Hurricane Katrina: Helping in the wake of disaster

In the news:

• UW-Eau Claire student Claire Lindstrom is among Wisconsin National Guard members called to active duty to assist with the hurricane relief effort.

• Students Sydney Dun and Jules Miller are back at UW-Eau Claire after the hurricane cut short their semester as National Student Exchange participants in New Orleans.

Blugolds in hurricane region keep in touch:

Read e-mail messages from Blugolds about their personal experiences in the region where Katrina hit.

Others with ties to UW-Eau Claire who have been affected by Katrina can send e-mail to newsbur@uwec.edu for posting on this Web site.

At UW-Eau Claire, our thoughts are with the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Among those who live in the areas where the destructive storm hit are approximately 140 UW-Eau Claire alumni. Two current students, who had moved to New Orleans as National Student Exchange participants, fled to safety before the storm and returned to classes at UW-Eau Claire the week of Sept. 5. In addition, as of Sept. 2 approximately six UW-Eau Claire students had been called to active duty with the Wisconsin National Guard to assist with disaster relief in the areas devastated by Katrina.

In response to the needs of university students in the region hit by Katrina, UW-Eau Claire joined the other UW System campuses in offering a waiver of fall 2005 tuition for students from institutions closed due to hurricane damage. See archive story.

Campus relief efforts

(See a list of past hurricane relief efforts at UW-Eau Claire.)

Wristband sale: Several UW-Eau Claire honor societies will be selling blue silicon Hurricane Katrina wristbands on Tuesday and Thursday, Sept. 27 and 29, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross Katrina Relief Fund. The wristbands, engraved with the words "Hurricane Katrina Relief," will be sold for $1 (but donations of up to $5 will be accepted) and are available in the east lobby of UW-Eau Claire's Davies Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The bands also will be sold in UW-Eau Claire residence halls the week of Oct. 3. Groups selling the bands are UW-Eau Claire's Mortar Board, Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Gamma Zeta II honor societies.

Monetary donations: Those wishing to make monetary donations to the hurricane disaster relief effort can drop off checks, made payable to the American Red Cross, at the UW-Eau Claire Service Center in the east lobby of Davies Center on lower campus. Service Center hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. UW-Eau Claire alumni and friends who live outside the Eau Claire area are encouraged to make direct donations or volunteer through the American Red Cross.

Note: Online donors to disaster relief should be aware of e-mail scams that link users to malicious Web sites.

Discussions continue on campus about how the university community can provide additional assistance with the hurricane relief effort. For more information, contact Dr. Karl Markgraf, director of the Center for International Education, at markgraf@uwec.edu or (715) 836-4411.

Let us hear from you

Those with ties to UW-Eau Claire who have been affected by the hurricane disaster and would like to share their experiences with the university community can do so by sending an e-mail to newsbur@uwec.edu. The e-mails received will be posted on this Web site.

Students, faculty and staff called to active duty

Any student called to active duty by the Wisconsin National Guard to assist in the hurricane relief effort should contact Mary Ryan-Miller, associate dean of student development, at (715) 836-2003 or ryanmk@uwec.edu. Ryan-Miller will help facilitate the student's departure from the university.

Faculty or staff members called to active duty should work with their dean, department chair or unit director.