<p>I have hesitated to post about things we are hearing here in Mobile, coming out of NO - I have many dear board friends who are attached to Tulane, and I had no desire to even appear to bad-mouth the school - but this was no surprise for us. My understanding is that at least one of the teaching facilities (hospitals) was condemned, no one in the medical community here expects the med school to be back in the “foreseeable” future - 2 years, 5 years? As someone said earlier, a number of these positions were filled by people who never actually came back.
I am sad to hear about the engineering programs, because preserving a strong, stable undergrad will be the key to Tulane’s recovery.
The problem with the med school is a stable patient population with the necessary range of illnesses to maintain accreditation and provide adequate teaching for the students/residents. They may be planning to take in new students, then by the time those are ready for clinical rotations (2 years) have the hospital ready for them. Right now it is lots of infections, heart attacks and trauma, although Oschner, I’ve heard is almost back to normal.</p>
<p>The accepted wisdom here is that NOLA will never be what it once was, and even among those that loved the place, the thought is that it should not be allowed to be rebuilt to the extent that it was. The wetlands should be refurbished, and building allowed in areas that can be protected by Category 3 storm levees. If the wealthy want to build on the lakefront, let them, you get into the same arguments that we have over building on barrier islands and beachfront - most people saying just don’t bail them out with taxpayers dollars. The problem is what do you do with the Ninth Ward? And how can the politicians come to any agreement when their constituents are not living there anymore, and may never be back.</p>