The 9/11 Issue

BUZZSAW Ten Years Later September 2011

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BUZZSAW Buzzsaw presents...

Buzzsaw : The 9/11 Issue

EDITORS’ COMMENT

The 9/11 Issue The generation of current American college students experienced 9/11 at an age of unquestioning naĂŻvetĂŠ. Now, 10 years later, have we left that state? After a decade of terrorism, war and exploding defense budgets, we are struck with an undeniable fear of the unknown.

This special edition of Buzzsaw is meant to encourage people to critically examine 9/11’s effect on our entire American experience and on the last decade of our lives. We were told again and again and again: September 11 is the day when everything changed.

Sensationalized media coverage permeated every aspect of our lives, from movies and television to politics and international relations. Ten years later, the sensationalism continues, examined in Rachel Maus’ article “The Taboos of Terrorism.â€? CoverDJH RI WKH WHQWK DQQLYHUVDU\ RI 6HSWHPEHU Ă€OOHG QHWZRUN news stations with hours of memorializing. Shallow, dramatized news coverage nodded at simple commemoration; critical analysis was in short supply.

After all, critical analysis was not “allowedâ€? in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and even 10 years later, conversations that betray a streamlined narrative that preaches of the utmost importance of nationalism are punished. Take, for example, Paul Krugman’s Sept. 11, 2011 post in The New York Times, which made a simple claim: “How many of our professional pundits ‌ took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?â€? .UXJPDQ ZDV YLOLĂ€HG IRU GD\V 5HDGHUV DUH VWLOO QRW UHDG\ WR examine the aftermath of 9/11 as an era full of questionable decisions and failures of logic.

The overwhelming documentation of 9/11 has left us in a state of shock. We no longer question the information we are given. We simply absorb and continue on with our lives. In Abby Sophir’s article, “Directing Nationalism,� she examines Generation 9/11’s reaction to the killing of Osama Bin Laden, leaving us to question exactly who is shaping our opinions and how much of the story they are telling.

How much of the coverage of 9/11 has been asking the right questions — or asking any questions at all? At Buzzsaw, we are committed to delving beyond simple commemoration of 9/11. We support journalist and author Susan Faludi’s desire for a more courageous media, one devoted to truth, even at the expense of comfort. After all, to quote Faludi, “If you don’t have a powerful force in journalism to educate the SRSXORXV GHPRFUDF\ LV Ă€FWLRQ Âľ - The Editors

News & Views Upfront Ministry of Cool Prose & Cons Sawdust Layout Art Website Seesaw Marketing Production

Adviser Founders

Kacey Deamer Alyssa Figueroa Emily Miles Carly Sitzer David Lurvey Catherine Fisher Danielle West Daniel Sitts Anika Steppe David Lurvey Adam Polaski Andrew Rivard Francesca Toscano Zachary Anderson, Cecily Brown, Jackie Celona, Jess Corbett,ZoÍ Epstein, Chelsea Hartman, Kait Hulbert, Patrick Morey, Mia O’Brien, Molly Petrri, Kayla Reopelle, Jenni Zellner

Jeff Cohen Abby Bertumen Kelly Burdick Bryan Chambala Sam Costello Thom Denick Cole Louison James Sigman

Buzzsaw is published with support from Campus Progress / Center for American Progress (online at CampusProgress.org).

Buzzsaw is also funded by the Ithaca College Student Government Association and the Park School of Communications.

Our Press is our press. (Binghamton, NY) Buzzsaw uses student-generated art and photography and royalty-free images.

Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editorial staff or of Ithaca College. Feedback and contributions should be sent to buzzsawmag@gmail.com.

Front & back cover by Daniel Sitts, Anika Steppe, & Rachel Woolf Center spread by Daniel Sitts & Anika Steppe Upfront divider by Caitlin Joseph Ministry of Cool divider by Cecily Brown Prose & Cons divider by Rachel Woolf Sawdust divider by Jess Hock

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WRITE US Our magazine exists to inspire thoughtful debate and open up the channels through which information is shared.

Your comments and feedback are all a part of this process. Reach the editors by email at:

BUZZSAWMAG@GMAIL.COM

Table of Contents News & Views .................................................4 Current events, local news & quasi-educated opinions.

Upfront .......................................................12 Selected dis-education of the month.

Ministry.of.Cool.........................................28 Arts, entertainment and other things cooler than us.

Prose & Cons ............................................40 6KRUW ÀFWLRQ SHUVRQDO HVVD\ DQG RWKHU DVVRUWHG OLHV

Sawdust ......................................................42 Threatening the magazine’s credibility since 1856.

Seesaw ........................................................47 Print media is dead. Check out multimedia on the web!

BUZZSAW

for more 9/11 coverage and daily content check out WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG

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Compiled by Kacey Deamer

buzzcuts

WAR ON TERROR “Voters continue to overwhelmingly approve of the performance of the U.S. military, with 91% who now rate it as good or excellent.”

- Rasmussen Reports

“Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, with 63 percent of the public now opposed to U.S. involvement there.”

- CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey (2010)

±3RI SYX SJ X[S ZSXIVW EVI GSR½HIRX XLEX America is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.”

- Rasmussen Reports

CASUALTIES IN IRAQ & IRAN SINCE 2001

116,657 civilians 76,778 Islamists 25,297 local soldiers 8,957 coalition soldiers 2,996 victims of 9/11 - http://owni.eu/

PENTAGON EXPENSES Defense spending

:

$300 Billion

over past decade

$50 Billion

amount spent on developing weapons systems that were never actually produced.

$6.1 or

Trillion

$46,500

for every man, woman and child in the country

33 percent of Americans “believe terrorism is more of a threat to the country today than it was before 9/11.”

Buzzsaw : The 9/11 Issue

- Rasmussen Reports

60 percent of Americans

“think a domestic terrorist attack is a bigger threat to the United States than an attack from terrorists living outside the country.”

- Rasmussen Reports

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added to the national debt, due to war spending and tax cuts - Reuters

CONFIDENCE RATINGS Pecentage of Americans that feel safer now after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks jumped from:

~35% 51%

after Osama bin Laden was announced dead - Rasmussen Reports

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Fight

How the death of DADT extends the reach of U.S. militarization

By Adam Polaski

O

n Sept. 19, hundreds of men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces gathered at a gay dance club in Washington, D.C. WR FHOHEUDWH WKH RIÀFLDO UHSHDO RI ´'RQ¡W Ask, Don’t Tell,� the United States’ ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. Service members and other members of the LGBT community sported ear-to-ear grins, exchanged jubilant hugs and spoke about how the end of DADT meant the beginning of a new, non-discriminatory military.

7KUHH HQRUPRXV YLGHR VFUHHQV Ă€OOHG one wall of the room, each projecting a countdown clock to the repeal of DADT. At 12:01 A.M., the countdown clock vanished, replaced by a screaming, triumphant fact: “DADT IS HISTORY.â€?

The next morning, American newspapers and LGBT media celebrated repeal, some joking that the “mission�

ZDV ÀQDOO\ ´DFFRPSOLVKHG ¾ 7KH EDQ RQ gay individuals serving openly in the military, which was instituted in 1993 under President Bill Clinton and was legislatively repealed last December after much debate and rare support from even social conservatives, was dead.

President Barack Obama invoked nationalistic pride in his statement on DADT repeal on Sept. 20. “Our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans,â€? he said. “Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward NHHSLQJ RXU PLOLWDU\ WKH Ă€QHVW in the world and toward fulfilling o u r

But while U.S. service members and LGBT people celebrated the legislative victory, other LGBT activists were less than thrilled with their community’s decision to focus so much time and effort on this issue. “Against Equalityâ€? is a queer editorial and arts collective that focuses on critiquing mainstream gay and lesbian politics and advocacy organizations. The group’s arguments are largely informed by anti-war and anti-capitalist feelings, and their new essay anthology, Don’t Ask to Fight Their Wars, features in-depth critiques of the DADT repeal struggle. “The only reason that DADT got repealed, as far as I’m concerned, is because they need more bodies to die in these wars,â€? Yasmin Nair, a member of Against Equality, explained. “And yet, the gay community is talking of this in terms of patriotism and honor and the ability to Ă€JKW IRU $PHULFDQ ÂśIUHHGRP ¡ DV WKH\ NHHS putting it.â€?

Ryan Conrad, a founding member of Against Equality, agreed: “After almost a decade of doing anti-war organizing and anti-imperialist organizing, it’s just really disappointing and sad that so many people are so excited and in such a fervor over this Ăźber-nationalistic, pro-military brouhaha.â€?

Nair and Conrad are aware that many activists who worked hard on repealing DADT did so because they viewed the policy as a literal proclamation that homosexuals and heterosexuals are different and should be treated separately. “We’re not for discrimination,� Nair said. “None of us [in Against Equality] have ever said that the policies are right. None of us have ever said that it’s not discriminatory to have a policy that excludes gay people.

What we are saying is that we’re against discrimination, but we’re also against war.�

Conrad noted that it is important to understand all of the consequences of the DADT repeal – yes, it

allows current gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly, but it has also increased the number of people in the United States who are eligible to join the military. “I don’t think you can be a peace activist and in favor of more people in the military,� Conrad said. “That’s some serious cognitive dissonance.�

Active recruitment of gays and lesbians to the armed forces has already begun. In 7XOVD 2NOD RQ WKH ÀUVW GD\ RI WKH SRVW repeal military, an LGBT community center hosted a recruitment team from the U.S. Marine Corps to speak with gays and lesbians about serving.

The death of DADT has also been used as a reason to allow military recruiters and ROTC programs back onto college campuses. For years, some colleges refused to allow military recruiters to work and speak on their campuses, DUJXLQJ WKDW '$'7 GLUHFWO\ FRQà LFWHG with their schools’ non-discrimination policies regarding sexual orientation.

1RZ ZLWK WKDW FRQĂ LFW PRVWO\ UHVROYHG recruiters are being welcomed back.

In the past month, Harvard University, Vermont Law School and the William Mitchell College of Law have all cited the repeal of DADT as a reason to revise their restrictions on military recruiters on campus.

Nair warned that these actions demonstrate the U.S. military’s FRPPLWPHQW WR LQFUHDVLQJ LWV LQĂ XHQFH across the globe. “The U.S. military and the war machine in general are pernicious and reach into our everyday lives,â€? she said, hoping that when people stop cheering over how DADT repeal is one step closer to “equality,â€? they’ll critically examine their relationship with the armed forces. “I just want to remind people that the war machine is linked to the militarization of our daily lives. And I would ask that gays stop being complicit in that machinery.â€?

Adam Polaski is a senior journalism major ZKR LV D JD\ ORYHU QRW D JD\ ÀJKWHU (PDLO KLP DW DSRODVN #LWKDFD HGX

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News & Views

Image by Anika Steppe

nation’s founding ideals.�

Race to City Hall

Ithaca mayoral candidates agree to disagree on local issues

By Qina Liu

W

ith little more than a month until the Nov. 8 general HOHFWLRQ ÀYH FDQGLGDWHV are vying for votes to serve as the next City of Ithaca mayor.

After winning the Sept. 13 primary against 2nd Ward Alderperson J.R. Clairborne and Tompkins County Legislator Pam Mackesey, 4th Ward Alderperson Svante Myrick will be the Democratic candidate.

His opponents include Republican candidate Janis Kelly, chair of the city’s Republican committee; independent candidate Wade Wykstra, a Board of Public Works commissioner; independent candidate Christopher Kusznir, owner of the Subway restaurant on the Commons and manager of Jack’s Grill in Collegetown; and Clairborne, who is also an independent candidate.

Balancing Budgets Despite being members of different parties and platforms, the candidates agree one of the biggest issues facing the city is balancing the budget for WKH QH[W ÀVFDO \HDU $Q HVWLPDWHG PLOOLRQ WR PLOOLRQ EXGJHW GHÀFLW is expected for 2012, said Kusznir, which means 7 percent needs to be cut.

Buzzsaw : The 9/11 Issue

“When you look at a 7 percent reduction to a budget on the background — the labor agreements and salaries — a lot of the raises that come in are mandated, so it doesn’t matter what’s going on with the budget,â€? he said. “So to have 7 percent less, or even to have 0 percent budget, LV DFWXDOO\ D YHU\ GLIĂ€FXOW VLWXDWLRQ Âľ Kusznir’s solution is to grow the city’s tax base from tax-exempt properties, such as Cornell University, and turn to privatization and other methods of revenue. “We’re not going to get there by cutting,â€? he said. “We’re going to have to grow the other side to get to a ratio that’s more balanced because you can’t ask 38 percent of your

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population to pay 100 percent of your tax base.�

Wykstra agrees that now is the time to be proactive. “I don’t believe we can hang around waiting for the next state money to come through,� he said.

As an independent candidate, Wykstra said he would take party politics out of the mix, look for HIĂ€FLHQFLHV LQ FROODERUDWLRQ DQG JURZ WKH WD[ EDVH E\ Ă€[LQJ XS KRPHV DQG property. “We have a lot of space in the city - the Cherry Street area, Carpenter Business Park, the Emerson property; we could be putting all sorts of green businesses in these places, all sorts of light manufacturing and creating some wealth instead of waiting for service jobs and retail tax dollars,â€? he said.

Myrick said it will take a balanced DSSURDFK WR UHVROYLQJ WKH GHĂ€FLW which means moderate tax increases, spending and personnel cuts, working with public unions and looking for opportunities for growth and development in the Collegetown and Commons areas. “If you look upon Collegetown, we can raise hundreds and thousands of dollars each year in property tax revenue,â€? he said. “Between Collegetown alone, that’s more than half a million dollars by itself in property tax, half a million dollars in tax refund.â€?

Kelly said while there is no alternative to some “deep and painful budget cuts� as a short term solution, her fear is that out-going Mayor Carolyn Peterson has asked city departments 7 percent across the line in recommendations for cuts. “I don’t think that’s the way to approach this budget crisis because it puts all the different things the city does on the same level and I frankly should think that some protection probably has somewhat of a higher value to citizens and taxpayers than

even very wonderful recreational things like the Stewart Park Carousel,� she said.

Like Kusznir, Kelly said she would also turn to the private sector. By replacing some city services, such as maintenance of roads, utility patching, street cleaning and snow removal, ZLWK FRQWUDFWRUV VKH HVWLPDWHV million dollars in savings. “There are some services that are currently provided by unionized workers, some we can no longer afford to provide in that way, and the reason is the way the state retirement and EHQHĂ€WV DUH VWUXFWXUHG ZLWKLQ WKH VWDWH is determined by the number of people currently on city payroll,â€? she said.

The Environment & Sustainability With the economic concern, some candidates see now as the proper time to address Emerson Power Transmission, which closed their 368,000-square-foot Ithaca plant on South Hill in Dec. 2010. “Next year, you’ve got a new mayor, you’ve got an opportunity to spend something and work proactively with the town,� Myrick said.

If everything falls into place, a project like the Emerson site could WDNH Ă€YH WR \HDUV VDLG 0\ULFN EXW there are many variables involved. “We don’t know how widespread the TCE [Trichloroethylene] contamination is, we don’t know what it will cost to alleviate and we don’t know what agreement we will come to with the town,â€? Myrick said.

After walking the site with a security guard and reading geological surveys, Kelly said the site is dangerous and the city needs to manage the toxins from spreading to nearby neighborhoods.

She demands an adequate cleaning DQG SURWHFWLRQ SODQ ZLWK WKH VWDWHÂśV Department of Environmental Conservation. “The initial thought was the toxins were contained in an underground reservoir of water that was there for

Ă€UH FRQWURO ZKHQ WKH SODQW was operating,â€? she said. “It turns out when they drained WKH Ă€UH SLW WKDW JXHVV ZKDW it wasn’t all there.â€?

Kelly said she was upset by the way the city tackled the problem, avoiding the DEC in court.

Image by Ken Robertson

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It looks to me like the city is coming down on the side of the polluters and the side of pollution in those places,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They talk about not wanting to take on the DEC because it would require going to court, and ,¡P OLNH Âś<HDK 2 . WKDW makes sense. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth it, and we owe it to those homeowners.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

After the clean-up process, Wykstra said he would like to see residential and housing space, manufacturing space, a business park and a power plant with district heating capabilities in the vacant space.

they will bring in these people who come, drill and move on,â&#x20AC;? he said.

another community outside of where they grew up,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Kelly said the focus should not be put on hydrofracking, but rather on how the city could generate revenue from workers staying in hotels if the procedure were to pass.

This was the case for Myrick, who was elected as an alderperson serving Ithacaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4th Ward when he was a senior at Cornell University.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to start making things in the City of Ithaca again,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what built the city and the universities.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If there is any chance that hydrofracking will come here any time soon, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m all for taxing the people if they are going to be in the Hilton Garden area or wherever they are going to be,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Kusznir also sees the Emerson space as a possible power source for district energy in Tompkins County, as well as a way to introduce alternatives hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the kind of thing we should be looking at - not fracking - not how can we destroy our environment to get a couple bucks today,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m at the mindset that if the money that LV SXW LQWR WKH IUDFNLQJ Ă&#x20AC;JKW ZDV SXW into a fracking alternative, we would have it.â&#x20AC;?

While the DEC released a 1,537page draft on Sept. 7 addressing how hydrofracking could bring jobs to some areas of New York.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to go to people who have been doing this job, who know how to do it - people from Texas, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, etcetera, and

College-City Relations Candidates would like to see college students engage with civic involvement, whether through local politics or volunteering.

Kelly said she would like to see an â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adopt a Blockâ&#x20AC;? program where students would be assigned neighborhoods to engage with and to facilitate social media and communication.

She also said she would like to see a UHYLYDO RI D VWXGHQW YROXQWHHU Ă&#x20AC;UHĂ&#x20AC;JKWHU program that she remembers from her college days at Cornell University. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can say that the years as a student enable them to have a safe base from which to get involved in

Besides bringing local volunteer opportunities to students, Kusznir said the city should be a destination for students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To ignore that is crazy,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and I think we let Lansing address what the students want. We let Lansing take the Targets, the BJs, the Best Buys and all the stores that I count busloads of kids going to.â&#x20AC;?

But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not too late to be heard. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would urge students and young people to know that you matter, and you have a voice,â&#x20AC;? Kusznir said.

Voters can register for the election or submit party changes by Oct. 14.

The winning candidate will replace Mayor Peterson, a Democrat, whose term expires Dec. 31.

Qina Liu is a junior journalism major who will vote for Bomber the Flying 6TXLUUHO IRU PD\RU (PDLO KHU DW TOLX #LWKDFD HGX

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News & Views

Myrick said while hydrofracking may be a short-term solution to job creation, the jobs created would not be local.

The city planning committee is currently reviewing a ban on hydrofracking within city limits. The Town of Ithaca has already established a ban.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;You know, I got involved as a student in this community, and I was made to feel like my voice matters, like I could make a difference,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Yâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;all â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Readyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; For This?

New IC marketing campaign brings change to college apparel and more

By Megan McGinnes

O

n Aug. 31, Ithaca College declared itself â&#x20AC;&#x153;Readyâ&#x20AC;? for national attention when it launched a new marketing and rebranding campaign. The collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new promotional materials aim to intrigue prospective students while staying true to the legacy behind the Bombersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; blue and gold. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Before this branding initiative, there was no consistency as far as our visual identity or the messages people were hearing about Ithaca College. They are going to see far more consistency now,â&#x20AC;? Rachel Reuben, associate vice president for marketing communications, said.

Mindpower, Inc. developed the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Readyâ&#x20AC;? campaign, inspired by market research conducted by Simpson Scarborough and a collection of student, alumni and faculty success stories. Mindpower, Inc. is a brand strategy and execution agency out of Atlanta, Ga.

Buzzsaw : The 9/11 Issue

Ithaca College would not disclose the cost of the new campaign. Reuben wrote, LQ UHVSRQVH WR Ă&#x20AC;QDO LQTXLU\ ´'HWDLOV of the Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget are considered FRQĂ&#x20AC;GHQWLDO SURSULHWDU\ LQIRUPDWLRQ VR ,¡P QRW DEOH WR SURYLGH \RX ZLWK WKH VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F amount we paid Mindpower and Simpson Scarborough for the development of our brand identity platform and the two market research studies we conducted as part of that effort over the last year.â&#x20AC;?

