Stone Center for Latin American Studies: Post-Katrina Information

In order to address the specific needs and concerns of each of our constituencies and program units in a more organized and efficient manner, we have set up a series of separate "post-Katrina" information websites:

MAIN STONE CENTER SITE: http://rtsclasblog.blogspot.com

FACULTY AFFAIRS: http://rtsclasfaculty.blogspot.com

GRADUATE AFFAIRS: http://rtsclasgraduate.blogspot.com

UNDERGRADUATE AFFAIRS: http://rtsclasundergrad.blogspot.com

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS: http://rtsclasabroad.blogspot.com

LATIN AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER: http://www.freewebs.com/tulanelarc/

The main Stone Center site will contain general University links, messages from Tom Reese, the Executive Director of the Stone Center, and informational postings of a general nature that are relevant to all of the Stone Center's various constituencies.

Each of the other sites will contain links and information that pertain specifically to the appropriate constituency.

Please continue to check the main Stone Center site regularly; but be sure now to also check out any of the other sites that are relevant to your particular relationship with the Stone Center.

Dear Friends,

The Stone Center is now reconstituted, at least virtually, through the Internet. Edie and I are in Austin, TX, Jimmy in Chesapeake, VA, Valerie in Arlington, TX, Sue in Covington, LA, Lucy in Donaldsonville, LA, Brian in Cuernavaca, MX en route to New Orleans. Ana in Kissimmee, FL, and Debbie in Ithaca, NY. I feel that Sallie Hughes (Department of Communication at the University of Miami), who completed her Ph.D. in Latin American Studies at Tulane in 2001, belongs on that list too; we cannot thank her enough for to the critical role that her blog played and continues to play for our extended community.

Once our Center team was able to reestablish communications, we turned our attention immediately to the relocation of our graduate students and Rockefeller Fellows to other institutions, trying to respond to their many financial and academic needs. We now have accounted for everyone and have posted contact information for all. Six are at UT Austin, two each at Rice, Harvard, & the University of Florida, and one each at Boston, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and Louisiana State, and the Universities of Arizona, California at Los Angeles, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, & Pennsylvania. We conducted a similar search to locate our Latin Americanist faculty and have now accounted for almost everyone and have posted contact information at http://rtsclasblog.blogspot.com. Jimmy Huck has also created a blog specifically for undergraduates to communicate and reestablish contacts. Undergraduates can reach this special blog from the address http://rtsclasundergrad.blogspot.com/.

In every task, records on our computers were critical. Thankfully, our local server and other computers were safely stored in Jones Hall. They contained not only our undergraduate records, but also essential records that are required for our upcoming submission to the U. S. Department of Education for funding as a National Resource Center for Latin America (a competition now held every four years) and the software and data that supports our website. We plotted a mission to rescue these computers since our arrival at our disparate sites, but it was simply too dangerous to attempt until last Tuesday. With special permission from the university, Jimmy and Sue returned to the campus under escort and brought our vital computer equipment to safe ground. Valerie shipped an external hard drive to Covington, where Sue and Jimmy will copy all essential files and FedEx the drive to Austin, where LANIC and LLILAS have generously offered to mount a temporary server and website if necessary.

Jimmy and Sue found the Stone Center offices in Jones Hall, including our newly renovated conference room, our new visiting faculty offices and workstations for TAs, and our new file room, to be just as we left them. The Norton Student Lounge (“La Cueva”) and our auxiliary file storage room in the basement of Jones Hall were flooded to the ceiling. Our newly redesigned offices for Cuban and Caribbean Studies in Caroline Richardson Hall, which include Debbie’s office, a seminar room, and offices for visiting fellows took on an inch or two of water, and we hope that they can be cleaned and occupied without major delays.

We are now focused on planning course offerings for the spring semester, which will include an almost normal spring semester followed by a compressed nine-week semester. The purpose is to meet various situations that returning undergraduates might confront. These include students who took no classes in the fall, and others who took classes at other universities, but were unable to take some of the required proficiency courses or courses for their major. In most departments, there will be special priority given to lower-division sequenced courses that are prerequisite to more advanced courses. Latin American Studies will offer in the spring semester Latin American Studies 101, 102, and 400, and then 101 and 102 in the compressed semester. We also will be vigilant in insuring that all of our majors are able to meet our requirement to enroll in three Latin American content courses at the 600-level, and that a strong selection of courses be available for our graduate students.

