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• New Orleans Schools Tackle Safety Concerns

  One of the many casualties of Hurricane Katrina that continues to plague News Orleans residents is safety in the schools. And, as NPR reported this morning, the struggle to secure public schools has led some cops to take on roles that traditionally belonged to guidance counselors. The situation has proven successful—at least according to the adults interviewed for the story. We can imagine that the poor sucker who gets driven home by the former police chief after starting a fight may have a different view of things. Due to his propensity to break down on TV and rather hysterically relay reports of violence post-Katrina (who could blame the guy, really), Eddie Compass was asked to resign as New Orleans Police Chief. So he took his policing skills to the schools, where he feels much more useful. Read More... Posted Feb 27 2008, 03:39 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with no comments Filed under: Katrina, new orleans, police, school safety, eddie compass

• FEMA Trailers, Homes to Thousands, a Known Danger

  So here's yet another sad story, a bit of evidence that national leaders would just like the problems left by Hurricane Katrina to go away. (Anyone notice that it went, yet again, unremarked upon by our president and, while we're at it, doesn't really come up in candidate stump speeches this primary season?) It turns out, those teeny tiny trailers that were supposed to be temporary but are actually starting to seem permanent to the nearly 40,000 people still living in them. Well, those trailers are toxic, off-gassing formaldehyde and  upping risks of cancer and birth defects for those who live in them. And officials have known about this. And they acted to NOT act on it.   Read More... Posted Jan 29 2008, 05:03 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: tragedy, Katrina, Salon, birth defects, childhood illness, trailer, childhood cancers, CBS News, FEMA

• Apple Gives iPods to Homeless Kids!

  When I first read this headline I was all, "aww, Apple cares about us! Apple gives iPods away to poor homeless kids, isn't that wonderful? And oh, didn't a unicorn just float by on that rainbow, all covered in glitter and fairy dust?" Yes, but then Cynical Karen stepped in and read the rest of the article: only 100 iPods were given away, and they were chintzy little Nanos, and they were to kids left homeless by the recent fires in California. Which begs the question, And what computer will they use to connect those iPods to and download music? Assuming the computers were in the homes that burned, of course. And, oh, the commenters on that original piece got even more cynical: Read More... Posted Dec 10 2007, 07:29 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: ipod, apple, Katrina, cynicism, California fires, homeless

• Using Crayons to Exorcise Katrina

  From the NY Times comes a fascinating story about how artwork done by child survivors of Katrina shows that the trauma of the hurricane has influenced thoughts of home and safety.  Countless articles and at least five major studies have focused on the lasting trauma experienced by Hurricane Katrina survivors, warning of anxiety, difficulty in school, even suicidal impulses.  Read More... Posted Sep 17 2007, 03:51 PM by MetroDad with | with no comments Filed under: Katrina, artwork

• Embryo Rescued From Katrina is Now a Baby

  Lab workers at a flooded New Orleans hospital rescued 1400 embryos in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year by putting them on boats in sealed canisters filled with liquid nitrogen.  One of those embryos, the first to be born, has now become a baby named Noah, joining his older brother who turned 1 just before the hurricane. Test-tube ethics and questions of "when does life begin?" aside, I think this is awfully cool, and a beautiful reminder of what happens when people believe that what they do can make a difference.  The embryos almost didn't survive the storm.  Special help was requested, along with flat-bottomed boats necessary to keep the canisters from tipping, to move the embryos from the hospital where they had been stored, which had lost electrical power due to the hurricane.  The embryos were safely moved to another hospital that did have power.  And now one of them has become a new life.  Posted Jan 16 2007, 05:00 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: baby, Katrina, embryo, hurricane, rescue