Tulane

Parents Forum
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<p>Thanks, marite. I've been in touch with CD via PM. His son hosted mine at Honors Weekened last spring. They're super people. I'm sorry his son has to go back into the mess, but I know that's what he wants to do.</p>

<p>We've had some news--Tulane has announced that there will be no classes until at least Sept 21 and that everyone needs to go home. They are trying to organize buses to get them part of the way there. That will mean a seven-hour round trip for us tomorrow instead of at least eighteen, so we are sad for him but grateful.</p>

22

<p>Glad to know things are okay. A small comfort amid the mess: Harvard classes do not start until September 19, so with some tweaking of the calendar, Tulane students may not miss too many classes. But what an orientation!</p>

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<p>Thanks for the happy thought! It helps.</p>

24

<p>I'm keeping all of you Tulane families in my thoughts and prayers. I'm so sorry this had to happen at this particular time (or any time!) and I will keep my fingers crossed that everything will work out.</p>

25

<p>Ecliptica who posts on CC is a freshman at Tulane (recruited for track). He has gone home to Mass.</p>

26

<p>Adding my prayers to those in the area or with family there - especially cangel, and hoping that jmmom will be able to leave Baton Rouge.</p>

27

<p>ctymomteacher: Glad to hear that you have made contact and I hope your son has a safe journey home. Thanks for the info about Tulane. Sept. 21st sure sounds optimistic, but at least it's something to go on.</p>

<p>Texastaximom: Have you made contact with your mother yet? I've been thinking about you, too, today.</p>

28

<p>ctymomteacher - hi and a question - where did the 9/21 date come from? I'm imagining they said it to the Jackson evacuees?</p>

<p>and, to all who are worried because they cannot reach folks down there: be aware that this lack of communication is not really a bad sign at all. While in Baton Rouge (75 miles away) and on the way to Jackson (150 miles away) we had no cell or internet most of the time. Cell service was sporadic when we got it until we were all the way to Memphis. Most folks are probably fine with just no way to communicate. Very hard in these days of normally instant, and constant, communication.</p>

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<p>We did hear 9/21 from our son, so I assume that they told the people in Jackson that. Do you suppose it's safe to assume that Family Weekend is off? (It is now 4:30 AM, and we are off to Atlanta to pick up our son. I hope all who haven't been in touch yet hear everything they need to hear soon.)</p>

30

<p>This if from Tulane's web page:</p>

<p>Important Information from Tulane University </p>

<p>Update from Dr. Cowen on Current Status </p>

<p>Aug. 30, 2005 </p>

<p>Due to issues currently being experienced with the server at tulane.edu, the University administration has requested that we post the following information for the Tulane community on <a href="http://www.TulaneGreenWave.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.TulaneGreenWave.com&lt;/a>. Please forward this information to any students, parents and families, staff or faculty and direct them to this site for future updates. </p>

<p>CURRENT STATUS
August 30, 7:30 p.m.</p>

<p>Dear Friends of Tulane:</p>

<p>I know you are all concerned about conditions in New Orleans and at Tulane University, and have many questions about what is going to happen in the next few days, weeks and months. </p>

<p>Our first priority during this time is the safety of our faculty, staff and students. Thankfully, everyone associated with the university is safe, including those of us who remain at Tulane. </p>

<p>Our second priority is to secure our facilities. As expected, our facilities have been damaged; however, based on our preliminary assessments, the majority of the damage can be remediated in a reasonable period of time. The uptown campus is covered with debris from fallen trees and shrubs, making it almost impossible to drive or even walk on campus. We have no power in any of the buildings other than a few where we control the power source. </p>

<p>Our third priority is to develop a recovery plan. This task is impaired right now by the devastation of the city and its infrastructure, and deteriorating further due to the flooding we are now facing. In addition, we don't know when our employees will be able to return to the city, much less to the university. Therefore, until conditions stabilize, it is impossible to do any longer term recovery planning. However, part of the responsibility of the senior leadership team in Jackson, MS is to begin the planning and they have done so. </p>

<p>As I suspect you all know, there is no contingency plan that could ever be developed to respond to what the area and the university are experiencing. However, all of us at the university are totally committed to doing whatever it takes to get the university operational as soon as possible. I hope you will be patient and understanding of our situation as we work our way through the complexities. </p>

<p>It is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness. </p>

<p>Scott Cowen </p>

<p>Special Information for Students Evacuated to Jackson and Their Parents
August 30, 6:15 p.m. </p>