There is no doubt that Tulane University and the Gulf states face major challenges in the immediate future. From every disaster there emerge prospects for leadership, reflection, and productive new direction. Tulane and the Stone Center have opportunities to apply our research and experience to the creation of programs that will examine critically social, economic, political, legal, and ethical issues associated with disaster response and recovery today and throughout history. As Latin Americanists, many of us bring to the Gulf region insightful knowledge of Latin Americans’ own experiences in planning and coping after massive dislocations and suffering caused by natural and human violence. Indeed, we might productively today consider forging paths that will allow us to work in conjunction with on-going real-life efforts in the Gulf region. I sense that many of our faculty, staff, and students are tired of feeling passive, and are waiting for initiatives that let them think more positively and proactively about rebuilding our societies. We welcome all who would join us in this quest to offer their thoughts and their labor as we prepare to return to our primary avocations as educators and problem solvers.

Tom Reese

Dear Latin American Studies Undergraduate Majors/Minors/Prospectives:

We have established a parallel blogsite to deal exclusively with Undergraduate Affairs for Latin American Studies. Please visit this blog regularly for updates and information. And don't hesitate to email me (rtsclasblog@hotmail.com or Dr. Edith Wolfe (edithwolfe@hotmail.com) if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions for this blog.

Please note that the faculty contact list in the left side-bar column of this blog has been updated. Now, if you click on a faculty name, you will be redirected to a web page that will contain, in addition to email addresses, more detailed information (if we have it) for affiliated faculty members according to their home departments.

If you see a name that is missing on the list or if you would like to have information added or deleted from your own particular entry, please email Jimmy Huck with the particulars.

I am also in the process of setting up links to particular department websites. Please send me whatever departmental website information you might know of so that I can get the links posted prominently on our site. Thanks and keep checking back with the blog for updates coming out of the Stone Center.

In addition to working on our Title VI proposal, we are also evaluating our regular programs such as our Faculty Professional Travel Grants Programs to see what we can do to continue to support faculty and graduate student professional development during this semester. Stay tuned.

I received this email from Trevor Top:

Hello all at the Stone Center, obviously it has been very difficult to communicate and I'm glad to see all the department blogs pop up. As you may know I am a former MA at the Stone Center and now am at the Anthropology Department. I would like to extend the offer of assistance I have made to them as I am a member of the LA Air National Guard and have full access to the city. I am willing to check on houses, take pictures and e-mail them to you, empty refrigerators (although the time threshold is passing for them to be salvaged), assist in entrance to the city, and even repair roofs if necessary. An e-mail to trevtop@yahoo.com would be best but you could also call me at (504) 813-7138 if necessary. As you may all well know, Uptown did very well during and the after the storm, there are several trees down, many roofs have lost shingles, slate and felt, but there has been little or no residential looting. Unfortunately in the overzealous attempt to control the chaos, there are several vulnerable houses uptown that need immediate attention before a major rain storm enters the area. We've been lucky up to now, but if you have valuable books, they may be in danger. I'll be happy to do what I can. Best wishes to all and I hope to see you at the revitalized uptown campus in January, if not sooner. Power will likely be restored uptown before long and it is more liveable than you might think. Metairie, Harahan, Jefferson and Kenner are definitely back up and running.

Best regards,

Trevor Top

This is from Tulane's website, for those who haven't seen it yet:

Due to hurricane Katrina, Tulane University will not conduct classes for the Fall 2005 semester. We want to make sure those registered Tulane students who need insurance have access to the Tulane sponsored student health insurance plan and their benefits immediately.

Please follow the necessary steps to ensure your enrollment in the plan:

If you will be attending a “host” school for the Fall Semester or postponing your studies until the Spring Semester and wish to enroll in the Tulane plan, please go to http://www.chickering.com for information regarding the plan and enrollment instructions or call 877-375-7909. The new enrollment deadline is October 1, 2005.

