KreweNews

Au Revoir! See You in New Orleans!

We hope you have enjoyed this blog and have found it a useful way to get more information about NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. If you have any suggestions on ways to make this more useful for future Summits, we hope you will leave a comment below. Thanks for your interest!

Session Spotlight: Eyes of the Storm

When the streets of New Orleans flooded after Hurricane Katrina hit, photographers from the New Orleans Times-Picayune began documenting what was happening to their community. While doing so, they found themselves making difficult personal and professional decisions.

"Eyes of the Storm" is the name of a session that takes place at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 24 at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. It's also the name of a special video presentation the newspaper produced that focuses on the recollections of the photographers in the early days of the flood. The NCSL session will feature three members of the newspaper's photography division.

It promises to be a very moving session. To be a part of this session, be sure to register for the Legislative Summit today!

Session Spotlight: Can We Afford Our Health Care?

America spends an astounding $2.4 trillion to keep us alive, productive and healthy -- a number that will rise another $175 billion in 2008. Some states want to take the lead in "fixing" key parts of this system—a daunting task for big-government and small-government experts alike.

"Can We Afford Our Health Care? New Directions and Solutions" will be a featured session at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. The session will take place on Thursday, July 24 at 1 pm. Three national experts will discuss recent initiatives intended to control costs while preserving or improving health outcomes.

One of the speakers will be Robert Helms, an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan Administration, who played a key role in market-based reforms.

Register today to be a part of this session.

Speaker Spotlight: Paul Vallas

More than a year ago, Paul Vallas was named the superintendent of the Recovery School District in New Orleans. An article in The New York Times called him "one of the nation’s most prominent education reformers."

Vallas will be featured at two sessions at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. On Thursday, July 24 at 1 p.m., he will be paired with Sol Stern to discuss "Two Decades of School Choice: What Have We Learned?" Then, at 8 a.m. Friday, July 25, he will be a panelist at a session entitled, "Lessons from the Trenches: Turning Around Poor Performing Schools."

Vallas is credited with making notable changes in Chicago and Philadelphia school districts. He has been featured in a PBS series on leadership. We couldn't find an official bio for Vallas on the Web, so here is a link to his Wikipedia entry.

To hear his views on education in America, be sure to register for the Legislative Summit today!

Take it from Frommer: You've Got to Go to New Orleans

One of the nation's most respected travel writers recently wrote a piece that sums up how we feel about New Orleans.

"It can now be said with certainty and joy that New Orleans has returned to life: you really should visit this unique national treasure."

We couldn't agree more, Arthur Frommer! Read the full article here. We think you'll agree, when you attend NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans next week, you'll be glad you did! Register today!

Session Spotlight: A New Life for Online Government

"A New Life for Online Government," a session that takes place 8 a.m. Friday, July 23 at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit, will take a look at new ways government can use the Internet to provide services and collaborate with citizens on health, education, public safety and civic life. 

Leigh Rowan of TheSLAgency, will guide you through Second Life (illustrated here), where a specialized microsite has been set up for attendees to use as a resource.  You'll also see Virtual Alabama, a powerful tool that pulls data from different sources throughout the state and overlays it on a 3D map.  Alabama Homeland Security Director Jim Walker will describe how this award-winning tool for ’s first responders has sparked a wave of interest from government and private sector organizations.  You'll also hear how the Utah Senate is using Web 2.0 tools to inform and engage Utah citizens.

To be a part of this session, register today to attend NCSL's Legislative Summit.

Speaker Spotlight: Major General Michael R. Lehnert

Strengthening the relationship between communities and military installations is the focus of a special session at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. On Friday, July 25 at 2 p.m., Major General Michael R. Lehnert will be a featured speaker at the session called "Strengthening Military-Community Partnerships." He currently serves as Commanding General, Marine Corps Installation West.

The highly decorated Major General has more than 30 years of service to his country, including stops in Japan, the Philippines, Panama and Guantanamo Bay. In addition, he has served on numerous U.S. military installations and he will be able to provide a unique perspective on the military-community relationship at this NCSL session.

To be a part of this session, register for the meeting today!

The Effects of Natural Disasters on Higher Education

How do institutions of higher education handle natural disasters? From floods to fires to funnel clouds, university administrators have to evacuate students and faculty while maintaining essential services. Imagine the challenge of evacuating an entire university, including shutting down a medical school and hospital.

At Legislative Summit, a panel of officials from a number of schools in Louisiana that were forced to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina will discuss the Effects of a Natural Disaster on Higher Education at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 22.

The panelists include Dr. Charles Zewe, vice president for external affairs for the Louisiana State University System, who handled communications between the system office and the media during and immediately after Katrina.  Also, William Silvia, the former executive vice president of the LSU System, handled all of the logistics involved with moving the LSU Medical School and the University of New Orleans (UNO) to locations where they could get back up and running quickly. This involved finding housing for faculty and students, transportation, reconstructing payroll records, working out accreditation issues, and an array of other tasks.

The LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans had to be moved out of the city even though the New Orleans Charity Hospital is where a large percentage of the medical school residents practiced and where medical school students do their clinical work. The facility was completely destroyed by Katrina and remains closed today.  Dr. Larry Hollier, Chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center, had to deal with faculty issues and the placement of medical school residents in settings where they could continue to work in their specialties.

The Chancellor of the University of New Orleans, Dr. Timothy Ryan, has spent the last three years re-building the campus and programs. The UNO campus is within walking distance from Lake Pontchartrain and was hit hard by the storm, especially when the levee of the 17th Street Canal was breached.  Dr. Ryan, who is also a well respected economist in Louisiana, has a unique perspective on the impact of the storm and its affect on the economies of New Orleans and Louisiana. 

And Jerry Jones, director of the Office of Facility Planning and Control in charge of all state buildings in Louisiana, will discuss how he handled the negotiations with FEMA and other federal agencies involved in providing hurricane relief services during Katrina. Even today, he still is dealing with hundreds of unresolved issues nearly three years after the storm. 

Medical schools, public and private universities, and community colleges were all affected by Hurricane Katrina. This session will highlight some of their challenges and successful efforts to recover and rebuild in order to preserve these institutions of higher learning.

This session is at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 22 in the Hilton Riverside Grand Salon.

Speaker Spotlight: Robert Hoopes

When Newt Gingrich and Lee Hamilton take the stage at NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans, their discussion will be under the guiding hand of Robert R. Hoopes.

Hoopes, president and senior partner of Vox Global Mandate, is a nationally recognized expert on public policy, issue advocacy, and crisis management. His company focuses on providing bi-partisan advocacy and communications counsel to clients.

Robert has attended both the Republican and Democratic Conventions since 1992. He provides political commentary for Fox News, NPR, MSNBC, News Channel 8, Fox and BBC World News Radio and Television.

To be a part of this session, which takes place Thursday, July 24 at 2:45 p.m., register today!

Plan Your Week with Our Online Agenda

Hopefully by now you have registered for NCSL's 2008 Legislative Summit in New Orleans. With our improved online agenda, you can now plan your schedule before arriving in the Crescent City.

Our online agenda allows you to search for sessions by day, time, committee, topic, staff sections or other NCSL groups. Or, you can search for specific sessions or speakers.

With more than 150 sessions and nearly 500 speakers, the meeting offers several paths for you to take during the meeting. We encourage you to take some time, look over the agenda and plan your activities. You can start with the full agenda, or check it out one day at a time: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday!