| << Front page | Commentary | September 9, 2005 |
Katrina, in perspective
Among the most trite of media clichés is that tragedies such as the epic destruction which unfolded in New Orleans last week put things in perspective; the problems of everyday life now seem far more insignificant when compared to the earth-shattering calamity and chaos on the TV screen.
The fact is that for the vast majority of Oberlin students who have no friends or relatives affected by the disaster, the concerns which occupy their minds are much the same as they are every September, namely, the trials and tribulations of add/drop, inadequate housing and the small personal dramas which form the backdrop of college life.
The after-effects of Katrina have, however, been felt on campus long after the storm’s last gasps hit northern Ohio last week. Tuesday’s convocation evening with Frank Rich was dominated largely by the events in the South. Particularly notable was Rabbi Shimon Brand’s stirring admonishment of a country that can send its armies overseas but has no resources left over for its own poor.
Oberlin’s faculty and several student organizations have already organized panels to address the causes and fallout of the disaster, but perhaps the most meaningful response on Oberlin’s behalf has been the late acceptance of students from Tulane University, which was largely wiped out by the floods, and the administration’s pledge to further aid the reconstruction of other colleges in the area.
It is perhaps the very predictable and mundane nature of this week’s hassles and annoyances that allows us to appreciate just how devastating it must be to prepare for a new year at college and to discover that your college no longer exists. Reverse the cliché: it is not the disaster which put our everyday lives in perspectives, but our everyday lives which allow us to appreciate the enormity of the tragedy.
The members of the Oberlin community who have already acted to help the victims of Katrina deserve congratulations, but the rest of us cannot sit idly by, content to take pride in the accomplishments of others.
Katrina was a tragedy on a national scale, one matched only by the events of
another September four years ago. In a time when our federal government seems
largely unwilling or unable to provide the kind of support needed to ameliorate
the situation on the ground in the affected areas, we all have a responsibility
to do what little we can to help those less fortunate. This sort of action
ought to be just another part of our everyday routine rather than a departure
from it, and it should not take an entire city’s destruction to make us
realize this.
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