Spring Break
Katrina movie night showcases student films
David Zugnoni
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: News
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The week's events are geared toward supporting the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, an effort to develop federal legislation for 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild communities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Supporters of the project encouraged people to sign a petition to present in Washington, D.C. to help pass the legislation. The objective is to acquire 100,000 signatures to mirror the 100,000 jobs.
Three of the five films shown were produced by SJSU students who visited New Orleans in January as part of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, and all five featured images of devastated areas and interviews with Gulf Coast residents angry about a lack of government efforts to rebuild those areas.
"I thought the video was real good because they actually showed real clips of what's going on right now over there," said Kesa Pomee, a freshman majoring in social work who stopped to watch a film for about 15 minutes on her way home from class.
Pomee said a display of small flags with names of all the people who died in Hurricane Katrina caught her attention.
Pomee was one of several passers-by who stopped and watched for various intervals, in addition to about 25 students who stayed for the entire two and a half hours.
"I hope these people go away with a visual image instead of us just telling them what happened," said Pamela Germany, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice who went on the trip to New Orleans.
Scott Myers-Lipton, a professor of sociology at SJSU, said the trip made students more dedicated to taking action to help the relief effort.
"It was amazing," he said. "If you could just imagine, house by house, block by block, mile by mile, 10 miles by 10 miles, everything destroyed."
Germany seconded Myers-Lipton's sentiment.
"I was amazed," she said. "It's like Third-World-country living in America."
Some of the films also focused on economic exploitation in New Orleans, which includes increased prices for rent in the area and efforts of private contractors to build moneymaking businesses.
Austin Geiger, a senior majoring in sociology who helped organize the event and led discussions between films, said the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is vital to restoring New Orleans and nearby areas without exploiting residents.
"No one's going to rebuild anything that's not going to make a whole lot of money," Geiger said. "So this is the only way you're going to get something built that will serve most of the people."
Geiger said he is hopeful and confident that the project will be able to pass legislation and make a difference in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.
"All these efforts are to first turn national attention back to the issue, to turn student attention to the issue, because I think a lot of people forgot about it - and second, to provide a solution or a plan," he said.
Victoria Chavez, a sophomore majoring in sociology, said the week's events are not only to help the Gulf Coast, but to bring awareness to many other social problems.
"When people walk by, we're hoping that they see it and say 'What's going on?' " She said of the display of flags with names of Katrina victims. "It's not just that a hurricane happened ... but what are the underlying social issues?"
The week's events end today with a march through campus from noon to 1 p.m. that starts at the Tommie Smith and John Carlos statues, and a barbecue at the Paseo de Cesar Chavez barbecue pits from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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