Which Way, L.A.?

State and Local Response to Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is a national disaster in more ways than one, and it's not just gasoline prices and commercial transport. Last Thursday, as the floodwaters were rising fast in New Orleans, California's Office of Emergency Services activated its State Operations Center to provide assistance and prepare for long-term housing. As Los Angeles County's permanent population is about to increase by at least 2000 people, churches are trying to find homes for evacuees. We speak with journalists, religious leaders, civil rights activists and the OES about what the Gulf Coast storm will mean for California's future. Reporter's Notebook: University of California's New Merced Campus It's been 40 years since the University of California opened a new campus, but classes began today for the first time at UC Central Valley in the fields six miles from the town of Merced, which only recently got its first sushi restaurant and first Starbucks. Tanya Schevitz, who reports on higher education for the San Francisco Chronicle, introduces us to the latest UC campus in what some would call the middle of nowhere!