The Internet as Emergency Tool

The Internet was designed for disaster, and in the aftermath of Katrina, the global computer network largely performed as planned, serving as a critical communication tool for colleges hit by the storm. Though campus networks at many colleges in New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf Coast remained offline on Thursday because of storm damage, officials were able to activate off-campus Web sites that they had set up for emergency purposes and use those to keep students, faculty members, and others informed. The simplified Web sites sought to answer the questions that were being asked in the storm’s wake: Is everyone safe? Will faculty and staff members get paychecks? Will students have classes this term? (The Chronicle, free link)