According to Scott Hamula, Ithaca College associate professor and chair of Strategic Communication, these marketing efforts have been done perfectly, combining both qualitative DQG TXDQWLWDWLYH PDUNHWLQJ IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO product. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many four-year colleges and universities have realized the need IRU PDUNHWLQJ DQG WKH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV IURP marketing,â&#x20AC;? said Hamula. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a competition for students to attract the best and the brightest.â&#x20AC;?

According to the Ithaca College website: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A 2009 alumni opinion study; a series of

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focus groups conducted with students, faculty, staff and alumni in the fall of 2010; and a survey distributed to over 20,000 administrators at other higher education institutions, prospective students and Ithaca College faculty and staff helped spark the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Readyâ&#x20AC;? concept.â&#x20AC;?

Over the next year, there will be a number of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Readyâ&#x20AC;?-themed advertisements running in newspapers, magazines and online. The school will be particularly targeting Facebook, Google and The New York Times. In three years, the college will evaluate the success of the advertising with market research similar to what was conducted last year.

Although television advertisements are QRW LQ WKH SODQ IRU WKLV Ă&#x20AC;VFDO \HDU 5XHEHQ says the ads will not be ruled out for the future. The college hopes to incorporate advertisement rolls for Internet video clips by spring.

Some students have voiced concern over the new marketing, noting that it has a â&#x20AC;&#x153;community collegeâ&#x20AC;? feel. Hamula disputes this, saying the brand captures the essence of the college.

7KH 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH RI 0DUNHWLQJ &RPPXQLFDWLRQV also created a new logo that encompasses a shield. There are four secondary logos, each of which have different applications.

The college obtained a federal trademark for the words â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ithaca College,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bombers,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bomber Nation,â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;ICâ&#x20AC;? in May and is currently in the process of implementing the new licensing.

If student organizations would like to use the trademarked phrases, they must undergo a new set of procedures.

The Ithaca College Bookstore will be introducing apparel with the new branding. Because of the trademark, all materials in the bookstore will need to be approved by marketing in order to have any of the trademarked phrases. Apparel ZLOO QRZ EH UHVWULFWHG WR Ă&#x20AC;YH ´RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDOÂľ colors: navy blue, gold, black, white and gray.

Rick Watson, director of the college bookstore, said all items, including school supplies and water bottles, must stay within these color limitations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Are people going to buy it because it says Ithaca College, or are they going to stop buying it because there are no fun colors?â&#x20AC;? Watson asked.

Watson said that when the bookstore Ă&#x20AC;UVW RIIHUHG VZHDWVKLUWV LQ D YDULHW\ RI colors, they sold 250 sweatshirts in just three days. Without those color options, sales could decline drastically.

Businesses that wish to sell Ithaca College apparel must be approved and pay for the right to use the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name.

The college is clear that the licensing is designed to protect the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity, not to earn money, Watson said.

Students are also involved in the rebranding process, contributing to their work experience and personal portfolios.

Currently, Park Design House students are working with marketing to create more uniform posters and standard designs for promotional materials, and the 20 students on the staff of Fuse Magazine conducted interviews for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Readyâ&#x20AC;?

FDPSDLJQ SURĂ&#x20AC;OHV â&#x20AC;&#x153;The stories are cool to see,â&#x20AC;? said Keniston. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll keep alumni engaged and hopefully bring in more prospective students.â&#x20AC;?

Joshua Keniston, who received his bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Communications Marketing and Design from Ithaca College in 2008, thinks the logo looks relevant for today.

:LWK D VOHHN ORJR DQG Ă DVK\ ZHEVLWH WKH college is channeling their Bomber spirit WR EH Ă&#x20AC;HUFH FRPSHWLWRUV LQ WKLV DJJUHVVLYH market. Hopefully current students are ready to embrace this new appearance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and lack of tie-dye clothing.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is always sad to see what you are familiar with change, but it is good for today and keeping up with the times,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Megan McGinnes is a sophomore journalism major who will tie-dye her new ,WKDFD VZDJ (PDLO KHU DW PPFJLQQ # LWKDFD HGX

Trouble in the Jungle

Ithaca mayor declares homeless community in violation of city code

By Candace King

S

ome may consider the homeless community located behind the Rt. 13 shopping centers, known to most Ithaca residents as â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Jungle,â&#x20AC;? as no more than a trash dump for the poor, but, to its residents, it is home. It is a place where they can dwell without the rules and regulations of a homeless shelter. During the summer, around 20-25 individuals occupy the Jungle; about six people decide to tough it out through the winter.

not safe or appropriate for the people who use the Jungle,â&#x20AC;? he said.

In the past few months, Ithaca residents have complained about open Ă&#x20AC;UHV Ă&#x20AC;JKWV DQG EXUQLQJ RI PDWHULDOV like plastic in the Jungle community.

Hoffman said that Jungle residents have violated many laws within the political code of the city of Ithaca.

Residents are currently facing a forced eviction, which they have fought for years and now continue WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW against.

G o s s a T s e g a y e , Photo by Ken Robertson Assistant Professor of TV-R at Ithaca College, has been tracking the plight of the Jungle residents for several years.

In Sept. 2007, he debuted his documentary about the Jungle and its residents, highlighting their dayto-day lives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[I was able to meet] those people and see how generous they were with their time and how articulate they were with their [thoughts],â&#x20AC;? Tsegaye said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Regardless of their living condition, at the end of the day, the humanity was shining through.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Any living space needs a building permit from the City Building Department,â&#x20AC;? Hoffman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They are apparently living or staying in a situation where there are no sanitary facilities: there are no toilets or supply of drinkable water. They have also created structures that extended into the waterways, and that requires a permit. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a permit.â&#x20AC;?

A combination of these violations, in part, led to the mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eviction order.

Many residents of the Jungle fall victim to drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and mental health illnesses. This adds to the concern of Ithaca residents and representatives. Tsegaye disagrees with the concerns, noting that these issues often indicate underlying, broader problems.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Part of the mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concern about this situation is her belief that it is

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The thing that we have to understand is that people do not use

The Friendship Center at the Tompkins County Red Cross Center hopes to provide some help as the Jungle residents move on.

The center has provided bagged lunches and showers to residents. John Ward, director of homeless services at the Friendship Center of the American Red Cross, said that the Red Cross is there for help DQG VXSSRUW QRW WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW the eviction. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Red Cross is neutral ... we understand both sides of the issue. The city has a responsibility for ensuring that its local laws and ordinances are being upheld, and we certainly agree with that.

We agree to try to assist the city with assisting the folks in the Jungle either to relocate from there or come into our Emergency Shelter program, whereby ZH FRXOG Ă&#x20AC;QG WKHP SHUPDQHQW housing,â&#x20AC;? he said.

As of now, there is no set date for the Jungle residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eviction, but Hoffman predicts there will be one soon.

Tsegaye said that evicting these people from their home is not going to solve the greater issue at hand. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The city is determined to remove these people physically and create a barrier for them not to occupy the space again,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But are we really resolving the issue, [or] are we just putting a Band-Aid on it?â&#x20AC;?

Candace King is a freshman journalism major who wants to live LQ D WUHH KRXVH (PDLO KHU DW FNLQJ # LWKDFD HGX

9

News & Views

Although the Jungle residents and many of their allies made a public outcry against the forced eviction, City Attorney Daniel Hoffman said WKDW WKH HYLFWLRQ LV VHHQ DV EHQHĂ&#x20AC;FLDO for the residents to help them better their lives.

drugs, or sell drugs, because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hopeful about the future,â&#x20AC;? he said, explaining that drugs are common coping mechanisms for people in this situation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a burning issue, an issue right now within themselves.â&#x20AC;?

A Line in the (Tar) Sand

Ithaca College students and professor arrested in landmark civil disobedience

By Megan Devlin

O

ne by one, bodies rose from the human rows spread along WKH VLGHZDON Ă&#x20AC;OLQJ VORZO\ into the back of police vans parked just feet away. Ren Ostry and 11 other women squeezed into a van and VKXIĂ HG DURXQG WKH WLJKW VSDFH WR make as much room they could. As the car pulled away, they began to rejoice in song, their hands bounced to the beat while tightly clasped behind their backs.

2Q 6HSW Ă&#x20AC;YH Ithaca College students and one professor, along with 20 other activists from Ithaca, drove nearly 350 miles to Washington, D.C. to participate in what would become the largest act of environmental civil disobedience in decades. All six were among the 244 arrested the next afternoon after protesting against the proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

Buzzsaw : The 9/11 Issue

Participants in this nationwide campaign protested for two weeks.

1RWDEOH Ă&#x20AC;JXUHV OLNH HQYLURQPHQWDOLVW Bill McKibben joined in the action, speaking to the crowd of activists and asking President Obama to deny permit for the tar sands oil pipeline, which would stretch from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. With this environmental threat pending, citizens decided to put more than just a foot down.

A police approached the seated rows of bodies, his voice just breaking through the humming loudspeaker: ´7KLV LV \RXU WKLUG DQG Ă&#x20AC;QDO ZDUQLQJ ,I you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave the area you are subject to arrest, and you will be arrested.â&#x20AC;?

Last month junior Ren Ostry began organizing a student group to join in the national Tar Sands action.

She worked closely with the Green Umbrella, a New York state youth network of environmental activists, to

10

recruit 20 other individuals from the ,WKDFD DUHD WR MRLQ LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;JKW DJDLQVW this â&#x20AC;&#x153;fossil fuel monster.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We as the generation that elected Obama demand a future that we can respect and we can welcome,â&#x20AC;? she said.

As a leader of the environmental movement on campus, Ostry has

the call, people from all walks of life UHVSRQGHG 6KH VDLG WKDW RQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW day alone, participants as young as 17 and as old as 84 stood side-byside, demanding redress. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That speaks volumes to dedication people have to holding Obama accountable and also to making some sort of change in environmental issues right now,â&#x20AC;? Capato said.

If approved, the Keystone XL Pipeline will carry 900,000 barrels of oil per day along its 1,700 mile-long stretch. As the second-largest repository of oil in the world, the Alberta tar sands could help expand development of U.S. energy sources, thereby decreasing national dependence on international markets.

However, it also has the dangerous potential to increase the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s temperature. In its SURMHFWHG Ă&#x20AC;IW\ \HDU OLIHF\FOH the pipeline could release up to Photo by Mitch Paine 1.15 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. participated in everything from Emily Shaw, a junior environmental Powershift to anti-fracking hearings and local action trainings. But when VWXGLHV PDMRU Ă&#x20AC;UVW OHDUQHG DERXW organizing this trip to D.C., she never the Tar Sands action only two days anticipated she would return to beforehand. She spent most of her Ithaca with a new band of brothers time preparing for the action studying the details of the drilling process. and sisters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not something where you can Elan Shapiro, professor of Environmental Studies and Sciences just get oil, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also natural gas at the college, has become a mentor that goes into it,â&#x20AC;? Shaw said. Ă&#x20AC;JXUH WR 2VWU\ LQVSLULQJ KHU Sophomore Ben Knowles warned environmental activism in Ithaca. As against the pipelineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s use of natural the lone faculty member to join the gas. Knowles, who is heavily involved students in D.C., Shapiro said he was in Ithacaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anti-fracking movement, impressed by both the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spirit said Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approval of this pipeline and discipline. is likely to spur natural gas drilling â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was just struck by how idealistic here in Ithaca. yet sophisticated the students were,â&#x20AC;? he â&#x20AC;&#x153;The gas they use to power the said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People had a very keen sense of the machines is natural gas most likely gravity and the dangers involved right drilled from the Marcellus Shale,â&#x20AC;? she now and continuing to use fossil fuels.â&#x20AC;? said.

Linda Capato, one of the four Capato said participants took organizers contracted for the Tar this energy from the campaign back Sands action, said it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just home to educate their communities the youth who expressed their and make connections to their local environmental concern this time. environments.

When Capato and her team put out

address global warming.â&#x20AC;?

All activists agree that society needs to move to the next level. Shapiro VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ QRWHG WKDW $PHULFDQV DUH too comfortable with their situation.

But to get out of â&#x20AC;&#x153;business-as-usualâ&#x20AC;? mode, people have to start thinking differently about their power.

According to Shaw, creating awareness in hopes of changing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mindsets was part of the goal for participating in this action. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are people who care. There are people who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to stand for this; we will get arrested for the cause. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not just going to sit back and let happenâ&#x20AC;Ś Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing this for everyone,â&#x20AC;? she said.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The biggest thing that came out of this action is that people went home DQG JRW SUHWW\ Ă&#x20AC;UHG XS WR GR VRPHWKLQJ locally,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Sharing stories with the community is one way activists are keeping the energy of the protest alive, but Capato said itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to focus their strategy on talking to Obama, too. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most of us worked our butts off to get Obama elected,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is really our line in the sand right now. We know that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s serious about climate issues if he says no. If he says yes and allows the pipeline to exist, we know that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be in a position where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be really hard for us to switch to an alternative in the future.â&#x20AC;?

Shapiro said this action is urgently important in order for real change to occur. Shapiro hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t participated in civil disobedience since 1968, when he protested against the Vietnam War with other students at Columbia University. This time, however, he recognized the gravity of putting their bodies and clean records on the line.

Across the street, thousands of eyes were locked on the chanting activists, cheering them on as police escorted them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had to walk in between the fence of the park where the rally was and

The solidarity this movement has built is monumental. The national support these activists have built as a group outweighs the costs to each individual: a mere scratch on the records and dent in the wallets do not compare. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hearing about communities that were arrested on the same day continuing to organize together,â&#x20AC;?

Capato said with a newfound excitement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It really creates this bridge that we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have in the environmental movement before.â&#x20AC;?

While Shapiro notes the important ecological dimension of the movement, he also emphasized the challenges in helping this campaign succeed. Most notably, the gross inequalities in society inhibit people from thinking about the quality of their environment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you have poverty and racism, people canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be thinking about implications of wasting,â&#x20AC;? Shapiro said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Empowering people and supporting them to be healthy and to have the right kind of jobs is such a powerful way to

Phase two is slated for Oct. 7, when thousands are expected to descend RQ :DVKLQJWRQ IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO KHDULQJ before Obama decides whether or not to approve the pipeline. Until then, the White House can expect to see HQYLURQPHQWDO DFWLYLVP DW LWV Ă&#x20AC;QHVW ´:H¡UH JRLQJ WR FRQWLQXH Ă&#x20AC;JKWLQJ Âľ said Shaw. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to continue sending letters, sending petitions, showing the Obama administration this isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t something weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just going to let go.â&#x20AC;? ____________________________________ Megan Devlin is a sophomore journalism major whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not opposed to hand cuffs RU ]LS WLHV (PDLO KHU DW PGHYOLQ # LWKDFD HGX

News & Views

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Being willing to take a stand and live through the consequences really inspired a lot of other people,â&#x20AC;? he said.

the paddy wagon,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You had all those people thanking you â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that was really gratifying.â&#x20AC;?

By drawing connections across all dimensions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ecological, economic, racial, political â&#x20AC;&#x201D; activists could pave the way toward a clean energy future.

Knowles said the Tar Sands action is just the beginning.

Photo by Mitch Paine

11

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

FRONT. UPFRONT. UPFRO

12

Supermen of Washington

Politicians use 9/11 as a tool to win elections

By Jess Corbett

P

ost-9/11 politicians used the terror attacks to transform themselves into a new version of the American Superman â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one that relied on clichĂŠd election phrases, vague promises and patriot-infused speeches.

Former President George W. Bush relied on 9/11 as a rallying tactic for several years after the event. Politicians like Bush received immense support from civilians after the attack. The reason was simple: fear.

Ithaca College politics professor Juan Arroyo discussed the repercussion of 9/11 in U.S. politics courses, and most recently in a public lecture titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sept.

11, 2001: Looking Back,â&#x20AC;? held at Ithaca College on Sept. 14. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a collective sense of fear and insecurity, and [politicians] offered protection and consolation,â&#x20AC;? Arroyo said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They concentrated on fear and minimized many other domestic and economic problems that had to be addressed.â&#x20AC;?

The attacks generated a fear that reached deep into the American psyche, invading our everyday lives and living room TV sets. This newfound insecurity from the attack was overwhelmed by the rallying power of Bushâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarks â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his approval rating skyrocketed.

On Sept. 10, 2001, Bushâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approval rating was 51 percent, according to Gallup. Three days after the attack, the rating had reached 86 percent, and by Sept. 21, 2001, it peaked at 90 percent.

Bushâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Address to the Nationâ&#x20AC;? on Oct. 7, 2001, marked a beginning to the war on terror. He announced planned strikes against Taliban military installations and al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. But, in light of war, Bush assured America of success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail,â&#x20AC;? he said.

This commercial was credited for swaying some of the swing states, which won Bush the re-election.

In his 2004 acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention on Sept. 2, 2004, Bush reminded the audience of 9/11, yet again. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know that September the 11th requires our country to think differently.â&#x20AC;? Bush said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We must, and we will, confront threats to America before it is too late.â&#x20AC;?

isn;t

Bush wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only politicians using the 9/11 scare tactic and reveling in the subsequent hero status.

isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessary; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already been accomplished on a national level. Local politics are much more centered on daily life issues like the recent economic crisis. This crisis has gained national attention and is now also being used as a political tool.

In New York City, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was praised as a hero, even WKRXJK WKRXVDQGV RI Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV SRXUHG LQWR WKH Ă DPLQJ WRZHUV DQG volunteers spent the days after 9/11 digging through the rubble.

Unless there is another attack, politics professor Juan Arroyo suspects 9/11 will not be heavily addressed in upcoming campaigns. But Republican State Senator from New York, Thomas Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mara believes otherwise.

Giuliani graced the cover of Timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dec. 31, 2001 issue as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Person of the Year.â&#x20AC;? The accompanying headline, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mayor of the World,â&#x20AC;? cast Giuliani as the great protector. The cover read â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rudy Giuliani: Tower of Strength.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The events of 9/11 inevitably stand to remind us of the overriding importance of homeland security,â&#x20AC;? Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mara said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Its relevance to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political discussions is that we can never again take for granted the security of our homeland.â&#x20AC;?

Today, though acts of terrorism still continue to impact national politics, the scene is very different on the local level.

Ten years later, the U.S. is left with a false sense of security, two wars in the Middle East and over a trillion dollars of national debt. Yet, regardless of our increasing removal from the attacks, the fear of terrorism that was established will always play a role in American politics.

,Q WKLV VSHHFK DORQH WKHUH ZHUH Ă&#x20AC;YH separate mentions of the 9/11 attack.

Sept. 11 and subsequent terroristic events are not primary concerns for the constituents of Chris Lauzen, Republican State Senator from Illinois. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They are worried about losing their jobs, having their homes foreclosed on, having something bad happen to one of their children,â&#x20AC;? he said.

On a local level, 9/11 intimidation

Jessica Corbett is freshman journalism major who is still waiting on her superman. Email her at jcorbet2@ithaca. edu.

13

Upfront

Even though thousands of young $PHULFDQ VROGLHUV ZHUH GHSOR\HG WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW Bush was still seen as a hero during the 2004 election year as his approval rating remained near 50 percent.

,Q WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO ZHHNV EHIRUH WKH election, the Bush camp circulated a $14.2 million television ad. This ad, called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ashleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story,â&#x20AC;? was centered on a little girl whose mother was killed during the World Trade Center attacks.

In the ad, Ashley said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the most powerful man in the world, and all he wants to do is make sure Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m safe â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m OK.â&#x20AC;?

First Responders Saved for Last

Government excludes cancer care from Health and Compensation Act

By Patrick Duprey

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

What the hell?â&#x20AC;?

Those were the words racing through the mind of Jim LaPenna, an electrician working at the Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y., a shopping mall less than 30 miles from Ground Zero, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he heard what he would soon learn was a plane strike the World Trade Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s North Tower.