<p>The approximately 400 students that Tulane University evacuated to Jackson State University are safe and secure after the remnants of Hurricane Katrina struck the city of Jackson. </p>

<p>Jackson State has committed to sheltering and feeding all of the evacuated Tulane students for as long as necessary. The students are in very safe quarters and are accompanied by senior officers of the university. </p>

<p>The situation in the city of Jackson is that there is a power outage and Internet service is erratic. The airport is closed but is expected to reopen within 24-48 hours and other modes of transportation will also resume in that timeframe. Once those services are operational we are recommending that all Tulane students at Jackson State make plans to return home until the university can resume normal operations. </p>

<p>Tulane has arranged bus service to Dallas and Atlanta so that students can make travel arrangements from other cities if they choose. The buses will depart Jackson, MS at 8 p.m. CST tonight. Students sent to Atlanta will be hosted by Georgia Tech; students sent to Dallas will be hosted by Southern Methodist University</p>

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<p>Bridie - Thank you for that new link. Any source of information seems so valuable at the moment. Well, I'm not going to compalin that athletics reigns supreme. It is actually a good feeling that they are marching forward with training, practice, rescheduling games. Speaking for myself, anything that says "We are alive and kicking and we are not going to go down," is what I need to hear.</p>

32

<p>Folks, if I were you. I would start looking to take courses at your local community college as not to lose any time. Although it may be a bit early to consider this , if you were my kids, I would consider applying to other schools now.</p>

33

<p>Concur with taxguy's advice. The New Orleans Times Picayune had a series of articles, readable online, discussing scenarios just like this. Here's a quote from the article:</p>

<p>"Herculean pumping task</p>

<p>It probably will be at least four days after the hurricane before the corps attempts to begin removing water from the city, Combe said. After a 1947 hurricane flooded the east bank, it took several days for the lake to return to its normal average 14-foot depth, slowing efforts to drain floodwaters from Metairie and Kenner.</p>

<p>Pumping won't be an option. Swamped existing pumping systems in Orleans and Jefferson will be useless. Pumps can be brought in, but their capacity is limited.</p>

<p>"If one goes to construction equipment rental firms, you can rent pumps with a capacity of 6,000 to 8,000 gallons a minute, but that's just not enough capacity," Combe said. "After Betsy the corps employed six dredges with a combined capacity of 243,000 gallons per minute. It would take 44 hours to drain a half-inch of water from the New Orleans metro area that way."</p>

<p>The most likely alternative is simply blowing holes in the levees or widening existing breaches. Breaches in the levee totaling a half mile would allow the water to drain in one day, Combe said. With a more modest effort, totaling 100 feet of openings, draining would take four weeks. If they do dynamite the levees, officials must also weigh the risk of another hurricane hitting in the short term against the urgency of getting the water out.</p>

<p>Water levels will drop only to the level of the lake, leaving areas lower than that with standing water that must be pumped out. Workers will then focus on restoring existing generators throughout the city that operate the pumping system.</p>

<p>Harold Gorman, executive director of the Sewerage & Water Board, said his agency thinks it can get most of its pumps working in a month, based on its experience in Hurricane Betsy in 1965. But it may take longer than that just to get replacement parts for the various pumps and electric motors used in local drainage systems. "You've got a lot of apples and oranges out there," Combe said. "Sometimes it takes six months just to get parts. Sometimes there are no off-the-shelf parts available."</p>

<p>It will take six months to pump out Jefferson Parish, Combe said. But at that point, areas of New Orleans will probably still be underwater and may take many more months to empty. "</p>

<p>Because Lake Pontchartrain is still rising, due to flood waters from rain north of N.O., the problem will not resolve soon.</p>

34

<p>I don't know, cc parents. As a Tulane parent, suggestions from others that we start looking elsewhere for our kids' education - even temporarily - before hearing what Tulane is working out... this for some reason hits me as a slap in the face. There is no logic to that, just my feeling. I imagine all folks are trying to be helpful, but I really, truly want to let those who are working on this have their time.</p>

35

<p>I heard this morning on KRLD Dallas that some Tulane classes were relocating to SMU. The Tulane football team is already in residence there.</p>

36

<p>A friend in Florida, whose area was affected far less but whose D's school is temporarily closed, said that other schools are already offering credit to those kids for courses. I'm envisioning something similar.</p>

<p>Yes, bandit, athletics must not be stopped! For this, right now, I am actually quite grateful. It shows a spirit of keep-on-keeping-on, the Tulane women's soccer team has also been relocated. In addition to the Tulane emergency website, the athletic department has its own emergency website, which is a source of good and current information. Thanks to bridie for providing the link on another thread:
<a href="http://tulanegreenwave.collegesports.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://tulanegreenwave.collegesports.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

