Wednesday, September 07, 2005
USI professor to give hurricane presentation
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Dr. Paul Doss, chair of the Geology and Physics Department at the University of Southern Indiana, will give a presentation Thursday, September 8, at noon, entitled “The Tragedy in New Orleans: Environmental geology, failed public policy, and destiny.” The event will be in Mitchell Auditorium, in USI’s Health Professions center. “First and foremost, this hurricane was a societal-scale event,” Doss said. “I think we, as a society, would be remiss if we don’t investigate it, learn from it, and deal with it. So I feel obligated to do my part in trying to educate people about this.” Doss’s presentation will begin with a discussion of Katrina from a geological standpoint – how and why it happened. He will discuss the scale of the event, and the ways that it is affecting American society – both today and, likely, for years to come. He also will discuss the geological warning signs that have led earth scientists to believe for years that an event of this magnitude was “inevitable” in New Orleans. That, he said, leads naturally into a discussion of how public policy-makers failed to act on numerous warnings. “This was going to happen – it, unfortunately, shouldn’t have surprised anybody,” Doss said. “We, the earth science community, and the decision-makers we communicate with, knew it was going to happen. Yet the public policy that is sound geo-science was not only not implemented, it was flat-out ignored. “Actually, it was worse than that – it was reversed. The budget was slashed in recent years for the type of project that would be necessary to respond to this kind of event.” Admission to the discussion is free, and open to the public. For more information, members of the media are welcome to contact Doss at 812/465-7132. |
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