As soon as he heard the news, LaPenna did what he thought any patriotic American would do â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he jumped in his car and, despite threats WR EH Ă&#x20AC;UHG IRU OHDYLQJ KLV MRE VLWH headed toward Lower Manhattan to volunteer with cleanup efforts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When that took place, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of me. I thought about what I could do to help,â&#x20AC;? LaPenna said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nobody put a gun to my head and told me to go to the [World] Trade Center. I did it because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what we do as Americans, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ZKDW ZH GR DV Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV Âľ He arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and was a mere 100 yards from the South Tower when it was struck. For the next two weeks, LaPenna volunteered his time in the search and recovery at Ground Zero GHVSLWH EHLQJ Ă&#x20AC;UHG IURP KLV HOHFWULFLDQ job for insubordination.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

´, GLGQ¡W JR KRPH IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW days,â&#x20AC;? LaPenna recalled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You slept ZKHUHYHU \RX FRXOG Ă&#x20AC;QG D SODFH WR shut your eyes for a little bit.â&#x20AC;? /D3HQQD ZDV RQH RI Ă&#x20AC;YH Ă&#x20AC;UVW responders to assist in the recovery RI 3RUW $XWKRULW\ SROLFH RIĂ&#x20AC;FHUV John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno in a process he labels as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Life on the Ultimate Team.â&#x20AC;? Five years later, Oliver 6WRQH UHOHDVHG WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP ´:RUOG 7UDGH Center,â&#x20AC;? a drama loosely based on the RIĂ&#x20AC;FHUV¡ UHVFXH But, similar to the lives of numerous RWKHU Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV WKH GHFDGH since the attacks has been much less â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;? for LaPenna. His long list of post-9/11 medical ailments includes esophageal cancer, asthma, acid

14

UHĂ X[ SRVW WUDXPDWLF VWUHVV GLVRUGHU muscle and joint degeneration, blurred YLVLRQ GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW\ EUHDWKLQJ IUHTXHQW headaches and dizziness, among others. Internal concussions from when the towersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; collapsed caused two tumors in the frontal lobes of LaPennaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brain, which doctors have since removed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We got the shit kicked out of us,â&#x20AC;?

LaPenna said.

And this is all for a man who, prior to Sept. 11, 2001, ran close to 10 miles a day and coached and played soccer.

In addition to his medical ailments, LaPenna has since endured a divorce and countless hours of counseling. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My whole world has changed,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My whole life has changed, my whole focus has changed, [and] my whole thinking process has changed.â&#x20AC;?

The dust clouds surrounding the World Trade Center site were polluted with particles of glass, lead and carcinogens such as asbestos and benzene. Exposure to these toxins through the lungs and skin is directly connected with many respiratory LOOQHVVHV \HW Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV KDYH EHHQ PRVWO\ XQDEOH WR UHFHLYH VXIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQW JRYHUQPHQW SURYLGHG KHDOWK EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV as many struggle to make ends meet due to rising health costs.

2Q 'HF Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV enjoyed a brief victory, when Congress Ă&#x20AC;QDOO\ RYHUFDPH D 5HSXEOLFDQ Ă&#x20AC;OLEXVWHU LQ WKH 6HQDWH WR SDVV WKH James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The law was named in honor of James Zadroga, a 1<3' RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU ZKR GLHG RI D UHVSLUDWRU\ disease in Jan. 2006 linked to his rescue work following 9/11. President Obama signed the bill into law on Jan. 2, 2011, which expanded health PRQLWRULQJ DQG Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO DLG DYDLODEOH WR Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV DQG H[SRVHG civilians by $4.3 billion.

James Ryder, retired 20-year NYPD YHWHUDQ Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHU DQG GLUHFWRU of political affairs for the FealGood

)RXQGDWLRQ D QRQ SURĂ&#x20AC;W DGYRFDF\ organization that works on behalf of Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV OREELHG RQ EHKDOI RI the Zadroga bill in the days leading to its passage. Ryder said the Congressional %XGJHW 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH RULJLQDOO\ UHFRPPHQGHG a $10 billion proposal, but once it even UHDFKHG WKH 6HQDWH Ă RRU LWV SULFH WDJ ZDV XQGHU ELOOLRQ DQG WKH Ă&#x20AC;OLEXVWHU WKUHDW IXUWKHU FXW LWV EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV â&#x20AC;&#x153;My fellow Republicans have had issue with the description or the terminology of the compensation,â&#x20AC;? Ryder said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to point out to anybody who will listen that this is not about being the hero, going down to Ground Zero and becoming a patriot, doing whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right for your country and then going out and buying yourself a Cadillac.â&#x20AC;?

The Zadroga Act does not provide IHGHUDO EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV WR FDQFHU VWULFNHQ responders because, according to a study released earlier this year by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the agency evaluating what illnesses the Zadroga Act would FRYHU QR GHĂ&#x20AC;QLWLYH FRQQHFWLRQ H[LVWV between cancer and dust exposure.

According to a study released by Dr. 'DYLG 3UH]DQW FKLHI PHGLFDO RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU IRU the NYFD, however, those exposed to the World Trade Center wreckage are 19 percent more likely to have cancer than those unexposed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nowhere near what we need,â&#x20AC;?

Ryder said, referring to the Zadroga Act. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once we get cancer added to this ELOO Âł ZH DUH KLJKO\ FRQĂ&#x20AC;GHQW WKDW ZH will get it added; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a matter of when â&#x20AC;&#x201D; weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to need a heck of a lot more money because cancerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not cheap. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evil, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s violent, it has no clock, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vindictive.â&#x20AC;?

A nine-year study released this month in the medical journal Lancet by the Mount Sinai Medical Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World Trade Center Health Program, created LQ WR PRQLWRU WKH KHDOWK RI Ă&#x20AC;UVW responders, found disproportionately high rates of asthma, PTSD, depression, VLQXVLWLV RU VLQXV LQĂ DPPDWLRQ DQG DFLG UHĂ X[ DPRQJ Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV

trouble paying for 9/11-associated medical treatment and prescriptions. In one instance, Ryder recalled traveling to WKH 1 - KRPH RI D Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHU ZKR couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to stock his refrigerator because of healthcare costs. Ryder and the FealGood Foundation assisted with the manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food costs that day. Two days later, the Foundation helped pay for the manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funeral.

image by Zachary Anderson

´7KHUH¡V PRUH WR D Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHU than just what you read on paper,â&#x20AC;?

Ryder said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a human being, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a family, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a dog, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a home, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a mortgage, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a medical bill and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a doctor waiting to cut him open again.â&#x20AC;?

exposed to the Lower Manhattan dust. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These men and women risked their lives and their health to support their fellow Americans after the devastation of 9/11,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Philip Landrigan, principal investigator of the World Trade Center Programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Data and Coordinator Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in a press release accompanying the studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now, many of them are riddled with multiple health problems. Our study shows that these diseases may persist for years to come. We should do everything in our power to provide the best long-term care possible to these heroes.â&#x20AC;?

Troy Rosasco, a metropolitan New York disability attorney who has ZRUNHG ZLWK VHYHUDO Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV on Zadroga Act claims, said the law is divided into two parts. $1.5 billion goes to medical centers across the country that work with affected civilians and Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV WR KHOS Ă&#x20AC;QDQFH WKHLU medical and psychological care. The remaining $2.8 billion will be distributed through a victimsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; compensation fund WR Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV DQG FLYLOLDQV LQ WKH form of pain and suffering damages, and loss of earnings directly associated with medical ailments stemming from 9/11.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Regardless of what the scientists say, we need to go back to Congress, and we need to ask them to think about heroes and to think about how many people are dying almost on a weekly basis [because] they were at the World Trade Center site,â&#x20AC;? Rosasco said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not a scientist; most of Congress is not scientists, but they know a wrong when they see it, and they know how to right a wrong.â&#x20AC;?

Like LaPenna, Ryder did not escape 9/11 unscathed. He has a below average breathing rate, suffers from severe sleep apnea that causes him to wake usually between 70 and 90 times per night, and his heart rate, at an average of 120 beats per minute, far exceeds the 80 beat-per-minute norm.

That said, Ryder considers himself one of the lucky ones. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seen several FROOHDJXHV IRUFHG WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW FDQFHU LQ WKH decade since.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not about money because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re never going to be able to give me my health back,â&#x20AC;? LaPenna said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;$1,600 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay rent or anything â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the sad part of it is I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t earn the living that I used to earn anymore because of the sicknesses that I have.â&#x20AC;?

Although his illnesses often prevent him from working to his capability, LaPenna, an electrician now based in Middletown, N.Y., said he generally has no choice but to work almost everyday WR VXVWDLQ KLPVHOI Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDOO\ %XW HYHQ JLYHQ WKH GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOWLHV KH KDV HQGXUHG in the past decade, asked if he ever regrets his decision to jump in his car and drive down to Lower Manhattan that day, LaPenna didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hesitate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d do it all over again,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change a thing.â&#x20AC;?

Patrick Duprey is a junior journalism major who has offered to pay for all needed medical treatments. Contact him at jduprey1@ithaca.edu.

Ryderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work with the FealGood Foundation has led him to the homes of PDQ\ Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVSRQGHUV ZKR HQFRXQWHU

15

Upfront

Due to the limited funding made available through the Zadroga Act as well as restrictions that allow only $875 PLOOLRQ WR EH GLVWULEXWHG RYHU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW

Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV 6KHLOD %LUQEDXP VSHFLDO master of the Zadroga Act 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, has already said she will have to reduce initial awards. Rosasco even speculated that claimants might only be able to receive 20 percent of their full award unless Congress provides additional Zadroga funding. Rosasco insisted thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not enough money in the fund to fairly compensate all victims.

Since 9/11, LaPenna has also struggled to cover month-to-month rent, utilities and other expenses under the additional weight of rising health care costs. In 10 years, LaPenna, who has no health insurance, has collected a PHUH LQ KHDOWK EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV DQG KH receives some free medical monitoring at Mount Sinai, which receives funding from the federal government.

If for nothing else, LaPenna said he would appreciate compensation, so he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to constantly worry about covering day-to-day expenses.

Disaster in the Classroom

Teachers work to create appropriate 9/11 curriculum

By Rodrigo Ugarte

“

It is no easy subject to approach, especially when teaching teenagers, but 9/11 is something that must be included in any curriculum,” said Cyndy Scheibe, founder and director of the media literacy initiative, Project Look Sharp.

September 11thwe saw the face and felt the hand of evil.”

There is no room for dissent in their pedagogy, which advocates, “A careful, complete, reading of our nation’s history [that shows] … on the whole, America’s record is one of promising peace and justice at home and abroad.”

After 9/11, several education associations published reports and A more liberal journal, Rethinking models for teachers to use when Schools, approaches the matter in a teaching the subject. Yet, depending more critical on political way.

In one affiliation, essay, “Whose An event like 9/11 has different ‘Terrorism’?,” the power, the history, groups foster the author, different the cultural importance, Bill Bigelow, views on the describes how he to provide an important U.S.’s role asked students in global opportunity to challenge to write down affairs. their personal

“

young

people

to

think

Some, like GHÀQLWLRQV RI rigorously and deeply about the Thomas terrorism while B. Fordham keeping these different perspectives Institute, a questions in conservative mind: “Does -Chris Perry, Project Look Sharp education terrorism need p o l i c y to involve the think-tank, propose to maintain the killing of many people or can it affect U.S.’s pristine image and infuse an just one person? ... Can governments “unquestionable civic and patriotic commit acts of terrorism, or is it a term theme.” In the latest compilation, reserved only for people who operate published to commemorate the tenth outside of government?” anniversary of the attacks, the president This critical approach can also be of Fordham Institute, Chester E. Finn found in curricula published by Project Jr., explained how these publications Look Sharp, an Ithaca College initiative aim to prepare teachers for teaching to introduce media literacy and critical about 9/11, in a way which he sees thinking in classrooms. The curriculum appropriate. delves into teaching about 9/11 and

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

”

“We sensed a fundamental, indeed, urgent need for useful guidance but also because we detected much nonsense spewing forth,” Finn said. “Is ‘diversity’ all that needs to be taught and learned? — nothing there about democratic values and their protection.

Certainly nothing about patriotism.”

He and another writer for Fordham, William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, claim that the meaning of “democracy” ought to be taught in classroom.

“For too long, so-called sophisticates have said that right and wrong are matters of opinions,” Bennett said. “On

16

the subsequent wars by using media coverage of the events.

“An event like 9/11 has the power, the history, the cultural importance, to provide an important opportunity to challenge young people to think rigorously and deeply about different perspectives,” said Chris Sperry, Project Look Sharp’s director of curriculum and staff development.

One of these curricula, edited by Sperry titled, “Media Construction of the Middle East,” provides a framework for teaching the history of the Middle East. One unit focuses on militant Islam and the United States. The last

lesson of the unit includes an interview with Osama bin Laden and President George Bush’s speech to Congress on Sept. 21. Students read the speeches and analyze them for reasons as to why the United States was attacked.

“Students don’t want to be told what to think but [they] need guidance,” Sperry said.

And that is what those classes strive to do. Rather than indoctrinating students with an absolute view of the world and their country, students use their own opinions to analyze a more complete, factual representation.

Dan O’Kane, a high school social studies teacher in New Jersey, said that teachers at his school have only recently started to delve in-depth up to the period of the 2000 presidential elections.

“It’s kind of up to the teacher if something can relate to what’s going on since 9/11,” O’Kane said. “So if I’m talking about Pearl Harbor and the U.S.’s involvement in a world war, I’m going to relate something to the war on terror. Not 9/11, the actual event, but the impact it had on the world around.”

O’Kane said teachers approach the topic “when [they] see it appropriate” and in relation to what they are teaching. But he also emphasizes that for teachers, it “puts more of a duty… more of a task on the history teacher when they relate an event … to 9/11, to take a little time out of their class time…and go through some general points about 9/11.”

In order to continue educating future generations about 9/11, curricula must be consistently analyzed by teachers.

O’Kane said, “The job of a history teacher is to make more students much more aware of the events around them.”

Rodrigo Ugarte is a junior writing major who wishes he could go back to high school. Email him at rugarte1@ithaca.edu.

From Outside the Empire

Why Russians believe the U.S. government was involved in 9/11

By Anna Isachenko

N

early 3,000 lives were lost on 9/11. Now take this number and compare it on a worldwide scale. Compare it to the more than 100,000 civilian casualties of the Iraq War. As Lev Navrozov, a columnist for the New York City Tribune, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course, every human life is priceless, but

This version of the events that happened on 9/11 circulates throughout Russia to this day. General Leonid Ivashov, former Chief of Staff of the Russian armed forces, once claimed that â&#x20AC;&#x153;international terrorismâ&#x20AC;? was a strategy to manipulate the U.S. citizens in order to gain their support to declare war on Afghanistan.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Even though the idea that the 9/11 attack was sponsored by the U.S. government MW ½GXMXMSYW MX´W MQTSVXERX XS ORS[ XLEX such views exist due to the imperialistic tendencies of the U.S. government.

speaking in global military terms, it can be recalled that in Hitlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack of 1941-45, Russia lost 27 million men, women and children.â&#x20AC;?

Navrozov may seem cruel, yet quite the realist. In fact, to America 9/11 was a tragedy that no one was prepared to experience. Yet, from a historical standpoint, the attack was quite minimal.

Russia Today, a popular Russian news network, aired multiple stories that focused on the perspective of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 Truthers.â&#x20AC;? New Yorkers were interviewed about their opinion on the attack, of which many spoke against the version that it was terrorist aggression. Manny Badillo, an activist for We Are Change, a grassroots peace movement, alleged that newly released photos revealed that explosives brought down the buildings, not planes.

John Bleimaier is an attorney and a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. Being of Russian heritage and KDYLQJ Ă XHQF\ LQ WKH ODQJXDJH -RKQ has heard the alternative version of 9/11. Although he does not believe that the attack was supported by the American government, he understands why Russian citizens might believe that it was possible. He pointed out that the majority of Russian citizens are distrustful of governments due to the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent history. During the Soviet Era of 1982-1991, the government often lied to its citizens and took advantage of power. Bleimaier said it makes sense for a society like that to have a negative connotation toward any higher authority.

Coupled with this, Russians, and many others throughout the world, believe the United States has a reputation for desiring dominance, which makes their 9/11 theory more feasible. For example, when the United States felt threatened by Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, they responded with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to reestablish their supremacy. During the 50s when the U.S. perceived Communism as a threat to its security, the United States declared war in Vietnam to maintain power and prevent Communism

Then again, after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. made sure to show off its might by invading Afghanistan and ,UDT LQ WKH QDPH RI Ă&#x20AC;JKWLQJ WHUURULVP Furthermore, Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location is strategically favorable for the U.S. military base and could aid the U.S. to strengthen its ties with leading countries in this world, such as India, China and Russia. The list goes on and on. The United States has a history that supports their need for empowerment and drive to achieve it by any means necessary.

Some Russians also believe the U.S. government was in on the attacks in order to gain access to vital resources.

Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one trillion dollarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of untapped minerals would Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDOO\ EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV Besides being perceived as a country that desires military dominance, the United States is also seen as a country WKDW \HDUQV IRU Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO VXSHULRULW\ â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the end, we must ask ourselves how much trust we are willing to put in governments,â&#x20AC;? said Natasha Leonidovna, a writer for the Russian National Union news. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we should have any trust at all.â&#x20AC;?

The problem with the popular Russian view, however, is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s derived from speculation rather than concrete evidence. The point here is: even though the idea that the 9/11 attack was sponsored by WKH 8 6 JRYHUQPHQW LV Ă&#x20AC;FWLWLRXV itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to know that such views exist due to the imperialistic tendencies of the U.S. government.

Anna Isachenko is a freshman business administration major who loves mother Russia. Email her at aisache1@ithaca.edu.

17

Upfront

Image by Caitlin Joseph

Many Russian citizens share Navrozovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view. In Russia, where I was born, numerous people still believe, for many reasons, one being that because the damage was so minimal, the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 catastrophe. For years after the event, professors still taught this theory and the news media still featured it.

â&#x20AC;?

from spreading from the North to the South. During the Cold War, the United States pursued an arms race for power, in which United States and the Soviet Union competed for allies, territory, advancements, wealth and authority.

Fear of An Other

Anti and pro-Muslim sentiments in popular media

By Emily Brown

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

When people hear my name or when people know that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a Muslim I realize a difference in the way that I am treated. I feel that difference,â&#x20AC;? said Suleyman Yoruk, an Ithaca College junior. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They start asking questions about 9/11 as if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an authority on it because Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Muslim.â&#x20AC;?

must work to undermine the ideological foundations of totalitarianism and Islamist extremism.â&#x20AC;?

The Center for Security Policy acted as a national security think-tank for a number of legislative movements in Washington and received public endorsements and praise from

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

Yorukâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story is not unique. In this post 9/11 world a hyper-awareness of skin tone and religion has taken hold in American culture.

Islamophobia is a result of this hyperawareness and has become a trend within our governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s practices.

This pattern of blind fear is not a new chapter within American history, and this apprehension of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Otherâ&#x20AC;? can be seen since colonization.

At times, the Unites States has even legalized discrimination â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Chinese Immigration Laws in the late nineteenth century restricted the number per country of origin of immigrants permitted into the US; Japanese Internment camps of the 1940s uprooted 110,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and placed them into government camps; and the current Arizona immigration ODZ 6% SHUPLWV UDFLDO SURĂ&#x20AC;OLQJ E\ VWDWH SROLFH RIĂ&#x20AC;FHUV ,Q DOO FDVHV the United States has shown quick legislative action for the sake of national security over an alien threat.

Since the introduction of Islamophobia to American popular FXOWXUH QRQ SURĂ&#x20AC;WV DQG EORJV projecting anti-Muslim sentiments have sprung up throughout the media world. For example, the Center for Security Policy, a neo-conservative QRQ SURĂ&#x20AC;W RUJDQL]DWLRQ KHDGHG E\ Frank Gaffney, claims within its mission statement: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We as a nation

18

JRYHUQPHQW RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDOV VXFK DV *23 presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The Center has also attended conferences with presidential candidates to promote their agenda and address the â&#x20AC;&#x153;threat of Sharia-Law.â&#x20AC;? The Center declined to be interviewed for this article.

The Center for Security Policyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, Sharia: The Threat to America, GHĂ&#x20AC;QHV ,VODP DV D YLROHQW UHOLJLRQ and appears to be a sensationalist manifesto of anti-Muslim sentiments. :LWK VW\OLVWLF Ă RXULVKHV DQG JUDQGLRVH over-exaggerated, correlative statements that equate Islam to violence, it is hard to take this book seriously. The book claims that there is an overwhelming presence of Islamic supremacists who argue that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Islam is superior to every other culture, faith, government and society, and that it

is ordained by Allah to conquer and dominate them.â&#x20AC;? One cannot help but think that the authors of this book KDYH QRW VSHQW WLPH UHĂ HFWLQJ XSRQ the belief of conversion in Christianity and the number of wars and hateful acts done in the name of God. Gaffney, in conjunction with antiMuslim blogger Robert Spencer, whose blog Jihad Watch has received national attention, and Pamela Geller, whose most recent book Stop the Islamization of America has received commendation from the Tea Party, are making the promotion circuit. These three individuals represent a larger group of hate mongers that perpetuate anti-Islamic propaganda.

