ABSTRACT
I watched Katrina from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I was attending a conference in London when news from the BBC and CNN International arrived about the strength of the hurricane, the devastation of an area the size of the United Kingdom, and the utter despair of the poor, elderly, and black citizens of the Gulf Coast region. What could we say about the public interest when it appeared that the public institutions most responsible for responding to the most needy segments of the public had almost no interest in them?