If you will be attending a “host” school for the Fall Semester or postponing your studies until the Spring Semester and do not wish to enroll in the Tulane plan, no action is required.

We encourage Tulane students to make an informed decision. Details of the plan are available at http://www.chickering.com. We appreciate your patience as we work through these difficult times.

We will keep you posted as we get new info. Stay tuned to the RTSCLAS blog.

Dear Latin American Studies Undergrad Majors/Minors - Please know that we are working very hard to try to bring some information to you about your programs and to create a forum where you can go to have your specific questions answered.

As you know, we were right in the middle of a transition with regard to the Undergraduate Advisor, and the hurricane completely disrupted that transition. I am currently working on a special blog link just for undergraduate issues; and we are working on a FAQ document which we hope to post on this blog within the next few days.

Please keep following this blog and touch base with us as needed. Also, please feel free to send your specific questions to Dr. Edith Wolfe, who is the undergraduate advisor. Her email address is edithwolfe@hotmail.com.

After some touch-and-go legwork, we just managed to get into our offices at Tulane and have retrieved much of the information on the Undergraduate Program that Dr. Wolfe needs and will be using to help advise you about issues related to your program.

In the meantime, if you read this, please send your current contact information -- as complete as you can make it -- to Dr. Wolfe (email address, phone and mailing address info, cell phone number, etc.). Also send to her any information related to where you are currently studying, what arrangements this institution is making for you, what your courses are, and any other information relevant to your status at Tulane (i.e. Honors thesis, core curriculum requirements, concentration areas, etc.)

Please know that we value your contributions and parts in our overall program at Tulane and we will be bringing you information speedily over the next few days.

In the meantime, keep your spirits up and stay in touch with anyone at the Stone Center.

Paz y solidaridad!!

We are writing to let you know that in the wake of Katrina we will be unable to host the Tulane Maya symposium on October 28-30 at Tulane. The University will reopen for the Spring semester, however, and we are working on plans to reschedule it. As soon as further information is available, we will be in touch.

We appreciate your patience and understanding and your support of Tulane during this difficult time.

Sincerely,
Tom Reese
Executive Director, Stone Center for Latin American Studies

Gabrielle Vail
Organizer, Tulane Maya Symposium and Workshop

Some of you have written to me requesting a letter that (1) certifies you as a Tulane University Graduate Student and (2) certifies that you are a Fellowship student receiving a stipend.

I have written such a letter that is now posted on the blog. You can access this letter by clicking here. This letter will also be permanently accessible in the sidebar column to the left.

You can either point individuals to this link or you can print and distribute a hard copy of this letter to whomever might be in need of it.

Please keep me informed of all your administrative and curricular needs. I promise that I will do whatever I can to help.

Just a reminder that all second year grad students who are planning to write a thesis in the Spring of 2006 should still make every effort to use this semester to begin crafting the contours and outlines of your thesis.

Remember that your thesis prospectus is due no later than October 15. I am still holding to this deadline and will expect to receive your prospectus by email attachment along with some sense of approval by your thesis director and your thoughts on who the remaining two members of your thesis committee might be.

If possible, please be in contact with your thesis director (or attempt to make contact with the person you hope to ask to be your thesis director) and make sure to include me in any correspondence or communication you may have with your director. We are working hard to locate Latin Americanist Faculty and to provide email contact information for them on the blog site.

Time marches on and so narrows the window on deadlines to complete the thesis, defend it, and graduate in May of 2006. Even though you may be taking your final semester of coursework at another institution, you should be conscientious about making this coursework relevant to your thesis, perhaps allowing you to write papers that may later be revised and incorporated into the final thesis product.

Please make this semester as productive as you can given the goal of writing a thesis towards which your program is oriented. And please keep me informed of how your semesters and your thesis projects are progressing.

Hi,all - Graduate Students who have not completed the survey, should please do so. Please click here to do so.

A number of you have also submitted changes to your information. Thanks for sending that along. Please keep doing so as changes occur. When you do send changes, please make sure to send the information to Tom Reese, Edith Wolfe, and Valerie McGinley Marshall, as well as to me.

