New Orleans and the national organizations -- please read

[NewsNet]

Dear Friends:  The convention will take place in New Orleans next 
year.  We did not cancel it or change the dates.  The call for papers 
is on our website at www.aaass.org.

Wendy Walker
AAASS Convention Coordinator


At 09:52 AM 8/23/2006, Marta Napiorkowska wrote:
>Why did AAASS change their upcoming conference location from
>New Orleans to elsewhere?
>
>---- Original message ----
> >Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 21:37:39 -0400
> >From: Devin Browne <dpbrowne at MAC.COM>
> >Subject: [SEELANGS] New Orleans and the national
>organizations -- please read
> >To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> >
> >Hi all -- I just came back from visiting my sister and her
>family in
> >New Orleans.  A year later and that city is still a wreck.
>Vast
> >stretches of poor and middle class neighborhoods (and a few
>wealthy
> >neighborhoods, to be fair) are still untouched, many with no
> >electricity or other services.  I witnessed a boat on top
>of a house,
> >dozens of cars in yards and sticking out of buildings, and
>hundreds of
> >flattened houses.  My partner and I took a tour of the city
>areas
> >affected by the hurricane.  Our tour guide, a retired
>school teacher,
> >even took us by what was left of her house.  The
>devastation is beyond
> >what you read about, what you see on TV.  It's hard to
>imagine that
> >this is an American city, so little has been done.
> >
> >The French Quarter, the Garden District and a couple other
>more
> >tourist-friendly sections are fine (including my sister's
> >neighborhood, Algiers Point, which is above sea level and
>was spared
> >major damage), but many stores, restaurants and other small
> >non-corporate businesses are really struggling.  The city
>needs so
> >much, most of which has to come from federal, state and
>local
> >governments.  There is little you and I can do outside of
>visiting New
> >Orleans itself and continuing to pressure our
>representatives to fully
> >fund reconstruction and urge them to visit the city
>themselves.  Here
> >in Pennsylvania, last I read, only one of our congressmen
>and neither
> >of our senators have seen the devastation first-hand.
> >
> >However, as language teachers, many with connections to
>national
> >organizations, we can urge these organizations to schedule
>their
> >conferences and conventions in New Orleans.  The city is
>again able to
> >handle these types of events -- the national librarians'
>association
> >was the first to come back into the city and the convention
>went very
> >well.  New Orleanians are very friendly, welcoming people
>who are
> >proud of their city and love to entertain visitors with
>incredible
> >cuisine and wonderful music.  For those of us who work
>closely with
> >the nationals, please ask them to consider New Orleans as a
>conference
> >destination.  Without an increase in tourism and
>conventions, the city
> >might not ever recover.
> >
> >Thanks for taking the time to read this.
> >
> >Devin Browne
> >French & Russian Teacher
> >Pittsburgh Public Schools
> >Pittsburgh, PA
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
>-------------
> > Use your web browser to search the archives, control your
>subscription
> >  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web
>Interface at:
> >                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> >------------------------------------------------------------
>-------------
>M. M. N A P I O R K O W S K A
>Dept of Comparative Literature
>University of Chicago
>117 Classics Bldg
>1050 E 59th Street
>Chicago, IL 60637
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------