Kanye West, Barbara Bush lay down the beat

In the days following Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West declared, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Barbara Bush declared, “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” Two different people. Two different opinions regarding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

These statements reveal that something is wrong with our country and those who govern it. A serious evaluation of the state of our society is desperately needed. The handling of the evacuation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina opened the eyes of many and keeps the eyes of some closed.

Making racist accusations against our commander in chief and government in general is not helpful, but this ought to be taken as a realization that people in this country are unhappy with the current administration. When the former first lady, the current first grandmother, considers the displaced Gulf Coast area residents better off, it shows a detachment from reality; more so than the previous opinion against her son.

Like 9/11, the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina allowed our nation to see where we are vulnerable and what needs improving. Our government outwardly professes “compassionate conservatism,” yet its actions display “non-compassionate incompetence.”

The richest country in the world knows how to give orders and pull a trigger but needs directions on how to lend a helping hand. The US is compelled to manage its superiority with violence, firepower, and technological advancements. It is no wonder that with war we quickly pull the trigger but prove to be inept with helping those in need from a natural disaster at home. If our nation and the rest of the world begin to open its heart to guide its actions to create peace and curtail suffering, we can slowly create a planet that cares.

Unfortunately, we live in a country of quick-fixes and quick pick-me-ups. We tend to handle situations with haste and with little regard for others. Violence proves an easy means to an end; a solution when all other options appear futile. When Gulf Coast area residents needed our country the most, our government took its time.

Does a man-made disaster deserve more attention than a natural disaster? When loss of life occurs all disasters become the same. As soon as our country begins to reorganize its mixed up priorities, we might have a chance to better protect our citizens should tragedy –in any form–strike again.

Tragedy is part of the cycle of life, but we have the potential to subdue the painful trail of tears tragedy can leave. As the horrific scenes from the Gulf Coast region flooded television and computer screens, Kanye West probably said what many were thinking. Mrs. Bush, a woman of socio-economic privilege, reveals her “let them eat cake” attitude in times of great need. There is no sensible reason for such an attitude; senility is the only excuse for this asinine comment.

There is much to rebuild following Hurricane Katrina and even more to rebuild for the well-being of our citizens and country. Will we finally learn from our mistakes? I hope we will not need another war or act of nature or terrorism before we turn toward the philosophy of kindness and away from the philosophy of greed and power. For now, we can all begin to follow the guidance of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nath Hanh: “There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.”

This article published in "The Hurricane"

Facebook: The next generation of instant friends

As the fall semester neared, I began to worry about the incoming freshmen. It frightened me to think that these new students would not have a chance to meet nor attend orientation until the weekend before school began. I tried to remember how I dealt with my new environment as a freshman but that seemed like years ago.

While anguishing over the freshmen’s plight, I continued my daily browsing of Thefacebook.com. After receiving friendship requests from old high school buddies who graduated in May, I reached my summer’s divine revelation: the class of 2009 was on Thefacebook.

As giddy high school seniors, the class of 2009 had heard, some even seen, the internet website of college students that is Thefacebook. As the parents of these young adults wrote the University of Miami a big fat tuition check, this promising group of incoming freshmen finally received their UM e-mail addresses–their gateway to groups, messaging, walls, and, of course, poking.

With intense friend viewing and group searching, I found students from the class of 2009 to be new members of the Thefacebook from as early as April. If last year’s students thought they were Thefacebook junkies, this new crop of Canes chomped down on the bit until it broke. These students were excited to be closer to the next phase of their lives; I was there once too.

I continued my investigative research because April seemed a little too soon. As I scrolled through the accounts of various incoming freshmen, I noticed most fields to be completely entered. Scrolling further, these new members were already part of several or hundreds of groups, and as I recently figured out how to turn on my wall, the freshmen already had endless walls.

Then my eyes wandered over to the right side of the page, where they bulged out of their sockets as I saw the number of friends these students had already accumulated without attending UM yet. Girls with 200 friends; others with 500. Guys with 170, another with 4 (he had just joined that day). One thing was for certain: the freshmen were creating massive friendships that dwarfed my measly 150 friends that I proudly accumulated in a year.