Soon we will have an updated list of survey and contact information from Gradute Students. Once this list is compiled, I will place the essential contact information for each student up on the blog.

I would ask all graduate students to please be vigilant about your stipend payments. Check your bank accounts periodically to look for direct deposits. You should all be getting your stipends as originally planned. Just for your information, the pay schedule is every two weeks on Fridays. The first pay date was Friday, August 26. If you did not receive a direct deposit for this first installment, it means that your check was printed manually and was awaiting you in the Graduate School. The Dean of the Grad School is working on retrieving these checks and then making sure you get them. The second pay date was two weeks later, on Friday, September 9. If you did not receive your first stipend check, but you did receive your second check, then chances are that your first check was manually printed and that your direct deposit information was processed before the storm hit. The next stipend disbursement is scheduled for Friday, September 23. Please let me know if you still do not receive your stipend. If you do not, then it probably means either that you were not able to submit your payroll/direct deposit information before the storm hit, or that it was not able to be processed by the Payroll office before the Hurricane arrived. If you find yourself in this situation, please remember to register on the Tulane University website and to fill out a direct deposit form. Refer to my previous posting on the blog for information on how to do this. But I want to assure you that you WILL get your full stipend amount sooner or later (hopefully sooner rather later).

The next major issue we are trying to deal with is that of student health insurance. As soon as we get any information about this, we will let you know immediately. If you know who the insurance carrier is for the student health plan, you may want to contact the carrier directly to get updated information on coverage.

I am working on composing and uploading to the blog a series of letters that you can refer to for whatever reason to verify to anyone who may ask that you are a graduate student at Tulane University and are on stipend/fellowship. This letter may help you with registration at other institutions, and other financial aid program you may be applying to. Give me a day or two to get this up on the site.

I hope you are well and that you continue to stay in touch.

Hi, all - Just wanted to let you know, if you haven't already done so, that you should visit the Tulane website to register with the University and to complete some paperwork relative to payroll.

First, access and complete the Employee Registration page. This will give the University administration some basic information they will need to help them facilitate the payroll process. In the comments section of this Registration form, please identify yourself as a Fellowship/Stipend student in the Latin American Studies Graduate Program and list me and my email contact information as a reference. Feel free to also include any additional questions or items you would like the administration to be aware of.

Second, please complete a Direct Deposit form and send it to the Tulane Administration in Houston via the instructions on the second page of this .pdf file. Even if you already have Direct Deposit set up, I would encourage you to complete the form again and send it in anyway. Keep copies of your records and emails. If sending the document by snail mail, you might want to send it certified mail, just in case. This will just ensure that the University will have bank account and deposit information for you on hand. If you are a new Grad Student who did not yet fill out a Federal Tax Withholding form, click here and follow submission instructions.

We are still awaiting confirmation from the University Administration of a number of issues related to your status as Fellowship/Stipend Graduate Student. Rest assured that we are working on this via every angle imaginable. We will clarify issues for you as the University Administration clarifies them to us.

In the meantime, please keep in mind that Tulane University has NOT guaranteed that it will reimburse you for any loans or out-of-pocket monies you spend on tuition/fees at your temporary host institution. In fact, I would advise you to operate as if Tulane will not reimburse you for the costs of tuition/fees at other institutions. Thus, if you are facing the prospects of a costly tuition bill, I would encourage you to explore any avenues for tuition waivers at your host institution and/or have your contact at the host institution touch base with either me or Dr. Reese to discuss the matter.

As I understand current University Policy, graduate students should still receive their stipends if they are continuing their studies at other institutions. This is good and welcome news. However, sorting this out, collecting the relevant paperwork and payroll data, and issuing checks or scheduling direct deposits will probably take some time to work out. So, you may want to investigate the possibilities of low interest or no interest loans to bide you over in the meantime. Please ask your host institutions about such possibilities.

For those of you choosing to pursue other opportunities and are delaying your studies until Tulane gets back up on its feet again, I expect your fellowship and stipend to be available and waiting for you.

