New York devastation makes lasting impact on students

NEW YORK -- Last weekend, a group of 19 members of the IU Campus Crusade for Christ went to New York.\nTraveling more than 30 hours, round trip, in a 15-passenger van and two cars, the group joined the many volunteers to do what it could to help the city devastated by terrorists. The group decided to go less than 24 hours before it left. \nAssigned to Ground Zero, the task was to pass out Fallen but not Forgotten, a short magazine put out by Worldwide Challenge in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the attacks. Various members of the group said their stomachs dropped when they heard the assignment.\nNew York City is still in a coma. The hustle and bustle of the city has been replaced by disbelief and sadness. Masks protect many from inhaling the stale, ashy air. Tears stained the cheeks of those who glance down the street toward the rubble. Police and armed forces tried to keep the traffic on the sidewalks moving and attempted to stop the onlookers from taking pictures of the crime scene.\nBuildings that were once gleaming are now blackened and hollow. Windows of the surrounding buildings are broken. Stores even two blocks away were still closed and covered inside-and-out in ash. \n"I think the thing that struck me most about New York was the overwhelming sense of sadness," said sophomore Molly Lyons. "This incredible grief was just hanging in the air. The silence of the city was amazing, people spoke in hushed voices so that the only things you could really hear were the policemen urging people to stay on the sidewalks, and the sounds of the rescue vehicles driving by."\nThe group said it felt as if what it was doing was small and insignificant. Their work was not with the physical rubble that filled New York streets. Their job was to help the onlookers to cope with the emotional rubble they were suffering. Everyone they encountered seemed to appreciate their presence.\nPeople would stand hugging their family and friends looking down the streets to where the planes hit. \nAn anonymous passerby stared in disbelief and said, "They're gone. There's nothing there. The two largest buildings in the world used to be there and now they are gone." \nEmptiness and despair blanketed the city. The subway walls were covered in handbills for family members who are yet to be found. Candles burned next to teddy bears and flowers, some fresh and some dried by time. A memorial stood in the 24 Hook and Ladder Fire Department to remember the fallen heroes. Poems and prayers are posted on windows throughout the city. Children's drawings are ruined by rain as they hang from railings guarding the area.\nJunior Adam Culbertson realized the effects of the terrorist attacks the moment he stepped into the subway.\n"Pictures of missing lined the walls," Culbertson said. "One picture that sticks in my mind is of a couple holding their child of no more than a year of age. Then and there I gasped a quick breath and clinched now knowing how personal this was to loved ones and their family members desperate to find any information of their whereabouts." \nBut the emptiness was accompanied by a feeling of solidarity. Ribbons of red, white and blue are worn over the hearts of many. Stores are giving 10 percent of every purchase to the relief effort. Billboards read, "United we stand." Houses everywhere are flying flags. Everywhere the group turned, they saw support.\nLeaving the city after a day, the group started home. Many tried to sleep, some studied for tests the next day, praying to make it back in time to take them. They reached Bloomington around 8 a.m. last Monday in time for 9 a.m. tests.