<p>Tulane's problem is not Tulane infrastructure, but NO infrastructure. The city most likely won't be habitable for at least 4 months. Power may not be on for several months. Water supply is questionable. You can figure that fall is done, spring may be achievable.</p>
<p>I agree with the reaction other Tulane parents have to the idea that we should write off the school. I just got home from picking up my son and a young woman from about 40 miles from our home, both of whom were bused to Atlanta from Jackson. They were extremely well cared for by Tulane staff even after the lights went out, and they shared an attitude of hope and patience. They also both stressed the need to keep their own minimal losses in proportion. This from two 18-year-olds who just lost their first shot at a new, independent life and are exhausted and dirty.</p>
<p>I am proud to know these people. I wouldn't think of undermining them by suggesting that they write off their school before their school suggests they go elsewhere. If Tulane has something for us to do to help, all they have to do is ask. I'm just waiting for a functional e-mail address to write a letter of gratitude for how well they cared for my son.</p>
<p>BTW, one Tulane alum has already posted his/her support to the new members of the "family" over on the "Post Katrina" thread on the Tulane forum. I'm sure there are many more who share that sentiment.</p>
<p>I don't think Tulane is abandoning their students, but I do believe they will have to make arrangements to hold classes at another location outside NO for this semester. I believe they will do everything possible to make that happen and keep their classes on schedule. When I said the fall semester is done, I meant at the NO campus. They will have fall classes somewhere I'm sure.</p>
<p>If anyone has kids coming to the Dallas area and needs anything, let us know. I'm less than an hour out of the city.</p>
<p>Ditto on that offer, Bandit. I live less than 15 miles from SMU and both airports are a direct drive from my house.</p>
<p>Ditto here.</p>
<p>We are in North Dallas and will do anything we can to help. We have a guest room and an empty bedroom now that son is back at UNC. If they need a place to clean up or transportation to airports let us know.</p>
<p>We have several friends nearby with kids at Tulane who I am sure would welcome anyone as well.</p>
<p>I personally would not rush to make "alternative plans" as Taxguy suggests. I would just sit tight and wait to see what happens in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>In the grand scheme of life, having to delay the start of college for a semester or even longer is not that big a deal and no one should be panicked by the delay. The important thing is that everyone's kids are safe and being cared for - that is what I would be focusing on right now, not rushing to change directions without the full picture of what comes next.</p>
<p>Hang in there, Tulane families. I'm glad your children are all safe, and hope you will see hidden blessings in this situation for your children. My best to you all --- Carolyn</p>
<p>Missing a semester might be easier for an undergrad, but I wonder about the Law and medical school students.. there will be some plan worked out I am sure...health and safety first.</p>
<p>S (what else is new) is rather taciturn at the moment. He was only in Jackson for 12-15 hours before he left with another family to come home. That "bonding experience" I had so romantically envisioned did not happen for him. He is somewhat, but not totally, downhearted. He has been online with the sophomore who hosted him for Engineering Scholar Days. Some of those kids seem to be scrambling looking for courses/matriculation at their various state U's.</p>
<p>I so want S to be bursting with Tulane loyalty at this moment. That is not the case, but is also probably a romanticized fantasy. Yet, he is sitting tight. As he said, "I need to hear whay my options are" (ie, what Tulane outlines) before I can think about what to do. I guess I can't ask for a more sensible and tempered reaction.</p>
<p>Jmmom:</p>
<p>I'm sure that Tulane will come through with information and plans within the next few days. Everything points to a caring, efficient administration which has the best interests of the Tulane community at heart. Your S is wise to hang tight. He needs to know what the timeframe is for getting Tulane back in operation in order to make appropriate plans.</p>
<p>Remember that some schools don't even start orientation week until Sept 14th. There is still time.</p>
<p>Jmmom, Hugs to you and your son. It must be disheartening to have built up all of that excitement about starting college and then have to put everything on hold. Hopefully, you'll get some solid news soon and he can figure things out quickly!</p>
<p>In our area, most colleges have started as much as two weeks ago.</p>
<p>My S is still steadfastly waiting to hear what Tulane will do and wants to go back, do volunteer work, or whatever it takes. However, I have
encouraged him in the interim to look into part time classes, IF we could find them.</p>
<p>In the Atlanta area, I've been pleased to hear that the colleges actually have a listserv going on "What are you doing to support Hurricane students".</p>
<p>Emory University starts classes tomorrow but is completely full, so no luck there. Georgia State, University of Georgia, and Oglethorpe are three that are willing to work with these kids.</p>
<p>My S will probably start taking 6-8 hours, keeping his eyes glued to the updates on Tulane. If Tulane can still happen this semester, that will be what he will do. I haven't discussed with the schools how they'd handle a withdrawal in this situation, but I'm betting they'll be very accomodating.</p>
<p>At least it helps pass the time. H is in the hurricane area with the CDC and he says that for the most part, "untrained" volunteers probably won't be welcome for several weeks. So while my S is aching to help, it might be awhile before he'd even be allowed to do so.</p>
<p>This isn't about Tulane, but about kids from NO. I just talked to my S's hs offering his old room to a kid from NO (he just started at UF last week). Appently Jesuit in Houston is taking NO Jesuit kids in until they can get back to their school. These kids are in the same boat as Tulane kids, but in hs. So many people are displaced and don't know what to do or where to turn. It just makes me so sad! My S's girlfriend is a sophomore at Tulane. She had been planning on leaving for NO on Sunday. Now she is hopping on a plane tomorrow to go visit my S in Florida. She is hoping to pick up an internship in her field in Houston until Tulane lets her know what to do.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ecliptica who posts on CC is a freshman at Tulane (recruited for track). He has gone home to Mass.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I assume you read my whole Hurricane report on Dyestat (else you wouldn't know I was back). I'll post it here, but it's a definite tl;dr.</p>
<p>I'll try to give a brief rundown of what happened to me:
On Saturday morning, the president of the university made a statement about the hurricane urging everyone to leave and "go home" and that the dorms would be closed at 6:00 PM, no one that hasn't moved in at that time can. Luckily (or maybe not after we see the effects of the storm) since I'm an athlete, I got to move in on Friday night, so I'm one of the few people that actually had all my stuff on campus, got all my books and everything. The only people that DO have their rooms set up are athletes and band members. . .I assume this is a good thing, though, less luggage to carry around if/when we go back.
