By HOLLY WEILEDER

hnw002@latech.edu

 

Between the wind and water Hurricane Katrina brought, her family lost everything. Although there was nothing left for the looters, she feels she has been robbed.

Erica Taylor, a senior biology major, was one of countless Tech students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Her home was in the Lakeview area, where the 17th Street Canal split. Lakeview was one of the three most affected areas. However, when she applied for financial aid from Tech, she was denied the funds.

“Tech set up a scholarship called Rebuild Louisiana for students who had to evacuate or who lived in an affected parish,” Erica Taylor said. “Even though my family had nothing left besides the clothes they took to evacuate, financial aid said my parents had too high of an income so I was awarded nothing.”

Roger Vick, financial aid director, said Tech identified about 300 Tech students who qualified for this assistance based on the twelve eligibility requirements. “The maximum amount rewarded was $1,000,” Vick said.

Erica Taylor said that in the application, her family was asked to check off the parish they lived in and then put down parents combined income, and the number of children in the family. Financial aid considered all three factors and then determined the amount the student could receive.

“People were selfish and took money when they didn’t even need it,” Erica Taylor said. “If they lived in the right parish and just had minor wind damage, they could get money as long as their parents didn’t have a certain combined income. My parents lost everything.”

Vick said that there was no fraud related to this particular scholarship that he could tell. “I reviewed the applications myself,” Vick said. “We had different means of insuring that the applicants did in fact need the help.”

Erica’s father, Doug Taylor, was given nothing from the government for his family’s loss, either.

“[We didn’t] even get a trailer. If I didn’t do anything, we would be living in a Goodwill box,” Doug Taylor said. “Erica pays for school herself, so it hurt that Tech didn’t help her out regardless of my income, considering her situation.”

When asked about how Tech could have done a better job handling the Rebuild Louisiana fund, Erica Taylor and her father agreed.

“They should have run background checks of the families’ actual loss and damage rather than just if you had to evacuate,” Doug Taylor said. “Had they considered the actual loss, they would not have been handing out money to people who didn’t need it. If you subtract my loss, which was my house and everything I owned, my income would be way less than zero.”

“The situation made me so angry,” Erica Taylor said. “It’s a real shot through the heart, seeing as I love Tech. Had it not been for my amazing friends, and the support my family received from my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, I would have no desire to stay at Tech. But now Tech is the only home I have.”