Washington, D.C.: In the wake of terror

Terrorized by the tragic crash of American Airlines flight 77, the nation's capital has stabilized, but things have changed.\nIU senior Brian Wlazlo arrived in Washington, D.C. a week and a half before the Pentagon was attacked. By Sept. 11, he was still getting used to life as an intern on Capitol Hill. \n"After the attack, what I noticed most was that the (Reagan) National airport was dead. Seeing an airport that is usually busy do a one-eighty and suddenly go silent is surreal." \nGoing to and from the Senate offices, Wlazlo had to pass through metal detectors. He also wore an identification badge. After the attack, two to three guards were posted at each door instead of one, and identification badges had to be visible at all times -- something not strictly enforced before the attack.\nDick McGarvey is the director of Career Services at the School for Public and Environmental Affairs. SPEA sponsors the Washington Leadership Program, a program that offers students like Wlazlo the opportunity to work for a semester in one of the offices of the federal government. McGarvey travels back and forth to Washington six to eight times a year. \n"There always has been a lot of security," McGarvey said, "but now there are two or three policemen in the buildings. You have to call ahead with identification information before entering certain buildings. There are physical checks, and some places you are not allowed to go at all."\nSenior Samantha Bingham arrived at the Capitol the weekend before the attacks. "It was business as usual," she said. After the attack everyone was trying to figure out what was going to happen next, but within a few days things were more or less returning to normal, Bingham said.\nBingham gave blood regularly after the attack, sometimes finding the lines too long to wait. Flags were everywhere, and people were volunteering in many ways, she said.\nShe took the Metro to and from work. Reminders of the attack were always present.\n"At the Pentagon stop the conductor would announce that only people with Pentagon credentials could leave the train," she said. "Usually, anyone could leave the train. There were armed guards posted at the stop. But by mid-November, it was pretty much back to normal."\nBingham was an intern at the Environmental Protection Agency which is located above a United States Post Office. When the anthrax threats began, she recalls constantly receiving e-mails from the post office administrator, re-assuring EPA employees that everything was alright. Secretaries who handled mail had to wear latex gloves.\nWlazlo was in the Senate offices when Sen. Daschle received the Anthrax-tainted letter.\n"Senator Daschle's office is farthest east…we didn't have much to worry about…it was too far away," he said.\nSenior Jim Kulina is currently interning at the International Trade Center. \n"The first week I was here…we were walking by the Department of Commerce, and some fumes had been emitted from an envelope…they irradiate the mail now," Kulina said. "This is a new thing (after the terrorist attack) and it slows down the process quite a bit. I got something in the mail the other day ago dated November 25."\nThe Washington monument just opened up again, and the White House and Capital building are still closed for tours, Kulina said.\nBingham found herself getting back into a regular routine, almost forgetting that the attacks had happened, but there were constant reminders -- like being at the Baltimore airport late at night. The airport was empty except for the soldiers carrying machine guns.\nCurrently radiation sensors are being placed around Washington in light of the fear of the al-Qaeda network obtaining nuclear devices, according to The Washington Post.\nMcGarvey mentioned the changes at the airport. \n"You have to be patient, and be careful what you take with you," he said. "Pick up a tin of mints at a restaurant and security (might) think it looks like anthrax."\nWlazlo returned to work the day after the attack, finding that people were trying to get back into a normal routine. \n"From my perspective and those around me, the attitude was that we were not going to be driven away from work, but that we were more driven to work," Wlazlo said.\nBefore the attack, Bingham had always been wary of living in Washington.\n"It was always such a target," she said. "But after going through the terrorist attack, I would like to go back."\nMcGarvey said that after Sept. 11, there was a decline in the number of students applying to the Washington Leadership Program for spring, but numbers are increasing for next fall. Students seem to be returning to serve their country, he said, "hearkening back to Kennedy's statement, 'ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."