Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-77).

Bare-root, container, and root production method (RPM™) seedlings of two oak species (Nuttall (Quercus texana Buckley), cherrybark (Q. pagoda Ell.)) were planted on lands damaged by Hurricane Katrina in southern Mississippi to compare the height growth, groundline diameter growth and survival of the different planting stocks. Tree shelters were applied to half of the bare-root seedlings to determine their effect on the height and groundline diameter growth and survival of the seedlings. RPM seedlings exhibited significantly greater height and groundline diameter growth than bare-root or container seedlings after one growing season. Bare-root seedlings exhibited significantly greater height and groundline diameter growth than container seedlings. Tree shelters significantly increased height growth of bare-root seedlings; however, sheltered bare-root seedlings exhibited significantly less groundline diameter growth than non-sheltered seedlings. Cherrybark oak exhibited greater height growth than Nuttall oak, while Nuttall oak exhibited greater groundline diameter growth than cherrybark across all planting stocks.

March 11, 2011 Earthquake in Japan and 2005 Hurricane Katrina both caused significant destruction and were both viewed as examples of government failures in natural disaster management. One year after the disasters, both countries enacted several policy reforms in response to their failures. However, while in the U.S, the central government's emergency power was strengthened, the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan)'s government carried out reforms to strengthen the local governments. On the other hand, the other prominent political party in Japan, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), argued for more centralized power. How did these parties take different lessons from the natural disasters? This paper will first analyze the factors that led to government failures in the disaster relief period, and then evaluate the most influential factors that led to the policy reforms. Eventually, we would be able to figure out the exact factors that led the U.S, the DPJ and the LDP to their conclusions.

The creative nonfiction essays and poetry in this collection explore family survival during the hardest of times--when the desire to give up is at its greatest--as told from the perspective of a woman who is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. These are not stories of defeat. Nor are they merely explorations of death and dying. They are cleebrations of living, of surviving, of loving and being loved against all odds.

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNAs) were impacted by the storm. CRNAs were required to be on duty during the storm and SRNAs’ education was disrupted by the storm. This dissertation is a compilation of three papers that represent the initial exploratory research into the impact of natural disasters on CRNAs and future CRNAs. The first article was a focused ethnography utilizing focus groups and described the shared experiences of CRNAs who were on duty in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and the psychosocial impact the storm had on them. Ten CRNAs participated in focus groups that were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Six major themes emerged from the study and represented how the CRNAs appraised and coped with the stressful events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. The psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina on the CRNAs resulted in short-term sleep disturbances and a temporary increase in alcohol consumption. The second article was also a focused ethnography that utilized focus groups to describe the shared experiences of SRNAs whose senior year was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina and the psychosocial impact the storm had on them. Ten former SRNAs participated in focus groups that were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Three major themes emerged from the study and represented how the SRNAs appraised and coped with the stressful events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. The psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina on the SRNAs resulted in temporary increased alcohol consumption and anxiety. The third article discussed the results of an observational study regarding the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the outcome of the Self-Evaluation Exam (SEE) taken by senior-level students in the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Nurse Anesthesia Program. A convenience sample consisted of 174 former students. Regression analysis revealed the relationship between the overall percentile score of the SEE and the year the test was taken (prior to or after Hurricane Katrina) while adjusting for potential confounding variables. The findings suggest that Hurricane Katrina did not have an impact on the outcome of the SEE taken by these individuals.

The After August Museum collects and exhibits an open, user-generated body of content. Its primary objective is to help heal the post-Katrina Lower Ninth Ward community. It is respectful and considerate of the area's established traditions, present concerns, and future goals. The museum assumes multiple shapes and plays multiple roles as it acts as the center of the transitioning community.

Cause lawyers maintain primary commitments to causes and pursue political and moral objectives that go well beyond the traditional lawyering objective of client service, which is the goal of most conventional lawyers. In this research I conduct in-depth interviews with cause lawyers involved in efforts for social change in post-Katrina New Orleans to develop a richer understanding of their roles within social movements and how they conceive of and negotiate the core tensions in their work. I investigate the lawyers' roles within social movements situated in legal, political and social climates that are overwhelmingly inhospitable to their ultimate goals. Ultimately, this research presents a portrait of cause lawyers who develop alternative modes of practice that are more commonly associated with movement organizers and more closely aligned with movement goals of individual and community empowerment than are traditional models of lawyering.

Chronologically I have described the different environments that I have been exposed to in the past five years and how my interactions with the different locations have affected my work. I started writing about what I was doing a year after finishing my undergraduate degree, when I started to feel as though I needed to re-invent my work in a way that also meant trying to see the process of creating art differently. I didn't know yet how this new work would begin to generate, or what would inspire it, but I knew that I was seeking a studio practice that would be personal enough to sustain a lifetime of exploration. In the end I found the inspiration had always been all around me.

Samba drumming and dance traditions work in New Orleans in ways that they do not elsewhere. Casa Samba, a drumming and dance troupe in the tradition of the Brazilian escolas de samba, shows how it works. Integral to this analysis of Casa Samba are the ways in which the group's identity and the identities of its individual members are processual, mutable, and "unfinished, always being remade" (Gilroy 1993:xi). This thesis examines how Casa Samba has situated itself in the New Orleans music scene. This work seeks, through ethnographic interviews with long term members, to identify what makes Casa Samba attractive to New Orleanians who choose to join this musical troupe as opposed to the myriad of other musical organizations available. Finally, this thesis looks at Casa Samba's post-Katrina rebirth and the ways in which the group's willingness to continuously evolve throughout its history has made this rebirth possible.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, lapses in federal policy-making and a lack of state level enforcement paved the way for employer exploitation of predominantly Latino migrant workers, transforming working-class Latino newcomers into the newest class of storm victims in post-Katrina New Orleans. In essence, a "rebuild above all else" recovery scenario took hold between 2005-2007 in which immediate reconstruction of the city took priority over the participation of local, African-American workers and the protection of immigrant worker rights. Despite their disadvantaged position, however, migrant workers did not remain passive victims to injustice but actively organized against employer abuse and intimidation by law enforcement and immigration officials. Latino worker activists and their allies sternly rejected the “rebuild above all else” recovery model championed by local, state and federal government policies and sought to carve out an alternative rebuilding model that respected immigrant labor rights.