Michael Brown - Polly Auyeung

It's difficult to track exactly who was the architect of the FEMA Katrina camps. There were many levels of bureaucracy: municipal, state, federal... all played a factor in the hurricane relief efforts. However one of the key decision makers was Michael Brown, the now former FEMA director. The following excerpts from a CNN article can provide insight into the leader's attitude:

Louisiana congressman says e-mails written by the government's emergency response chief as Hurricane Katrina raged show a lack of concern for the unfolding tragedy and a failure in leadership. [...]

Two days after Katrina hit, Marty Bahamonde, one of the only FEMA employees in New Orleans, wrote to Brown that "the situation is past critical" and listed problems including many people near death and food and water running out at the Superdome.

Brown's entire response was: "Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" [...]

Brown took over FEMA in 2003 with little experience in emergency management. He joined the agency in 2001 as legal counsel to his friend, then-FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, who was Bush's 2000 campaign manager. When Allbaugh left FEMA in 2003 Brown assumed the top job.

"In the midst of the overwhelming damage caused by the hurricane and enormous problems faced by FEMA, Mr. Brown found time to exchange e-mails about superfluous topics," including "problems finding a dog-sitter," Melancon said. [...]

Brown resigned amid accusations that FEMA acted too slowly after Katrina hammered Louisiana and Mississippi, killing more than 1,200 people. He defended the government's response and blamed leaders in Louisiana for failing to act quickly as the hurricane approached.

He acknowledged he made some mistakes as FEMA's director, but he stressed that the agency "is not a first responder," insisting that role belonged to state and local officials.

As a bonus the article attaches a link to many of the emails Brown sent

Infomation Sources

CNN. "'Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged." CNN.com. November 4, 2005.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/ (Accessed January 8, 2010)

Airstream Designers - Andreea Toca

Wally Byam (1896-1962)
After graduating from Standford University's Law School, he became a DIY magazine publisher. One article he published was on how to build a travel trailer. Readers wrote in complaining that the plans published were flawed, and once Byam tried it out himself, he too realised that they did not work.

Afterwards, Byam became inspired to build a working travel trailer. His first attempt had a great impact on the world of trailers and their evolution through history.

Road travelling became quite popular in the late 1920's, and Byam's now functional plans were a perfect fit with the social culture of the time. So, Byam started selling his plans, complete trailer kits or finished trailers he built himself in his backyard. Soon after, he became a full-time builder of masonite trailers and the Airstream Company was born in 1931.

1935; Bowlus Company was bought by Airstream.

William Hawley Bowlus (1896-1967):
Bowlus was a designer, engineer and builder of aircrafts (mainly gliders) before helping design the all aluminum trailers in 1936.

Information Sources
1. Banham, Russ. Wanderlust: Airstream at 75. Old Saybrook, Conneticut: Greenwich Publishing Group, 2005.