The Beacon THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND SINCE 1935 November 19, 2015 • Volume 118 • Issue 11 • upbeacon.com
Students safe after Paris attacks
Photo by Amar Abd Rabbo/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)
Anonymous and passers by pay tribute to Paris terrorist attacks victims, facing the Bataclan concert hall, where tens of people were killed in the Nov. 13 attacks, as seen in Paris, France on Nov. 17, 2015. The sign translates to: “I am Muslim and against terrorism!” By Clare Duffy THE BEACON There was nothing unusual about Carolyn Lutzenhiser’s Friday night. Having just enjoyed a bowlful of homemade potato soup and a glass of wine, she settled into her evening plans: a sleepover with friends. “All of a sudden the internet and the notifications on my phone just kind of exploded,” Lutzenhiser, a sophomore studying abroad in Nantes, France, said. “I got a bunch of frantic emails and texts from our program director telling the group of us Americans that we had to reply to say we were okay.” Lutzenhiser’s eyes were
By Melissa Aguilar THE BEACON The red, white and blue of France’s flag have covered monuments all over the world, in addition to an outpouring of prayers and support in the wake of last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Just a day earlier, another attack in Beirut, Lebanon received significantly less international attention, leading some to blame the media, while others criticized Western audiences. Both attacks have lead to increased discussion regarding national security and how we respond to loss of human life. During his 10 years living in a town outside of Beirut, alumnus Philippe Boutros felt his school’s windows shake following the assassination of the prime minister and had to
glued to her cell phone as news of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris unfolded on social media. She is one of three UP students studying abroad in Nantes through the Institute of International Education of Students (IES). Each of these students checked in with the IES program director that night. About 200 miles away, people in Paris were in shock after terrorist attacks killed at least 129 people and injured more than 350. Gunmen and suicide bombers targeted a concert, the French national team soccer match at the Stade de France and hubs of young Parisian nightlife
between the third and eleventh arrondissements. French President François Hollande has declared a threemonth state of emergency in France, allowing authorities to restrict people’s movements and impose stricter border controls. France is also continuing airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. “There’s been replay after replay of the video footage of the attacks. I’ve seen the puddles of blood on the roads by the cafes,” Lutzenhiser said. “I’ve heard the incessant gunfire at Bataclan and on the streets of Paris. I don’t want to see or hear those things ever again, and I only saw and heard
them on television, safe at home with my host mom.” UP’s Office of Studies Abroad made contact with all students living in Europe on Friday. Director Eduardo Contreras said the office will continue to follow U.S. State Department warnings, as well as best practice precedents set by other American universities and the National Association of International Educators. All students who study abroad through UP are insured by Cultural Insurance Services International, which includes emergency medical evacuation and emergency political evacuation. However, according to Contreras, “the
likelihood of it getting to that circumstance is pretty dire.” Sophomore Mathieu Garcia and his twin brother, Pierre, are from Montluçon, about five hours from Paris. Garcia said that all of his friends and family are safe, and that he broke the news of the attacks to his mother, who had been asleep when they happened. Garcia appreciates the support he has received from the Pilot community in the days following the violence. “(My Fine Arts teacher) said he was very sorry and because he went to France before, he told me that he kind of
See PARIS page 3
Alumnus shares his perspective on Beirut: leave the country for several months for his safety. He shared his perspective on the most recent attacks with The Beacon.
What is your connection with Beirut? I lived in a town outside of Beirut, about 30 minutes from the Syrian border and about 30 minutes from Beirut, called Bhamdoun. I lived there from the end of 1999 to 2010 in May when I came to UP. My dad is Lebanese; my mom’s from Minnesota and they met in college. They decided to sort of take an early retirement and move back to my dad’s village in Lebanon where he was originally from and sort of help the community and also let us be around my grandparents and some family that we have there.
What has the coverage of Paris been like in Beirut? Lebanon was a French colony and I went to a French school and there’s a solid French culture in Lebanon. One of the official languages is French. Lebanon has an enormous diaspora, you have a lot of ex-pats living in the U.S. and Canada, and also in France. So Lebanon feels really strongly tied to France in a lot of ways. (In Paris) it was a bigger attack, and my Facebook feed is flooded with people who are Lebanese who are talking about what happened in France. It’s definitely covered in a similar way, in that regard. (But) there’s an element of surprise to it. Deep down, and this is the sad thing, part of you is somewhat used to bad things happening in Beirut, sometimes. Although by and
by large it’s a super safe city. The words ‘bomb’ and ‘Beirut’ fit together in a sentence somewhat more comfortably than ‘bomb’ and ‘Paris.’
How have people’s routines changed since this attack? Something that needs to be kept in mind is it’s a unique event. It’s on a scale that hasn’t really happened in a long time. People are really surprised by it. I can’t really think of events that seem to target civilians, and that seems to be what this mostly was. So that’s sort of a different entity. But at the same time, you have to keep in mind that for a period of time between 2006-2008, we didn’t go to school once every three weeks because it was closed because of some sort of an assassination or bombing. We had to live in Rome for three
months because we couldn’t go home because we didn’t feel safe. And then, in 2008, the roads in our village were going to be shut down so we elected to move to an area that had easier access to the airport. Does your routine change? Totally. We lived on the top of a mountain and on your drive down, you can see the city, so when an event like that happens, when you’re heading to school, you can see the smoke and it’s crazy. When you hear something, you immediately sort of look to the skyline and tell how big of a deal it is. Contact copy editor Melissa Aguilar at aguilarm16@up.edu.
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