<p>7</a> injured in New Orleans shooting - CNN.com</p>
<p>This is kind of scary. Me and most of my friends were right in this area</p>
<p>Yes, this is bad news. Thankfully no one was killed. They need to catch these guys fast.</p>
<p>Very glad you and your friends are OK, mcel.</p>
<p>How safe is the campus?</p>
<p>old person -See this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/904315-safety.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/904315-safety.html</a> which them contains links to several threads on this topic. Bottom line is that the campus and immediate area around is quite safe. Last semester there were a couple of armed robberies about 10 blocks from campus, but they either caught those guys or they have stopped. Obviously one has to use common sense, just like any school. But the downtown area, which normally is pretty safe too, is a completely different section of the city about 4-5 miles away. As you might expect, there are incidents from time to time downtown near the Quarter, although shootings I think are unusual. I’ll do some more research later. Most of the crime, especially violent crime, is in a couple of areas Tulane students would generally not venture into. Again, this could be said about every single major ciy in the USA. If you look into schools like Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Columbia, USC, etc. similar incidents have occured. It can even happen in smaller places, like the female student that got shot and killed in Chapel Hill NC a few years back. They are infrequent, but of course New Orleans gets more publicity for it than most because of everything that has gone on there and the fact that this one was close to the FQ. I suppose that shows it is infrequent, because it wouldn’t be news otherwise. But again, I will do some checking and post it, for better or worse.</p>
<p>Most kids do not venture into the French Quarter , where the last few public violent crimes have occurred. There are so many fabulous, perfectly safe neighborhoods in new orleans with great restaurants and music that they just have no need to go there.</p>
<p>Most kids do not venture into French Quarter? Are you kidding?</p>
<p>I wondered about this comment about the FQ. We were planning to visit it when in NO for summer orientation, is this a bad idea?</p>
<p>wsd - Actually there is a lot of truth to the statement by bff. Maybe a more accurate phrasing would be “most kids go to Bourbon Street a few times as freshmen, and then only occassionally after that”. The FQ has more to offer than Bourbon Street, but the wild part of it wears thin quickly for most kids.</p>
<p>hsmom4 - It is not a bad idea to visit. Security will probably be tighter than ever for some months now, but this really is an unusual event, if I am reading the NOPD reports correctly. I am sure even before this you would have stayed on the main streets and wouldn’t be alone. That was always wise. But thousands of people that have come to visit Tulane over the past two years have visited the FQ, and none have reported any incident of violence, at least on here.</p>
<p>fallenchemist I was accepted to Tulane in 1974 and have been very familiar with the school and the city of New Orleans since then. I very much disagree with your comments about Tulane students infrequently visiting the Quarter both then and now. Tulane is a great school with good security on campus. New Orleans is a great city but has a high crime rate. Saying that freshman visit high crime areas like the Quarter regularly but then go less as time goes by is not necessarily comforting. Tulane trying to distance itself from the French Quarter is wrong.</p>
<p>wsd - well you and I were contemporaries (I was a year ahead of you) and also have stayed very involved with the school and city since then and now have a daughter there as a freshman (does that mean I win?). Actually now that I read what you said more carefully, you were accepted to Tulane in 1974. Did you actually attend? It looks like you went to Vermont. In any case, your paraphrasing of what I said is not accurate as to what I actually said, and I was not trying to be comforting. I was trying to state the situation as I saw it then, as many students have told me in the intervening years, and as other current students have said on this thread from time to time. I can certainly accept that you might have seen it differently, assuming you were a student at Tulane. Maybe you were in the FQ all the time as an undergrad.</p>
<p>
I honestly have no idea what that means, but I don’t speak for Tulane, I speak about Tulane.</p>
<p>fallenchemist’s comments are definitely accurate. The French Quarter (Bourbon Street in particular) have a lot of appeal in the beginning of the year. However, most students do go less and less as the year goes on as it is expensive and time consuming (and also a lot of tourists to deal with!) That is not to say it is not fun anymore, but most of my friends try to conserve money and there is plenty to do around campus</p>
