Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. New Orleans opens amid destruction
By Rachel Flarity
The Daily Reveille (LSU)
02/06/2006

(U-WIRE) NEW ORLEANS — Surrounded on all sides by the deserted and boarded-up wasteland of the Lakefront residential area, the University of New Orleans endures. The area surrounding the university remains filled with debris and broken houses, but the campus, which reopened Jan. 30, stands as an oasis of life in a desert of destruction.

But 90 percent of faculty members came back. So did 63 percent of the students -- $103 million in damage could not keep them away.

Post-Hurricane Katrina UNO boasts approximately 11,000 of its original 17,500 student body, and some 2,000 of that number are enrolled in online classes only.

Of the 2,700 displaced students at Louisiana State University last semester, 62 percent, or 1,682 students, were from UNO.

DETERMINED CAMPUS

As students walk between classes, a lone posterboard tells of the week's upcoming activities. The common trivialities that clutter most college campuses are silenced at a university that administrators and students said has much bigger things on its mind.

Despite the physical difficulties that plague the campus, administrators and students alike said they want to be here.

UNO Student Government Vice President Angela LeBlanc said morale is higher than ever, and basketball game attendance and student activity involvement are at all-time highs.

LeBlanc said she and many others turned down opportunities to start over elsewhere and returned to the school they have come to love.

"UNO is like no other school, just like New Orleans is like no other city," said Brandy Bowen, communications senior and president of the student activities council at UNO. "We have our problems, but we deal with them."

Vice Chancellor of Campus Services Joel Chatelain said the faculty members' dedication made all the difference in UNO's rebirth. Faculty members often scrubbed floors and buildings in order make flooded areas workable again.

"No one ever said, 'That's not my job' -- and we asked them to do all kinds of things," Chatelain said.

The faculty have returned, but the staff are nowhere in sight, Chatelain chuckled.

Only one-fifth of the cleaning staff and one-third of the maintenance staff have returned, Chatelain said.

"I call it the Burger King effect," Chatelain said. "The restaurants are paying more than the state -- it's just more lucrative to do custodial work there for $10 than here for $6."

ALMOST PERFECT

Sharon Gruber, UNO public relations director, said 80 percent of all university buildings are open, although many still await new flooring while concrete is left exposed.

The two to three feet of water covering the southwest half of campus caused large amounts of damage to on-campus housing, student services, food services and the engineering building, Chatelain said.

The orange spray paint of the now-familiar "X" coding, which announced to search and rescue teams areas that buildings had been checked, is still visible on the glass doors of the science building.

Chatelain said the university is trying to provide "homey" activities that will allow students more places to eat on campus and watch movies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also provided 400 trailers for students and 489 for faculty and staff to live on campus, Gruber said.

Film senior Dannie Wallace decided not to attend school this semester because he "refuses" to live in a FEMA trailer or a rehabilitated dormitory. After attending LSU last semester, Wallace said he prefers to live with his parents and save money until there is a place to live off-campus.

"Bienville Hall, [a dormitory], is like a project. It's just bad," Wallace said. "There's no place to stay for a student down here."

Debris and construction materials still litter the Earl K. Long Library, which has become a makeshift headquarters for the university's bursar operations, financial aid and help desk.

After the storm, the campus common areas were covered with trees, sharp aluminum roofing panels and equipment from the tops of buildings, Chatelain said.

Chatelain said he is in charge of repair and cleanup for the university, and said the most difficult aspect of rehabilitating the campus was the mold, electrical reworking and roof repairs.

"The water, heat and humidity sat here for three weeks," Chatelain said. "Most is clean now, but we still have two to three major buildings left."

While most of the mold has been cleared out, the electrical system works off a temporary overhead, and the university has temporary roofs.

C. Gregory Seab, astronomy professor, said the lights in his science building office didn't come on until 3:35 p.m. the Friday before school began.

"We were fairly nervous because we had classes and labs scheduled for Monday morning," Seab said.

GOING TO SCHOOL

With many university classrooms still unusable, UNO had to be creative in making classroom space.

Curvin Bodden, general studies freshman, attends a sociology class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in a large tent behind the University Center, UNO's student union.

The white tent resembles an outdoor room often used at events such as wedding receptions -- minus the bar and buffet. The tent includes more than 100 desks, a computer station for the instructor and a wireless microphone with surround-sound speakers.

"It's kind of hard to hear," Bodden said. "And it's hot. I come early so I can sit in the front where the A.C. is."

Bodden didn't go to school after Hurricane Katrina hit last semester. He choose instead to live with his parents on the West Bank. He said although things are weird, he is just happy to be back in school.

"Coming back to things like the tent, it isn't the best environment," Bodden said. "But we've got to get it done."

Seab, who teaches an introductory astronomy class in the makeshift classroom three times a week, said the tent was originally supposed to be a convenience store.

"I hate it, but it's temporary," Seab said. "I'm so happy to be here that I'll put up with anything, even a tent."

Seab, who taught a physics class at LSU last semester while commuting from Natchez, Miss., said he expects his class to be back in a real auditorium by next week.

"I've had a few complaints, but they're in the minority," Seab said. "Everyone is so happy to be back that they think this is wonderful."

BUILDING A FUTURE

LeBlanc, student government vice president, said most student complaints center around housing issues, although he estimates the overall morale of the students is high.

"Most people lost everything," LeBlanc said. "And they just want to make it better."

LeBlanc said although the campus attitude is uplifting, some memories are bittersweet.

"It's surreal," LeBlanc said. "Sometimes I will go the wrong way down a newly changed one-way street or go to turn into a parking lot that no longer exists -- it's upsetting."

Mia Chenier, a non-traditional pre-pharmacy student, spent her time Friday perusing the empty bookshelves of the University Center bookstore. Her books aren't all in yet, and she's been checking all week, she said.

Chenier said this is her first semester at UNO and first semester back in school since she graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge. Chenier said she is living with relatives rather than on her own.

"Everything is so pricey, financial aid doesn't cover the cost of living right now," she said.

Chenier had to start without some of her books.

"It's so disorganized," she said.

Despite inconveniences, Chenier said she hopes New Orleans will become a permanent home for her.

"This is an interesting time to live in New Orleans," she said. "I've always wanted to live in New Orleans, so now is as good a time as any."

Scott Sternberg and Marissa DeCuir contributed to this story.

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