To many outside New Orleans, the disaster of Katrina has long been forgotten. Not so for those who, to this day, are struggling to piece together what they can as they find a way to right their own ship. Their mayor and the Federal government have been little to no help. They are, in many ways, pretty much on their own.
It must be at least a bit comforting then, when a federal judge found the Army Corps of Engineers’ poor maintenance led to some of the most disastrous flooding during and after Katrina. This event marks the first time that the government has been held liable for any of the events associated with the Katrina disaster.
The decision, if upheld, paves the way for government payment that could run at least into the tens of millions of dollars to homeowners who property was damaged or lost by water from the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) navigation canal.
The court cited the “negligence of the corps” in its failure to maintain the MR-GO properly, calling the shortcoming an insouciance, the disaster a direct result of myopia and shortsightedness.
The government is expected to appeal the ruling. Corps spokesman Ken Holder notes that all claims are currently the subject of litigation before the federal district court in New Orleans, and that he expects no activity to be taken on any of the claims until such a time as the litigation is complete. Translation: don’t hold your breath; money isn’t forthcoming.
Nearly a half million Katrina born claims have been filed against the government and estimates show that the damages against the government could reach $500 billion.
The UC Regents, governing body of the University of California schools, approved an equivalent 32% increase in student fees on Thursday despite days of tense campus protests not only at UCLA, but also in other UC campuses statewide.
With the increase, the cost of an undergraduate education at California’s flagship public schools will exceed $10,000 annually by next fall. This represents triple what it cost students and families about a decade ago. The $10,000 figure are fees (aka tuition) and do not include books or housing.
It should be noted that despite the $10,000 price tag, the cost to attend a UC school is still light years cheaper than the cost to attend a private school in Los Angeles, like USC or LMU for instance. Some kids attending those private school say they can understand the concerns, but quickly offered that $10,000 is a must-do investment in themselves. Besides, they remarked, “at least they’re not paying north of $50,000,” which is what most private school students at USC or LMU are having to pay year in and year out.
The ugly part of this whole scenario is that students have taken to action, and have blocked some UC regents who approved the student fee increase inside Covel Commons, where the voting took place, from leaving. Some of the UC regents are effectively trapped in there. The demonstrators are being confronted by baton-wielding campus police as I write this. California Highway Patrol officers are also in the mix.
This is yet another unfortunate situation born from the financial crisis that has befallen the nation, particularly California, where the battle to plug the budget deficit seems to be an ongoing struggle without an end in sight.
by The Hale Staff on November 18, 2009
Have you ever stopped to wonder about where our standard of living is heading? And I don’t mean comparing today to yesterday or even last year, when gas was relatively cheaper, restaurants weren’t cutting their portions while simultaneously increasing their prices, and the idea of 10 percent plus unemployment sounded like a joke.
I mean comparing how we are living today to how we lived a decade or two ago, how our parents lived and their parents before that? With this blog I plan to keep these questions front and center as I explore the life events that are unfolding today. Events such as state revenue shortfall leading to budget deficits and culminating in unprecendented actions by state institutions, such as what UCLA is having to do right now.
The implications of our nation’s decay from within are monumentally profound, and history is replete with examples that teach us that when we get to the point where the citizens fail to progress, the empire is doomed. Are we on our way?