After 4 years, Sept. 11 doesn't inspire IU events9/11 TIMELINE

Many IU student organizations enlisted their services in relief efforts for hurricane victims. In the recent outpouring of goodwill, commemoration of the attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001 appears to have taken a backseat.\n"We've been so involved with planning Friday's event to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina that it seems as though we've sort of passed over 9/11, which feels awful to say," said IU Student Association president Alex Shortle. \nIUSA spearheaded an effort last week to unite campus organizations in a venture to assist those affected by the hurricane. The result of the collaboration is a benefit concert to be held in Dunn Meadow Friday. \n"Still, thinking back to our (Student) Congress meeting last Thursday, it's surprising that doing something to remember 9/11 did not come up as a major concern," said Shortle.\nAndrew Lauck, chairman of the IU College Republicans, agrees that recent tragedies wrought by the hurricane have overshadowed the grim anniversary, but he sees the shift of focus as a sign of progress.\n"President Bush has been saying for four years that we have to move on, and I think that, in light of Katrina and what people have been doing, it really shows the power of our country to move on and not to dwell in the past," Lauck said.\nMany students hold vivid memories of their whereabouts on Sept. 11. Many even remember the attention given to the day one year later. Alex Sharp, a junior and communications director for the IU College Democrats, said he has not forgotten. But Sharp, a political science major willingly invested in current events, admitted that Sunday's four-year anniversary nearly slipped past him and did not surface in conversation.\n"It isn't surprising to me," Sharp said. "Katrina has such a strong hold on everyone right now and it's awfully 9/11-esque."\nSharp fears, though, that commemorating 9/11 too heavily could, in time, distort the impact of what was a politically and culturally altering event. In other words, to designate 9/11 as a holiday might cheapen it.\n"I don't know if would ever want to see it treated as a holiday," Sharp said. "It needs to be remembered and, for our generation, it would be impossible to forget. But our society has a tendency to be shortsighted and I would hate to see 9/11 go the way of Memorial Day and most people, including myself, don't know that holiday's origins."\nSharp said IU's College Democrats did not discuss a formal remembrance of 9/11, but that they and the College Republicans will be collaborating on an American Pride Day in the coming weeks, also to benefit victims of Katrina. \nRichard McKaig, IU dean of students, suggests human nature as one likely cause for weakened emphasis on 9/11 this year. He also mentioned that IU has been kept extremely busy in recent weeks with the anticipation and accommodation of new students who are arriving as a result of the hurricane.\n"As time passes, we might find that we're heading in a different direction because human nature requires us to deal with other crises," McKaig said. "This most recent crisis has been particularly horrendous."\nTreatment of 9/11 at IU in the future is unknown. McKaig believes it will depend heavily on the campus's population and climate.\n"When the time comes to honor an event or a day, the question is always 'who will provide the leadership?'" said McKaig. "Sometimes it takes a fifth or tenth anniversary to get that sort of support"