Community remembers trauma from Sept. 11

Personal milestones like anniversaries and birthdays are forgotten every day. But this Thursday's anniversary is one America will not likely forget.\nTwo years ago, daughters lost their fathers, husbands lost their wives and America lost its sense of infallibility.\nToday the national media tends to focus on victims in Washington and New York, but these terrorists' crimes are farther reaching.\nIt is not unusual for people to re-experience symptoms on the anniversary of a traumatic event. IU students, faculty and Bloomington residents will participate in candlelight vigils and art projects by children. Others receive counseling to come to terms with these powerful experiences.\nNancy Buckles, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at the IU Health Center, said patients have had a variety of concerns. Some were directly affected by the attacks, while for others, the traumatic event reminded them of previous loss.\n"Particularly for folks who have been affected by the event initially, they may experience sleeplessness, fear of going out, difficulty concentrating as well as many other symptoms," Buckles said. \nIU sophomore Adam Aft, who is from a suburb of Washington, D.C., said he was watching the World Trade Center attack coverage when the Pentagon was hit. He said he and his classmates sat silently as they listened to reports of the plane slamming into the Pentagon. Many of his peers had parents working in the government building when the plane crashed.\n"A lot of my classmates were in tears," Aft said. "The worry and panic in the room was intense. I can't ever remember feeling that way."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig was sitting at home reading the newspaper when he heard the news about the attack in New York.\n"I was naive enough to think it was just some little plane and just a simple accident," McKaig said.\nSince then, IU has experienced an increase in attention to emergency preparedness. On Oct. 9, the University will participate in an exercise geared to assess the campus's reaction to a significant threat. \n"I didn't have anyone personally who was lost that day so at the beginning it was just a news story, but after dealing with people who were affected it became much more," he said.\nMcKaig met with the three IU students who lost their fathers when the twin towers fell.\n"The personal interaction I had with those three students, along with the grieving just consumed me after the incident." McKaig said. "It just makes you realize that we are all more vulnerable then we might realize and we should appreciate the things we have for as long as we have them." \nAfter the U.S. was attacked, Americans picked each other up, grieved for the dead and went to war.\n"We're at war," President George W. Bush said shortly after the attacks. "We will not only deal with those who dare attack America, we will deal with those who harbor them and feed them and house them."\nFederal security funds have been redirected to secure cities the U.S government deems most at risk for a terrorist attack -- and Bloomington made the list. The college town is set to receive $36,400 in federal security assistance to fend off any future terrorist activity.\nHowever, with the increased security America has experienced some backlash. \nProfessor of political science and American studies Judy Failer said certain U.S. citizens hold their privacy rights sacred, while some are willing to sacrifice them in the name of national security.\n"As a student of the U.S. Constitution, it's been my impression that every time we've asked citizens to give up their rights we've eventually regretted it," Failer said.\n-- Contact senior writer Mitch Blacher at mblacher@indiana.edu.