<p>Maybe a silly question/comment but: Given that MOST students are under the age of 21 for the first few years of college - would you say that it is easy for them to get in to bars w/ fake ID’s or no ID’s? I’m not kidding myself about adolescent behavior and the attraction of places like the FQ, I’m just curious if they are known for tight security. Can 18 year olds go into bars but not drink (are they allowed)?</p>
<p>My guess is that it is easier near campus than in the FQ, but a pure guess. Perhaps mcel and others can give us the current situation.</p>
<p>While you must be 21 to purchase or consume alcohol in New Orleans, apparently you can enter a bar if you are 18. But I did notice at some bars last week in the FQ that they had signs stating that you must be 21 to be there. Some of them probably don’t want to deal with 18 year olds trying to get alcohol. There appears to be some other laws on the books which allow a parent to buy alcohol and hand it to their child. Given that people walk around the FQ with alcoholic beverages in their hand, I am sure that it is pretty easy to get alcohol.</p>
<p>hsmom4:</p>
<p>I would definitely go to the French Quarter, particularly during the day, or perhaps early evening. On a weekend day, there will be lots of artists out at Jackson square. Lots of street performers. Royal street has antique stores and art galleries. Probably the biggest risk is pickpockets, although I have never had a problem. I also think Bourbon street after dark is something everyone should see at least once in their lives, but if you go to the quarter after dark, I would use common sense and stay on the streets with lots of people.</p>
<p>The shootings were horrible, but I think if you consider the number of people in the quarter vs the incidents of violent crime the rate is pretty low. New Orleans has a vested interest in keeping the tourists safe…</p>
<p>Thanks, Parent9. We do plan on going in the daytime, and I think are reasonably cautious, just inexperienced in city living :). I was in the FQ briefly many years ago, probably rather different now. </p>
<p>We’re really excited to attend orientation!</p>
<p>I spent 5 days last week with S1 and S2 staying just a few blocks from the FQ and walked by the area of the shooting at least 2-3 times per day. We were there on Easter Sunday for the parades and there were many families with small children enjoying a beautiful day. In retrospect, I think we were probably not as careful as we should have been, but S1 was fascinated with the early morning and night time photo opportunities in the FQ which I believe will be the factor that convinces him to go to Tulane. Other colleges he is considering do not offer the possibility to so easily do a studio art minor. He shot several rolls of film. As much time as we spent in the FQ during the evening, I never felt in any danger. My biggest concern was the walk from the hotel to the FQ, so we did use the street car and cabs for those short distances at night. This could have happened anywhere.</p>
<p>Just got back from NO last night. Stayed in the Quarter. Loved it. So did DD. Visited Tulane by streetcar and taxi daily. Went to Honors program events. Ate in FC. (Excellent restaurants!) Talked to students. Some said they rarely go to FC. One future CPA pronounced it “yucky” and never goes. One music major said “too touristy” and prefers Marigny for jazz as all the good jazz clubs are gone from FC to Marigny. Walking around the FC shows dirt, grime, energy, booze and music in abundance. IMHO, these are all the things college students will be interested in. I also heard the “they go once or twice” but I imagine this varies plenty by student. One said that if the goal is drinking there are lots of places much closer to campus than going all the way to the FC. But for a festival, sure they go usually in large groups. And President Cowen did point out that they throw a party/parade/festival all the time in NO. We even went in the McD’s to get coffee where the Saturday shootings took place. (This was on Monday.) There was a BIG festival over the weekend- French Quarter festival, which seems to lag only Mardi Gras and the Jazz Festival in size. McD shootings were around midnight Saturday. The other weekend shootings seemed to be in some very sketchy areas, but McD’s is on Canal and Royal. BTW, this is a concern but not a (ahem) fatal one for DD’s attending Tulane. At present it is her leading choice, though she is off to visit Johns Hopkins tomorrow for their admitted student day.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to a lot of us to hear her thoughts on JHU vs. Tulane, if it is convenient.</p>
<p>Lol, I was right here for this shooting as well, crossing Canal right as the shootings broke out near that McDonalds, and everybody just scattered</p>