0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

archives@tulane.edu / This dissertation tells the story of the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) from 1965, when they first launched their collective bargaining campaign, until 2008, three years after the storm. I argue that UTNO was initially successful by drawing on the legacy and tactics of the civil rights movement and explicitly combining struggles for racial and economic justice. Throughout their history, UTNO remained committed to civil rights tactics, such as strong internal democracy, prioritizing disruptive action, developing Black and working class leadership, and aligning themselves with community-driven calls for equity. These were the keys to their success. By the early 1990s, as city demographics shifted, the public schools were serving a majority working class Black population. Though UTNO remained committed to some of their earlier civil rights-era strategies, the union became less radical and more bureaucratic. They also faced external threats from the business community with growing efforts to privatize schools, implement standardized testing regimes, and loosen union regulations. I argue that despite the real challenges UTNO faced, they continued to anchor a Black middle class political agenda, demand more for the public schools, and push the statewide labor movement to the left. Finally, the post-Katrina destruction of UTNO demonstrates the limits of union power and the real, human costs of school privatizations. In the wake of the storm, the district fired over 7,500 educators, the largest dismissal of Black educators since Brown v. Board. I argue that these dismissals were intended not only to set the stage for the remaking of the New Orleans school district but also to discipline organized labor in the city and the state. With their members dispersed throughout the country and their homes destroyed, it was impossible for UTNO to mobilize any significant resistance. Though the vacuum created by Katrina helped speed up reforms, the same processes of school closures and privatizations are occurring in urban areas throughout the country. Examining the results of UTNO’s destruction on educators, unions, and city politics helps elucidate the cost of neoliberal reforms and specifically their devastating impact on communities of color. / 1 / Jesse Chanin

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / April Goltz

Storm surge above the levee crest elevation combined with levee wave overtopping can place large shear stresses on the levee landward slope face. Previous research has examined overtopping flow conditions, but the resulting shear stress has not been thoroughly analyzed. The purpose of this thesis is to examine multiple combinations of overtopping flow conditions and the resultant shear stress along the levee’s landward slope. This thesis presents measurements of depth, velocity, discharge, and wave height, and it estimates shear stress using data collected from a scaled physical model. Shear stress is estimated using three equations including a version of Saint-Venant equations that accounts for unsteady, non-uniform flow. The objective of this thesis is to develop shear stress estimates on the landward slope of a levee during combined wave and surge overtopping for conditions and dimensions typical to levees along the Gulf coast of the United States.

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Alexis Pregeant

Ain't Dere No More is a poem

My internship at the Historic New Orleans Collection was an rewarding learning experience in that I was responsible for writing The Historic New Orleans Collection, Disaster Preparedness Plan, 1997. I worked under the supervision of the Collections Manager, Priscilla Lawrence, and was given a desk in her office. My responsibilities focused on every aspect of developing and writing the plan.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of New Orleans, 2003. / Title from electronic submission form. "A thesis ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Urban Studies Program"--Thesis t.p. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This detailed report of an internship at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, includes an organizational profile, a description of the activities performed during the internship, and an analysis of an organizational management challenge, a proposed resolution to the management challenge, and a discussion of the short and long range effects of the internship on the organization. Image and branding techniques are important aspects of the analysis and the resolution of the management challenge.

This report seeks to examine the organization in which this writer performed an internship as partial fulfillment for the Master of Arts in Arts Administration degree granted by the University of New Orleans. Although performed in a for-profit making rather than nonprofit setting, this internship, performed at the Hotel Inter-Continental, makes a valuable contribution to my professional career. The internship began January 23, 1998 and ended on November 13, 1998. The reason this writer chose to perform the internship at a hospitality lodging facility was to gain experience in VIP relations, managerial planning and controlling, and overview of hospitality industry. The internship was largely successful, as the writer gained the anticipated experience while making a significant contribution to the ongoing operations of the Hotel InterContinental. The writer is currently employed as a full-time employee as the Assistant Guest Relations Manager.