They have declared themselves experts on the religion and have been the primary sources for a number of news programs such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hardball with Chris Matthews,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Sean Hannity Showâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Reilly Factor.â&#x20AC;?

In opposition with this noisy group of Islamophobics is the Center for American Progress, a progressive nonSURĂ&#x20AC;W JURXS WKDW IRFXVHV RQ LPSURYLQJ the United States through legislative reform and education. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The problem with this network is two-fold,â&#x20AC;? said Scott Keyes, the Center for American Progressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; co-author of their media report Fear Inc. â&#x20AC;&#x153;First and foremost, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re spreading a message of bigotry that seeds hatred towards Muslims. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world; to discriminate against them as a group because of the actions of a tiny number of people is shameful.â&#x20AC;?

According to Fear Inc., the Center GHĂ&#x20AC;QHV WKLV QHWZRUN RI ,VODPRSKRELFV as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;small band of radical ideologues.â&#x20AC;? It claims that the most notable pervasive myth is the recent outcry towards President Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

faith, citing Frank Gaffneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s article, ´$PHULFD¡V Ă&#x20AC;UVW 0XVOLP 3UHVLGHQW"Âľ in which Gaffney questions the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intentions of the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; relations with the Middle East and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Center for American Progress claims that these groups and individuals are reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy. His similar spinning of the truth led to public misconceptions of the pervasiveness of Communists within American communities in the 1950s. Today a similar witch hunt in the U.S. has left Muslims feeling restricted from expressing their religion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[After 9/11] I realized a big difference in the way my family acted,â&#x20AC;? Yoruk said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My mother took off her veil permanently, and she still doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wear it because of some discrimination that she has faced in her every day.â&#x20AC;?

Anti-Muslim groups who repeat exaggerated statements perpetuate this notion that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Otherâ&#x20AC;? must be un-American. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since when is America, ideally not inclusive of all cultures?â&#x20AC;? Yoruk said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since when is somebody saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Praise Allahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; un-American? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the kind of mentality that makes America against other cultures and anti-Muslim. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fear, and that fear comes from what people see in the media.â&#x20AC;?

The power and pervasiveness of these groups has stretched beyond the media and into common American culture. The Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group for Muslim rights and equality, express current concerns about Islamophobia in mainstream American culture in a PSA campaign: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am an American Muslim,â&#x20AC;? which has been â&#x20AC;&#x153;designed to help reduce anti-Muslim discrimination and stereotyping.â&#x20AC;? This campaign has Muslims of all ethnic and racial backgrounds sharing how they and their families have served the United States.

Threats of discrimination against Muslims continue to permeate throughout all realms of our society. For instance, a recent review of FBI training methods contends that the more pious a Muslim is, the more likely he or she is to be a sympathizer towards Islamic fundamentalist groups. This governmental legitimization of the words of Robert Spencer and Frank Gaffney is frightening to a number of progressive advocacy groups. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If it werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t for this anti-Muslim network, we wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have smears like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;creeping Shariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pervading conservative circles,â&#x20AC;? Keyes said.

The hateful dialogue towards Muslims is not just within the media circuit but has also spread into local communities. Since 9/11, more than 800 cases of violence against Muslims and people of Arabic decent have been investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to CAIR, with Muslims accounting for less than one percent of the American population, proportionally this number is high. In its latest statistic in 2008, CAIR processed 2,728 civil rights complaints.

According to Fear Inc., the Center for Law and Poverty, a hatecrime watch group, has labeled the Center for Security Policy, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer as â&#x20AC;&#x153;hate groupsâ&#x20AC;? and watches them the same as they would racist and antiSemitic groups. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is blood on their hands, they are responsible for hate crimes on the groundâ&#x20AC;? said McGoldrick.

Unfortunately, this â&#x20AC;&#x153;Otheringâ&#x20AC;? of Muslims is not solely because of

this small fear-mongering group. It is the result of a consistent pattern within humanity: a pattern that is a result of fear â&#x20AC;&#x201D; fear of the unknown, the different, the other. The power relations that reveal themselves when fear is present are startling â&#x20AC;&#x201D; how quickly people react to a shadow in WKH GDUN KRZ TXLFNO\ SHRSOH VSRXW Ă&#x20AC;UH and brimstone speeches in the name of freedom, security and justice.

But the security that Robert Spence, Pamela Geller and Frank Gaffney want so badly for their country is one that relies on hatred, ignorance and blind fear. They have continually abused language, publicity and the belief in American ideals that perpetuates this cycle of blind hate in American history.

In reality Gaffney has a nose, two eyes, lungs, a heart (although some would say that is questionable) as does every other healthy human being on this earth. The beauty of humanity is that its diversity reveals its innumerable similarities. It is only a question of how willing an individual and a society are to accept the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Otherâ&#x20AC;? and to look to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Otherâ&#x20AC;? as something to be valued, not something to be feared. Through education and accurate reporting, non-Muslims can learn the true meaning of Jihad and Islam.

As Yoruk said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The exact translation of Jihad is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;struggleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; simply put. We all have similar Jihads we must struggle together as a whole community, and I believe that is a major way we can Ă&#x20AC;QG SHDFH Âľ Emily Brown is a senior sociology and English major who has no fear. Email her at ebrown1@ithaca.edu.

Muslim New club: The Student Association The Muslim Student Association is a new club on campus that focuses on educating the community on the religion of Islam.This club will plan events in which everybody, regardless SJ VIPMKMSYW EJ½PMEXMSR MW MRZMXIH XS HMWGYWW GYVVIRX EJJEMVW ERH [LEX KSIW SR MR XLI QIHME Suleyman and the rest of the Muslim Student Association hope to go beyond the differences of religion and culture and simply enjoy the similarities we all share in life.

If you are interested in the club you can contact them at icmsa01@gmail.com

19

Upfront

â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we really need to do is reclaim our identity and our right to dissent,â&#x20AC;? said Cyrus McGoldrick, civil rights manager of CAIRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New York chapter. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeing now is the criminalization of ideology, freedom of

speech and assembly.â&#x20AC;?

Using Hope to Cope

;L] WSQI ZMGXMQW SJ LEXI ½KLX JSV TIEGI

By Alyssa Figueroa Rais Bhuiyan, a Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh, was working at a gas station store on Sept. 21, 2001, two weeks after 9/11, when a man entered the store and pointed a gun directly at his face. Bhuiyan quickly offered him

cash and begged him not to shoot.

But, the man wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t interested in any monetary offering. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where are you from?â&#x20AC;? the man, Mark Stroman, an Aryan Brotherhood member, asked Bhuiyan. And before Bhuiyan could Ă&#x20AC;QLVK KLV DQVZHU RI ´([FXVH me?â&#x20AC;? Stroman had pulled the trigger.

Bhuiyan survived the attack, but Stroman managed to kill two others on his rampage of revenge for 9/11â&#x20AC;&#x201D;an Indian immigrant and a Pakistani immigrant.

Stroman was sentenced to the death penalty in 7H[DV EXW %KXL\DQ ZDV OHIW distraught. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to save this human life,â&#x20AC;? Bhuiyan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anytime I see someone die it touches my heart.â&#x20AC;?

Bhuiyan ended up suing Gov. Rick Perry, stating that Stromanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crimes were a result of hate and ignorance DQG WKDW KLV H[HFXWLRQ ZRXOG not stop the root cause of this violence. Despite Bhuiyanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign and his many efforts, Stroman was H[HFXWHG RQ -XO\

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

After decades of the United 6WDWHV LQĂ LFWLQJ SDLQ LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW Âł IURP RXU constant occupation to our Iraq embargo that killed 1.5 million civilians â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 9/11 was a hateful retaliation to our hateful practices. Then, to avenge for 9/11, the United States started wars overseas, and in our country, people like Stroman assaulted those of Arab decent. All the victims of these acts of hate are left with a tremendous amount of suffering. People attempt to cope with the loss of their loved ones as on-lookers grieve for othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; loss. Meanwhile, survivors

20

try to unravel their confusion, like Bhuiyan, who was left to contemplate why someone would want to kill him. :KHQ DIĂ LFWHG ZLWK WKHVH KDWUHGV some respond by desiring war, as did a majority of Americans after 9/11, or violence, as did Stroman. Some respond by settling into a state of internal anger or despair. Then there are others who take the opportunity to push for peace and take action to stop the hateful cycle.

Charles B. Strozier, psychoanalyst and director of the Center of Terrorism DW -RKQ -D\ &ROOHJH LQ 1HZ <RUN &LW\ H[DPLQHG WKH YDULRXV UHVSRQVHV WR 9/11. He listened to testimonies of victimsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; family members, survivors, bystanders and spectators soon after the tragedy. He discovered that immediate survivors, those who ZLWQHVVHG WKH YLROHQFH Ă&#x20AC;UVWKDQG tended to have a different response than those who watched the events of 9/11 on TV. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a sense among immediate survivors of really not wanting to buy into revenge, killing, making of war, in order to avenge the disaster itself,â&#x20AC;? Strozier said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The politics of the immediate survivors was one of caution, confusion, fear in themselves, caution about using the tragedy for any kind of revenge.â&#x20AC;?

However, according to Strozier, those who watched it on television, for the most part, had a different kind of UHVSRQVH FRQVLVWLQJ RI ´[HQRSKRELD FKDXYLQLVP Ă DJ ZDYLQJ DJJUHVVLRQ â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;letsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; go to war,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;kill them all.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

6WUR]LHU VDLG ´<RX KDYH OLWHUDOO\ have a screen between you and the violence â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of false witness. <RX VHH ZKDW¡V KDSSHQLQJ EXW \RX¡UH QRW UHDOO\ WKHUH WR IHHO LW <RX GRQ¡W suffer within it. What you do is move quickly from the sense of fear to rage, and rage is an effect that is easily manipulated.â&#x20AC;?

Andrea LeBlanc, who lost her husband in the World Trade Center attacks, said the last thing she wanted

was for any one else to be harmed.

Instead she chose to turn her emotions into something constructive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think emotions are something you choose â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I think they happen,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think we do have a choice of what we do with those emotions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to turn grief or sadness or anger into something positive is the trick.â&#x20AC;?

LeBlanc is a proud grandmother who said she wants to see a better world for her grandchildrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future. Daughter RI D ::,, YHWHUDQ VKH VDZ Ă&#x20AC;UVWKDQG how war affects soldiers as her dad returned home with what would now be described as post-dramatic stress disorder.

In 2003 she joined Peaceful Tomorrows, a group founded by family members of 9/11 victims whose goal is to work together to create peace. Their name comes from a Martin Luther .LQJ -U TXRWH ´:DUV DUH SRRU FKLVHOV

obligated to take this opportunity and use it as a way to spread her message that there are better ways to respond to violence than with more violence. ´(YHU\ GHFLVLRQ IRU DFWLRQ RU LQDFWLRQ has consequences,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Bhuiyan said being the victim of a hate crime has changed his life and that he now hopes to use the RSSRUWXQLW\ WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW IRU SHDFH $IWHU hearing Stroman was being put on death row, Bhuiyan started a campaign called â&#x20AC;&#x153;World Without Hate,â&#x20AC;? which included a website where he updated UHDGHUV DERXW 6WURPDQ¡V FDVH (YHQ ZLWK 6WURPDQ¡V H[HFXWLRQ %KXL\DQ LV VWLOO FRQWLQXLQJ KLV FDPSDLJQ WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW for peace in the face of hate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We often tend to blame someone for our pain instead of using it for active change,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A world without hate is possible if we think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re connected with the community, if

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think emotions are something you choose â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I think they happen ... I think we do have a choice of what we do with those emotions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to turn grief or sadness or anger into something positive is the trick.â&#x20AC;?

-Andrea LeBlanc for carving our peaceful tomorrows.â&#x20AC;?

Bhuiyan also believes forgiving is easier than remaining angry, because â&#x20AC;&#x153;you feel much lighterâ&#x20AC;? once you forgive. He said he was raised with this concept, as his Islamic faith taught him that â&#x20AC;&#x153;he who is best forgives easily.â&#x20AC;?

LeBlanc points out the hypocrisy of our society in the way we teach children to behave and then how we behave ourselves.

LeBlanc said she believes that we were handed a responsibility after the 9/11 attacks. She said she feels

As for ending terrorism, Bhuiyan said we have to live in the future and move toward peace. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We try to justify war,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But D ORW RI SHRSOH¡V KHDUWV DUH Ă&#x20AC;OOLQJ XS with hate toward us.â&#x20AC;?

LeBlanc said that looking back on the past ten years, it is clear that war is not working. She said she hopes that she and the rest of Peaceful Tomorrows can have their stories heard so we may one day react differently to violence.

She said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think until all the stories about the people who have made other choices besides responding with violence to violence â&#x20AC;&#x201D; until those stories are as well known and ubiquitous as all the stories about WKH JORU\ RI ZDU DQG WKH JORULĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQ

LeBlanc said that shortly after 9/11, amidst the frenzy of revenge and patriotism, Peaceful Tomorrowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stories were not well received.

Throughout the years, while the U.S. mainstream media did not gave them much attention, the international press showed much interest. As the tenth anniversary approached, she VDLG WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQ ZDV Ă RRGHG ZLWK requests from the press. She said they HYHQ PDGH DSSHDUDQFHV RQ &11 061%& DQG $%& 1HYHUWKHOHVV QRZ DV LQWHUHVW LQ Peaceful Tomorrowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; message is growing, there is less money to keep their organization developing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a lot of pressure from funders to not say anything that can be construed as critical of the administration,â&#x20AC;? LeBlanc said.

Ultimately, many of the funders pulled out their investment in the organization. Perhaps, as peace movements appear to get more political, LQYHVWRUV Ă&#x20AC;QG OHVV LQWHUHVW /H%ODQF said funding for peace organizations is currently very scant.

LeBlanc and Bhuiyan, however, will continue to turn their sufferings from KDWHIXO DFWV LQWR DFWLRQV WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW IRU peace. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only thing you can control is how you can respond to the rest of the world,â&#x20AC;? Bhuiyan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It behooves all of us to recognize that we are a part of the whole and that every decision we make has an impact on other people and their well-being. We have to think about â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What kind of world do want?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How do we get there?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

LeBlanc said that although the loudest voices in the United States are still those who insist its citizens must be fearful and that war is the answer, she will continue to struggle to deliver her story to the world. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are people listening,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a matter of patience and persistence.â&#x20AC;?

Alyssa Figueroa is a senior journalism and politics major who hopes you OLVWHQHG (PDLO KHU DW DĂ&#x20AC;JXHU #LWKDFD edu.

21

Upfront

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We as a society spend a lot of time talking about how to teach children to share and be compassionate individuals, how to be interested in the other, how to deal with bullying,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all great, but then what happens? Do we forget? Or was all that a lie?â&#x20AC;?

weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re part of a big family. We can learn about someone we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand instead of keeping a barrier â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we can overcome the fear of the unknown.â&#x20AC;?

of revenge, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a chance to even think about responding another way.â&#x20AC;?

%QIVMGERW VIEGX XS XLI XVMFYXI

By Moriah Petty

O

n Sept. 11, 2001, Candace Burton, a resident of Queens, 1< ZDV DW VFKRRO LQ /RZHU Manhattan.

Despite her close SUR[LPLW\ &DQGDFH KDV \HW WR YLVLW WKH World Trade Center site since the fall of the Twin Towers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been near Ground Zero but never actually been there because I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to see it,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But having a memorial would be different; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see that.â&#x20AC;?

7KH PHPRULDO RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDOO\ RSHQHG WR WKH general public on Sept. 12 after it was unveiled during the tenth anniversary ceremony of 9/11. The memorial is now the largest memorial in the country, costing 700 million dollars of both public and private funds. It is DOVR SDLUHG ZLWK WKH H[WHQVLYH SURMHFW of rebuilding the World Trade Center, which has yet to be completed.

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

An international competition, hosted in 2003 by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, helped choose the memorialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design. The competition received 5,201 entrants from 63 nations. The responsibility of choosing a winning design was given to a 13-member jury made XS RI PDLQO\ DUW H[SHUWV LQFOXGLQJ memorial designer Maya Lin, as well as victimsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; family members and local businesses. The winning design, ´5HĂ HFWLQJ $EVHQFH Âľ ZDV VXEPLWWHG by an Israeli-American architect, Michael Arad. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;footprintsâ&#x20AC;? of the Twin Towers have been converted into GHHS SRROV Ă&#x20AC;OOHG E\ SRXULQJ ZDWHUIDOOV Around the edge of the pools are the names of the 9/11 victims.

WKRXVDQG PLOHV DZD\ IURP 1HZ <RUN City, but she is still looking forward to visiting the memorial. Hoffman is the senior marketing specialist at Viracon Glass, the glass company selected to ZRUN RQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW QHZ WRZHU EHLQJ EXLOW at the World Trade Center, â&#x20AC;&#x153;One WTC.â&#x20AC;?

She described her feelings of pride at being included in the rebuilding effort. ´(YHU\RQH ZDV YHU\ H[FLWHG DQG felt honored to be able to be a part of the rebuilding,â&#x20AC;? Hoffman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To create awareness throughout the whole company, T-shirts were made up for everyone to wear with â&#x20AC;&#x153;One WTCâ&#x20AC;? on the back.â&#x20AC;?

According to a New York Timesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; survey, at least 10,000 Americans suffer from chronic depression, survivorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder, and will perhaps look for condolence in this tangible representation of their grief. +RZHYHU (ULND 'RVV SURIHVVRU RI $PHULFDQ VWXGLHV DW 1RWUH 'DPH University believes that Americans have always been out of touch with the truth surrounding 9/11 and are once again obeying the government DQG PHGLD¡V LQĂ XHQFH E\ ZDQWLQJ WR visit the memorial. Doss wrote the book Memorial Mania, ZKLFK H[DPLQHV Americansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; need to memorialize important events with material objects and structures.

As a commemoration to an act of terrorism, this space can have a range of purposes, including acting as a symbol of American resiliency, a tool to garner public support for war on terror, a way to educate future generations and a tribute to heroism.

It can also act as a burial ground for the thousands of people whose bodies were never found.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The purpose is to pay tribute to the folks that died, the folks who were murdered,â&#x20AC;? said Doss. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, since the attack led to the war weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re currently engaged in, they are intertwined.

For a lot of Americans, paying tribute to those who died is invading Afghanistan, Iraq and continuing our QRZ HLJKW \HDU ZDU LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW Setting up the people in the planes or in the buildings as heroes of the war on terror is setting them up as players in the invasion of Baghdad â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to play a role in foreign policy. Its not heroic Âł LWV H[SORLWDWLYH Âľ

Farrah Hoffman lives in the small town of Owatonna, Minn. over a

The government does have high H[SHFWDWLRQV IRU FRQVWUXFWLRQ DW

22

Image by Georgie Morely

Memorializing Terror

Ground Zero because it m u s t both make sure we â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;never forgetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the tragedy and symbolize Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resiliency. For this reason the memorial has been designated as a space for people to grieve, while a brand new World Trade Center will demonstrate that the country is all repaired, rebuilt and just as strong as ever.

Burton said that in the end, the memorial is a symbol people needed to be built. â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 was just a bad situation all around. I knew someone whose father died and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know what to say.

It was bad,â&#x20AC;? Burton said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I just think the memorial is something that needs to happen even if it costs 700 million dollars. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just really important just so people can go someplace to remember them.â&#x20AC;?

7R YLVLW WKH PHPRULDO \RX PXVW Ă&#x20AC;UVW UHVHUYH D SDVV RQOLQH (QWUDQFH LV IUHH but passes are meant to limit crowds, as only a certain quantity is available per day. Most days up through Dec. are already booked. It appears that people from all over the country and even the world feel an obligation to visit the site, especially now that there is a tangible VWUXFWXUH WR VHH <HW LW LV XS WR HDFK RI us personally to determine what 9/11 means and the proper way to honor what was lost.

Moriah Petty is a sophomore TV-R major who is trying to get her pass to the memorial after writing this article.

(PDLO KHU DW PSHWW\ #LWKDFD HGX.

Confessions from Headquarters

8LI WXSV] SJ SRI MRXIVR´W I\TIVMIRGI EX E HIJIRWI GSQTER]

By Anjali Patel

I

many employees muttering about the misdirection of government spending as they walked by my cube.

