FRIDAY, SEPT.14, 2001
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 3A
AMERICAN TRAGEDY
Vigil honors victims with tears, hugs
By Ryan Malashock Kansan staff writer
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
In a week filled with so much sorrow, mourning, anger and devastation, students of all races and faiths escaped the recurring visions of horror on television and united last night at the Campanile and remembered the victims.
At the vigil, students embraced one another, lit candles, held hands, shed tears and sang patriotic songs. Before the 30-minute remembrance program formally began, the crowd of about 1,000 students spontaneously sang "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful."
Unity was the dominant theme as Christian, Jewish and Muslim community leaders stressed the need to stick together and support one another during this time of sadness.
"We come with our differences," said the Rev. Thad Holcombe, pastor at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread. "We come to this Campanile Hill to continue our pilgrimage of freedom. A pilgrimage that can respect our differences, and can summons us to be a community."
Chancellor Robert Hemenway echoed Holcombe's sentiments.
dents, was one of the faculty members assisting at the vigil. Johnson lost a close friend in the terrorist attack and said mourning in a communal way helped heal the heart.
"We come as a community, the glorious community that it is, a diverse community," he said. "We're representing many religions, many faiths, many countries. It's important as a University and as a community that we come together."
"As a community, we needed to come together to show our feeling for what happened," Johnson said. "We needed this for support, to support the victims, support our government and support each other."
Richard Johnson, dean of stu
Carli Sanchez, Salina junior, said the vigil brought out many emotions, not all of them good. She said that she wished vengeance upon the guilty terrorists but didn't want any more innocent people to die.
"I came tonight to show my support for the victims," Sanchez said. "Of course they need to punish whoever did this, but no more innocent lives need to be taken."
Contact Malashock at 864
1810
(Above) A large crowd gathered at the base of the Campanile for the candlelight vigil last night. An estimated 1,000 people attended the event, which included speakers, singing and prayers for the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attack.
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
Claire Ryddynki was one of the many children in attendance at last night's candlelight vigil on top of Campanile Hill. Candlelight vigils and prayer circles occurred all around the country and around the world in memory of the victims of Tuesday's attacks.
Mixed business reported since Tuesday attacks
By Graham Winch Special to the Kansan
Lawrence banking officials and local merchants report mixed results after Tuesday's terrorist attacks.
Some students and Lawrence residents said they thought the attacks would slow commerce. Patrick Murphy, Overland Park senior, said he was initially concerned that banking would be affected.
"My parents told me to withdraw $200 to get me through next week," Murphy said. "Instead I just withdrew $100 just in case."
People panicking and withdrawing too much money can cause problems within the banking system, said Luke Middleton, research economist for the University.
"By withdrawing money from the banks, people can create a artificial shortage of monetary funds like a self-fulfillment prophecy." Middleton said. "What people need to worry about are their investments and the markets. Consumer confidence directly affects the financial welfare of the nation."
Todd Sutherland, president of University National Bank, said the banking system was operating as normal.
"There has been no unusual banking, and we are prepared for a demand," Sutherland said. "We have contingency plans with the Federal Reserve Bank that stem from Y2K."
As for commerce in Lawrence, business has been slow for the past few days, but business owners said they expected it to return to normal by the end of the week.
Free State Brewing Company, 636 Mass. St., hasn't seen as much business this week, said manager Joey Alfino.
Because of the restrictions of air traffic, businesses that relied heavily on mail had more problems than ones that didn't.
"We had a great turn out for President Bush's address on Tuesday,"
Alfino said. "Besides that, business has been slow, and I believe that it will pick up on Friday night."
"All businesses are being cautious," said Bill Sepic, president of the Chamber of Commerce. "Lawrence felt an immediate effect in the petroleum business and businesses that deal with shipping and receiving are going to suffer."
Contact Winch at 864-4810
Professors say attack motives complicated
By Matt Norton Kansan staff writer
As the United States continues to investigate the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, two professors at the University of Kansas insist the motives of the attackers were probably much more complicated than just religious fervor.
Margaret Rausch, a professor of religion who conducts research on Islamic studies, said that the attacks were on Americanism and capitalism
"There is a feeling that America is influencing other cultures." she said.
And the feeling among many people in the Middle East is that the influence is decaying traditional ideas of morality and culture, she said.
"It's that feeling of power that they could literally attack the U.S. from the inside." Margaret Rausch professor of religion
ification" and in retaliation, had his followers kidnap 52 Americans at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran.
Rausch said that since then, there has been a growing feeling in parts of the Arab world that their lives didn't count as much as those of Westerners. In simple terms, she said it was like the little kid in class constantly getting picked on. The attackers were the little kids who decided to strike back.
"It's that feeling of power that they could literally attack the U.S. from the inside," Rausch said.
"Whatever your lot in life, you're supposed to carry on," she said.
The attackers wanted to cause an outrage, not promote Islam, Rausch said. Islam teachings are fervently against suicide.
Timothy Miller, professor of religious studies, said that associating Islam with terrorism and other acts of war was one of many incorrect stereotypes of Arabs and other people of the Middle East.
Miller said that among those stereotypes are that all Arabs are Muslim and vice versa. In fact, many Muslims are not Arabs; Islam is a worldwide religion of nearly a billion people.
Miller said he didn't forsee improvements in the culture clash anytime soon.
"I think it's a real fundamental conflict, and I don't see that Americans are ready to change," he said.
One Saudi Arabian student, who asked not to be identified, said he thought the attackers were outsiders who believed they were starting a jihad, or holy war. The student said the attack really wasn't a jihad, however.
"Jihad means spreading God's word, and there was no spreading of God's word," the student said. "They probably thought. 'If we get into a war we'll lose, so you know what, we'll hit you under the belt.' They think it's a one-way ticket to heaven."
He said he feared retaliation against Arabs in Lawrence and said he had heard of rumors of attacks on Arab students at the University. Instead of going to mosque tomorrow, the student said he would stay home.
"I don't want people to know I'm Arab or Muslim." he said.
Contact Norton at 864-4810.
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