Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, Disasters

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Blagojevich sends Illinois National Guard to Louisiana

By Tara Burghart
The Associated Press
Published August 31, 2005, 5:30 PM CDT


The Illinois National Guard will send 300 soldiers and up to 50 military vehicles to Louisiana to assist with the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office announced Wednesday.

The large military cargo trucks can drive through several feet of water, making them suitable for cleaning up debris and transporting supplies, officials said.

The trucks will be accompanied by about 200 members of the Springfield-based 367th Maintenance Company, plus drivers and command staff. The group will leave Friday morning, a day after the 10-member Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team is expected to depart.

The state of Louisiana made the request for help through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual aid agreement between states.

Meanwhile, students from Illinois enrolled in colleges in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama shuttered because of the hurricane will be able to attend community colleges in Illinois.

``Many of them can't afford to lose a semester on their way to a college degree,'' Blagojevich said. ``We need the community colleges of Illinois to help them to continue their studies uninterrupted.''

Whether the students have to pay tuition or fees will be decided on a case-to-case basis by each school, said Blagojevich spokesman Gerardo Cardenas.

In Chicago, the head of City Colleges urged any city resident who was supposed to attend a college closed because of Hurricane Katrina to sit in on classes at one of Chicago's seven community colleges.

Chancellor Wayne Watson said the students can audit the classes for free, which means they won't earn a grade or credit, but will keep learning until their universities reopen.

If the effects of Hurricane Katrina continue longer than expected, and the student decides to enroll for credit at midsemester, City Colleges will waive tuition and fees for this semester, said spokeswoman Elsa Tullo.

Watson said he worries most that students will get discouraged by the delay and drop out, but he doesn't want to poach students from already-suffering universities.

``This is successful if two things happen -- one, the students are able to continue their educational experience ... two, if the student returns to their home campus, which is down South,'' he said.