Archive - 2005 - Story

Dishing out money for textbooks is about as painful as root canal surgery– minus the gratification of Novocaine. Sometimes it’s just not enough to look for that tiny "used" sticker. Sometimes the kids playing frisbee outside seem to be taunting you, as you wait in the bookstore line. This time the Internet has an answer.

Browsing through the store you see it, and instantaneously freeze mid-step— your perfect T-shirt, right before your very eyes. This shirt is an extension of your mind, body and soul— it embodies you. This has to be fate, you think to yourself as you pick up your size. The cashier rings up the shirt and you realize that your day is now perfect.

For the college generation, e-mail has replaced snail mail, AIM and cell phones have taken the place of the room phone and soon the Internet could render televisions obsolete.

As the Gulf Coast begins to rebuild itself in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, student organizations at colleges and universities around the country are organizing to assist in the efforts. Campuses directly affected by the storm, as well as those seemingly far removed from the tragedy, are mobilizing to support the American Red Cross and other relief organizations.

When Kelly Luna and her boyfriend left New Orleans on Aug. 27, 2005, they didn’t realize they wouldn’t be coming back. The couple headed towards Austin, TX that Saturday morning, while Hurricane Katrina spun violently towards the Gulf Coast. They feared the storm enough to leave, even before Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation, but they never imagined the kind of destruction that ensued.“ We only anticipated being away for a few weeks and being able to come back," Luna, 29, said. “I don’t think anyone anticipated it being as devastating as it was."