


On Thursday, September 15th in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Professor Ben Barros spoke in the Pit to students and faculty about being in New York and his experiences on September 11, 2001. Professor Barros explained how important the World Trade Center Towers were to the New York City skyline and how they were the exclamation points to the city, mentioning that he used to jog past the World Trade Center every morning. On that Tuesday morning of September 11th, he went down to see the towers after the first plane hit, and he and his wife saw the first tower on fire. He described a vivid memory of sitting in a friend’s apartment on the upper east side watching the planes hit the tower on TV over and over and over again.He described that fall day as eerie. On any given day in New York, there were so many planes in the air, but on that day, the sky was so blue and so empty but for the presence of a few fighter planes. The days following 9/11 were vivid ones. There were lines going around the block with people waiting to give blood. There were photocopied pictures covering the streets of those missing. In fact, some of the pictures are still preserved throughout the city. There were flags flying everywhere.As a follow up thought, Professor Barros noted how united the country was during that time. As he prepared to contrast that united feeling with the current political atmosphere, he stopped and changed the direction of his thoughts, saying, “I was going to talk about how disunited we are, but it is part of our political culture to disagree. When it really matters, we’re united.”
 




In addition to Professor Barros’s talk in honor of September 11th, the Harrisburg Student Bar Association is hosting a Drive for the Soldiers serving overseas that will continue until the end of the month. The SBA is asking faculty and students to kindly donate supplies and to place them in the marked boxes in the pit. Suggested items include Toiletries (e.g. Baby wipes, Hand sanitizer, travel size shampoo-conditioner-deodorant or body wash, chapstick, sun block, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouth wash, eye drops, etc.); Entertainment (e.g. magazines, books, movies, pocket calendars, board games, nerf footballs/whiffle ball bats, stationary, Frisbees, etc.); and Food (e.g. Beef Jerky/Slim Jims, Coffee, Protein bars, Breath mints, Vitamins, Nuts, Small Individual Boxes of Cereal, Trail Mix or Hot Chocolate or Tea packets, etc.). Questions about the Drive may be directed to Erica Scavone at ericascavone@optonline.net or Nicole Radziewicz at nradz704@live.kutztown.edu.