by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
UNM professor Lonna Atkeson received a $69,000 grant to study public opinion on the government's handling of Hurricane Katrina.
The National Science Foundation awarded the grant to Atkeson, political science associate professor, and colleague Cherie Maestas of Florida State University.
Atkeson said the National Science Foundation's small grants for exploratory research are given to recipients for a variety of reasons. She said there are specific grants set aside for disasters.
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"When there is public policy or a crisis, you want scholars to get into it," Atkeson said. "I was in Washington after the hurricane at a conference, and it was clear that the National Science Foundation was going to offer all these grants."
Nick Estes, a former University counsel, said Atkeson deserves the grant because it's pertinent to her expertise. He is taking her class this semester.
"She cares deeply about the subject and her students," he said. "She is interested in what her students have to say."
Atkeson and her colleague wrote a five-page single-spaced proposal with a budget included in it.
"The proposal reflected social science questions that are important and valuable," she said.
Atkeson said she is interested in conducting research on how people attribute their concerns and how they tie into levels of government.
"Whether it is federal, state or local government to blame, and how you perceive these institutions," she said.
She said theoretically, there are three ways people have passed blame on the inadequacy of government aid during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People can blame it on the victims and their looting; blame the government and public policy; or not blame anybody at all.
Atkeson said it is important to conduct research as soon as possible.
"I have been really, really busy," she said. "We wanted to get into the field very quickly, because stories are always changing."
She said the grant has given her the opportunity to provide the public with answers.
"You always hope your research has some sort of impact on public policy or an understanding of politics," she said.
She said the most difficult aspect has been the questionnaire.
"We want to write a survey that will hopefully answer questions," she said.
She said most of the grant money will go to a professional company that conducts the national questionnaire by telephone. The company will survey 1,000 people, she said.
She said the survey will be conducted randomly with an over-sampling of African-Americans, because they make up 12 percent of the population, and because the media highlighted racial differences in the hurricane victims.
"The victims - not all of them, but most of them - were poor and were black," she said.
