Even well after the storm, the difficulties continue. She writes: "The problems that Mobile  and surrounding areas are facing now has more to do with a very sudden increase in population.  We have a lot of evacuees from Mississippi and Louisiana looking for rental homes here and our civic centers have become shelters.  We've also had a significant increase in enrollment in our schools so allocation of resources is going to soon become a paramount issue in our state and county budgets - our school systems have been operating under strain for quite some time.  Of course, the general sentiment is that anyone is welcome and I know several people who have opened their homes to strangers."

    One of the problems for the Gulf States was that so many colleges were forced to close for the semester. Soon after Katrina, Binghamton University responded to that need: the University received over 80 inquiries from students who were unable to continue with their studies at colleges and universities in the Gulf States . Some students faced complete devastation, as dorm room flooding destroyed all of their personal possessions. Binghamton offered admission to 48 Tulane students and one student from the University of New Orleans for the fall semester, and a group of faculty and staff who are also Tulane alumni hosted a welcome reception for these visiting students.

     Two university employees have used their skills to aid victims of the disaster. Veteran emergency trauma nurse Laura Terriquez-Kasey, a clinical instructor with the Decker School of Nursing, and Nancy Lamberty '84, a staff social worker in the counseling center, have each spent time in the disaster zone. Terriquez-Kasey returned recently after two weeks in Mississippi and Louisiana with a Disaster Medical Assistance Team. Lamberty, meanwhile, left recently to provide disaster mental health services with the Red Cross. ( See the complete story.)

     Students responded with fundraisers. The Chabad House Jewish Student Center held its annual, campus-wide Mitzvah Marathon in remembrance of Sept. 11 victims on Monday, Sept. 12, with a special emphasis on collecting money for Hurricane victims. The Save the South initiative was begun by the Student Association to help the relief effort in the Gulf Coast area. Students have been collecting money and selling t-shirts in the Union to raise money for the initiative.

     In Binghamton University classes, from sociology to public policy to water management and international health, Hurricane Katrina has been a large topic for discussion. "We don't want to see these things happen in the world, but when they do, I think they're great examples for our students," said Chris Reiber, Department of Anthropology, in Inside BU . For example, Burrell Montz, professor of geography and environmental studies, used Katrina to teach some concepts in a different order in her course, Water Resources Planning and Management.

     "I never would have put such a focus on engineering so early in the course if it weren't for Katrina," Montz said in Inside BU . In addition, she has submitted two grant proposals related to Katrina. The first is related to land use decisions made over time, and the other to follow evacuees who went to Tampa , Fla. to see how their economic and emotional situations evolve.