interdictor: I'm Just Telling The Truth

interdictor (

interdictor) wrote,
@ 2005-12-08 14:25:00

I'm Just Telling The Truth
In my last entry, some people gave me some flack for not giving a rosy view of the city. I'm telling people they really shouldn't come back to New Orleans but my detractors say I'm being an alarmist.

Well here's another alarm for you idiots who are spreading the propaganda that everything is fine and improving. While you tell people to come back, other people are getting laid off and will have to leave. I know you have a vested interest here, but I'm not going to lie or hide the truth.

Tulane University Announces Layoffs

Tulane University announced plans Thursday to lay off about 230 faculty
members and shut down some programs to cope with the financial damage
done by Hurricane Katrina.

In a set of budget cuts totaling about $100 million, the university will
eliminate about 180 faculty positions at its medical school and about
50 in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Before the storm struck on Aug. 29, Tulane had about 2,500 faculty
members and 13,200 students — nearly 8,000 undergraduates and 5,200 in
graduate school. But the campus in the city's Uptown section has been
closed since Katrina's floodwaters ruined New Orleans and scattered
most of its half-million inhabitants.

Yeah, come back to New Orleans. And wave goodbye to the people who just got fired. And what people just got fired? Oh nobody important, just 180 medical doctor-professors and another 50 assorted college professors. No loss there.

Tell the truth -- in the long run you'll be doing more good than harm.

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the_kestral
2005-12-08 08:34 pm UTC (link)

Its sad that people are giving you flack for telling it like it is. Obviously I only have the information I can find online and in the press about the situation in New Orleans, but the bits that I can find all lead me to expect things to be getting worse long before they get better there.

And the fact that the university has had to announce layoffs should be no surprise. Even if the campus had not been closed since the floodwaters rose, the fact that many students have had to make other choices (well those that could even consider school an option this semester) would lead one to expect the universities in the affected regions to be faced with financial shortfalls. I know that my alma mater accepted some students from the schools down there and even brought a professor from one of the schools on for the fall semester as a guest lecturer/professor.

And universities can't be the only places that will be struggling. Not only will businesses be faced with the consequences of physical damage to their business, but also the possibility that they lost key employees either thru forced relocation or worse, loss of life. These are not easy things to recover from, and they dont happen over night just because somebody has a vested interest in forcing the recovery of the region to appear to be going so well.

Yes the region will need people and money invested in it to recover, but people need to be sure that when they are coming there it is at a time and in a manner that they will be helping not harming.

(Reply to this)

	houses7177 2005-12-08 08:34 pm UTC (link)
	Last spring my husband was considering accepting a faculty position at Tulane with me looking for faculty positions at other local universities. We are so glad we didn't, even though we did get hit with both Katrina and Rita here in Mississippi. At least we still have our jobs. (Reply to this)

	techsys 2005-12-08 08:34 pm UTC (link)
	don't you know that you should always paint a rosy picture for people because when you don't, you aren't catering to people's feelings. and how people feel is more important than presenting the truth, right? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	bonniegrrl 2005-12-08 08:37 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks for posting these updates. While some people here like bitching in your comments area about things they don't understand, I prefer to read blog entries from people like you who are there and see what's really happening. Thank you for your honesty and candor. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	manoman 2005-12-08 08:58 pm UTC (link)
	Good for you. Tell it like it is. We can't believe the media or the government any more. (Reply to this)

	mercedeslove 2005-12-08 08:59 pm UTC (link)
	I wanna go back to NOLA simply because I love this city. No matter what shape or condition it's in. I love it. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	perfection1144 2005-12-08 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	Tulane is also getting rid of almost all of their engineering programs as well as doing away with the whole Newcomb College for girls and Tulane College for guys. The changes have a lot of us very unhappy. I hope they can bring some of this back in a few years as things stabilize more. http://renewal.tulane.edu/background.shtml (Reply to this)(Thread)

	geordie 2005-12-08 09:06 pm UTC (link)
	And now that I read your post properly. Firing people like that sounds more like closing up shop than rebuilding. (Reply to this)

	greenstripe 2005-12-08 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	you do paint an incredibly harsh picture. for most of us who are living here again, it's nothing lot what you describe every day. your're the fox news of ljneworleans land. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	techsys 2005-12-08 09:45 pm UTC (link)
	you know, seeing the 'greens' group together and to give you shit reminds me of a joke i heard a while back... how many green party members does it take to change a lightbulb? [wait for it] none... the green party can't change anything. (Reply to this)

	katbyte 2005-12-08 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	I appreciate your posts. They state the facts without the drama. I live in The Florida Panhandle and have some experience with the hurricanes, but I have heard exactly what you have stated from other reliable sources without an agenda. (Reply to this)

	eternity_4_life 2005-12-08 11:28 pm UTC (link)
	anyone hear about the Katrina Cough? http://www.slate.com/id/2130421/fr/rss/ It's a real condition. Another reason to re-consider going there to live. (Reply to this)(Thread)