These workers lives had become FRPSOHWHO\ GHSHQGHQW RQ ZDU 1HYHU before had it been more evident that our economy, set up to reap WUHPHQGRXV SURĂ&#x20AC;WV IURP PLOLWDUL]DWLRQ in just a moment, could pay that price back in terrible layoffs. In fact, the U.S.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest employer is the Defense department, which employs 3.2 million Americans â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1 percent of the population. Though most defense workers were upset at this turn of events, there were some who embraced it as necessary. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Personally, I believe that the future systems that the government was trying to develop were far too H[SHQVLYH IRU WKH QHHG WKDW WKH\ ZHUH WU\LQJ WR Ă&#x20AC;OO Âľ VDLG 6HWK $EERWW a retired engineer and production PDQDJHU IRU %$( DQRWKHU GHIHQVH company. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe the reality of our Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO V\VWHP DQG WKH WKUHDWV RI WKH future will really reduce the amount of money spent and the direction of that spending.â&#x20AC;?

Though it is a shame that such amazing technologies will have to be cut, it is even more of a shame that these technologies can only be GHYHORSHG WKURXJK VXFK H[SHQVLYH PLOLWDU\ RSHUDWLRQV DQG EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W VR few of the populace. Robots can save lives, but they also have no life to give.

Perhaps with the waning of the tenyear military boom, money can now be directed toward the real problems in $PHULFD 1RZ HYHQ ZLWK WKLV VXPPHU XQGHU P\ EHOW DQ\ LQWHUQDO FRQĂ LFW , H[SHULHQFHG UHJDUGLQJ PLOLWDUL]DWLRQ is gone. The ten years are up, and in the best interest of our country, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to put the money where we need it and bring the troops home.

Anjali Patel is a sophomore exploratory major who is not fully enjoying her feast. Email her at DSDWHO #LWKDFD HGX

23

Upfront

canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but feel guilty that, on robotics systems. Though these despite all of those who lost so robotics are designed for the military, much from 9/11, there were a few they are never designed to kill, but to who gained, myself being one of them. save lives by means of scouting ahead 7KH GHIHQVH Ă&#x20AC;HOG LV RIWHQ GHVFULEHG of troops or searching out possible as feast or famine. Having the sole mines. I had many opportunities to see breadwinner of our household be one these vehicles tested, and watching a of the managers of a branch of General car sophisticated enough to navigate '\QDPLFV WKH Ă&#x20AC;IWK ODUJHVW GHIHQVH civilian areas on its own blew my mind. contractor in the world, means that ,W KDG PH WKLQNLQJ &RXOG ZH XVH WKLV the past technology for 10 years The defense field is often described UPS trucks, have been, public transit or as feast or famine. Having the sole even in our own without a doubt, a breadwinner of our household be one c o m m e r c i a l IHDVW <HW vehicles? d e s p i t e of the managers of ... the fifth largest â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whenever having we go defense contractor in the world, means parents through a that can that the past 10 years have been, funding ramp a f f o r d up in the without a doubt, a feast. to feed technology me and of military pay for needs, there is always a payoff in my college tuition, I have often been the work of military activities that is tempted to bite the hand that feeds applicable to non-military things,â&#x20AC;? me. said Terry Cummings, vice president The U.S. spending on defense and for the Kengya Group, a company that +RPHODQG 6HFXULW\ KDV H[FHHGHG does systems engineering and strategic $7.6 trillion since 9/11; 58 percent planning for the U.S. Department of of our 2011 discretionary budget Defense. goes toward defense; and in 2010, I wondered if they were to trim SHUFHQW RI WD[SD\HUV¡ PRQH\ ZHQW down the budget, would they cut a towards military spending while only program that could actually be good 6 percent went toward supporting he for the general public? economy.

My question was soon answered. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Personally, it bothers me that my Toward the end of August, on my money is paying for two wars that I way to work, as the tenth anniversary donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even agree with,â&#x20AC;? said Kristen of 9/11 and the golden â&#x20AC;&#x153;feastingâ&#x20AC;?

Mendoza, a kindergarten teacher in era for defense approached, it was the Buffalo Public School District, DQQRXQFHG WKDW WKH GHĂ&#x20AC;FLW GHDO ZRXOG who believes more money should be include some cuts to the military. going to education. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It drives me nuts 7KDW VDPH GD\ ZLWKLQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW IHZ how much money we are spending in hours of work, a mass email went out Afghanistan and Iraq...I want us out of announcing that the Army had issued there now. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just going nowhere.â&#x20AC;? a stop-work order for the program In the best interest of the U.S. engineering the military robots. populace, our global image and just The company I worked for completely plain common sense, I had always revolves around this robotics program, Ă&#x20AC;UPO\ DGYRFDWHG IRU WULPPLQJ GRZQ DQG VR WKH WHQVLRQ LQ WKH RIĂ&#x20AC;FH ZDV our military budget. Then this summer VWLĂ LQJ <RX FRXOG VHH LQ WKHLU H\HV happened. a fear of joblessness â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a reality that I needed money, so I took an came true for many within just a opportunity to work at my dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s couple of days. Fear quickly turned company as an engineering intern to anger and frustration, and I heard

24

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

Directing Nationalism Government leads generation 9/11’s celebration of bin Laden’s Death

By Abby Sophir

W

hen President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011, many college students in the D.C. area gathered at the White House to revel in the accomplishment. Former George :DVKLQJWRQ 8QLYHUVLW\ VWXGHQW (G 'RROH\ ZDV RQH RI WKH ÀUVW WR DUULYH DW WKH VFHQH

25

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over the course of about 40 minutes Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d say it went from a crowd of 50 people to about 1,000 or 1,500,â&#x20AC;?

Dooley said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was absolutely crazy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; climbing trees, lighting off sparklers, champagne, cigars. Some might have said it resembled a frat party but it was the most jubilee H[SHULHQFH ,¡YH HYHU SDUWLFLSDWHG LQ Âľ As I sat in my dorm room Ă&#x20AC;QLVKLQJ XS P\ ZHHNHQGV¡ ZRUN , watched videos of these celebrations occurring at college campuses across WKH FRXQWU\ Âł VWXGHQWV Ă RRGLQJ the streets chanting â&#x20AC;&#x153;U-S-A!â&#x20AC;? at the top of their lungs, blasting â&#x20AC;&#x153;God Bless Americaâ&#x20AC;? from their fraternity houses and parading across campus ZDYLQJ $PHULFDQ Ă DJV , ZDV LPPHGLDWHO\ FRQĂ LFWHG , ZDV disgusted by these reactions but despite my dismay, a part of me felt that I too should be participating, and by not outwardly celebrating, I was betraying my peers. $V 135¡V 0HOLVVD %ORFN UHSRUWHG on All Things Considered ´0RVW U.S. college students were only in middle school at the time of the September 11th attacks, barely aware of what their parents were crying about. But this week, those college students have been among WKH PRVW RXWVSRNHQ HYHQ H[FLWHG about Osama bin Ladenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death.â&#x20AC;?

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

Over the last ten years, an evolution has taken place as there has been more pressure on college students to support government actions.

After the 9/11 attacks, people of our age group saw the red, white DQG EOXH Ă DJV SXW XS LQ IURQW RI homes. We noticed the bright yellow ribbons plastered on car bumpers and took part in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Support Our Troopsâ&#x20AC;? bracelet trend. However, we had trouble comprehending these sudden changes and the meaning of the terrorist attacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a child, it would take a long time for me to see what was happening, for me to understand [9/11], even in the slightest concept,â&#x20AC;? Dooley said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The terms that they were using â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;radical religious group,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;alQaedaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iraqâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I mean I had no

26

idea what the heck Iraq was at that point. Trying to comprehend that is something I still struggle with to this day.â&#x20AC;?

As we struggled to understand the situation at hand, the government was already at work staging a theatrical performance â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a national drama to boost public support in the aftermath of disaster. Behind closed doors they searched for a group of people to cast as the leading role â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the change agent. For this task, the government turned to its casting director, the media, for help.

At the time, people of our age group were naĂŻve, vulnerable, youthful, and energetic. In other words, fresh faces, willing to act, but easily deceived, PDQLSXODWHG DQG H[SORLWHG Âł WKH EHVW of both worlds in the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes. We were the actors and actresses RI WKH GLUHFWRU¡V GUHDPV 1RZ WKH media just had to recruit us.

Soon after the attacks, Newsweek published a cover story, which coined the idea of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 generation,â&#x20AC;? referring to those of us who would come of age in the shadow of 9/11.

They hailed this generation as one that would become â&#x20AC;&#x153;politically involved, socially aware, well informed and civically active.â&#x20AC;? The rest of the media followed suit.

Although the â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 generationâ&#x20AC;? continued to struggle to understand the attacks, we now had a greater purpose. We had been assigned an important role to play and were GHWHUPLQHG WR Ă&#x20AC;W WKH SDUW But this role was tricky. It was multi-layered. To spectators, we had to appear to be critical-thinkers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; aware of the world around us. But that act was really just a disguise, meant to deceive the audience into trusting and following us. In actuality, we were puppets, manipulated by the government and media and aware only WR WKH H[WHQW WR ZKLFK WKH\ DOORZHG XV 7KH\ DOORZHG XV IRU H[DPSOH WR celebrate on the streets when Obama won the election, which they deemed a good moment. So was the killing of Osama bin Laden.

After bin Ladenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, we played our part to a tee â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we came out in force, spoke up loud and clear, and stayed until the wee hours of the

morning, putting on the show that the government and media wanted to VHH 6RPHZKHUH LQ RIĂ&#x20AC;FHV LQ 1HZ <RUN &LW\ DQG :DVKLQJWRQ ' & RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDOV and corporate heads dressed in fancy suits gave our performance a standing ovation.

The problem is we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know what or why we were celebrating. ´1DWLRQDOLVPÂľ VHHPHG WR EH WKH SRSXODU H[SODQDWLRQ DPRQJ VWXGHQWV EXW WKH WHUP UHPDLQHG LOO GHĂ&#x20AC;QHG â&#x20AC;&#x153;First and foremost, everyone was there with a sense of nationalism,â&#x20AC;?

Dooley said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A sense of pride in their country and freedom.â&#x20AC;?

This trend appeared consistent across the country. Tim Bosserman, a sophomore at The Ohio State University, participated in the celebrations by jumping into a lake on campus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the main reason for celebration was a sense of nationalism,â&#x20AC;?

Bosserman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most political GLVDJUHHPHQWV ZHUH QRQH[LVWHQW IRU the celebration in a sense. It was kinda just like people, whether Democrat or Republican, or how you felt about the war, everyone was just celebrating it as an achievement.â&#x20AC;?

Amid the overwhelming sense of â&#x20AC;&#x153;nationalism,â&#x20AC;? the supposed â&#x20AC;&#x153;wellinformedâ&#x20AC;? 9/11 generation was nowhere to be found. While jumping in lakes and partying on cars, they ignored the cruel realities of our wars LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW DQG WKH IDFW WKDW such seemingly innocent celebrations may be used by the media and government to justify the illegal torture methods used in order to locate bin Laden as well as the prolongation of war. They also never questioned the act of killing bin Laden itself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I did not feel that I was personally partying in response to the end of someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life,â&#x20AC;? Mallory Lumpe, a sophomore at the University of Missouri said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But that we were all so overwhelmed by a sense of national unity and were sharing a common bond.â&#x20AC;?

It seemed as though â&#x20AC;&#x153;nationalismâ&#x20AC;? had become synonymous with supporting our governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions and accepting the script that the media provided, no questions asked.

After the celebrations, the media once again seized the opportunity to rally government support through WKHLU OHDGLQJ UROH 2Q 0D\ &11 UHSRUWHG ´([SHUWV ZKR KDYH VWXGLHG the 9/11 generation say its members are more patriotic, more politically aware, more socially conscious and more plugged in than previous JHQHUDWLRQV 6R \HV $PHULFDQ Ă DJV were waved, not burned, on campuses Sunday night.â&#x20AC;?

The media framed the campus celebrations as an indictor of our generationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awareness and support. %XW ´DZDUHQHVVÂľ ZDV GHĂ&#x20AC;QHG E\ knowing merely what the media wanted us to know and nothing more, and acting in accordance with their script.

Behind the curtain, the celebrations demonstrated a failure to question our socialization and think critically before acting. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 generationâ&#x20AC;? was simply going through the motions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; acting out the role that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been cast to play. And this is frightening â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially after recognizing that, for a moment after bin Ladenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, I was even contemplating why I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being celebratory. <HW SURYLGHG DQ RSSRUWXQLW\ for change â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for seeing past the deception.

SROLWLFV DQG KRQRUV SURIHVVRU 1DHHP Inayatullah. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has the potential to make us globally aware, but it is not necessarily that we realize potential.â&#x20AC;?

Shortly after 9/11, a study titled The New Normal: Terror, Fear, and a New â&#x20AC;&#x153;Greatest Generation?â&#x20AC;? conducted

by Dr. Patricia Somers, a professor DW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 7H[DV DW $XVWLQ H[SORUHG WKH HIIHFWV RI WKH DWWDFNV RQ college students.

The study cited that â&#x20AC;&#x153;a few recalled their perception of the national patriotism as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;blind,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and worried the people had stopped questioning the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions and simply IROORZHG ÂśZDYLQJ D Ă DJ ¡¾ A decade later, it appears that little has changed. For the last ten years weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been blissfully reading off the lines of a script written by the media, unaware that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been cast as the main characters. If we continue in this manner, we will remain powerless puppets, forever trapped in their manipulative charade.

Abby Sophir is a sophomore TV-R PDMRU ZKR UHF\FOHG KHU Ă DJ SLQ (PDLO KHU DW JVRSKLU #LWKDFD HGX

´ WKUXVW XV LQWR D JOREDO FRQWH[W whether we like it or not,â&#x20AC;? said IC

Upfront

Image by Georgie Morely

27

Q&A: Susan Faludi

*IQMRMWX [VMXIV KMZIW MRWMKLX MRXS TSWX GYPXYVI

By Emily Miles

S

usan Faludi, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Womenâ&#x20AC;? has been widely recognized for her work with feminist theory of American culture.

Her most recent book, The Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America H[DPLQHV WKH 8 6 mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to 9/11. On Sept. 19, Faludi presented at Ithaca College in the wake of the ten year anniversary.

7KH WDON WLWOHG ´ 0\WK 0HGLD and Gender,â&#x20AC;? was sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media.

Faludi met with Buzzsaw before the presentation.

Q

You wrote The Terror Dream in 2007. Now four years from later â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; do you feel that any of your opinions have changed?

A

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

No, my opinions havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed but I am a bit melancholy that I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed opinions out there.

I had really hoped that six years out that enough time would pass for people to look more deeply and at the very VWUDQJH SV\FKRORJLFDO UHDFWLRQ WR and to look at all the ways we bounced off the real issues and dredged up all kinds of odd mythologies that had QRWKLQJ WR GR ZLWK WKH VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FV RI WKH attack. But even six years out I found an enormous amount of resistance to having an honest, soul searching discussion. Particularly in the American media â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which makes sense, because

so much of what I was writing about wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about the average Americanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinion so much as the culture. And the culture is the media.

Q

Speaking of media, did you notice any changes in anniversary coverage from 2001?

A

It was pretty much the same.

Either platitudinous, you know, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Can we have closure now?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and sort RI KHDUWV DQG Ă RZHUV VWRULHV $ ORW RI stories on private, individual reaction, but no grappling at all with the public response to the attacks and some rather major things like our failure to actually develop a meaningful investigative approach to pursue these crimes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you know, our failure to form a viable military strategy, our failure on just about every front of governance and prosecution and investigation. $QG EH\RQG WKDW QR UHĂ HFWLRQ RQ ZK\ we responded in such an ineffective way.

Q

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk a little about your books. In Backlash, you discuss periods of rejection of feminism. Do you think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the middle of a backlash today?

A

I think it never goes away. It takes different forms. I know that I could easily write Backlash today with different examples, but the same kind of bashing of feminism and lies about feminism. We hear the same myths, and the same lines are being repeated. I think whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worse is that the right-wing has so upped its attack on reproductive rights and basic legislation for women. Even the so-called liberal politicians in Washington have caved. So now we have a healthcare bill in which the one goodie the Democrats signed off on to appease the Right was abortion. So we Image by Jacob Lifschultz

28

see again, when push comes to shove, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights that are left out.

Q

For anyone interested in contributing and making it better â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the next step?

A

All we can do is more of what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to do. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to sugar-coat it because I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW WLPH 7KH PHGLD KDV EDUHO\ changed and is barely above the water compared to back then. In looking back at The Terror Dream, one of the things I noticed was that many of the publications I referenced have nearly disappeared. It used to be that, if you referenced something in Time magazine, people would sit up and notice. One KRSHV WKDW RQH GD\ ZH ZLOO Ă&#x20AC;JXUH RXW a model that works with the Internet where it can actually be a thriving independent media that actually reaches a critical mass of people and is VXSSRUWHG VXIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQWO\ Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDOO\ WKDW one can do investigative work and the real meat and potatoes of journalism.

If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a powerful force in journalism to educate the populous, GHPRFUDF\ LV Ă&#x20AC;FWLRQ Âł LV RSHQ WR PRE rule by people who are consuming nothing but Desperate Housewives â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and Desperate Housewives is one of the better shows. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any TXLFN Ă&#x20AC;[HV EXW , GR JR EDFN RIWHQ WR this wonderful line from Susan B. $QWKRQ\ ,Q WKH ZLQWHU RI VKH went to every county of Upstate New York and she said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am embarked on an unpopular course, and I must be content to row upstream.â&#x20AC;? So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I say you can only do more of the same â&#x20AC;&#x201D; harder, faster stronger.

And you look at the Tea Party, and how effective theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been on the main stage â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t actually that large of a percentage. That proves that you FDQ KDYH D FULWLFDO PDVV Âł MXVW Ă&#x20AC;JXUH out how to get the word out. Neither of those are easy, but the Tea Party has proven that it is possible.

Emily Miles is a junior journalism major.

(PDLO KHU DW HPLOHV #LWKDFD HGX

OOL. MINISTRYofCOOL. MI

29

Nick of the Trade

How one program attempted to teach new generations

By Mia Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien

A

lthough they are fading faster than an endangered species, Facebook groups, at the very least, provided quite a few laughs. And although they may now be archived deep in the realms of cyberspace, these â&#x20AC;&#x153;fan groupsâ&#x20AC;? have provided us with some inspirational messages and a place to connect with other fans, may they be Harry Potter fanatics or lovers (or haters) of Justin Bieber.

And then, there is my personal favorite: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Linda Ellerbee, You Ruined My Childhood.â&#x20AC;?

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee Ă&#x20AC;UVW debuted on Nickelodeon in 1992 and appeared on CBS between 1993 and 1996. In each episode, Ellerbee, along with a cast of â&#x20AC;&#x153;ordinaryâ&#x20AC;? teenagers, discussed a different topic relevant to the news at that time. Although the show stopped airing on a regularly in the mid-2000s, Ellerbee and her crew still appear on Nickelodeon on occasionally.

For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up during Nick Newsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; prime, learning about the realities of humanity and society â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sorry guys, Spongebob isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t real â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was, at times, a painful experience.

As the authors of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Linda Ellerbee, You Ruined My Childhoodâ&#x20AC;? Facebook page so HORTXHQWO\ SXW LW ´%\ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW FRPPHUFLDO break, you were either bored to tears or scared to death of what would happen t o

you and your family if you forgot to lock your doors at night.â&#x20AC;?

Love her or hate her, Linda Ellerbee was always on at 8 P.M. during the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s, encouraging families to sit down together and watch Nick News together.

But for the sixth graders at Copeland Middle School in Rockaway, N.J., there was no other alternative but to face the music â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and Ellerbee â&#x20AC;&#x201D; alone.

Ellerbeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest narrative, What Happened? The Story of September 11, 2001 was screened for these students during history classes. Parents were not LQIRUPHG WKDW WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP ZRXOG EH VKRZQ and the children were told on Thursday that they would be watching it the next day because â&#x20AC;&#x153;the anniversary of 9/11 was so close and all.â&#x20AC;?

Ellerbeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest news special is narrated along the lines of other Nick News episodes; however, the thesis of this particular episode is that the children of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world do not fully understand the details surrounding the attacks. The program is divided into three parts: the news, the narration and the questions.