Saturday night I found out that my grandfather's cousin lives in Mandeville, which is 40 minutes North of New Orleans. I had never met the guy before, but he was ridiculously nice and let us stay there the night, since he was in a "safe zone".
Sunday morning I'm woken up at 7:00 AM to find out that Mandeville is no longer safe and that we have to get out of there. His son lives in Dallas, so we planned on going there - I changed my flight from New Orleans to Boston to Dallas to Boston. Unfortunately, most of the roads were shut down due to contraflow so we headed East to his house in Deston, Florida. I changed my plane ticket AGAIN from Dallas to Pensacola as they had a direct flight back to Boston. We got to Vicksburg, Mississippi before we found out that I couldn't get a plane ticket out of Pensecola (it was an additional $500 because of the circumstances, **** them). So we turned around and headed towards Dallas - 13 hours away.
I left Dallas this morning and flew into Detroit, luckily got a ticket to Boston, and now I'm home, safe.
This was pretty life changing, I watched two people die in Clinton, Mississippi in a car crash (we were about 6 cars back when it happened, I saw the guy go through his windshield and die on the street, convulsing and everything. I still can't get the image out of my head) and a lot of my classmates were sent to Jackson State, until they were also evacuated. Right now I don't really know how they're all doing, I've spoken to everyone on the track team and most of the football team and they're all safe. Someone was shot at Jackson State, but I don't know if it was a Tulane student of a Jackson State student.</p>
<p>tl;dr --> I was homeless for a few days, got back to Boston, and my classmates are okay. No idea when Tulane will reopen.</p>
<p>I should update that, I didn't fly home "today", I flew home on Monday, but you get the idea.</p>
<p>I thought this info might be helpful. I'm on a NACAC email list.</p>
<p>NACAC is carefully monitoring the clean-up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected by the storms and flooding. Although the primary focus should be on basic services to those affected, NACAC has been contacted by concerned parents about postsecondary options for their students who are enrolled in colleges affected by the storms. While it is too soon to know how the coming weeks will unfold, we encourage everyone to keep checking with colleges, universities and schools in the affected states, as many are probably in the midst of implementing their disaster recovery plans. </p>
<p>In the coming months, we urge colleges and universities across the nation to remain flexible in their admission processing this fall for students in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Students in areas affected by the hurricane may face delays of weeks or even months of having access to school facilities to obtain the necessary requirements for application to college, including admission tests, high school transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays, and other application materials.</p>
<p>NACAC¹s mission is to assist students in transition to postsecondary opportunities. We all recognize that we are facing an unusual situation that calls for well-reasoned strategies. Requests have been made to have the association coordinate efforts to assist students who are now displaced until further notice. We wish to state first and foremost, that students, counselors and parents should continue to monitor efforts by the affected institutions. We also encourage everyone to use this opportunity as a counseling moment. While we do not wish to encourage students to seek admission outside of the affected areas, we do need to provide some counseling tips and make some resources available to assist them in their decision-making.</p>
<p>We hope that college and university personnel now receiving calls for late placements will remind parents that it may not be in the best interest of their child¹s education to attempt to move immediately to another institution. Some have encouraged parents to counsel their students to take the semester off and consider options for the spring, if institutions in the affected areas are not operational. Additionally, we are not aware how institutions will handle financial aid requests or tuition refund requests if students choose to leave one of the affected institutions. These are issues we need to raise with parents.</p>
<p>To assist with communications, NACAC has created a message board on our Web site for students and parents to communicate with colleges and universities and for our colleagues in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to post the latest updates on their recovery efforts. As NACAC members learn of the status of colleagues or their institutions, we invite you to post such messages on the board as well.</p>
<p>If currently enrolled students contact other institutions seeking admission, please know this is not a violation of our Statement of Principles of Good Practice, NACAC¹s code of ethics.</p>
<p>We want to assist and inform parents and students if there are viable options of educational institutions that can accommodate the admission of displaced students, especially in the spring. We¹ll work with the media, related organizations and counselors to get the word out to students, parents and others seeking advice and updates.</p>
<p>Members in communication with international students whose attendance at institutions in the affected area are asked to ascertain, by contacting the institution when possible, when and where accommodations for international students can be made. Questions about SEVIS and other foreign student requirements may be directed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, at <a href="http://www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/contact.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/contact.htm</a>. Requests for change in status or institution will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at DHS.</p>
<p>Our colleagues at ACT and the College Board are monitoring the situation as well, and as decisions are made to accommodate affected areas, will broadcast to members via the NACAC e-list. NACAC, SAT and ACT staff all will monitor the list for member concerns and issues arising in their communities. Members are encouraged to post all anticipated impacts resulting from Hurricane Katrina to the e-list or on the message board, which is available as a link from <a href="http://www.nacac.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacac.com</a>.</p>
<p>NACAC programs in the affected areasthe 61st National Conference, Sept.