37

<p>I posted to CTYmomteacher that it looked like Tulane's delay in reopening would not be catastrophic, but that was before the full extent of Katrina's damage was known. Even if Tulane's campus was not badly hit, the staff and faculty will probably be quite affected by damage. Perhaps, in the next few days, Tulane's administration will be able to give families a realistic timeline for resuming operations.</p>

<p>If reopening is seriously delayed, as I fear it probably will, I would not counsel looking elsewhere for studying but looking at this situation as a gap semester, perhaps a gap year if necessary. I would think that Tulane will apply tuition already paid to future semesters or even reimburse families. </p>

<p>There are many possible ways of spending this gap year. Concerneddad's S is not only providing a valuable service to others: he is no doubt gaining valuable experience for himself and clarifying his life goals and priorities. It is one of many options. Best of luck to all in these difficult times.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I imagine all folks are trying to be helpful, but I really, truly want to let those who are working on this have their time.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes...if I were with the Tulane administration, I would be mindful of the goal that the most important <em>intangible</em> assets of the school remain intact...that is, the community of faculty, staff, and students. I imagine they must be looking for a temporary "campus-in-exile," perhaps a campus of a college elsewhere...hopefully in some low cost of living area... that had to close for financial reasons that they could temporarily rent on favorable terms while the long term task of rebuilding New Orleans gets under way.</p>

<p>This is a HUGE undertaking (though it pales in comparison with the problem of dealing with the overall devastation) ...but I would imagine that there might be loyal and wealthy alumni who may be willing to step up to the plate to pitch in additional funds to help their alma mater carry on its strong tradition.</p>

<p>It will certainly be a challenge...so much of Tulane's appeal/culture/etc. is bound up with its location in a beautiful, charming, historical city. I believe I read in the Times-Picayune that Tulane is the city's biggest employer (including the hospital/medical complex as well as the university), so their fates are really bound up with one another.</p>

<p>There is a huge question as to whether it makes sense to restore New Orleans to anything like its former scale---the prudence of allowing so large a city to grow up on land that is below sea-level in a hurricane-prone area is certainly questionable. Obviously, things started out small and grew gradually over time, without long-term planning, but...at this point, if it comes down to rebuilding a huge city from scratch, I suspect there will be a lot of question as to the wisdom of doing so.</p>

<p>Still, perhaps Tulane can take heart from the experience of NYU post 9/11. Things looked very bleak for NYU four years ago...there was much chaos, confusion, devastation, and fear for the future of NYC after 9/11, but NYU has thrived and grown since then.</p>

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<p>jmmom - I'm with you ... if my child were at Tulane and asked me what I should do I would say this. </p>

<p>First, I'd ask if they want to continue to attend Tulane ... asuuming a yes answer I'd say ... You're a Tulane kid and Mom and Dad will help you and your school as much as we can. We suggest you go to the administation and volunteer 100% of your time to help put your school back on it's feet ... we'll pay the room and board ... you take care of your home away from home. Would you like to do that? Assuming a yes, we'd also ask if we can also help on weekends or for a week here and there. Ultimately communities are what make living great and if a community ever needed help now is the time!</p>

40

<p>According to the last letter from the president, SMU is a staging area to get the students on planes home since southern airports have been compromised. I have not had any official word from the university that SMU will offer them classes. SMU has been in class for awhile now. </p>

<p>I agree, jmmom, some of the posts from parents who seem so sure what they would do seems like a slap in the face. I don't share in their readiness to write off Tulane and New Orleans.</p>

<p>I agree with Marite's assessment on the value that can be gained from a gap year. On this forum, parents wax poetic about a gap year taken to travel the world or provide service to someone in a third world country. Why would a gap year taken to rebuild the city these students have adopted be any less valuable? Sometimes things in life just aren't about us or our timeline to achieve success. The small town I started hs in suffered a great loss when the hs burned to the ground. Students and parents sifted through the debris to save what they could and school was held in local churches until the new school could be built. It remained one of the top high schools in the state. I know it pales in magnitude, but the spirit's the same.</p>

<p>Wysteria, I have often thought of 9/11 during the last two days. I remember wondering where NYC would begin and how they would accomplish the cleanup. How would the loss of life and human devestation that occurred ever be dealt with? Obviously, although the emotional scars remain, NYC has coped, and I think New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will as well.</p>