AMERICA IN CRISIS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 12, 2001- 3 15,000 attend vigil on Diag in memory of those killed From staff reports Candlelight filled the area stretching from the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library to the Diag flagpole and from Angell Hall to West Hall last night as an estimated 15,000 mem- bers of the University community came together to promote peace and unity at an impromptu vigil honoring the victims of yes- terday's attack. "It was the best behaved 15,000 I've ever seen," Department of Public Safety spokes- woman Diane Brown said. "By far this was the largest turnout (the University has) ever had." Together, students expressed their mixed feelings of shock, anger and grief. "I'm still a little bit shocked. I'm pretty upset. I think it's unbelievable that something would happen like this and that it happened to this country," said Engineering freshman Paul Gibson, a Washington resident who attended the vigil. "It's going to take a long time for people to heal. Until now, people thought of this as a safe haven where nothing could hap- pen, and that's changed." For Gibson, the attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center was personal. "My dad works at the Pentagon," he said. "I just went back to my room and tried to contact him. I just sat by my phone and wait- ed." Gibson said his attempts were eventually successful. The scene last night on the Diag might be unparalleled in University history, but the morning started out as usual for most stu- dents. "It was just a normal day and then this hap- pened, and it was like, whoa," said Loren Booker, an LSA freshman from Chicago. She said she started her day by attending classes, but the normalcy didn't last long. "I was coming back from class and this girl was crying so I asked her what happened and she said she couldn't get ahold of her father in New York." Booker is not alone in her story. Passing through campus yesterday, one may not have noticed that anything was dif- ferent. But after walking down the streets and peering into windows, it became quickly evi- dent that the tragedies in New York City and Washington had affected everyone across campus. A bomb scare at the LSA building was the most chilling local example of this nation- wide paralysis. Brown said a threat was called in against the building yesterday at about noon. Ann Arbor Police Chief Daniel Oates later See CAMPUS, Page 10 NYPD is iready for attacks, Oates says By Jacquelyn Nixon ' Daiy Staff Reporter ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily About 15,000 people filled the Diag last night to mourn the victims of yesterday's terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C. and New York City. NY. students await word from amilies From staff reports The number of University students with ties to New York and Washington was particularly evi- dent yesterday as many apprehensively anticipated news of friends and relatives. "I'm still waiting to hear from my best friend. She goes to school at NYC Lincoln Center," said LSA sophomore Molly Spooner, a New York resi- dent. "I'm calling her dorm room, her cell phone." The worry was not reserved solely for those from the attacked cities. "My sister works for the government in D.C. I e-mailed her a little bit ago, I don't know if she is at home or not, I'm trying to call her," said LSA junior Kasey Boike. "This is completely unbeliev- able, I'm in shock. ... I can't even imagine, I can't even imagine." Overtaxed telephone lines in both cities forced most students to wait until friends and relatives contacted them. "One of my mom's friends works in the Penta- gon. I'm very concerned right now, he goes there everyday," said Todd Moulton, an LSA junior. "I tried to call my mom to get his number but all the phones lines out there are busy. Hopefully he is at a different agency today." Those who did get in touch with family mem- bers were quick to get first-hand accounts of the events swarming television and radio stations. ,"My grandpa works right in midtown and the streets are all closed, the tunnels are all closed, so he has to sleep in his office tonight," said LSA freshman Amanda Plisner. "It's crazy right now." Witnesses of the carnage in New York told of unparalleled pandemonium. "The streets were packed with people," said George Oka, a junior at New York University, in a phone interview yesterday. "There aren't any cars going through the streets right now because every- one is on the streets. They are just frantic, they want to know what's going on. "I started to walk to the Washington Square Park where there is an incredible view, or there was, of the World Trade Center," Oka said. "There was nothing but smoke. You just saw people cry- ing in tears because of all the people that had passed away." As the news of the attacks spread across cam- pus, many students reacted with shock and panic. "It sickens me," said LSA freshman Richard Lo, who is from New York. "All my friends live in New York City, they go to school there. I feel sick to my stomach. I can't get in contact with any of them. I don't know what to say or how to react. I'm worried about my friends and family. I just feel like I'm left in the dark despite news reports.,, Many students appeared to still be in disbelief last night. "Just from the pictures, it's like out of a movie, I really don't believe it," said LSA senior Clint Mansour. "It's going to take a while to recover from this." ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily LSA junior Kara Guminski, LSA sophomore Becky Gian and LSA senior Ann Scharnhorst comfort each other after seeing news of the bombing on television yesterday morning. Arab students worry as nation seeks culprits For Ann Arbor Police Department Chief Daniel Oates, yesterday's terror- ist attack hit close to home. Oates, for- mer head of the Intelligence division of the New York Police Department, said he knew many of the officers who responded to the World Trade Center attack - some of whom were killed when the towers collapsed. "I lost a lot of friends," he said. Oates, who was the NYPD's liaison to the federal government just a few weeks ago, said in a press conference yesterday that NYPD officials are pre- pared and equipped to handle acts of terrorism. "We thought these were projects on paper that we would never have to implement, he said. In Ann Arbor, 25 extra police offi- cers were placed on patrol at various locations in the city. "We've had a lot of contact from the Islamic and Jewish community," Oates said, adding that the 'AAPD tried to identify critical infrastructure that could have been in danger. "There are certain sensitive and vul- nerable buildings in the city," he said. