Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Barbecuing at 100 Delaware St.. Jeff Oalmann. senior in geology, works the grill while graduate students in geology, Mo Morse and Albert Oko wait for the chicken to cook. Eight students transfered from the University of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Catrma Rawson they await food, supplies and medical attention. Many are bused to the Houston Astrodome. Remaining New Orleans looters are shot at by police officers wading through the filthy floodwaters. Other military officials continue rescue efforts for residents stranded on the rooftops of gallon in some areas because evacuees are transported to convention center and the their homes. Sept. 1 Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco requests the mobilization of 40,000 National Guard troops. Gas prices inflate to nearly $5 per the hurricane destroyed offshore oil rigs. Sept. 2 Food, water and supplies finally arrive at the New Orleans convention center as more than 150,000 in Texas. The Army Corps of Louisiana Superdome. Police Engineers estimates it could and military officials will take up to three months to continue for days to search pump the floodwaters out of houses in New Orleans for the city. Sept. 3 Officials clear out the the dead and dying. source: www.cnn.com hurricane katrina21

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After devastation caused by Katrina, two professors invited students to stay in their liome and finisii degrees at K-State by Kristen Day All it took was a cell phone text message, and eight students from the University of New Orleans headed to K-State. Though attending K-State was not considered before Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina left students in Louisiana and Mississippi with no college to attend and no place to live. When Iris and Matthew Totten, assistant and associate professors of geology, invited former students from the University of New Orleans to live with them and continue their educations at K-State, word traveled fast. I heard from a friend in Monroe (La.) that Matt and Iris were inviting students out here, John Myers, graduate student in geology, said. I called information, called Matt. I drove back to McComb (Miss.) to get my wife and kids and showed up here Labor Day. The Tottens previously taught at the University of New Orleans, but they accepted jobs at K-State and moved to Manhattan Aug. 9. When they realized the devastation of Katrina, they immediately invited former students to K-State. We were renting a three-story house, so we knew we could accommodate a lot of people temporanly, Iris Totten said. Even if they needed a place to stay and not go to school, that was OK. K-State tried to find ways to help those affected by Katrina. Heather Reed, assistant dean of student life, said the school tried to make their transitions to K-State as smooth as possible, given the stressful situation. The school waived late fees for enrolling. After losing their homes, the students appreciated the help of their former professors. Words can ' t even describe it, Mo Morse, graduate student in geology, said. Iris is a good friend of mine, and I owe my life and career to her. coverage of Katrina continued on page 22 r Jlr Aug. 28 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announces a mandatory evacuation as Category 5 Hurricane Katrina makes its way toward the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center reports 20student life winds up to 175 mph. Aug. 29 Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the northern Gulf Coast, makes landfall at 7 a.m. on the Louisiana Coast and devastates New Orleans and parts of Mississippi. An estimated 1,3 million homes across Louisiana and Mississippi are left without electricity. Aug. 30 As floodwaters rise, representatives from the U.S. military and Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatch helicopters to the region. Those residents unable to evacuate continue to make the longjourney on foot to the Louisiana Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center at the request of local and state officials. By now, 80 percent of the city is flooded. Aug. 31 Thousands ofangry, confused evacuees are living among death, illness and human waste at the Superdome as

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Geology students share their KATRINA EXPERIENCES What was your first reaction? It was overwhelming to think about what just happened. It was a big blow to everybody and then to top it off, you couldn ' t even go back in and start rebuilding because the water was still sitting there. The worst part was when the phone lines went down, including cell phones. I wasn ' t able to get in touch with any of my family and I didn ' t know if they survived or had gotten out. ' What was your first reaction? It was a Category 1, but since we have two little girls we decided to evacuate. By the time we got to Monroe, it was upgraded to a Category 5. We weren ' t certain if our family evacuated because it happened so fast. When John (Myers) came to bed, that ' s when he informed me the levees breached. I just lay in bed and cried because there wasn ' t much