Mental Health, Football and

Here are some interesting articles about N.O. from different papers:

1. There's a really good new mental health study highlighted in the NYT, though oddly the T-P did not include it (as far as I can tell). The Columbia University study says that as of September 2007, 46,000 children on the Gulf Coast are struggling with "serious" mental health problems. The children most at risk are not the ones who haven't returned home yet. Instead, the ones most at risk are the ones who have returned to their home but in a very unstable situation. Kids are living with grandparents, cousins, older siblings, or other families instead of the normal family dynamic. They are living everywhere from trailer parks (though not for too much longer) to houses that have only recently been gutted. As Dr. David Ward says at the conclusion, "The fabric of the family has splintered. Who is going to take care of the kids after school, or draw them into becoming musicians?"



2. Onto happier things. This story seems straight out of a Disney movie--and not a mediocre Disney sports movie like The Rookie but a really good one like Miracle or D2. The South Plaquemines Hurricanes will be playing for the Louisiana State title this weekend on the Superdome. To say that the families living in Plaquemines Parish have struggled is a huge understatement. Katrina made landfall in the parish south of New Orleans, and you can imagine the struggles that encompass the community. The Times-Pic has a fairly good article on it, but the New York Times has somehow hit the jackpot in covering this story: they have been following the team since September 2006 in a series by Jere Longman. The details of these stories are so finely picked that you can never forget them: the team's new locker room is their old, flooded gym, untouched since the storm. The team has fathers trying their hardest to raise a kid, go to college, and continue playing in order to maintain their sanity. Everyone down there declared a "mandatory Hurricane evacuation" for the parish, to come to New Orleans this weekend for the game.
   If you have an hour or more to kill during finals, and you want to cry about how amazing sports/people are, read some of these articles.



3. Some highlights from today' Maroon
   
   • An editorial rightfully takes the Debate Commission to task for their "specious reasoning"
   • Jordan Hultine writes a pretty well-balanced, informative look at the loyno.info "blog" on which faculty discuss issues stemming from Pathways. There is one particularly interesting "comment" on the article that delicately addresses the blog-ish characteristics of the .info message board.
     

That's all I've got. Have a good weekend, stay sane through finals.
bob