A BonaResponds response to the Olean Times Herald

A prior engagement kept me from participating in a recent BonaResponds meeting, but Jerry et al did a wonderful job responding to a local sports writer in the Olean Times Herald. Here it their letter (I wish I could add my name to it!!)..


26 January 2007
Editor, Olean Times Herald
693 Norton Drive
Olean NY 14760

To the editor:
In regards to Tom Roof's article of 23 January, 2007 in which he stated “We won’t have to hear for the next two weeks about how needed this is for New Orleans. If you weren’t sick of the Saints and Katrina by now, you surely would have been by Feb 4.” The cruelty and insensitivity of this comment is unconscionable.

Yes, had the New Orleans Saints won the NFC championship we would have been subjected tocountless Katrina stories between now and the February 4th. I can understand why he might be glad that the Chicago Bears relieved him of the burden of hearing about this tragedy for a few weeks. Imagine then, how much happier the people of the Gulf Coast would be if they didn't have to LIVE with this tragedy day after day for the next decade. Mr. Roof could simply change the channel. They can not.

Mr. Roof could have used his position as a journalist to help the thousands who are living as "Prisoners of Katrina," but actively chose not to. Instead he his elevated discomfort, or even worse, his boredom, with the images of this tragedy above the suffering of those experiencing it."

Many in this community were sicked by the stories and images of Katrina. Unlike Mr. Roof, they treated the victims of this disaster as human beings, not as an inconvenience. They went to the Gulf Coast, listened to their stories, and helped them clean up and rebuild. They went back again and again.

I invite Mr. Roof to St. John's Church on Sunday February 11th where some of us that have recently returned from Mississippi will be sharing stories. If he can't wait that long, he can visit bonaresponds.org or ask any of us at St. Bonaventure.

Jerry T. Godbout
Department of Chemistry
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure, NY 14778
The following St. Bonaventure students also signed this letter
Ryan Hasper
James Kane
Margaret Kubiak
Joshua Koszuta

Mississippi rebuilding expected to jump following agreement on Hurricane Katrina insurance claims - International Herald Tribune

WHAT GOOD NEWS FOR MISSISSIPPI! Not however for New Orleans residents.

Mississippi rebuilding expected to jump following agreement on Hurricane Katrina insurance claims - International Herald Tribune:

"In a move that is expected to jump- start rebuilding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, State Farm Insurance says it has reached an agreement with state officials to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to owners of homes along the coast that were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina.

The agreement settles lawsuits filed by 640 homeowners and allows thousands of others to reopen damage claims that State Farm previously closed. Insurance executives said they expected the outlines of the deal to be adopted by other carriers.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, does not apply to New Orleans, where the failure of the levees left much of the city underwater for days. Lawyers and insurers say no similar settlement talks are in progress there"