The quiet determination of the University of New Orleans to be up and running as quickly as possible seems to be the best kept secret in town and has not been reported in the media here. UNO reopened classes on Oct. 11 on its satellite campus in Jefferson parish (1,000 students enrolled in regular classes and 7,000 in on-line classes); meanwhile the main Lakefront campus opened again early in December and so did the Library; intercession classes begin last week and the regular spring term on January 30, 2006. Apart from the 6-week post-Katrina hiatus, UNO was never closed! No faculty or staff have been laid off, if they registered and kept checking with the university in the course of this fall; if sufficient students come back in the spring, hopefully none won’t have to be fired. UNO has 6,500 students already enrolled for the spring semester and needs 12,000 to even the budget (pending 22 million in federal relief money to come). With 12,000 enrollments and the federal aid, no faculty and staff positions will have to be cut.

[Mr. Bischof has been “post-Katrina” visiting professor of history at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge during the fall of 2005 and will return to the University of New Orleans in January to teach and chair the department of history.]