10B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
AMERICAN TRAGEDY
WEDNESDAY,SEPT.12,2001
LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOR
Chancellor Robert Hemenway sent the following e-mail message to students yesterday. He also urged students to remain calm and continue attending classes after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., yesterday morning.
September 11,2001
Dear Colleagues:
We are all in shock over the events that have transpired this morning in New York City, Washington, D.C., and, I understand, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The tremendous loss of life and the overwhelming sense of needless tragedy have stunned us.
I've been in contact with the Governor's Office. State agencies are instructed to operate as usual, to the extent possible. As a result, the University will continue to hold classes and conduct normal business. Of course, it is at a faculty member's discretion whether to hold class, but I am encouraging all of our faculty to teach their classes as usual. I also suggest that faculty consider using the class as an opportunity for students to discuss these tragic events.
For those students or employees who have special concerns regarding family and friends on the East Coast, four sites have been set up on campus by Counseling and Psychological Services. Professional counseling staff will be on hand in the Kansas Union in the lobby on the 4th floor and in the Centennial Room on the 6th floor,the lobby of Ellsworth Hall,and Watkins Health Center. These sites will be open throughout today and, as needed, through the rest of the week.
If you are aware of KU students, faculty, or staff who are traveling or studying in the affected cities, please assist us in gathering these names.
With names of students, please contact the Dean of Students Office at 864-4060. For faculty and staff, please contact the Provost's Office at 864-4904. We will attempt to verify that all KU personnel in these areas are safe and have established contacts with concerned family and colleagues.
For any updates on University operations, please check the KU web site at www.ku.edu. It is important that we not panic or act precipitously. We need to gather as much information as possible before we make any judgments.
Let us pray for our country and the many whose lives are endangered today.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway
U.S. starts to put together a case against bin Laden
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials began piecing together a case linking Osama bin Laden to the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, aided by an interception of communications between his supporters and harrowing cell phone calls from victims aboard the jetliners before they crashed yesterday.
Autonorties focused some of their efforts on possible bin Laden supporters in Florida based on the identification of a suspected hijacker on one of the manifests of the four jets that crashed, law enforcement sources said.
The sources said the FBI was preparing to search locations in Broward County in south Florida and Daytona Beach in central Florida. The locations had links to the suspected bin Laden supporter on the jet manifest, the officials said.
U. S. intelligence intercepted communications between bin Laden supporters discussing the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, according to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
They have an intercept of some information
that included people associated with bin Laden who acknowledged a couple of targets were hit," Hatch said. He declined to be more specific.
Government and industry officials said at least one flight attendant and two passengers called from three of the planes as they were being forced down in New York and Washington — each describing similar circumstances involving knife-wielding hikackers.
The callers indicated hijackers armed with knives, in some cases stabbing flight attendants, took control of the plane and were forcing them down toward the ground, officials said.
One of the passengers was Barbara Olson, the wife of Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who called her husband as the hijacking was occurring.
She was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 that left Dulles International Airport in Washington and was forced to crash into the Pentagon.
The officials said Olson told her husband the attackers had used knifelike instruments to take over the plane, and forced passengers to the back of the jet.
Theodore Olson confirmed his wife made the calls before dying. "She called from the plane while it was being hijacked. I wish it wasn't so but it is," he said.
World watches as terror unfolds. Palestinians cheer in West Bank
The Associated Press
LONDON — People around the world watched in horror as images of terror in the United States filled their television screens yesterday.
On the West Bank, Palestinians celebrated but most world leaders expressed solidarity with an America that looked more vulnerable than ever.
Iraqi television played a patriotic song that begins "Down with America!" as it showed the World Trade Center's towers falling.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets to celebrate
chanting "God is Great" and distributing candy to passers-by, even as their leader expressed horror over the attacks.
"It is premature to level allegations against a person who is not in a position to carry out such attacks," said Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Pakistan. "It was a well-organized plan and Osama has no such facilities."
Audiences everywhere were transfixed by the devastation, as both World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York and the Pentagon took a direct hit from an aircraft.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set.
"I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident," Arafat said. "We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable."
Key indexes sank on world stock markets and some European airlines canceled flights to the United States and recalled planes already in the air.
Canada tightened security in major cities and along the U.S. border.
DID YOU KNOW?
After its founding in 1865, the University of Kansas opened its doors to students on September 12, 1866. Classes for 55 students were held in KU's only building Old North College, on the site of what is now Corbin Hall.
Join us from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 12 on Wescoe Beach to wish KU Happy Birthday!
JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST SAA MEETING OF THE YEAR!
Tonight 7 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
This message brought to you by the Student Alumni Association and the Kansas Alumni Association.
STUDENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS JENNY MCKENZIE, PRESIDENT JULIE ROBINSON, VP OUTREACH KYLIE POLSOR
AP INTERNAL RELATIONS ARAMIS WATSON, VP TRADITION KEEPERS ADAM NELSON, VP SPECIAL EVENTS MIKE KUEBELBECK, VP UNIVERSITY RELATIONS JENNIFER MUELLER, SAA ADVISER
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