Release

Impact and Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Center for Policy Research Special Panel Discussion

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 8, 2005) -- The University at Albany's Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy Center for Policy Research is hosting a special panel discussion regarding the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The event will be held Tuesday, September 13, at 12:30 p.m. in the Arthur Levitt Executive Conference Room (formerly known as Page Hall Lounge) in Page Hall on the downtown campus.

Panelists include: Richard Alba, Department of Sociology; Thomas A. Birkland, Director, Center for Policy Research; Katharine Briar-Lawson, Dean, School of Social Welfare; Kary Jablonka, Professional Development of Biological Sciences; Karen Mohr, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Patricia Salkin, Director, Government Law Center, Albany Law School; and Robert Westphal, School of Public Health.

Hurricane Katrina appears to be the largest natural disaster in American history, and is certainly the most important disaster in the United States since the September 11 attacks. While a wide area of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were affected, most national news coverage has focused on the flooding of the city of New Orleans.

The panel will address such issues as how such a disaster could have occurred; if local, state, or federal officials could have anticipated this disaster, evacuated people, or mitigated the effects of the disaster; how relief could have been more effectively delivered; if issues of race, class, and social stratification are raised by this disaster; and what the response to the hurricane reveals about the nation's preparedness for large scale natural, terrorist, or public health emergencies.

The event is free and open to the public.