http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/gulfport/ Erica Erwin writes about her trip to Gulfport, Miss. for her series on what Penn State Behrend students are doing to help rebuild the area. en Copyright 2008 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:21:14 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Students gather around a bonfire in Volunteer Village. Photo by Jack Hanrahan]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/thank_you.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/thank_you.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:21:14 -0500 here. Lulla Bell outside her home in Long Beach, Miss., standing next to a 300-year-old live oak. Photo by Jack Hanrahan]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/hot_tub_humor.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/hot_tub_humor.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:59:08 -0500 Penn State Behrend student Marc Powers, 19, helps frame a new home being built in Long Beach, Miss., on March 12. The house is being built on the foundation of a home that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Penn State Behrend student Frank Kocher, 21, and some of his classmates spent spring break in the Gulfport, Miss., area rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Photos by Jack Hanrahan ]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/heavy_lifting.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/heavy_lifting.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:52:54 -0500 Photo by Jack Hanrahan No one who was here in August 1969 needs to be told what a Category 5 hurricane can do. That was the year Camille deposited this 72-foot-long tug onto a patch of land along coastal Highway 90 in Gulfport. It was originally called the East Point, according to stories in the Biloxi Sun-Herald, but the family who owned the land it fell on bought it and renamed it the SS Hurricane Camille. The owner opened a gift shop near the stern to cater to the tourists who would stop to snap pictures. But the gift shop, like nearly everything else nearby, got washed out by Katrina. ]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/the_other_hurricane.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/the_other_hurricane.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:21:23 -0500 It's tradition here at Volunteer Village to have a daily reflection after dinner in the mess hall. It's a time to pause and think about the day and the people you've helped. During tonight's reflection, students were asked to construct a time line of events, and chart their changing emotions over the course of the week. Several students said they were nervous about the trip. Some didn't know any of the other students they'd be traveling and camping with. Others were apprehensive about the work ahead. But over the past few days, that initial apprehension has given way to pride and a sense of accomplishment. The same people who worried about their lack of construction skills are learning how to gut and roof homes. Strangers are becoming friends. http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/reflection.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/reflection.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:09:55 -0500 While Penn State Behrend students were busy building fences and roofing homes, the rest of Mississippi held its Democratic presidential primary. The victor: Sen. Barack Obama. Diana Tinlin, a sophomore mechanical engineering major at Behrend, said was surprised by the results. Tinlin said she has seen the Confederate flag flying during her time here in Mississippi, a state with a large black population. "There are still racial issues here," she said. Danielle Wilson, a sophomore psychology major, expected Obama to triumph. "From what I've heard, Obama is more for the homeland," than are the rest of the candidates, she said. "(John) McCain wants to send more troops overseas, so I can see why Obama would win here." Freshman biology major Marcie Ryhal doesn't follow politics at all. "They say whatever will get them elected," she said of the candidates. Rod Troester, an associate professor of communications at Behrend who traveled with the group to Gulfport, agreed. "If they came here they'd promise money and revival, but these students have done more than any politician to make a difference," Troester said. http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/obama_wins.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/obama_wins.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:41:26 -0500 Web site promoting the house. Two and a half years after Katrina, the house is largely rubble, its front facade torn open, its windows destroyed. The roof in back has fallen to the ground. A historic marker telling its story either withstood the deluge or has since been replaced. As Jack was snapping photos, I heard a very familiar beeping sound coming from inside. Amid the broken bricks and cracked concrete, a smoke detector. Long live the Energizer Bunny. Photo by Jack Hanrahan]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/fire_insurance.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/fire_insurance.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:47:04 -0500 Behrend senior Carrie Barr, 22, left, and freshman Marcie Ryhal, 20, dig a hole for a fence post at the home of Elda and James Williams in Biloxi. -- Photo by Jack Hanrahan]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/digging_deep_in_biloxi.