When 11-year-old Olivia Munson, a student at Copeland Middle School, watched the special, she couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but feel â&#x20AC;&#x153;depressed,â&#x20AC;? particularly when the young adults shared their experiences about 9/11. For Munson, it was the story of now-25-year-old â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saraâ&#x20AC;? that frightened her the most.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her sister was on United 93, and my dad travels for work and is on planes a lot â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it could have been him,â&#x20AC;? Munson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It just made me feel really sad and worried.â&#x20AC;?

Munson, although believing the message RI WKH HSLVRGH GHĂ&#x20AC;QLWHO\ KLW KRPH GRHV QRW know if it was absolutely necessary she DQG KHU IHOORZ FODVVPDWHV ZDWFK WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP â&#x20AC;&#x201D; because she has two older siblings, the truth of 9/11 had been leaked to her over time and she, like many other kids, â&#x20AC;&#x153;just put the facts together.â&#x20AC;?

Image by David Lurvey

30

However, when asked how her other

classmates f e l t , Munson was unable to answer, because following WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP¡V conclusion her teacher switched the topic, ZLWKRXW GLVFXVVLQJ WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP RU DOORZLQJ WKH students to speak to each other about it.

Then, Munson explained, it was time for the students to go home and never once did they speak to each other about their thoughts on the movie.

Funny, considering part of Ellerbeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opening monologue â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a sentence that so many media critics praised â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was to encourage children to have â&#x20AC;&#x153;a parent or an adult you trust watch with you and then talk about it.â&#x20AC;?

Regardless of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bias towards Nick News or its host, one thing can â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or at least should â&#x20AC;&#x201D; be agreed on concerning this controversial topic: If todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children truly do not understand all the facts of 9/11, then having someone clarifying the details right next to them while watching WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP LV YLWDO :KHWKHU LW LV D SDUHQW D grandparent or a teacher, an adult should be there not to censor information, but to answer any questions.

As Fred Eisner, a child psychologist in Manalapan, N.J., points out, showing the images of 9/11 to a young child â&#x20AC;&#x153;does not do any worse than the graphics shown on TV already.â&#x20AC;?

He continued by explaining that the point of having an adult present is so that the child has someone to talk to.

Eisner added that the problem arises when, in a school setting without parental DSSURYDO D Ă&#x20AC;OP Âł HYHQ RQH DV ´WDPHÂľ DV Nick News â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is shown.

Perhaps Linda Ellerbee did not ruin our childhood; perhaps the only thing threatening our innocence and that of the younger generation is the world beyond our television screen and how we are thrust into it.

Mia Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien is a freshman journalism major who thinks the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s were All That. Email her at mobrien5@ithaca.edu.

Q&A: Amitava Kumar

Author speaks about 9/11â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect on art and literature

By Gena Mangiaratti

A

mitava Kumar, author and professor of English at Vassar College, spoke at Ithaca College on Sept. 7 about his most recent book, $ )RUHLJQHU &DUU\LQJ LQ WKH &URRN RI +LV $UP a Tiny Bomb, and how 9/11 has had an effect on art and literature in the past decade.

At Vassar, Kumar teaches a course called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Literature of 9/11,â&#x20AC;? a genre that he said his book, published LQ Ă&#x20AC;WV LQWR 7KH book explores the consequences of the war on terror through the cases of Hemant Lakhani and Shahawar Matin Siraj, two men convicted of plotting acts of terrorism after coming in contact with U.S. informants. .XPDU Ă&#x20AC;UVW KHDUG WKH YRLFH RI Lakhani on the radio, saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know why I have been arrested. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not Muslim. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not a terrorist.â&#x20AC;?

Kumar said he wondered, among other things, why it was that he thought only Muslims could be terrorists. He wanted to know what this man did and where he grew up.

He wanted to meet him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many of our stories begin with this discovery of news, and something that makes you curious,â&#x20AC;? Kumar said during his talk.

In an interview, I asked Kumar about literature in the post-9/11 world.

H[DPSOH , ZRXOGQ¡W EH WHDFKLQJ P\ course on â&#x20AC;&#x153;transnational literaturesâ&#x20AC;? in the manner that I do â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with WKH FORVLQJ VHFWLRQ RQ WKH ZDUV LQ $IJKDQLVWDQ DQG ,UDT Âł LI LW ZHUH QRW for that recent history. It is the same ZLWK P\ ZULWLQJ ,W LV clear to me that the fallout from 9/11, for which torture and war would be a quick shorthand, is the new GHĂ&#x20AC;QLWLRQ RI EDUH OLIH , XUJHQWO\ ZDQW WR understand it.

Q

How would \RX GHĂ&#x20AC;QH â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;literature of 9/11,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; or what puts a book in this genre?

A

:KHQ , EHJDQ GRLQJ WKLV , ZDV WKLQNLQJ PRUH RI WKH question â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;how to teach about 9/11?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 6RRQ , IRXQG WKDW , ZDV VWDJLQJ D debate about different writerly or artistic responses to the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events. %XW DV WKH GHFDGH KDV SURJUHVVHG P\ UHVSRQVH KDV FKDQJHG :KHUHDV LQ WKH EHJLQQLQJ \HDUV , KDG EHHQ preoccupied with how, say, three GLIIHUHQW QRYHOLVWV PLJKW KDYH UHVSRQGHG WR WKLV VLQJXODU HYHQW ,¡P QRZ LQWHUHVWHG LQ DVNLQJ VWXGHQWV ZKHWKHU WKH SULVRQ ORJ RI D PDQ EHLQJ WRUWXUHG LQ *XDQWDQDPR FDQ be considered an important, if not the FXOPLQDWLQJ SDUW RI ZKDW ,¡P FDOOLQJ the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;literature of 9/11.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Q

Q

A

A

To answer your question more directly, we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really say that 9/11 has â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;happenedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; yet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which is to say, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t over yet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and so it hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been done yet in literature, no. When people think about 9/11, they usually think RI D VLQJOH GD\ %XW D PRUH WKRXJKWIXO response cannot â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and should not â&#x20AC;&#x201D; GLVWLQJXLVK LW IURP WKH GD\V DQG \HDUV WKDW SUHFHGHG LW DQG WKH GHYDVWDWLQJ decade that came in its wake.

Q

You ended your talk on a point that it is the job of the writer to give a face to people who are affected by violence around the world. Can you comment at all on the media coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade? Do you think it could do a better job of communicating this information about the people in these areas?

A

7KHUH KDV EHHQ VRPH VWULNLQJ FRYHUDJH RI WKH ZDU LQ ,UDT DQG $IJKDQLVWDQ E\ :HVWHUQ ZULWLQJ Read Robert Fisk, for instance. Great UHSRUWLQJ KDV FRPH RXW HYHQ ZKHQ the journalists are embedded with the armed forces. Check out David Finkelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Good Soldiers.

But, for the most part, the reality of war, and what it has meant for the ordinary people in those countries, is screened from our view. The horror remains hidden. And my point in my book is that the war on terror here, the many trials and the many arrests, screen from our view the horror of that other war. *HQD 0DQJLDUDWWL LV D MXQLRU MRXUQDOLVP (PDLO KHU DW JPDQJLD # ithaca.edu.

31

Ministry of Cool

You talked about your perception that art has been able to â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or at least has started to â&#x20AC;&#x201D; address 9/11, while literature Do you feel your purpose in has not. Do you think it is possible ZULWLQJ RU LQ Ă&#x20AC;QGLQJ VWRULHV that 9/11 cannot be portrayed to write about, has undergone any through the medium of words, or VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW FKDQJHV DV D UHVXOW RI that it just hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been done yet?

9/11? ,¡P YHU\ LQWHUHVWHG LQ VWUHVVLQJ There is no doubt that 9/11, and that art or literature has to be FHUWDLQO\ LWV JOREDO DIWHUPDWK DGHSW DW UHVSRQGLQJ PRPHQW E\ has altered my sense of the world. For

moment to history. At the same time, I remain perplexed, or maybe only LQYROYHG LQ Ă&#x20AC;JXULQJ RXW ZKDW WLPH LW takes for art to name and understand QHZ WKLQJV 3HUKDSV LW WDNHV ORQJHU IRU writers to respond than performance artists.

The Taboos of Terrorism

Censorship in the media after 9/11

By Rachel Maus

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?â&#x20AC;?

The lyrics of Alan Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iconic 9/11 tribute still ring out in the hearts and minds of America, just as Walter Cronkiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice still resonates with those who tuned in when he proclaimed that President John F. Kennedy was dead. Ten years after the sunny autumn day when the Twin Towers fell, there are many thoughts still going through the minds of any American. We are reminded of the attacks every day when we turn on our TVs and radios, read the news or just walk through New York City and pass Ground Zero. That day will DOZD\V UHPDLQ LQ RXU WKRXJKWV In the years since 9/11, Americans have been exposed to images that bring strong emotions associated with the attacks. The media has been successful in grabbing our attention and making us evaluate what are the most pressing issues of our time. Sure, there will always be economic issues and pop culture scandals, but the one thing that seems to stick out in everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind is this continuous war on terror.

Terrorism is everywhere. It is domestic and abroad, it is at the workplace and in public, but most of all, it is in the media. The media has changed drastically in the years since Sept. 11, 2001, not just in the QHZV EXW RQ WHOHYLVLRQ LQ Ă&#x20AC;OP DQG LQ music as well.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

Think back to Alan Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lyrics, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where were you?â&#x20AC;?

Younger generations may remember the attacks vaguely, as an incident that maybe had us staying inside for recess and being picked up from school early.

These generations did not know enough about â&#x20AC;&#x153;national tragediesâ&#x20AC;? and hijacking planes to realize that there was a state of emergency across America. We were unable to comprehend the changes surrounding

32

our entire lives, much less so in the media. Apart from the continuous reports of post-9/11 shock, some of the changes were all too subtle to be noticed by the younger generations.

In the Beginning &%6 DIĂ&#x20AC;OLDWH DQG PHGLD DQDO\VW Glenn Halbrooks explained that in the time after 9/11, politicians and QHZVFDVWHUV EHJDQ ZHDULQJ Ă DJ pins. $W Ă&#x20AC;UVW WKH\ ZHUH VHHQ DV D unifying symbol that America could stand strong. However, what was going on behind those red, white and blue ceramics was a censorship that would last several years. There was control of what you could say on TV and who could say it.

After 9/11, Clear Channel, the largest radio conglomerate in the U.S., released a list to radio stations of songs that they deemed as inappropriate given the circumstances.

The song that stood out on this list the most was John Lennonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s song â&#x20AC;&#x153;Imagine.â&#x20AC;? A song universally recognized for itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message of peace and unity amongst all men was banned from the radio. It became clear that the agenda was not to ban songs that would be deemed insensitive or inappropriate, but to create a political censorship against those who opposed war.

At the same time, an event was occurring that is rarely talked about in the world of mainstream media.

FAIR founder and Park Center for Independent Media director Jeff Cohen explained that in the year and a half after 9/11, TV networks had lobbyists putting pressure on the FCC to alter ownership rules so that their conglomerates could get even bigger.

This would imply that the multinationals behind stations would expand so that the topics and issues would stay in line with what the Bush administration set forward. No one wanted to offend the White House, so therefore what would seem to most

to be a fair debate would be seen as bias against Bush. As a result, for every personality who was anti-war, there had to be two that supported the ideas of war and offensive military tactics.

As a result of the dispute among those who wished the media to remain unbiased and those out to keep in line with what the FCC set forth, nationwide termination took place.

MSNBSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most viewed talk show, The Phil Donahue Show was under heavy Ă&#x20AC;UH IRU 'RQDKXH¡V YLHZV DQG RYHUDOO questioning of the system, and was eventually cancelled just three weeks before the invasion of Iraq.

Jesse Ventura, a known conspiracy theorist, author of the book Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Start A Revolution Without Me, and WKH PDQ VFKHGXOHG WR WDNH 'RQDKXH¡V time slot, was suddenly stripped of his show as well for his views involving several conspiracy theories. Now, that is where he lives in the television world, on TruTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s believed that all of these steps were taken to ensure Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s backing of the invasion of Iraq.

As Cohen explained, the propaganda was a tactic used to convince America that going to war was the clear and rational option. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The invasion of Iraq could not have happened based on false pretenses â&#x20AC;Ś if not for the intimidation in the media,â&#x20AC;? he said, explaining that those OLWWOH $PHULFDQ Ă DJ SLQV KDG WXUQHG into a symbol for President Bush.

A Step in the Wrong Direction It seemed as though freedom of expression now had strict limitations, and freedom of speech was diminished as well. No one could speak against the government, and there was a strict and unspoken â&#x20AC;&#x153;patriotic code of conductâ&#x20AC;? that seemed to overtake the entertainment industry. Halbrooks recalled the television station he worked for at the time, and the memo about not accepting any suspicions packages.

Halbrooks claimed that over time, because of the false threats, Muslims began to be stereotyped, â&#x20AC;&#x153;despite the news stories produced about Islam in general, what a mosque looks like and reports on all the Muslims who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t terrorists.â&#x20AC;?

Growing Fear Over time, the nation began to cool down and started searching for outlets to cope with this diminished national unity. So, naturally, the hype of 9/11 transitioned from the news to the commercial venue of crime television and Hollywood.

Ratings for the show 24 hit thenDOO WLPH KLJKV LQ LWV Ă&#x20AC;IWK DQG VL[WK seasons, with the latterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plot centered on Muslim terrorist threats.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worse is that the line between Middle Eastern cultures was blurred into one large mass of discrimination.

7KH Ă&#x20AC;OP 300 attracted controversy over the way it portrayed Persians as barbaric, yet did extremely well at WKH ER[ RIĂ&#x20AC;FH 0RUH Ă&#x20AC;OPV EHJDQ WR EH PDGH RQ the topic of terrorism, and what once was a touchy subject seemed to be taking a turn towards entertainment, MXVW DV WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP DGDSWDWLRQ RI WKH Pearl Harbor attack had done. A way WR SURĂ&#x20AC;W IURP WKHVH VWHUHRW\SHV ZDV born, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name is Hollywood.

There is a scene from 24, in which the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s antihero and protagonist, Jack Bauer, is seen torturing a Muslim.

The fear was that someone would watch this show and go out and attack a Muslim, because that is what they think they should do. And although this is just one example, it undoubtedly has had its share of effects on many Americansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of Muslims.

While there were some who did stand up for the young woman, the

for so long before it gets tiresome.â&#x20AC;?

Whether or not these shows actually contributed to the widespread xenophobia is debatable, however Halbrooks explained why the entertainment industry can sometimes provoke this fear.

So the question now becomes, how far is too far? A comedian will say that nothing is off limits because comedy is meant to provoke people to make them laugh. However, many would disagree and say that certain topics should remain off limits. So where is the line drawn?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it be more dramatically creative for a TV show to lead viewers to think that the terrorist is Muslim, then reveal that the person is actually a white person from Sweden?â&#x20AC;? he asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People are naturally afraid of the unknown, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy for them to make judgments about Muslims because most of us donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know any of them personally. Because of their skin color, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to spot them. So that perpetuates the xenophobia.

Terrorists donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wear uniforms.

When the U.S. fought the Nazis, we could spot them because of what clothes they wore. When a terrorist seeks to go undetected, people will look for something else to pinpoint them â&#x20AC;Ś mostly race, because it just takes eyes to assume that someone with a particular skin color must be from the Middle East and must be a terrorist.â&#x20AC;?

Too Taboo for TV? Another important derivation of television that must be considered were the shows that saw no limits to what these stereotypes could provide for them. It has been said that nothing is off limits to comedians, and that apparently holds very true in the case of some popular satirical television shows.

In possibly one of the most controversial happenings in television, Trey Parker and Matt Stone chose to air an episode of their hit series, South Park satirizing the Muslim prophet, Mohammed. This episode received so much backlash from Muslim extremist groups, that they were forced to censor their depictions of the prophet. The duo later aired a show in which they depicted terrorist leaders mockingly.

Halbrooks explained that â&#x20AC;&#x153;satirical shows will pick up on ideas in popular culture and twist them for comedy.

So I tend to separate a program like that, or The Simpsons, from news programming. But reporters and people in general can only be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;on alertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Ten years ago, such jokes would not only be taboo, but intolerable.

The media seems to have shifted from one extreme to another. The former being the strictly pro-American, anti-terrorism stand that blacklisted those who oppose the White House, and the other being the lax, comically xenophobic way of making fun of those who pose a threat to our nation, and stereotyping those that are of Arab descent.

'HVSLWH DOO RI WKLV VRPH ZLOO DUJXH that 9/11 has changed little in the PHGLD VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ LQ WKH DUHDV RI MRXUQDOLVP :DOO\ 'HDQ WKH 'LUHFWRU of Training for the Committee of Concerned Journalists said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;9/11 already is an iconic event â&#x20AC;Ś journalism changed fundamentally because of [Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy Assassination].

World War II started broadcast news â&#x20AC;Ś the Kennedy assassination made broadcast news important. 9/11 didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change news. Maybe it should have, but it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.â&#x20AC;?

And while on the façade, the media remained fundamentally the same, what was going on behind closed doors was the censorship and termination of all that opposed what the public was being led to believe was the truth.

In reality, it was a political media invasion, which ultimately ended in the very real invasion of Iraq.

It happened exactly because, as Cohen stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;brave voices had been pushed off stage, and the more timid â&#x20AC;Ś have risen to the top.â&#x20AC;?

Rachel Maus is a freshman cinema and SKRWRJUDSK\ PDMRU ZKR ZDQWHG WKLV to be funnier â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been censored.

Email her at rmaus1@ithaca.edu.

33

Ministry of Cool

This shined through in an episode of the reality show, What Would You Do?, in which a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab is denied service at a local convenience store. A shocking amount of people unknowingly being Ă&#x20AC;OPHG VSRNH XS DQG DJUHHG ZLWK the man behind the counter when he claimed that she â&#x20AC;&#x153;could have a bomb.â&#x20AC;?

bigotry was prevalent.

Michael Hingson was on the seventy-eighth Ă RRU RI 7RZHU 2QH RI WKH :RUOG 7UDGH &HQWHU ZKHQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW SODQH VWUXFN DW $0 RQ Sept. 11, 2001.

Not knowing the situation, all Hingson knew was that he needed to evacuate. Elevators were out of the question â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he needed to take the stairs.

But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a catch: Hingson is blind.

Author:

Michael Hingson Released August 2011

Blind, but not alone; he had Roselle, his guide dog. 7KXQGHU 'RJ is Hingsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memoir of escaping Ground Zero with his faithful guide dog, Roselle, who led him to safety, down the stairs and out of the tower, all on one simple command: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Forward.â&#x20AC;?

Michael Hingson writes in a way that makes his book less about his experience of the event and more about the greater picture. His voice is strong and carries his QDUUDWLYH Ă XLGO\ IURP SUHVHQW DFFRXQW RI WKH attack back to lessons learned in childhood â&#x20AC;&#x201D; lessons that always relate and come back to his escape from the World Trade Center. +LQJVRQ LV D Ă&#x20AC;UP EHOLHYHU WKDW QRWKLQJ LV D disability unless you make it so.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

Thunder Dog

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was one of those moments in which KLVWRU\ VSOLWV DQG ZH GHĂ&#x20AC;QH WKH ZRUOG DV â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;beforeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;after.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

7KXQGHU 'RJ isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about his escape but

34

Image by Kennis Ku

RAW ROM F S A W THE

rather about the trust and courage in not only everyday life, but also in life-threatening events. Roselle and Hingson form a pair that relies on their bond of trust to escape Tower One, and the aftermath of the collapse of Tower Two. This bond of trust is one that Hingson stresses is every day, not just extraordinary situations; a bond that can be formed between anyone, not just between blind man and guide dog.

He wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The best way we can honor those we lost in ... September 11 is by moving forward and building a better society through trust and teamwork.â&#x20AC;?

7KXQGHU 'RJ is one of those books that will make you laugh, share and cry. Hingson truly has a way with words and his voice pulls you through the entire event, allowing you to feel the events of a day the way only a New Yorker could. 7KXQGHU 'RJ is about turning a nightmare into a happy ending. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about not letting a disability make you disabled.

If you learn to trust and have courage, and anything is possible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Out of the ashes and rubble of 9/11, we can create building blocks for the future.

'RQ¡W OHW \RXU VLJKW JHW LQ WKH ZD\ RI \RXU vision ... Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shake off the dust and move on. Forward.â&#x20AC;?

