Professor Rachel Bratt thinks there are five "key truths" about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath:
A comparable disaster was foreseeable for some time, emergency budgets had been gradually cut, money intended for emergencies had been sent elsewhere, the National Guard was not available for relief, and the population in the hurricane-affected area was largely poor.
Bratt, a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, spoke at Thursday evening's panel on Hurricane Katrina in Hotung Cafelt;/p>
She was joined by Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Professor Ann Rappaport, Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Paul Kirshen, Sociology Professor Paula Aymer, and University College Senior Fellow Marjorie Reedy.
After showing a documentary, Rappaport spoke on the human causes of environmental damage in the hurricane-affected areas.
Rappaport said large population movements in Louisiana beginning in 1895 required irrigation projects that drained rivers. As much as 700 square miles of Louisiana coast could be lost by 2050 because of poor planning, she said.
Louisina's water level may rise 2 1/2 feet in the next century, which could contribute to an increase in the number and strength of storms, Kirshen said. He is the director of the WaterSHED Center which works to promote stewardship of water resources for sustainable use.
"If Boston's sea level was to raise one foot in the next 100 years, we would see a five or six fold increase in storms," he said. Kirshen said human actions such as oil and gas drilling, water management techniques, and over-population in coastal areas could increase the area's vulnerability to flooding.
Aymer addressed the societal issues the hurricane revealed. She said there was "an overlapping of three systems of inequalities: race, gender and class inequalities." Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who is white, was often overshadowed by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who is black, because of gender.
Reedy, a former news anchor, addressed the disaster's media coverage. The media has largely shied away from the race issues, she said, but has done well investigating the government's emergency relief efforts.
"I think for once they have done their job," Reedy said of the media. "They are supposed to work for you. They are supposed to work for the people." She said the hurricane provided a reminder of the necessity of the media to provide information.
Bratt concluded the prepared portion of the evening by discussing the re-building process. Infrastructure repairs alone, she said, "could take years." Even more difficult will be social re-building. New Orleans is a city with underachieving school systems, poor facilities, unintelligent social planning and infrastructural weaknesses before the hurricane.
The professors' presentations were followed with an abbreviated question and answer session. The event was scheduled to allow for equal time for presentations and discussion, but the length of the presentations cut the discussion time to 15 minutes.
By the time the question and answer session began, the audience had dwindled from about 70 mostly graduate students, alumni, and professors to about 40 people.
Many of the questions focused on the racial aspects of the relief effort. One student, junior April Baskin, asked why the media portrayed black people as "looting" food and white people as "finding" food.
Rapper Kanye West expressed the same sentiment in an NBC telethon for hurricane survivors on Friday, Sept. 2.
The question and answer session took on a political tone, with several audience members and panelist Kirshen likening the Bush administration's response to the hurricane to its foreign policy.
The panel discussion was organized by the University College.