How could these new students have so many friends already? UM must have decided to have summer orientation. No, they did not, but Thefacebook did. I hope the person with 200 friends maintains every friendship or at least meets each person face to face; they owe their quasi-friends that much.

Congratulations to this Internet website. You are helping ease the transition into college; however, I am still angry with the recent surge of middle school acquaintances, who I thought I had finally lost, asking to be my friend. I did get my redemption. I kept those past schoolmates in purgatory–that area in Thefacebook cyberspace when someone asks to be your friend and you have yet to confirm or reject the friendship–for weeks before I slapped myself for acting so petty and confirmed the childhood friend.

I do not know how you freshmen did it. Whether you selected the most attractive people or ones you held similar interests with, I was unable to close the case. UM is a large school, so good luck finding all your friends. As for me, I am just happy that I have a few more thousand accounts to browse; I was getting bored already. In time, you realize that you maintain relationships with five of your Thefacebook friends. And as you will soon learn, there is much floating around on Thefacebook.com, so please remember to use protection when poking.

This Article Published in "The Hurricane"

Katrina Relief Effort: A Reflection on the US

WHEN and IF the University of Miami begins to discuss the amount of funds that will go toward replanting our lost trees, perhaps it would be in our best interest to donate those funds toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states. These victims are in need of food, water, and shelter more than our campus is of trees.

As thousands of people along the Gulf Coast, mostly low-income African Americans, await the slow-to-arrive aid from the US government, our university is cleaning up its own mess. With power returned and debris to clean, our campus may not rest until its natural beauty is restored. We should conserve money from the clean-up process and sacrifice time and energy to help the Gulf area victims who need it most.

With criticism coming from race-equality activists over the slowness to get help for the poor and disenfranchised of the Gulf Coast region, we at our luxurious, private institution of UM were helped immediately with our minor needs in comparison to the Gulf area’s needs.

Hurricane Katrina caused damage to the Miami/Coral Gables area in its own right. As the security guards around the UM campus make sure students do not enter the roped-off “disaster areas” and the crisis worsens in the Gulf Coast area, our problems seem trivial.

Is our private school campus of mostly middle to high income families an example that the rich get help before the poor? With such speed that the Coral Gables area was provided help, one would think a catastrophic disaster in a larger area would receive help even quicker. This has not been the case for those in Louisiana and the surrounding ravaged areas.

As one of many African American men pleads, “Take care of us, we need you (CNN),” we live like kings and queens. I lost air-conditioning for one night in the apartment area during the hurricane. Many students living off-campus lost electricity for days. Other on-campus students, blinded from the outside, partied all night in Clubs Hecht, Stanford, Pearson, Mahoney, and Eaton.

The royal treatment that UM on-campus residents received during and after Hurricane Katrina as opposed to the struggle for help in the Gulf Coast region is an example of the disorganized priorities that our country and government undertakes. The government officials speaking out to the hurricane victims seem as expressionless and stone-cold as when attempting to convince our country that our occupation in Iraq is for a greater good.

On September 1, President Shalala announced that UM is currently trying to accommodate many students displaced by Hurricane Katrina by enrolling them in available classes. This is a noble gesture, and it shows that we are more concerned about the well-being of students’ education than the iconic banyan tree. We should all be so generous in some way.

Like President Shalala, there are many good souls doing their part for the relief effort in what is the second year of devastating hurricanes across many states. As Hurricane Katrina barreled past south Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, where was the help for those who could not evacuate? There was time. Two and a half days to be exact. Ask NOAA.

If lack of money and man-power was an issue, perhaps we now realize we have over extended ourselves in the folly of war in the Middle East while we still have much to take care of at home. According to the New York Times (9/3), when asked, “Do we have enough National Guard troops?” President Bush responded, "Of course we do." We should all feel so convinced.

This Article Published in "The Hurricane"