- Tiina Korpus

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saint of 9/11â&#x20AC;?

As soon as an amateur paparazzo snapped D SLFWXUH RI Ă&#x20AC;UHĂ&#x20AC;JKWHUV FDUU\LQJ KLV ERG\ DZD\ from the wreckage, Father Mychal Judge became the poster boy for the thousands of Ă&#x20AC;UHĂ&#x20AC;JKWHUV SROLFH RIĂ&#x20AC;FHUV DQG (07V WKDW PDGH WKH XOWLPDWH VDFULĂ&#x20AC;FH RQ +LV QDPH DQG story now grace a rehab center, a foundation for the homeless, a childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, a block in New York City and a 2006 documentary, which is currently available on Hulu.

Directed by:

Glann Holston Released 2006

As not only Catholic, but also a former intern for the province of Franciscan friars of which Mychal was a member, I felt an eerie, instantaneous connection to this popular priest DQG Ă&#x20AC;UH GHSDUWPHQW FKDSODLQ 7KRXJK , QHYHU knew him, Mychal seemed the type of person who could be your best friend after knowing \RX IRU Ă&#x20AC;YH PLQXWHV

The Terror Dream

He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just stand at the pulpit shouting sermons; he was out in the world, giving his only coat to a homeless man, visiting patients ZLWKRXW D PDVN DW WKH KHLJKW RI WKH $,'6 HSLGHPLF XVLQJ KLV Ă&#x20AC;QDO EUHDWKV WR PLQLVWHU last rites to a fallen comrade at the World Trade Center. He considered â&#x20AC;&#x153;not having enough hours in the day to help everyoneâ&#x20AC;? to be his greatest sin.

While reading Susan Faludiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Terror Dream, I found myself growing more and more uncomfortable as I waded through pages detailing the anti-feminist movement in the media post-9/11. It was bewildering and frankly, frightening to read about the mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatment of women â&#x20AC;&#x201D; both within the industry and on the front pages. However, my uneasiness stemmed mainly from Faludiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatment of the subject itself.

Author:

Susan Faludi Released October 2007

As a feminist and a female planning to work in the media, I really wanted to like this book Âł UHDOO\ , GLG Âł DQG LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW KDOI , FRXOG wholeheartedly agree with the points Faludi made. I could see the inherent patriarchal system in effect. Faludi, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist known for her book, Backlash: The 8QGHFODUHG :DU $JDLQVW $PHULFDQ :RPHQ, obviously knows what sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talking about.

,W LV 0\FKDO¡V KXPDQLW\ WKDW XQLĂ&#x20AC;HV YLHZHUV RI DOO FUHHGV ,Q PDQ\ ZD\V KH GHĂ&#x20AC;HG WKH VWHUHRW\SH of a stuffy preacher. When Mychal entered the priesthood, he was just another teenage punk from Brooklyn. He wore an earring. He was a semi-closeted gay man, a recovering alcoholic.

He peppered his advice to close friends with curse words. He popularized a badass new spelling of one of the most common names in the country. And, according to a friend interviewed LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP KH KDG D WDWWRR RI D VKDPURFN ´LQ a place you probably canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talk about.â&#x20AC;? He was everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priest.

So even if religion makes you cringe, pick up a pint of Ben and Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and watch this movie.

I dare you not to be inspired, in awe and in tears. $QG \RX FDQ¡W VD\ QR WR D Ă&#x20AC;OP QDUUDWHG E\ Gandalf. Just sayinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

- Vicky Wolak

ZLGRZV RI Ă&#x20AC;UHPHQ Her initial argument is strong â&#x20AC;&#x201D; perhaps at times, so strong that it comes off as aggressive, defensive, and pushy. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help that her evidence (running the gamut from mainstream media sources to internet chat rooms), although often compelling, ultimately feels contrived, IRUFHG WR Ă&#x20AC;W WKH FRQĂ&#x20AC;QHV RI KHU WKHVLV QR PDWWHU what the context.

This could be due to the fact that enough time just hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t passed yet to be able to draw stronger conclusions about a post-9/11 world. Faludi published the book in 2007; now, only four years later, the US has observed the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. The Terror Dream doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t PDNH PXFK SURJUHVV DIWHU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW KDOI The second half of the book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Phlogenyâ&#x20AC;? lacks focus as it delves into the historical background of American â&#x20AC;&#x153;myth and misogyny,â&#x20AC;? losing its readers with ramblings about Puritans, witch hunts and cowboys and Indians. Faludi makes a strong initial statement about American society and gender roles in a post-9/11 world; her support of it, however, seems slightly weak, unlike her extremely forceful attitude, which may intimidate readers. &DG\ /DQJ

35

Ministry of Cool

She begins the book (which is divided into two sections, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ontogenyâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Phylogenyâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; refering to the evolution of an individual and a society) with a solid premise: She shows the mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bigoted and undeniably patriarchal attitude towards women working in media, as well as the subjects themselves â&#x20AC;&#x201D; women ranging from writer Susan Sontag to Pvt. Jessica Lynch to the

I became a disciple of this humble â&#x20AC;&#x153;saint,â&#x20AC;? but why was the rest of the world, with its many races, religions, and political views, so moved by the story of an ordinary Irish-American priest?

And why, out of so many public servants who died in the attack, did he stand out?

6IžIGXMSR 6IZMI[ EX 8LI 2I[WIYQ

By Carly Smith

The Newseum, a museum dedicated to the history of news, opened in the VSULQJ RI ,W KDV VHYHUDO GLIIHUHQW SHUPDQHQW DQG URWDWLQJ H[KLELWV ZLWK KLJK WHFK GRFXPHQWDULHV DQG GLVSOD\V WR convince people that news is cool.

The 9/11 exhibit, one of the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SHUPDQHQW Ă&#x20AC;[WXUHV DLPV WR SRUWUD\ WKH FKDOOHQJHV MRXUQDOLVWV IDFHG ZKHQ FRYHULQJ WKH WUDJHG\ DV LW RFFXUUHG , WKRXJKW P\ Ă&#x20AC;UVW WULS WR WKH 1HZVHXP the summer after it opened would be an LQWHUHVWLQJ EXW JHQHUDO YLVLW Âł VLPLODU WR my view of the news: important, but not QHFHVVDULO\ LQWULJXLQJ , ZHQW LQ ZLWK QR SULRU NQRZOHGJH RI WKH H[KLELW 7KH Ă&#x20AC;UVW WKLQJ , VDZ LQ WKH H[KLELW even before the piece of the broadcast antenna that stands 31-feet tall, was a box of tissues.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

7KLV ZDV IDU IURP EHLQJ P\ Ă&#x20AC;UVW WULS WR :DVKLQJWRQ ' & EXW LW ZDV P\ Ă&#x20AC;UVW trip to the Newseum, a perfect museum for news junkies like me. Compared to my crystal-clear memory of Sept. 11, P\ PHPRU\ RI P\ Ă&#x20AC;UVW WULS WR WKH Newseum is foggy. I remember it being a warm, summer day. I was with a friend to visit a few museums in the area while her dad was at work in one of the many large buildings packed throughout ' & ,W¡V IXQQ\ KRZ , DQG HYHU\RQH else, remember 9/11 clearly when the details of my trip to the museum seven years later is more akin to a dream â&#x20AC;&#x201D; gaps in information with a few clear, sensory details.

The antenna, rusted and with wires hanging out, sat in the center of the small exhibit. Two others, in addition to myself and my friend Tiegen, stared at the wall of newspapers with bolded headlines like â&#x20AC;&#x153;Attack on America,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Outrage,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Terrorâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bastards!â&#x20AC;?

'HVSLWH WKH H[KLELW¡V VPDOOQHVV , KDG WR strain my neck to see the newspapers that stretched upward at least 10 times my height.

I looked at Tiegen, about to comment on how far up this exhibit reached, but it felt rude to break the silence special to WKLV GLVSOD\ 'RZQVWDLUV PRPHQWV DJR we had been looking at the gallery of news history, joking about the inclusion of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

At the Berlin Wall exhibit, I decided to be a â&#x20AC;&#x153;rebelâ&#x20AC;? and sneak a touch on one portion of the wall depicting a face screaming, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Act up!â&#x20AC;?

But now I stood in front of the damaged camera equipment and it felt almost sacrilegious to touch something that I had lived through, yet did not understand.

The equipment, along with a notepad and a press pass, belonged to Bill Biggart, a freelancer who I had never heard of before. Tiegen, the two other visitors and I quietly read the descriptions accompanying Biggartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ă&#x20AC;QDO SKRWRJUDSKV KH WRRN EHIRUH KH died. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eerie,â&#x20AC;? I whispered. Tiegen only nodded in response.

But then my memory becomes hazy.

At some point, we took our seats in the theater to watch one of the many documentaries the Newseum showed.

We had already seen a few others, which were feel-good pieces about journalism

Photo by Kacey Deamer

36

LQ JHQHUDO DV ZHOO DV PRUH VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F documentaries such as one on sports journalism. Before we sat down, I saw WKH ZDUQLQJ DERXW WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP¡V JUDSKLF upsetting content. This meant little to me.

As a 17 year old, graphic content warnings just let me know that it was something I shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take my younger sister to see. Hell, I watched CNN replay the video of the towers collapsing on 9/11 as a 10 year old never having before experienced a traumatic national event. Upsetting content? I can handle it.

The documentary began. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember whether there was any music in the beginning, but I like to pretend that it was as silent as it had been moments before seating ourselves.

Again, I watched the World Trade Center fall. A man jumped out of a building, followed by several others. People took FRYHU XQGHU FDUV DV GHEULV Ă RRGHG New York City. Some people screamed, clutching on to strangers beside them.

Newscasters struggled to learn what was happening, but no one knew.

Freelancers, such as Biggart, went directly to the scene, knowing full well of the danger ahead, and clicked the shutter button as fast as possible. New Yorkers cried. Then journalists cried.

With damp cheeks, I left the theater, JUDEELQJ WKH WLVVXHV ,¡G VHHQ ZKHQ Ă&#x20AC;UVW entering the exhibit.

I still didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know a damn thing. I felt just as frustrated as the journalists struggling to convey what had happened that day seven years earlier.

Tiegen and I remained silent. We waited before moving on to the First Amendment gallery. Struggling to PHPRUL]H HYHU\WKLQJ LQ WKDW Ă&#x20AC;OP Âł QRW knowing that I would be writing about it three years later with a muddled memory â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I took a deep breath. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well, shit.â&#x20AC;?

That was as far as our eloquence would take us.

Carly Smith is a junior journalism major ZKR LV SXOOLQJ IRU D Buzzsaw exhibit at the Newseum. Email her at csmith7@ ithaca.edu.

From Rubble to Riches ,SPP][SSH´W TVS½X JVSQ

By Kaitlin Hulbert

H

'LUHFWO\ IROORZLQJ WKH RQO\ product to come out of Hollywood was a short piece entitled The Spirit of America.

It was meant to epitomize American patriotism, according to Ithaca College professor Jack Powers, and was intended to inspire and encourage American citizens still reeling from the attacks.

Other than The Spirit of America, 2001 saw the release of Shrek and Harry Potter, UDWKHU WKDQ KHDY\ SDWKRV WRWLQJ Ă&#x20AC;OPV The silver screen, however, grappled with terrorism-inspired content. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[In] the early aftermath of 9/11, several TV shows like 7KH :HVW :LQJ and Law & Order tried to directly incorporate terrorist attacks into their story lines, with mixed results,â&#x20AC;? Powers said.

Not only were viewers not responding to the content exactly how the executives had hoped, but in many revenue was actually lost in days following the attacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For many days, all the networks showed nonstop coverage of the event,â&#x20AC;?

'DQ 2¡6KDQQRQ FR H[HFXWLYH SURGXFHU RI Modern Family, said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The networks lost millions of dollars that would otherwise have been generated in ad revenue from the shows that were supposed to be airing.â&#x20AC;?

According to Powers, no one was â&#x20AC;&#x153;chomping at the bit to commercialize 9/11.

Everyone [was] aware of how that might come across,â&#x20AC;? and thus the screens stayed black. Clint Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, a media critic with The Cleveland Plain Dealer, agreed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Major studios are often willing to exploit anything and anyone,â&#x20AC;? Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But such an incredibly tragedy carried past the bottom line.â&#x20AC;? )DVW IRUZDUG Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV As time passed, the taboo surrounding OHVVHQHG WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW WZR Ă&#x20AC;OPV GLUHFWO\ depicting 9/11 were released in 2006.

United 93 came out in April, and World Trade Center followed in August. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Studios] made an effort to be respectful and realistic,â&#x20AC;? Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all watched the horror live.â&#x20AC;?

7KH Ă&#x20AC;OPV GLGQ¡W QHHG FODVVLF +ROO\ZRRG gimmicks, but that hardly means they ZHUHQ¡W SURĂ&#x20AC;WDEOH World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage and Maggie Gyllenhaal, eventually grossed 70 million dollars.

Americans needed closure. They wanted a new perspective on a moment WKDW LQ UHWURVSHFW GHĂ&#x20AC;QHG WKH ZRUOG WKH\ lived in. They were curious. Pretending that executives at Paramount Pictures â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the production company responsible for World Trade Center â&#x20AC;&#x201D; werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t aware of 9/11â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s selling power is simply naĂŻve.

World Trade Center director Oliver Stone used 9/11 in the same way network executives use A-list actors and television producers use cliffhangers: As a hook to draw in viewers. The decision to green-light the production was at its very core, a business decision, made with SURĂ&#x20AC;W LQ PLQG

Remember Me, a 2010 romantic drama, was free of fallacies, but that hardly left LW IUHH IURP FULWLFLVP 7KH Ă&#x20AC;OP SUHPLHUHG just a little more than eight years after the fall of the World Trade Center. To most viewers whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been hoping for two hours of Robert Pattinson and formulaic romance, that was irrelevant. It was at OHDVW XQWLO WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO PRPHQWV RI WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP which used 9/11 as a plot twist, hoping for a cheep cry and a lasting impression.

And therein lies the ethical crux. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The immediate effect was monetary,â&#x20AC;?

Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shannon said of 9/11â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect on network programming. Ten years later, that hardly seems to have changed. The weeks leading up to the tenth anniversary saw countless hours of programming dedicated to 9/11, every second of which made someone money. But in the case of PHGLD SRVW LW¡V SRVVLEOH WKDW ´SURĂ&#x20AC;WÂľ and â&#x20AC;&#x153;exploitationâ&#x20AC;? arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t synonymous.

The true judge of whether or not Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exploiting national tragedy OD\V QRW LQ ER[ RIĂ&#x20AC;FH UHYHQXH EXW LQ the role of 9/11 in the piece. It lies in whether it serves to commemorate and memorialize or itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simply a plot twist.

Over the past ten years, Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s produced examples of both. Critics have argued and debated, but the choice isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t truly theirs.

The choice belongs to the people, to the students, to the parents, to the teenagers, to the public. It belongs to everyone else.

Kaitlin Hulbert is a freshman IMC major who really just wanted to ruin Remember Me for you. Email her at khulber2@ithaca.edu.

37

Ministry of Cool

Eventually, networks found a happy medium in government-focused shows like Criminal Minds and NCIS â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shows that allowed the American public to watch as criminals faced the wrath of the United States legal systemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and what Powers refers to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;escapist fare,â&#x20AC;? television rooted either so deeply in comedy or impractically that it allowed viewers to mentally detach from the present.

But even as network executives successfully introduced characters like Criminal Mindsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Aaron Hotchner â&#x20AC;&#x201D; strong, masculine and stoic to a fault â&#x20AC;&#x201D; into the public discourse, the big screen continued to progressively avoid 9/11.

Image by Marc Phillips

ardball RSHQHG RQ 6HSW and within three days, it grossed 9.3 million dollars. Impressive, considering it opened three days after the World Trade Center fell. If nothing HOVH WKH Ă&#x20AC;OP¡V VXFFHVV LV D WHVWDPHQW WR Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overarching presence and power, but it also marked the emergence of a new set of needs displayed by the American public: The need to laugh, the need to escape, and the need to be saved in the wake of 9/11.

We Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Start the Fire

By C.K. *

E

YHU\RQH KDV D ´OLIH OLVWÂľ Ă&#x20AC;OOHG ZLWK things to accomplish, places to visit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an assortment of things to do without ever intending to complete each item.

I have one of those lists â&#x20AC;&#x201D; actually I have a number of those lists. I just never thought that an item would be sex with D Ă&#x20AC;UHPDQ PXFK OHVV GLG , WKLQN WKDW , would check it off. My experience goes beyond that though â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I overachieved a little bit.

So I added an addendum to the list: +DYH VH[ ZLWK D Ă&#x20AC;UHPDQ RQ D Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN Check. , GLGQ¡W NQRZ WKDW KH ZDV D Ă&#x20AC;UHPDQ when we met. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know that we would date, long-distance, for a number RI PRQWKV , GHĂ&#x20AC;QLWHO\ GLGQ¡W NQRZ WKDW DQ LQQRFHQW UHTXHVW IRU D ULGH LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN ZRXOG UHVXOW LQ D EULHI \HW IXOĂ&#x20AC;OOLQJ rendezvous on the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat.

BUZZSAW: The 9/11 Issue

We had been dating for a few months, visiting each other every other weekend since the two-hour drive didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t warrant a state of constant togetherness. Needless to say, when we were together, much of the time was spent behind a locked door. On this visit, I encouraged a trip outside of the house; maybe a picnic, or a movie, or something outside of those four walls that would be considered an actual â&#x20AC;&#x153;date.â&#x20AC;?

There was an outing, but the â&#x20AC;&#x153;dateâ&#x20AC;? never occurred. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind, and I still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.

Jerry* had mentioned before that if I wanted, he could arrange a drive DURXQG WRZQ LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN , QHYHU really took him seriously, but since we were trying to get out of the bedroom I said we should take that ride. ´,V D GULYH LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN VWLOO DQ option?â&#x20AC;? I asked, trying to hide my enthusiasm at the idea. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sure, I know the guy in charge today, and he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind,â&#x20AC;? Jerry responded. Then he said that I could wear some of the gear, too, to â&#x20AC;&#x153;get the full experience.â&#x20AC;?

I agreed.

When we arrived at the station it was empty â&#x20AC;&#x201D; everyone had left for a call. I grabbed a helmet and a jacket, both at OHDVW Ă&#x20AC;YH VL]HV WRR ODUJH DQG SUHWHQGHG that I was racing to call.

In the garage sat one of the trucks â&#x20AC;&#x201D; surprisingly smaller than I had imagined. It seemed that it had recently EHHQ DW D Ă&#x20AC;UH DV WKHUH ZDV D VPRN\ VPHOO WKDW Ă&#x20AC;OOHG P\ QRVWULOV DQG DVKHV IHOO DV , UDQ P\ Ă&#x20AC;QJHUV DORQJ WKH VLGH of it.

As I began my love affair with this truck and what the truck represented, Jerry walked into the garage. He was in full uniform.

We never left the garage.

Now as glamorous as it may seem, and as enjoyable as it was, there are a few suggestions Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to make for those

LQWHQGLQJ WR DGG VH[ ZLWK D Ă&#x20AC;UHĂ&#x20AC;JKWHU Âł LQ D Ă&#x20AC;UHWUXFN Âł WR D OLIH OLVW The uniform really is just for show DQG WR IXOĂ&#x20AC;OO WKH H[SHULHQFH ,W LV QRW easy to remove. Honestly, it was almost impossible for me to pull off his jacket, let alone those overalls. So, let the Ă&#x20AC;UHĂ&#x20AC;JKWHU LQ WKH UHODWLRQVKLS UHPRYH the uniform while the partner watches.

Other than that minor technical GHWDLO WKH GULYHU¡V VHDW RI D Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN is fairly roomy and allows for a variety of different positions. It is necessary to know where the siren is, however, for obvious reasons.

The reason the experience was brief was due to an accidental bump of the button to turn on the siren. Yes, while KDYLQJ VH[ LQ D Ă&#x20AC;UH WUXFN , FDXVHG WKH siren to go off (in more ways than one).

Unfortunately, sirens tend to attract attention. It only rang for a few seconds, but Jerry was still freaked that someone would come by. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Who? Everyone went to the call. You think some random person that lives QHDUE\ ZLOO VZLQJ E\ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UH VWDWLRQ because of a siren?â&#x20AC;? I questioned.

