Haiti Events Offer Insight, Chance to Help

Campus events this week will help members of the UT Dallas community not only make sense of the tragedy in Haiti but also play a part in relief efforts.

“The Haiti Earthquake: From Natural Phenomena to National Disaster” is the topic of a lecture planned for Thursday, Jan. 21, by Dr. John Ferguson of the Department of Geosciences. The event is scheduled for noon in the TI Auditorium (ECSS 2.102).

That same day and continuing Friday, the Student Organization Forum and the Office of Student Volunteerism will host donation stations at four campus locations for people to give to help ease the Haitian people’s suffering.

Ferguson’s talk will put the Jan. 12 disaster in perspective in part by focusing on the modern scientific understanding of earthquakes.

The talk will also explore human vulnerability to natural disasters caused by a mismatch between the short time view of societies and the larger time scales associated with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and floods.

The talk is sponsored by the Sigma Xi Research Society and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

For the relief drive, the Student Organization Forum and the Office of Student Volunteerism will collect donations in the Student Union, Activity Center, McDermott Library and Administration Building from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

Members of the Customer Service Committee, sponsored by Business Affairs, will also help staff the stations.

For those wishing to donate via credit card, a secure online marketplace will soon be available.

Donations through Web site will be counted in the total UT Dallas donation, which will be made to the American Red Cross.

For more information, contact GNO White @ 972-883-6223.

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