22-24, in Tampa, FL; the Performing and Visual Arts College Fair, Sept. 27, in South Florida; and National College Fairs in Jacksonville, Sept. 17, and Birmingham, Sept. 18will continue as scheduled.</p>
<p>National conference and National College Fair staffs are in constant communication with convention facilities, hotels, and volunteers regarding weather conditions that may adversely affect existing and/or impending programs. Information from Tampa, Jacksonville and Birmingham indicates Katrina did not directly affect these areas.</p>
<p>In the event of cancellations due to weather conditions in the future, members should visit the NACAC Web site for special alerts and other information regarding scheduled programs.</p>
<p>Many members have asked about ways to assist colleagues and students affected by the hurricane. NACAC will post updated information on the Web site at <a href="http://www.nacac.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacac.com</a> on volunteer/donation efforts, as well as the status of the reopening of local schools and colleges, as it becomes available. </p>
<p>NACAC President Frank Sachs urges everyone to be patient. ³We are all monitoring the news reports and are aware that cities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama must first attend to the basic needs of their populations. As far as the status of students affected by the disaster, our national office staff and colleagues around the country are trying to reach reliable sources at high schools and colleges to keep us informed and connected. I too encourage members to use the message board for inquires and updates. NACAC will keep members informed as we learn more. There are outstanding educational institutions affected by this disaster and we extend our best wishes to them. We know they will pool their resources to open their doors to students, faculty and others as soon as possible. When we know, we¹ll support their efforts to inform the public.²</p>
<p>On our message board (<a href="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/jbrentzel%5B/url%5D">http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/jbrentzel</a>) you will see a statement, released Tuesday morning, from Scott S. Cowen, Tulane University President, New Orleans, LA.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Actually, Ecliptica, many students besides athletes and band members had moved in and purchased ther books, my son among them. All of his possessions except his laptop and very few pieces of clothing are in his room at Tulane.</p>
<p>Ecliptica, my understanding is that MOST of the incoming freshman class had moved in on that Saturday morning. Like ctymomteacher's S, my S has very few of his "stuff" with him. I suspect most of the freshmen who moved in are in the same situation as we are.</p>
<p>The most recent Tulane update is below:</p>
<p>August 31, 6 p.m.</p>
<pre><code>Things continue to be unstable in New Orleans, although there is hope that we have experienced the worst. We continue to put the safety of students and employees first. We are working around the clock to bring continuity to the university and to re-establish our presence, however much of this is dependant on the city of New Orleans and Mother Nature. One of our greatest frustrations is our inability to communicate with our larger community due to the failure of all utilities, including e-mail and cell phones. Over the next few days we will have a better handle on the timeline for our recovery. In the meantime, nearly all of our students have been relocated to their home communities or other safe locations under our supervision. All of our residence halls are secure and the contents appear intact. I know all of our students are anxious about our re-opening date; again, in the next few days we will be able to speak more confidently about a start date for the fall semester.
The faculty, staff and students of Tulane University, especially in our medical and public health schools, have proven to be an extraordinary group who have not only conducted themselves with patience and decorum but have reached out to others in acts of exemplary valor in situations small and large.
Tulane University is a great institution with loyal students, faculty, staff and alumni. We will recover from this event and be stronger because of it. I will be in touch as we know more and the situation develops.
Scott Cowen
</code></pre>
<p>(Cross-posting) I am willing to offer my home to up to two students who need to get in a full semester and who can get Georgetown, AU, GW, Catholic, Howard, or U Maryland to accept them.</p>