else to do. We had no idea what to do, but our first priority was to find out if our family was alive. Not knowing was the worst part - no radio, no phone contact, no television. SaraMCINTYRE How are you adjusting? Once everything started to settle down, I started to think about things - the loss of everything, the homesickness. You can either go with it or completely fall apart. Fortunately, I went with it and adjusted relatively well. I ' m up here not with my friends and family - it ' s a different way of life up here. Will you go back to New Orleans? I will probably never live in New Orleans again, but north of Lake Pontchartrain I might. I just have no desire to live in New Orleans ever again. What will you take away from the experience? We live in a world today where everybody is cynical of everybody else. You wouldn ' t stop on the side of the road and pick up a hitchhiker because there is that doubt, but I found there is a lot more good in people than what I originally thought - not just in Manhattan and Kansas but everywhere. My friends that have been displaced have said the same thing. Even in a disaster you can find the silver lining, and my silver lining was that I have a lot of strength in me I didn ' t know I had. I ' m a lot stronger from this experience. 22student life JuliMOORE Will you go back to New Orleans? At this point, as a permanent decision, I don ' t see it happening. There are a lot of serious issues New Orleans needs to address before anyone goes back to the city. A lot of things need to be addressed before it ' s safe to go back - pollution, toxicity, the school systems. We went back to try to salvage stuff, but we were only able to get one Rubbermaid tub of things. How has K-State affected you? I think the most important thing is K-State became like a surrogate mom. The administration welcomed us in; told us not to worry about the details like money and admissions and just focus on school. They took that entire load off our shoulders. The spirit K-State has had with the fund- raisers makes us feel good that even though we ' re here, there are things people can do for those down there. The geology department was great about making us feel like a part of the department. What was your first reaction? That night when the levee broke and the water started to pour in, that was when life as I knew it was over. You don ' t know what to do. Luckily, the next day when I woke up, I got a call from Dr. IrisTotten. She said, Why don ' t you come up? We ' ll let you finish your degree here, and you can stay with us until you find another place. I didn ' t think about anything; my big thing was trying to get here. How are you adjusting? I ' m adjusting OK, but my wife isn ' t too well. She likes Manhattan and the school, but s he wants to be home. Our biggest worry was financial aid, but we got it here from the University of New Orleans in two weeks. We had no money, no jobs - we left New Orleans with our car and three changes of clothes for myself, my wife (Juli Moore) and my two kids. ' M;e«S :«ee(iOi MoMORSE How are you adjusting? I like the weather; I love fall. Everybody has been wonderful, but it ' s definitely an adjustment. Will you go back to New Orleans? I don ' t think I ' m ready to go back and see the city. I need a little bit more time to heal before. Everyone says to go back and get closure; I don ' t think I want to see it how it is. What will you take away from the experience? I ' ve become a lot less materialistic. What you buy is just disposable. The only thing you have is your family, friends and your memories. You should spend your new life making new memories because, literally, you could be planning on going to a community function and the next day you could no longer have a community. The negative I ' ll take with this is a certain distrust for our elected officials. For years they knew the levees would only hold a Category 3 storm. I was a sporadic voter, and now I know it ' s important to get someone who will do the job. Kansas has made me more aware that your vote counts. JohnMYERS Will you go back to New Orleans? Never. It ' s not worth it. At any given time a levee can break, and you lose everything. It ' s not worth living in an area where a storm can come through and wipe the slate clean. As a geologist, you look at the long-term effects of the pollution they pumped out of there. You keep hearing con- tradicting views that the air is safe to breathe, or no, it ' s not. Having kids, I have a responsibility to make sure they ' re safe. What will you take away from the experience? We lost basically everything. We got our pictures and our documents, but the things you ' ve collected over your life are gone; the house you bought and invested so much time and money in is gone. The good thing is, K-State is a much better school, and there are better opportunities. The people all over the country and especially in Manhattan have done so much for the hurricane victims. We were eating dinner at Carlos 0 ' Kelly ' s and a lady overheard me on the phone, and she paid for our dinner. The geology department has been great, and so has the community. ;i ' Itliiii aatedt ■It mill I lerieiiH :3el(a ' ' m ' mi