As the floodwaters drowning New Orleans recede, they may well be swamping historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country as they gear up to deal with a rising tide of displaced college students in search of shelter from the storm. More than 9,100 HBCU students, plus thousands more faculty and staff, have been directly…

The emotional trauma of recent events may never go away. A million people were uprooted by Hurricane Katrina, including an estimated 372,000 children of school age. Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas-Louisiana coastline, forcing thousands more to evacuate. Acute symptoms of trauma range from confusion, nightmares, and…

Critical incidents, whether a natural disaster, interpersonal violence, or death of a student, continue to be an unfortunate aspect of campus life. This article discusses the resulting use, potential overuse, and possible misuse of psychological debriefing. Analysis and interpretation of recent scientific data for interventions similar to…

This qualitative study strives to provide a greater understanding of the past, current, and future state of education in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. The researchers' key objectives are to provide additional insight to educators of the far-reaching impact of the tsunami via a website they created. Rather than concentrate on the same sort of…

On December 26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake--the most powerful in more than 40 years--struck deep under the Indian Ocean. It was centered about 100 miles southwest off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia, and triggered massive tsunamis across the coasts of Asia and Africa. In Aceh province, located at the northwest tip of the island of Sumatra in…

Most colleges and universities are poorly prepared to efficiently address and manage crises. That is the finding of a survey, the results of which were in the January/February issue of the publication, "Change." The authors point to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terrorist attacks as wake-up calls to higher education and maintain both that campus…

This article focuses on the experiences and survival of displaced children in four large migrations in U.S. history. The chaos and despair caused by Hurricane Katrina are reminders that the displacement and survival of children are timely and relevant topics for the social studies curriculum. Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in…

In this article, the author relates the lessons she learned from Hurricane Katrina. During the first few days after the hurricane, it took 2,500 volunteers per hour around the clock to do what needed to be done. That included medical volunteers; crisis counselors and mental health professionals; and volunteers to distribute water and snacks, serve…

This essay is entitled "The 'I' of the Storm" in order to stress the very personal nature of teaching in the immediate, post-Katrina semester of Fall 2005. The University of New Orleans (UNO) was the only university in the city to open that semester, and many traumatized instructors, the author included, were serving the thousands of…

Mother-child dyads who experienced a devastating tornado talked about the storm and about two affectively more positive or neutral events at each of two time points: 4 months and 10 months after the storm. The conversations were analyzed to determine whether mothers and/or children's contributions differed as a function of event type and whether…

After the hurricanes, faculty asked the students to help with the relief efforts in different ways. Most students volunteered to work in shelters directly with individual or groups of children, youths, and adults. After their experiences, they wrote brief reflections about what they had done. Their comments show that they developed a better…

Guidelines to help school districts in Pennsylvania recognize potential hazards and develop a plan of community action are presented in this guidebook. The 1988 Emergency Management Services Code requires that every publicly funded state school have a disaster response plan that is exercised annually. Further, all publicly funded educational…

Examines news media activities during five natural disasters. Shows how the media and local officials often cooperate and sometimes conflict in accomplishing their respective goals and how this process affects the public's understanding of the disaster event. (NKA)

In the face of emergencies, emergency managers should turn to academic libraries. These libraries can serve as gateways through which information from their collection, the faculty of their institutions, and ultimately the whole of the academic community may be tapped to manage emergencies successfully. (Author/EM)

Discusses North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) activities related to science and society. NATO Scientific Exchanges Programme; pilot studies (pollution control, natural resources, health and technological risks, quality of life, and planning); and cultural exchanges are among the areas considered. (JN)