This paper is drawn from oral history interviews from elderly residents who survived the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. The aged faced similar challenges as their younger counterparts in the evacuation, aftermath, and rebuilding phases of the storm; however, their responses are limited by a number of factors that make the impact on their lives more intense. The majority of storm casualties in New Orleans were elderly. Those elderly who did survive the flooding experienced life-threatening physical and emotional stress. Life-altering changes, such as relocation from familiar neighborhoods to nursing homes in unfamiliar cities or a dependent life with family members, have often meant a loss of independence, a loss of community, and a loss of their sense of history. As natural storytellers, many elderly New Orleanians have important accounts to relate and oral history offers a method to preserve their narratives.

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Thesis advisor: Bonnie Jefferon / Kanye West is a musical artist whose shocking public statements often remain in the news for weeks on end. Throughout the past six years of his extremely successful career, at least three of these public acts have received tireless media coverage both for their perceived offensiveness, and for their direct connection to larger societal issues. This project examines three statements: (1) West’s 2005 claim during Hurricane Katrina that “[President] George Bush doesn’t care about Black people;” (2) the moment in 2009 when West stormed the MTV Video Music Awards stage during singer Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and grabbed her microphone, stating that he would let her finish, “but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time;” and (3) West’s 2010 appearance on NBC’s Today Show and the series of angry messages he posted to his Twitter page claiming that the interviewer, Matt Lauer, tried to “force” his answers. These statements are analyzed to determine whether West may have unwittingly employed the rhetorical method Theodore Windt describes as the diatribe. The paper concludes that West’s statements in 2005 and 2010 meet the criteria for the diatribe, using a shocking act or message to catalyze important discussion of major problems existing in society. However, West’s 2009 incident fails to meet the criteria, and cannot be categorized as a diatribe, but instead as simply an offensive act that provided no greater benefit to society. The process of these analyses may serve as a way to examine future celebrity statements to determine whether certain individuals are striving to elevate society or, through their offenses, may be adding to a cultural downfall. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29th, 2005. It is considered to be one of the costliest and devastating disasters in the history of the United States. The storm flooded 70% of New Orleans resulting in more than 1,500 people losing their lives and the displacement of an entire urban population. Reconstruction over the past ten years has revitalized much of New Orleans, demonstrating a great resilience and determination of its people. Nonetheless, New Orleans is also experiencing the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina where victims of domestic violence and the institutions that serve them have been forever changed. This dissertation examines perceptions of domestic violence and help-seeking behaviors among women in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans from 2005 to 2015. Findings show that many women face striking inequalities demonstrated in higher rates of poverty, lack of affordable housing, and one of the highest wage gaps in the United States. Patriarchal attitudes seen in legal institutions, the police force, and political systems contribute to the perception of a gender bias against women. This qualitative research uses a case study methodology and employs ethnographic methods of observation, including 31 in-depth interviews that capture the complexity of domestic violence and identify the social and economic dynamics that create barriers to help-seeking in New Orleans. The data contends that women who have increased access to informal and formal networks are able to enact behaviors that will allow them to seek help and extricate themselves from abusive relationships. These findings demonstrate that inequalities in post-disaster reconstruction have created barriers to help-seeking among victims of domestic violence. These barriers include the destruction of social capital, institutional failures, and limited economic resources. Likewise, findings reveal that attitudes and behaviors regarding domestic violence help-seeking are dependent on social and economic well-being. This highlights the need for more research and hard data on the incidence of domestic violence in New Orleans to learn the exact scope of the problem and how to overcome the social and economic barriers that perpetuate the cycle of domestic violence. / 1 / Kelley Virginia Ponder

The barrier islands of the gulf coast of the U.S. have been shaped and changed by hurricanes for centuries. These storms can alter the vegetation of the barrier islands by redistributing sediments, scouring off vegetation, physical damage to the plants, and by salt stress following the storm. Hurricanes also alter the mammal communities of the barrier islands through direct mortality and by altering vegetative communities. It is important to understand how the vegetation of barrier islands recovers after major hurricanes because the vegetation provides the structure that maintains and builds these islands. Following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, I studied the changes in the herbaceous ground cover and the density of woody plants in Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi from the winter of 2005 to the summer of 2007. Growth from existing plants and seed banks quickly revegetated the islands after the storm. The amount of live ground cover increased and bare ground decreased on each island and in every vegetation type. Most woody plant species also showed a net increase in density, with the exception of pine (Pinus elliottii) and Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides). The regeneration of woody species and the uniform increase in the live ground cover seemed to indicate that the vegetation of the islands was not irreversibly impacted. I also studied the changes in the composition of mammal populations in Gulf Islands National Seashore from the winter of 2005 to the summer of 2007. Prior to the storm 11 terrestrial mammal species were recorded in studies of the barrier islands. In the 2 years following Hurricane Katrina, I recorded only 1 of the 7 species on Cat Island, 5 of the 9 species on Horn Island and 2 species each on East Ship, West Ship, and Petit Bois Islands (which previously had 4, 4, and 2 each). Populations of mammals that used multiple vegetation types (raccoons [Procyon lotor], nutria [Myocastor coypus], and eastern cottontail [Sylvilagus floridanus]) seemed to show more tolerance to hurricane disturbance than more specialized species (black rat [Rattus rattus], marsh rice rat [Oryzomys palustris]). I also recorded at least one colonization event by river otter (Lutra canadensis), a species not recently recorded on the islands. This research serves as a baseline for future comparison following similar storms.

Recent theory on the role of celebrity in a contemporary context emphasizes the unique manner in which celebrity pervades public discourse. This thesis examines the interrelationship between celebrity and disaster theory in order to evaluate the extent to which celebrity had access to public and media discourse about Hurricane Katrina. Attention is also focused on the ways in which celebrity was manifested within this discourse. Social constructionism is employed here as the theoretical lens through which celebrity and disaster merge. With regard to methodology, qualitative elements of Altheide’s (1987) ethnographic content analysis are used to decipher the claims made by and about celebrity within the Katrina news media narrative. In order to address questions of context, Fine’s (1997) adaptation of Smelser’s (1962) value-added model is used to identify some of the structural considerations from which these claims emerge. From this examination, three substantive themes emerge: (1) Gabler’s (1998) celebrity theory offers a suitable approach to the examination of the intersection between celebrity and Hurricane Katrina; (2) Due to the character of this assessment, constructionist applications which consider not only the role of claims-makers but the structural context of claims-making activities provide the most comprehensive framework; (3) The pervasiveness of celebrity in the contemporary context, combined with the dissensus surrounding the Katrina event, allowed celebrities to adopt unique roles within the Katrina narrative. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-08 15:45:08.895

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-77). / xii, 77 leaves, bound col. ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, August, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University,2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.196-206).

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