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/digging_deep_in_biloxi.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:44:50 -0500 that Wisteria Lane, but a desperate place nonetheless). Driving on Beach Road, the road that runs right along the water, it's hard not to be struck numb by the scars of the hurricane, still very visible at every turn. Some hotels and casinos have reopened, flashing lights beckoning tourist dollars. Vinyl signs wrapped around one construction site promise Margaritaville Resort & Casino will arrive in 2010. But look beyond the big concrete buildings and you see a different world, a city still very much finding its feet. The antebellum homes that used to line the beach are gone, destroyed. The houses that are still here are in various stages of repair or abandon; bright red Xs spray-painted on the sides of homes still mark the number of dead. The newer homes, the ones built after Katrina crashed ashore, are on built on 9- and 10-foot-tall pylons, high above the water. One tiny pink trailer, hoisted atop concrete blocks, was brought in on wheels, temporary housing for a family who lost everything. The owners of one home have tacked a sign above the door, just under the roof eaves: "Water Line." Insurance rates are outrageous. Makes you grateful for two feet of snow. ]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/devastation.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/devastation.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:28:42 -0500 Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the emergency response arm of the Presbyterian Church. After a dinner of Sloppy Joes, the students headed into a brief orientation where the village manager told us all about electricity (sparse), the sleeping "pods" (heated, thank goodness) and early morning shower protocol. But it was the mention of the Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders that really caught my attention. Apparently, they're at home here. Seems I may or may not be sharing my pod with an unwanted guest -- which might explain why, even though I'm exhausted, I'm having a little trouble getting any shuteye. Tomorrow's the first day of construction, though, and it promises to be a long one, starting with breakfast at 7 a.m., so I'm going to have to try. But I think I'll double check my shoes and my sleeping bag one more time. Just in case. ]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/gulfport_at_last.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/gulfport_at_last.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 23:01:45 -0500 The good news: We made it to Pittsburgh International. The bad news: The trip is not off to an auspicious start. Looks like our flights might be delayed from here to Atlanta and from Atlanta to Gulfport. In the meantime, Jack and I are enjoying the comfort of Gate C54. http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/why_i_love_flying.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/why_i_love_flying.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:29:04 -0500 not a morning person?) By the time I had finished shoveling my car out of the snow dune that is my driveway, it was 7:30. I had to meet photographer Jack Hanrahan at the Times-News at 8 for the first leg of our trip: Erie to Pittsburgh International. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. I live 10 minutes away. But Blizzard Weekend ’08 was anything but normal. It took 20 minutes, one sleepy husband and one burly, saint of a neighbor to push my Honda Civic up my snow-covered side street onto a main drag. I slip-slided my way to the paper, arriving just in time. Thanks, Tom, you’re a savior. I’ll bring you a souvenir from Gulfport. ]]> http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/and_were_yawn_off.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/and_were_yawn_off.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:36:34 -0500 Sleeping bag? Check. Flashlight? Check. Heavy duty work gloves and protective goggles? Check and check. Spring break, here we come. No beach towels or swimming trunks allowed. I’m packing a duffel bag, getting ready to tag along with a group of nearly 30 Penn State Behrend students who’ll spend the next week in Gulfport, Miss., rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. We’ll be camping out at the Orange Grove Presbyterian Church, in northwest Gulfport. The church has turned over its buildings to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the emergency response arm of the Presbyterian Church and the host organization for the trip. Full disclosure: I don’t know the difference between spackle and a spatula, so I’m going to focus on stories instead of siding. Over the next week, I’ll be reporting from construction sites as students work to repair homes – and lives. I’ll talk to families, both here in Erie and in Gulfport, who have benefited from the generosity of volunteers since Katrina crashed ashore two and a half years ago. And I’ll see, firsthand, how a tenacious, vibrant city is finding its feet once again. What better way to spend spring break? Follow along! -- Erica Erwin http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/a_different_kind_of_break.html http://www.goerie.thinkhost.com/mt/archives/gulfport/2008/03/a_different_kind_of_break.html Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:23:00 -0500