|
Article Excerpt
Chair: David Swanson, University of Mississippi
Vice-chair: Ronald Cossman, Mississippi State University
THURSDAY MORNING
Hunter Henry Brunson
Session 1: The Psychological and Social Impacts of Hurricane Katrina
8:30 HURRICANE KATRINA AS A NATURAL EXPERIMENT OF 'CREATIVE
DISTRUCTION': THE LONG-TERM SOCIOECONOMIC IMP ACTS TO THE GULF COAST
Ronald E. Cossman, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS. 39762
Hurricane Katrina was both a natural disaster and a natural experiment of Joseph Schumpeter's 'creative destruction.' The water and winds destroyed existing geographically-anchored capitol in the form ofhomes, businesses, stock and human capital. It also reallocated that capitol, in the sense of radically changing property values through government and insurance payouts. The result was a "clean slate" for development at new price levels. However, the forces that are shaping the new Gulf Coast are governmental regulations and insurance policies as articulated through grants, insurance payout, building restrictions and infrastructure commitment. The newly available shore line is now transforming into an economically higher and better use in the form of McMansions, high rise condominiums and casino-hotels. Meanwhile the working class, who provide the labor to the hotel, casinos and condos, are being forced to occupy the interior hinterlands due to the newly revised economic cost of living on the Gulf Coast. The outcome is a measurable economic gradient from the Gulf Coast inland. This socioeconomic gradient will have fundamental implications for the demographic composition of communities, voting patterns, school enrollment, community involvement and transportation for decades to come. Each of these processes are demonstrated via primary data collection on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as well as through secondary data analysis.
8:50 COLLEGE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES WITH HURRICANE KATRINA: A COMPARISON BETWEEN STUDENTS FROM MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY AND THREE NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITIES
Duane A. Gill (1), Anthony E. Ladd (2), and John Marszalek (3), (1) Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (2) Loyola University, New Orleans, LA 70118, and (3) Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA 70125
This paper examines differences between students from Mississippi State University (MSU) and three New Orleans universities (Loyola, Xavier, and the University of New Orleans). Using data from a web-based survey of college students conducted shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi and Louisiana, we compare students who were less affected (MSU) with students who were greatly affected. In particular, we focus on storm experiences, resource loss, psychological distress, educational impacts, satisfaction with response, and trust in institutions. As expected, students from the New Orleans universities were significantly more affected by the disaster than students from MSU. Our results suggest, however, that there are important steps all colleges and universities can take to become more resilient.
9:10 THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN THE RESILIENCE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE KATRINA...
|