Finally, on an unrelated note, all of you probably are eligible to receive some assistance from FEMA and/or Red Cross. I know that one Grad Student has already received a direct deposit of $2,000 from FEMA into her banking account. It is very much worth the wait in a line or worth the time spent in front of the computer filling out a FEMA grant application. Please make the effort to do so if you are really in a financial pinch. Foreign Students should also see if these avenues for support are available to you. After all, you are just as much a victim as anyone else. Just make sure you have as much documentation proving your admission, fellowship, residence in New Orleans, and immigration student visa status as possible on hand to answer any questions you might receive. In fact, you may want to touch base with your country's Embassy or local Consulate to see if there are any assistance programs in place from your own country's government or charitable relief agencies that can assist you in the absence of other sources of support.

If anyone has already explored these options, please feel free to share your experience and your tips in the comments section of this posting.

As always, I am available to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please stay tuned and check in with me regularly. Abrazos to all.

Attention all Latin American Studies Graduate Students: Please click here to access critical information and a survey form. Since I cannot attach this information as a Word or .pdf file to the blog site (or at least I don't know how to do so!), you will need to copy, paste, and complete the survey in your email text field or in a word document that you will attach to an email. Once you have completed this survey, please email it to me, Tom Reese, and Valerie McGinley Marshall. Our email addresses are on the form. Please also feel free to send me your questions about the form. I apologize for not making this a more "user friendly" process, but given the need to get this out to you and to hear back from you as soon as possible with your replies, I did not want to delay getting it out to you. Take care and stay tuned.

From Chris Dunn:

Caros Amigos:

I'm sending this message out to all of the faculty, graduate students, alumni, and friends of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University. Most of the these contacts I culled from the BLOG of Idelber Avelar, which has served as a message board and source of information for our community since Hurricance Katrina hit New Orleans ten days ago. I think I can speak for all of us in saying that I am grateful to him for gathering us all together and directing traffic during the initial period of shock and confusion.

The power of his BLOG to bring people together and serve as a conduit for information inspired me to create blog for our department called "Diaspora Verde". It goes without saying that we should all continue to regularly visit "O Biscoito Fino e a Massa" for information and commentary on everything from Katrina to Caetano, from FEMA to fútebol. I just thought that the time had come to have a departmental blog-- much more modest in scope-- to form an on-line community during this period of distress and uncertainty. I'm still learning the basic mechanics of how a BLOG works so for now it will be rather rudimentary.

The most urgent task is to aid in any way our graduate students who are seeking to enroll in graduate programs around the country. We are already working with several excellent departments in placing students. I am particularly concerned about first year students who may be unaware of these opportunties and who are not in touch with either me or Kathleen Davis. I strongly encourage all students to take advantage of opportunities to study for one semester at other institutions. Please let me know if I can help in any way to make contacts. I assure you that every university administrator and department chair with whom I have communicated has expressed a strong committment to accommodating Tulane students.

I ask that all of you forward this message to others connected in any way to the department so that we can slowly pull together as a community. I still do not have direct email contact with many of my colleagues in the department.

Take care and stay in touch.

Abraços,

Christopher

Attention all Latin American Studies Graduate Students: Please click here to access critical information and a survey form. Since I cannot attach this information as a Word or .pdf file to the blog site (or at least I don't know how to do so!), you will need to copy, paste, and complete the survey in your email text field or in a word document that you will attach to an email. Once you have completed this survey, please email it to me, Tom Reese, and Valerie McGinley Marshall. Our email addresses are on the form. Please also feel free to send me your questions about the form. I apologize for not making this a more "user friendly" process, but given the need to get this out to you and to hear back from you as soon as possible with your replies, I did not want to delay getting it out to you. Take care and stay tuned.

All LAST graduate students should be on alert for a communication from me that will include some questions and requests for information to help us coordinate better what you are doing and the administrative details with other universities you may be attending. I am working on the information sheet/questionnaire and will post it to the blog as well as attempt to email it to those of you whose email addresses I have.

You will be getting it no later than tomorrow. Please respond as soon as possible once you receive it.

