Imagine coming back from summer break to find yourself relocated to another school for a semester. Then, when your university opens again, imagine facing the loss of your sport or even your major. Unfortunately, many Tulane University students have had to go through exactly this this past academic year.

Tulane had to close for a semester after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf of Mexico region, forcing approximately 400 students to evacuate the area and leaving thousands more without a university. Many students transferred to Carnegie Mellon for the fall semester; you may have met a few of them. However, thanks to donors across the United States, the university is now open for classes again. Tulane reports that 85 percent of all students have returned to school.

Nevertheless, Tulane has still had to resort to extreme measures to cut costs. They've had to lay off over 2,500 part-time and full-time employees, including over 200 faculty members. All fall varsity sports teams, except for cross country, were moved to other universities' campuses for the fall semester; though they have now returned to campus, Tulane has had to suspend eight of its sports programs. Tulane has also eliminated its civil, mechanical, electrical, computer, and environmental engineering programs, as well as computer science and 27 of 45 doctoral programs.

Despite these efforts, Tulane still faces a $90 to $125 million budget deficit for the 2005-2006 year, so they still need support. The Carnegie Mellon Staff Council, in partnership with the Tulane Staff Advisory Council, has started a donation drive called "Beads for Tulane" to help the storm-ravaged college. They are accepting donations of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or Target gift cards, as well as monetary donations. However, the drive ends next Tuesday, February 28.

You can make a donation at the Beads for Tulane table in the University Center this Thursday, February 22, or next Tuesday, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. In addition to the knowledge that you're helping an excellent university get back on its feet, you'll also receive some free beads!

For more information and additional donation drop-off locations, contact Genie Beckom or Lindie Droulia.

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