So I know this is a DC-centric blog, but I just got back from a trip to New Orleans and feel it my civic duty to tell everyone that they should go.

Why? Because the city is still not the same and they (1) need your tourist dollaz and (2) need people to know that.

3 Rules for going

1) Be safe. New Orleans can be a rough city and there's plenty of dark alleys. Stay on main, well-lit streets and be aware of your surroundings.

2) Get off Bourbon. Bourbon St. is fun and all, but that's not all there is to the city. I had a great time on Frenchman St., but there's plenty of other areas around.

3) Visit the 9th Ward. This is where you will really see that all is not right. Ask the hotel (or the concierge at a nicer one nearby) about tours. I know some people that got a cabbie to take them around.

 
HAMPTON–As most college students enjoy their winter breaks in the comfort of their homes, thirteen students from Hampton University, a Historically Black University in Virginia, are traveling to New Orleans, hoping to help rebuild a city that is still in turmoil more than two years after Hurricane Katrina. “I am excited to go and help those in need. If my city had been devastated, I would want people to do the same,” stated Sabriya Rosemond, one of the Hampton students who will be heading to New Orleans.

Not a surprise, as the New York Times points out, but it is disappointing.

Having the debate in New Orleans would provide a forum for residents to grill candidates. But the committee in charge of the decision, as the Times complains, "sounded as if they cared more about the stretch-limo and hospitality-suite amenities of politicking."

I agree, give the city a chance to help right its wrong, and to ask the difficult and important questions to the person who will be the next president.  

Jim Downie and Kay Steiger each wrote great articles (see the front of CampusProgress.org or click their names) catching us up on the two years since Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans. Jim’s crib sheet sums up just how little progress has been made and notes that the Army Corps of Engineers charged with rebuilding the levees seem to be “repeating many of the same mistakes that plagued earlier levees” despite all the money and control they’ve been given. Kay reminds us that Katrina hit communities of color extra hard and brings our attention to issues like domestic violence which often get overlooked while city officials and the media focus on lack of schools and hospitals.

I have little to add to the discussion, so I’ll just urge you all to download the song that never seems to get out of my head whenever I read anything Katrina-related, “Georgia…Bush” by Lil Wayne. Here’s a photo montage some YouTuber put together that accompanies the song:

If you looked up the antonym of Good Samaritan in a thesaurus, you would probably find a picture of a college student on spring break. Katrina Corps is trying to change that, however, by getting party people nationwide to give up a week in Tijuana for a trip to New Orleans.

How can college students help out their country, and will there be sangria?