Hi everyone-

I've relocated to the Latin American studies department at the University of Arizona for the semester. The department is very curious as to whether or not there are more LAS students that are still looking for places to study this term. The University has communicated to me that they will waive out-of-state tuition for Tulane students (which means that there is still around $4000 due per semester). They have also been very helpful with short-term loans and delayed payment options until stipends come through from Tulane. Also, if anyone has funding that is government based, the University can (relatively) easily have it transferred to them. Everyone here has been very helpful with regards to getting me set-up, although there isn't any free housing or anything like that, which is certainly important to know if you are thinking about relocating here. If anyone wants to be put in contact with the LAS department, or any other offices in the university, or just has general questions for me, please don't hesitate to email me at mgndonovan@yahoo.com. I hope you all are well and adjusting to your new situations as easily as possible.
Megan Donovan

Hi, all. I am back online temporarily. Tomorrow, Thursday, I am flying out of the area to meet up with my family. I will be working my way towards Virginia, where I will be set up for the short-to-medium term. I will have full access to the internet and will be able to keep up with all your updates on the blog.

In the meantime, I will get as much work done on the blog as possible. Please keep your eye on Tulane's website for updates.

It is my understanding that all Graduate Students on Stipend will continue to get paid. However, I need to confirm the details of this and we need to work out all the financial implications and procedures of this with the Tulane central Administration. I will let Grad Students know what kind of information you will need to provide, if any, to help facilitate this process. In the meantime, please make sure to register at Tulane's website so that the Administration will have current contact information and any other relevant information from you. Take care, stay safe, and good luck. I'll be back up and running full time very soon. Thanks for your patience.

Update: I have been inundated with emails over the past couple of days. I just want you to know that I will get to all of them and will respond to your specific emails no later than Friday morning.

Update: I have created a "Whereabouts Update" site. You can click the link here and in the column on the left. As I get info about people and their stories, I will post them to this site. Please check here for updates and news and send me updates and news that you would like posted.

Latin American Studies Ph.D. Grad, Sallie Hughes, now a professor at the University of Miami, has a Stone Center Alum Blog up and running. This would be another great contact zone for current and past Stone Center students. Check it out by clicking here.

Query from Jimmy: I'm trying to gather contact information for Tom Reese, Valerie McGinley Marshall, Sue Ingles, Luci Calzada, Grad School Dean Mike Herman, and Bill Lennon. Any information on how to get in touch with these individuals would be greatly appreciated.

Message from Martha Huggins:

Martha Huggins and Malcolm Willison are safe and in Baton Rouge. We will travel to Schenectady, New York on 11 Sept and remain there until we can return. My students can email me at my yahoo account, of course anyone can. mhuggins12305@yahoo.com

Stephanie Clark is in Philadelphia and wanted to pass along her phone number (215-850-4128), a link to some photos of the uptown area (Click Here), and an announcement that the University of Pennsylvania is also accommodating Tulane students regarding enrollments in courses.

UPDATE: Margarita Vargas-Betancourt reports that the Anthropology Department has set up a Yahoo Group site: Tulane Anthro Yahoo Group

Incoming grad student Sarah Mariner has sent me information on a variety of schools that are opening their doors to Tulane Students. Please read the information, which can be found by clicking here. Please keep sending me such information so that I can post it and please keep me informed of your plans.

Received this email from new Grad Student Adam Frick. Send along items like this to me via email and I'll post them here. Also, if you notice any names missing from the email contact list in the left column, please send me that information. -- Jimmy

Hello fellow LAS students--

I arrived at Columbia University yesterday, hoping to audit a couple classes. Instead I was personally welcomed by the dean and offered a full semester at the uni, tuition waived, with fully-transferrable credits. I don't know what your plans are, but metropolitan communities, especially NYC, have warmly embraced many academic evacuees. Just go to a uni website and start contacting heads. I hope everyone finds supplemental opportunities of equal measure.

good luck

Adam
(if you are in the NYC area and want an LAS contact, my cell is 260 894 2230)

