
upgradmg t e expected to seek the extra $7.6 billion
administration offiaals are expecic
in funding from Congress next year.
m
I
»
ABOVE PHOTOS: Construction workers install
large water pumps along the 17th Street Canal in
New Orleans, Louisiana in an effort to help pre
vent flooding during future storms.
Residents of New Orleans are still working
to recover and rebuild their city two years
after Hurricane Katrina hit the coast with
devastating force and flooding.