Daily Lobo new mexico
Editor’s Note: This issue is to honor the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 this Sunday. Within these pages you’ll find what people thought of the tragedy then and now. Let us never forget that day or the lives lost and affected by it.
September 9, 2011
friday
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
A DECADE LATER, UNM REFLECTS The community’s voice 10 years ago
An ‘enormous human tragedy’ by Chelsea Erven
“It’s the newspaper’s job to be a strong voice on campus, but we have been hard-pressed to generate any pearls of wisdom that can make sense of Tuesday’s attacks.” Iliana Limon, Daily Lobo Editor-in-Chief Sept. 12, 2001
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“It’s hard to offer the University’s reaction to Tuesday morning’s events, but I think everyone feels the same way - this is one of the most enormous human tragedies ever in our history.” Bill Gordon, UNM President Sept. 12, 2001 “This is all very upsetting and shocking. It’s horrifying - I don’t know how else to put it.” Corey Mello, UNM Student Sept. 12, 2001 “Ideologies based on hate are divorced from the Islamic message of peace and unity of all mankind under one, merciful God.” Ali Ellis, V.P. of UNM Muslim Student Association Sept. 13, 2001 “Osama bin Laden, or whoever ends up being the perpetrator, is an agent of evil — a force against all that civilization represents.” Michael Carrasco, UNMStudent Sept. 13, 2001 “Our goal is to form a human chain with candles around the Duck Pond to show our support for those suffering in New York City and Washington, D.C.” Steve Aguilar, V.P. of ASUNM. Sept. 13, 2001
Spencer Platt / Getty Images This image ran nearly ten years ago in the Daily Lobo on the front page on Sept. 12, 2001. The original cutline read, “A fiery blast rocks the World Trade Center after two commercial airplanes hit it Tuesday morning in New York City.”
The UNM community, along with the rest of the nation, watched in shock 10 years ago as terrorists attacked the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11. Classes were canceled and students crowded around television screens at the Frontier Restaurant and Saggios, according to the Sept. 12, 2001 issue of the Daily Lobo. “It’s hard to offer the University’s reaction to Tuesday morning’s events, but I think everyone feels the same way — this is one of the most enormous human tragedies ever in our history,” said the former-UNM President Bill Gordon the day after the attacks. Nearly 150 students attended a vigil outside the UNM Bookstore after the attacks. That afternoon, UNM student Corey Mello, 21, told the Daily Lobo the event was a crisis, one that she’d never before experienced. “This is all very upsetting and shocking,” she said. “It’s horrifying - I don’t know how else to put it.” The week following the attacks, University groups offered art therapy, counseling at the Student Health Center, demonstrations and more vigils. A candlelight vigil was held at the Duck Pond. “Our goal is to form a human chain with candles around the Duck Pond to show our support for those suffering in New York City and Washington, D.C.,” said Steve Aguilar, then-ASUNM vice president.
see
9/11 page 3
Film shows Islam is nothing to fear by Andrew Beale
Daily Lobo Guest Alumnus The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is nearly upon us, and the tragedy’s profound effects on our national psyche still linger. Among the most pronounced of these, I think, is the collective negative opinion our country has of Islam. This phenomenon is evident every day on the 24-hour news stations. Frequent TV-news guests like Robert Spencer and Brigitte Gabriel are given seemingly endless airtime to expound the idea that Islam encourages violence and is incompatible with the American way of life. It’s comparatively very rare to see an actual Muslim given the chance to explain their faith for themselves.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 15
That’s why the Lobo’s Multimedia Editor, Junfu Han, and I decided to make a documentary about the Muslim experience in post9/11 America. Our film, Religion of Peace, features Muslim students and professors from UNM as well as members of the wider Islamic community. We feel the movie is important because it allows an oftenmarginalized segment of society to have a voice in a media landscape that tends to silence them. The people in the film, Muslims from diverse parts of the world and widely varying backgrounds, are given the opportunity to speak about what Islam means to them and correct common misperceptions about their faith. The following excerpts are taken from the film, which debuts tonight in the SUB.
Reflecting on 9/11 today See page 2
Umar Malik, Muslim Student Association Board Member: “I used to play basketball with one of my neighbors up the street and almost every day we used to play. And I remember specifically after 9/11, I went over to his house to play basketball… and he came outside and said his dad wouldn’t let him play with me anymore because I was Muslim.”
Religion of Peace: Media (mis) Perceptions of Islam Ten Years After 9/11 Friday, 9/9 SUB Ballroom A 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 9/10 Peace and Justice Center (202 Harvard SE) 6:30 p.m.
Maryam Chudnoff, Muslim Community Member: “Right away, people’s perception is ‘This is a religious act,’” she said. “Murder is never a religious act, I don’t care who says it is. It is never a religious act—at least not in any religion that I know of… Definitely whoever controls the media controls the population and a scared population is much easier to manipulate and control in general. If there is an attack somewhere, they are going to run it into the ground about how it is this sect of people and how it is part of their horrible culture, and violence is part of their culture and religion.”
see Perceptions page 3
“America is stronger than ever. We will forever remember those we lost on Sept. 11, 2001. In honoring their memory, we will remain true to our commitment to freedom and democracy.” ~Evan Bayh