---------------------------------------
Finally, my housemate and LAS student, Forest Bradley-Wright, stayed in New Orleans for the hurricane, and just contacted me yesterday to let me know he is alive and relatively well. He also wanted me to make it known that, given his experience with the university and the NOLA community, ten years of it and much to do with public development, he could be used as a delegator of financial aid, or at least a contact within the city, so that the enormous ourpouring of financial donations does not go into anonymous, and (give the NOLA political history) potentially inappropriate, hands. His email address is fbradle@hotmail.com

(Forest, as an afterthought I am sending this email to you. I'll take comments)

take care

Adam

Latin American Studies Graduate Students who may find themselves in Florida or nearby have the opportunity to enroll in classes for the fall semester there. The University of Florida is another Title VI National Resource Center on Latin America and has an excellent graduate program. Any coursework taken there will be fully transferable to Tulane upon your return (hopefully in the Spring). [NOTE: I have no information on the status of stipends from Tulane, but as soon as I can figure something out, I will relay the information to you.]

Here is the message that I received from Hannah Covert, the Executive Director of the Latin American Studies Center at the University of Florida:

Dear Jimmy,

I am the Executive Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. All of us here are very concerned about everyone from the Stone Center in light of the situation in New Orleans. Is there anything we can do to help?

The University of Florida has set up a program to admit students from Gulf Coast universities to UF as non-degree students. UF's Center could facilitate this process and host Stone Center Master's students. The UF website on this is: http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/katrina.html. If you think anyone would be interested in pursuing this option, let me know and I can investigate further.

If there is anything else that we might be able to do, please let us know.

Regards,

Hannah Covert

Hannah H. Covert
Executive Director
Center for Latin American Studies
University of Florida
Grinter Hall 319
PO Box 115530
Gainesville, FL 32611-5530
Telephone: 352-392-0375 ext. 825
Fax: 352-392-7682
http://www.latam.ufl.edu

I have already responded to Hannah and I have thanked her for the offer. If any of you are interested in this, please cehck out the website listed above in Hannah's note and then contact the University of Florida's Center for Latin American Studies directly for additional information and assistance.

Please also keep me advised as to your plans. As I get other information about possibilities, I will let you know.

I will be adding a list of email contacts in the left column. If your name does not appear in the left hand column, please send me an email or leave a comment with the relevant information and I will add it to the list. In this way, anyone can visit this site, find your name, and send you an email to reestablish contact and to touch base. If you know of other names and emails that should be added, please let me know via email or comment.

All LAST graduate students:

I hope that all of you and your families are safe. Please do be in contact with me to let me know where you are and how you are doing.

For updates on the status of the University, please refer regularly to the University’s emergency website: http://emergency.tulane.edu. As of now, I imagine that, absolute best-case scenario, it will take at least 2-3 months for the University to become operational. However, it is entirely possible (and probable) that the whole academic year may be lost. Therefore, I will encourage you to plan accordingly.

In the meantime, for purposes of maintaining some centralized communication, I have set up this blog site where I will make postings as regularly as I can.

Please check this blog regularly. If you would like to make postings to the blog, please let me know as well. For the moment, the email address that I am using for email contact is rtsclasblog@hotmail.com

I am currently based on the Northshore of Louisiana in Abita Springs - which experienced some severe damage to utilities and communications services. I had phone service and DSL access a couple of days ago, but then lost it for a few days. As of 1 hour ago, ground line phone service and DSL service has been restored to the area where I am located. Consequently, I am able to communicate by telephone and by email. If you would like to contact me by phone, please email me and I will send you the number. However, please note that I may experience disruptions in my abilities to communicate as repairs are undertaken that may require temporary suspension of access.

Please know that my thoughts are with all of you and your families. In case you may be wondering, my family is all safe and accounted for.

I know that this is a difficult, traumatic, and uncertain time; but in the midst of the waves of despair that I experience every so often, I am generally hopeful for the future. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Jimmy Huck

This blog is for any Latin Americanist to post to. If you are a Tulane Latin Americanist and want to share information with the Latin Americanist community at Tulane, especially given the difficulty of communicating some of us may have given the post-hurrican communication situation, please email me at rtsclasblog@hotmail.com and I will add you to the list of individuals who have access to making posts. If you are content to just read information and add comments, that's fine too. Just be in touch and we can try to coordinate efforts at regrouping this way if it works out.