He was calmed slightly, but we still needed to move along â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;just in case.â&#x20AC;?

Thus was the conclusion of my most exciting sexual accomplishment â&#x20AC;&#x201D; so far. The helmet stayed on.

1DPHV KDYH EHHQ FKDQJHG

Feel the heat?

GLIGO SYX FY^^WI\<\ [IIOP] SR BUZZSAWMAG.ORG 38

Chillinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Like a Villain

8LI MRžY\ SJ XIVVSVMWXW MR GSQMG FSSOW ERH %QIVMGE´W UYIWX JSV E LIVS

By Jenni Zellner The tragedy of 9/11 has been discussed and conveyed through countless art forms that have both honestly depicted the events and looked at them with a critical eye.

The comic book has played a VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW UROH LQ WKLV DUWLVWLF movement, contributing to the multitude of perceptions regarding one of our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest tragedies.

Comic books have traditionally UHĂ HFWHG SROLWLFDO HYHQWV RI WKH WLPH a choice that is particularly evident in the villainous characters introduced during this time period.

While superheroes typically battle fantastical villains such as The Joker or Poison Ivy, it seems that a new set of villains are causing mayhem â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have superpowers.

Terrorist organizations such as alQaeda are featured as the foes of beloved characters, or even battle real world leaders. While Hitler has been frequently depicted in comic ERRNV VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ LQ The Golden Era, these new political allusions feature characters that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just relevant QRGV EXW UHDO Ă&#x20AC;JXUHV The comic book is a medium that has withstood the test of time, and despite the advent of new technology, it is still relevant today. Comics ask a fervent and pressing question â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;What will happen next?â&#x20AC;? They are unique in their approach, and as comic expert -RVK -RKQV EHOLHYHV Ă&#x20AC;UPO\ HQJUDLQHG in American culture.

Yet while comic books can invoke strong feelings of nostalgia, they are still very much relevant to modern society, particularly in the wake of a national tragedy such as 9/11.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adding politics and real events give weight to characters â&#x20AC;Ś comics have frequently depicted â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in their stories with him being the actual president at the time the [comic] book is published,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While it might be a gimmick â&#x20AC;Ś it backs up the story and allows for a world populated by monsters and gods to be much more accessible to the reader.â&#x20AC;?

Marvel freelance writer Ron Cacace agrees with the use of political discourse, provided that it is appropriate to the story. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no problem with involving politics in comics if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done tastefully DQG Ă&#x20AC;WV WKH VWRU\ Âľ KH VDLG ´, ZRXOG say that most mainstream comics should not serve as a soapbox for the writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s views. Tell the story and involve politics, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just use your distribution medium as a way to blatantly push your views on everyone.â&#x20AC;?

Yet unlike the use of politics in comic books, reactions to 9/11 imagery are mixed. Generations that have intimately experienced the horrors of 9/11 may not have the same sentiments for a tragedy they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t alive for, such as World War II. It is WKHUHIRUH GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW WR FRPSDUH SROLWLFDO events from another era, to those that have occurred in our lifetime.

2QH LVVXH WKDW SURYRNHG VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW reaction was the 9/11 issue of Marvelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spider-Man. Miriam Borden, a former Marvel editorial intern, recounts having a mostly positive reaction to the issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fact that these superheroes werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t portrayed in their trademark brightly colored uniforms [really grabbed me],â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were there, in the background, among the

Ă&#x20AC;UHPHQ SROLFH RIĂ&#x20AC;FHUV DQG PHGLFV who were the real focus of the panels.

You had to look for them to see them.

Thor and the others were simply in the background, blending in among the real heroes of that day. What a remarkably profound moment.â&#x20AC;?

Jaffe, on the other hand, does not recall a similar state of profundity and perceived the issue with a more critical eye. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The issue on one hand was very heavy, but it seemed to take away from the impact of real heroes to KDYH 'RFWRU 'RRP DQ LQWHUQDWLRQDO terrorist in the comics, crying at the sight of the twin towers falling,â&#x20AC;? Jaffe said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a very weird moment to read, and it seemed forced and inauthentic. That was the one case where, rather than adding pathos, the connection to reality seemed ridiculous.â&#x20AC;?

Even though 10 years have passed, the 9/11 attacks are still very much a subject of controversy across all mediums. Although it is important to support new artistic perspective, we must simultaneously uphold a level of respect for the events on 9/11, not just in memory of the lives that were affected, but because this historic event will continue to shape the lives of our generation.

The artistic contributions we produce will be left as reminders to the generations that follow us, and as a result, we must be mindful of the perceptions we generate.

We could not control what happened to our loved ones, the Pentagon or New York, but we can control how we immortalize this tragedy, and it is up to us to draw the best picture- even if that picture is $3.99 and shrinkwrapped.

-HQQL =HOOQHU LV D MXQLRU (QJOLVK DQG DQWKURSRORJ\ PDMRU ZKR IUHTXHQWV FRPLF ERRN FRQYHQWLRQV LQ H[WUDYDJDQW superhero costumes. Email her at jzellne1@ithaca.edu.

39

Ministry of Cool

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I attribute success and continued relevance to the characters,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Comics are, for a large part, the holders of American mythology. These larger-than-life characters are like 5RPDQ RU 1RUVH JRG Ă&#x20AC;JXUHV VXUH QR one worships them in the theological sense, but they create a universe of mythology that we still engross ourselves in to this day.â&#x20AC;?

While one unfamiliar with comic ERRNV PD\ SHUFHLYH SROLWLFDO LQĂ XHQFHV as detrimental to the fantastical or escapist elements of them, many comic enthusiasts, such as comic expert Michael Jaffe, disagree, and WKLQN SROLWLFV DUH LQ IDFW EHQHĂ&#x20AC;FLDO WR the stories.

40

ONS. PROSE&CONS. PROS

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

Atmosphere

By Sarah E. Serrano

she said she believed in Angels reincarnation was as real as silver horses when i told her i believed in people she never answered back but every time the Angels called her there was a dial tone in one ear and her Father in the other once the minutes of doubt were ticking on Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rusty clock she never knew who had the knife and who was going to save her and all i know is she believed in Angels and she couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in Laughter

Making Headlines

By Adeline Nieto

,I , FRXOG VDFULĂ&#x20AC;FH P\ SUHVHQW WR WKH LGHDO ,¡G ZDQW D ZLQGRZ VHDW DV P\ VKHOWHU 4XLHW DQG ZDUP 4XLWH ZDUP ,¡G VSHQG P\ PLQXWHV ZDWFKLQJ H\HODVKHV FDWFK VQRZĂ DNHV DQG SXGGOHV FUDFN XQGHU JDORVKHV , GLJUHVV WR VWDQG DWRS WKH FXVKLRQV 6SLQQLQJ DQG ORRNLQJ XS , EOLQG P\VHOI 7KLV URRI KDV OHDNV $OO , IHHO LV VRJJ\ FDUGERDUG $OO , ZDQW WR IHHO LV KRSH

$QG ZKHQ WKHUH¡V QRWKLQJ QHZ WR WDON DERXW ZH¡OO WDON DERXW WKH ZHDWKHU

41

Prose & Cons

$V , FRPSLOH \HVWHUGD\¡V KHDGOLQHV LQWR WRQLJKW¡V SLOORZ , ZRQGHU KRZ \RX DUH &DQ¡W \RX VHH ,¡P VRDNHG WKURXJK DQG WKRXJK" ,¡YH EHHQ FOHDQVHG , VZHDU &RPH VLW E\ P\ SXULĂ&#x20AC;HG VRXO LQ WKLV TXLHW ZDUPWK

42

DUST. SAWDUST. SAWD

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

Mosque to Adopt Starbucks Attire?

Coffee chain sets standard for future business proposals

By Zachary Briggs

Ground zero conjures a lot of images.

I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine a more appropriate one than roasted coffee debris gulped down by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Starbucks squatters.â&#x20AC;? Most people would agree. After all, Starbucks is more apple pie than apple pie itself. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the heart of America â&#x20AC;&#x201C; right next to the coronary artery it stuffs with the new Trenta-sized caramel Frappuccino that Ă DXQWV FDORULHV IRXU 7ZLQNLHV FDQ¡W even boast that). )RU WKRVH RI \RX MRLQLQJ XV IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW time, I invite you to step out from under that rock and see what exactly is going on in the Big Apple: Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beloved

coffee confederate has added another shop to its current list of thousands, one located only two blocks from the symbolic site of the former World Trade Center. Only now, for your, and Bloombergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convenience, can you purchase a Twin Towers souvenir and espresso in just two minutes! Sounds exhilarating, if you ask me.

Other buildings that are attempting to build in that two-block radius arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t having as much luck. The cleverly media-named â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ground Zero Mosqueâ&#x20AC;?

- which is conveniently not a mosque at all, nor residing at Ground Zero - is passing through numerous local and global hurdles by attempting to join the neighborhood. Whether or not these criticisms are warranted, there is a logical solution: start acting like a Starbucks. Starbucks is acting like Starbucks and was readily accepted into the community. The most loyal fans will even make the coffee crusade Ă&#x20AC;YH WLPHV D GD\ WR UHFHLYH WKDW ZDUP and fuzzy feeling they get from slurping down another divine drink.

Image by Zachary Briggs

W

e are all trying to be moral citizens, trying to escape the sometimes seemingly inevitable immoral reactions that lie deep within all of our minds. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a scary place out there. Thankfully, there is one model of unity that rests high above for all of us to see and imitate - one that is clearly better than all others and is a standard whose guidance we should all follow: Starbucks.

This kind of devotion and faithfulness could be customary for the new building after adopting Starbucks attire. Why not use Starbucksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; universally recognized symbol as a ploy to get the proposal passed? Slap a green circle with a mermaid queen on the new building blueprints, and the plans will go through swimmingly. Logical as it may seem, no one has gotten back to me on my suggestion. Weird, huh?

Zachary Briggs is a freshman IMC major who is really more of a tea kind of guy. Email him at zbriggs1@ithaca.edu

Wisconsin High Soccer Game Carries On...

By K.C. Weston

R

esidents of small-town Peglee, :LVFRQVLQ DUH EDIĂ HG E\ WKH behavior of their high school boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; soccer team, who apparently decided to treat September 11 like any other day. Witnesses say that the team not only ate breakfast and got dressed, but also showed up to school and went through a typical routine.

Seventeen year-old Elma Gorem, who also happened to be at the almostempty school, saw the monstrosity Ă&#x20AC;UVWKDQG ´, ZDV DW VFKRRO EHFDXVH , OHIW P\ JRRG RO¡ $PHULFDQ Ă DJ IROGHG up in my desk. Paâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; made me come and get it, and then all of a sudden thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the team, walking around and going to classes. Like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing! I thought they were Canadian or something at Ă&#x20AC;UVW Âľ

Whenever the team changed classes, they were forced to listen to both the National Anthem and â&#x20AC;&#x153;America the Beautiful on replay for the entire class, and after had to sing them back in perfect pitch. Some team members were also randomly selected to take seven citizenship exams, all of which they failed.

John Norman, striker and captain of the Jets, defended the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions while tightening his jock strap in the locker room. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Got a big game tonight.

Scouts might be coming. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know anyone from New York. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the state with the island and the bigass green lady with the pointy hat, right?â&#x20AC;? Other teammates showed their agreement with the ritualistic towelwhip to the buttocks.

The Jet Set, or schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheerleaders,

expressed mixed feelings on the controversy. While their squadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absence from school technically GLVTXDOLĂ&#x20AC;HG WKHP IURP FKHHULQJ some of the girls showed discomfort in ditching their friends. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to doâ&#x20AC;?, said Delilah Jameson, head cheerleader, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let our boys play tonight without our support. And no one is gonna show anyway since hardly anyone left their house today. My momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still in bed. She was on a plane to North Carolina the day the tragedy happened - how crazy is that?â&#x20AC;?

Head Coach and Gym Teacher Tom Ranley displayed a spine-tingling mix of nonchalance and pride about the entire issue and declined to comment despite calls for both his removal and proof of American citizenship. No measures however will be taken until September 12th.

KC Weston is a sophomore exploratory major who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it was 9/11 until late afternoon. Email her at kweston2@ithaca.edu

43

Sawdust

Shockingly, the Jets were allowed to attend classes, because teachers were contractually obligated to come to their jobs and most in the district could not afford another sick day WKH WRZQ ZDV VDYLQJ XS IRU WKHLU

annual Christmas cow tipping trip).

In retaliation, teachers challenged the unpatriotic delinquentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education with their own form of red, white and blue protests.

Homeroom Moment of Silence Outs Student-Teacher Relationship

By Nicole Srulowitz

L

ast Monday, Kelly Riley, a student in River Falls, NY, was suspended for breaking the unwritten rule of you-do-notjoke-about-touchy-topics.

Riley was escorted off the premises after revealing a suspected unprofessional relationship with her homeroom teacher, Mr. Kitz, during a commemorative moment of silence in homeroom. Riley is known for her obnoxiously loud, bizarrely outgoing, and overly enthusiastic personality.

As shocking as her inappropriate comment was, it did not surprise her peers that it was Kelly who said it.

Image by Daniel Sitts

“She loves being in the spotlight, and is the type to do something totally outlandish in order to be the

center of attention. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?”

Kitz had taught Kelly’s remedial English class last year, giving them plenty of time to cozy up to each other. Kelly was spotted frequently attending “extra help” sessions with the professor after school hours. $ ÀUP EHOLHYHU DQG HQDFWRU RI sleeping your way to the top, Kelly is a straight-A student.

Kelly was giggling with her friends in the back of the room when the principal declared a moment of silence over the loud speaker in memory of 9/11. As the students fell silent, sources say Riley rashly declared something along the lines of, “my date with Mr. Kitz last night was hotter than the rubble after the twin towers collapsed.”

The class was speechless.

Emotionally disturbed by the outburst, many students were taken home by red-faced parents. “I can’t believe such a thing could happen at a place that is supposed to be a safe haven of learning!

I’d expect this sort of nonsense in a place like Kansas, but I thought we were better than that,” reported Anne Carlton, an overly concerned mother

of one of Kelly’s classmates.

Richard Stockman, the school guidance counselor, says that he “blames the parents.” ´7KLV WRWDOO\ LVQ·W WKH ÀUVW WLPH VKH·V done something ape-shit insane. Last year she made the lunch lady cry by saying the food smelt worse than Air India. This is so long overdue, it’s about freaking time”, explained a classmate who wished to remain anonymous.

A particularly distressed classmate reported “I don’t even know what to think right now, I mean, why would Mr. Kitz get with such a slut? I need to call my therapist.” .HOO\ LV WKH ÀUVW LQ 5LYHU )DOOV High’s history to be suspended by popular demand. “I haven’t seen so many people gang up like that since the hunt for Bin Laden,” said Principle Wyatt Holmes. “We are deeply embarrassed by this event and sincerely apologize.”

Mr. Kitz has been taken in for further questioning.

Nicole Srulowitz is a freshman exploratory major who doesn’t think Mr. Fitz is all that great. Email her at nsrulow1@ithaca.edu

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

Image by Catharine Fisher

44

WHICH 9/11

CONSPIRACY R U?

45

'SR½WGEXIH 7MTT] 'YT 7TEVOW 3YXVEKI TSA Agent goes too far

By Francesca Toscano

J last

onathan McNally, 3 and threequarters, known affectionately as

â&#x20AC;&#x153;J-Macâ&#x20AC;?, Tuesday

Airport

felt

criminalized

after

Transportation

a

Newark Security

Administration agent took away his Justin Bieber sippy cup while boarding a plane to his second home in Aspen. ´, OLNHG VLSS\ FXS ¾ - 0DF VWLà HG RXW between hiccuping sobs.

- 0DF ZDV LQ VXFK D Ă&#x20AC;W WKDW his mother, Martha McNally, has Ă&#x20AC;OHG D ODZVXLW DJDLQVW +RPHODQG Security. Martha found time between her pedicure and acupuncture appointments to comment on the issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolutely disgraceful they would do this to my J-Mac. After missing his third birthday, I spent GROODUV RQ WKDW FRYHWHG %LHEHU memorabilia. The other mothers in my country club, if not the county, will be appalled that the TSA would purposely ruin my childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in serious emotional distress. He even VWDUWHG ELWLQJ KLV Ă&#x20AC;QJHUQDLOV Âľ Barry Holmes, the TSA agent

ZKR FRQĂ&#x20AC;VFDWHG WKH FXS KDV EHHQ temporarily suspended until the situation has diffused. We found him RQ WKH FRXFK DW KLV KRPH LQ *DUĂ&#x20AC;HOG New Jersey with a pint of Ben & Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s half-baked ice cream watching Airplane!. ´2I FRXUVH , FRQĂ&#x20AC;VFDWHG WKH GDPQ cup - itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the job description. I even bought the kid a replacement Hannah Montana bottle, but his PRWKHU FRPSODLQHG LW ZDV ÂśVR ¡ And sure, I could have just told him to empty out the liquid, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s somethingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not right about that Bieber kid. His hair is too perfect.

And his creepy stare, shit it looks right through me.â&#x20AC;? +RPHODQG 6HFXULW\ RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDOV KDYH found themselves scrambling to avoid further prosecution and press coverage.

7HG +D\HV KHDG VHFXULW\ RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU DW Newark Airport stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not to belittle J-Macâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;life or death situationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, but TSA has a lot more to worry about like the welfare of our country. Plus, we KDYH FOHDU DQG LGHQWLĂ&#x20AC;DEOH ZDUQLQJ signs about our regulations. With pictures.â&#x20AC;?

Martha retorted accordingly, â&#x20AC;&#x153;of course I saw the signs, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m no idiot. But our situation was clearly different. The sippy cup had a top on it for Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sake. I know how the rules work. Homeland Security is just jealous they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford an autographed Justin Bieber sippy cup.â&#x20AC;?

Hayes failed to comment, but sources close to him say that they saw him escaping the scene with a suspiciously sippy cup-shaped package, heading to his nieceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bat mitzvah. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just ridiculous they could treat me this way. Being the philanthropist I am, Homeland Security should know that I am no terrorist.â&#x20AC;?

Marthaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philanthropic contributions include attending two 37$ PHHWLQJV DQG D KRPHOHVV EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W at Fashion Week. She also purchased D /LYHVWURQJ EUDFHOHW LQ 0D\ Justin Bieber refused to comment, but sources close to him say he was like, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baby, baby, baby, ooh.â&#x20AC;?

Francesca Toscano is a sophomore IMC major who has the same cup, but with T-Swift. Email her at

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue

BUZZSAW ASKS WHY... Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;M NOT â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;READYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;?

For over a month, Ithaca Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new student recruitment campaign has been telling me that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m supposed to be feeling â&#x20AC;&#x153;ready.â&#x20AC;? On the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (totally newly revamped, super collegiate-looking) website, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m FSQFEVHIH F] TVS½PIW SJ WXYHIRXW ERH EPYQRM [LS EVI GSR½HIRX GEVIIV QMRHIH ERH VIEH] XLEROJYP XLEX XLIMV tenure at IC has prepared them for the big, bad real world.

But Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m nearly a quarter of the way through my senior year, and yet the only thing that I know Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m â&#x20AC;&#x153;readyâ&#x20AC;? for is a glass of wine (or four).

I mean, what does â&#x20AC;&#x153;readyâ&#x20AC;? even mean? What are we supposed to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;readyâ&#x20AC;? for? And why, unlike the online Âą6IEH]² GEQTEMKR TVS½PI WYFNIGXW GER - RSX TYX Q] ½RKIV SR Q] TIVWSREP Âą6IEH] 1SQIRX²#

46

;EW MX XLI QSQIRX - ½VWX WYWTIGXIH XLEX XLI GSPPIKI GEVIH more about attracting a massive number of prospective students than addressing the needs of its current customers students? Was it the moment I overheard my classmates talking about how they had to withdraw from XLI GSPPIKI FIGEYWI XLIMV ½RERGMEP EMH TEGOEKIW GSYPHR´X keep up with the rising cost of attendance? Or was it the moment I realized that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned more from working with my peers outside of the classroom than from the supposedly rigorous academic education I was receiving inside the classroom?

Maybe the only thing Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really â&#x20AC;&#x153;readyâ&#x20AC;? for is to cynically bitch about the lofty promises of higher education...

Do you think that goes well with wine?

-Adam Polaski

47

48

BUZZSAW; The 9/11 Issue