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said federal building and post office employees expressed concern for their safety when leaving on their lunch breaks. Officials evacuated the city's federal building around noon. Closings of other federal buildings and Ann Arbor courthouses followed shortly after. Oates said no credible threats influ- enced the closings. "People were uncomfortable coming back," Hieftje said. Oates agreed with Hieftje's closing of city buildings, and said since the AAPD was pressed for officers, the decision was a positive one. Oates said there was no unusual 911 activity. "That's a good sign that peo- ple are calm and reassured," he said. H-ieftje said there is no local threat in this crisis and city officials hope to have all offices back in operation today. By Elizabeth Kassab Daily Staff Reporter Arab-American and Muslim students received a number of threatening e-mails fol- lowing yesterday's terrorist attacks. Several student organizations sent e-mails to their members urging them to be cautious. The Arab Student Association and the American-Arab Anti-Defamation Committee told students to take advantage of Safewalk and Northwalk services if they felt threatened. Some Arab-American students received one e-mailed death threat signed from "a Christian American," group members said. Other anonymous e-mails warned "'your life will be a living hell,"' and "'this is war,'" said LSA junior Brenda Abdelall, the external rela- tions chair of the ASA. ''The underlying connotation was 'beware,"' she said. Someone also painted the crude statement "bin Laden must die" on the Rock at the corner of Hill and Washtenaw. Former ADC president Norah Rabiah said the groups told their members to be careful only as a precaution, and no specific action has been taken against students. "It's just things we've heard from people on campus, which is very disappointing," she said. ASA President Asad Tarsin said student groups have been working with University offi- cials to express their concerns of possible hate crimes and the University has been responsive. The campus community should be con- cerned with working together to "begin the healing process," not pointing fingers, Tarsin said. "Our student community here and now had nothing to do with this,' he said. But some students chose to go to their fami- ly homes because they felt uncomfortable on campus, Abdelall said. "The atmosphere just isn't very positive right now," Abdelall said. Abdelall noted that not only are Arab stu- dents the target of assumptions that people of their religion or ethnicity perpetrated the attacks, but they must also cope with the fact that a significant number of them have family and friends in New York and Washington, where the attacks occurred "It's like we're getting the double effect of it," Abdelall said. "It's too much to deal with as students." History Prof. Juan Cole cautioned against placing blame without proof. He noted some national news figures prematurely placed sus- picion on Middle Eastern terrorists after domestic terrorists bombed the Alfred P. Mur- rahFederal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. But he also noted that the World Trade Cen- ter bombing in 1993 was linked to factions of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. "It is not strange that speculation should center around a similar ideological group," Cole said. "We are still unsure who is behind this." Law Prof. Robert Precht said assuming the guilt of specific groups and condemning all. members is "premature and un-American." "I hope that as an enlightened community we should preserve, especially in this type of crisis, democratic values by not assuming guilt by association and not pointing fingers at our neighbors," Precht said. "It's totally inappropriate," he added. "The vast majority of Arab-Americans are as heart- sick by what they're seeing as the rest of us." The ADC's national organization issued an official statement condemning the violence, and Abdelall said the ASA also opposed violence. "The vast majority of Arabs deeply disap- prove of violence against civilians," Cole said. "The Arab world can't be equated with approval of this sort of thing." Americans, not used to terror, face reality By Jeremy W. Peters and Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporters Americans were caught off guard as they saw the first gaping, inflamed crater in the side of the World Trade Center. Television cameras did not record what caused this first catastrophe but caught only the aftermath. Few at this time knew America was in the midst of a cascading terrorist onslaught. As viewers tuned in trying to figure out exactly what had happened and television correspondents mulled over the possibility that this was simply a horrible accident, the second plane hit, erasing any doubt as to the true nature of the calamity. 'Mn ..- nr. tht a th +nlan P hnd careenedi unthinkable to most, as was the first siege on the World Trade Center in 1993 that claimed the lives of 6 people. Invulnerability has been central to the American mindset for nearly a century, a fact that helps to explain the "how could this hap- pen here" sentiment echoed when any terrorist tragedy occurs. "Historically, the reason why we have felt so invulnerable is because of the oceans ... the idea that someone would have to come so far" has given us a false sense of security, said history. Prof. Jonathan Marwil. "Despite the power of our military, despite the distance of our so-called enemies, it doesn't take very much to reach us at all." Yesterday's events have already far surpassed Oklahoma City as the most horrific act of terror- - '~ ~ - ________________________________________________________________