Trinity University Professors Share Views on Life After Sept. 11

A year after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, how much has our world changed?  Professors at Trinity University have analyzed the attacks in relation to their respective fields of study. Here is what they have to say:

 CHAR MILLER, history, “Remembering Sept. 11 and Comparing It To Other National Tragedies”

 On the evening of Sept. 10, Char Miller, professor of history, looked out the window of a plane flying past New York City and saw the twin towers illuminated by lightning. He didn’t think too much about it at the time, since he had ambivalent feelings about the World Trade Center. Everything changed the next morning.

 The day of the attack found Professor Miller 40 miles from ground zero in New York City.  With planes grounded, he rented a car and began the journey back to San Antonio. “It was an opportunity that I am glad I took advantage of.  Looking back, I was overwhelmed by the collective catharsis felt by those I met on the trip. People watched television coverage with others. And those who couldn’t talk about the tragedy wrote messages on the windows of their cars.  That catharsis only built as I crossed the country.”

 Trying to understand the event, people tried to relate it to other tragedies in our history. But can the Sept. 11 attack be compared with any other event in our nation’s past? Professor Miller says no. While some liken the event with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Professor Miller says that is not a good analogy. “It was a different kind of assault. Sept. 11 was based on terror, not war. There is not a nation, or a set of institutions, we can readily go to and root out the cause of terror.”

 “We have never experienced a terror attack like this on our soil before.  Until last year, we had been lucky that with the growing power we have gained since the end World War I, we have largely been left alone. Even now, the tragedy has a different feel. We are not living in a home front constantly worrying about men and women dying overseas in a massive struggle – because they are not.  I think we are more concerned with Wall Street than Kabul.” 

MICHAEL KEARL, sociology and anthropology, “How Sept. 11 Will Ultimately Be Remembered”

 Not enough time has passed to know exactly how the terrorist attacks will be remembered in our history says Michael Kearl, professor of sociology and anthropology.

“Will the memory be like Dec. 7, ‘the day of infamy,’ knowing that the events at the attack on Pearl Harbor will ultimately be avenged?” asks Professor Kearl. “Or will the memories be similar to Custer’s Last Stand, where the precise day has been forgotten as the precise meaning of the military defeat has come into question?”

On a personal level, Professor Kearl says Americans will remember the date much like the anniversary of a traumatic event, like a mugging or a burglary – an event that reminds us of our vulnerability.  “Reinforcing the 9-11 memory reminds us of how much life has been changed since that date — a profound violation of our assumptions of security,” says Professor Kearl.

As for observing the anniversary, Professor Kearl says it will be interesting to see if people will see it as a time to end bereavement and try to return to a “normal” life or if the anniversary will be part of a ritual to keep the memory of the tragedy and loss of life alive.

JORGE GONZALEZ, economics, “Government, Business Victims of the Terrorist Tax”

 The terrorist attacks have had clear fiscal implications for the government and the economy, according to Jorge Gonzalez, professor and chair of economics.

 Expenditures at all levels of government (local, state, and federal) have increased, which has had an impact on government budgets, he says. Businesses also have changed their operations to prepare for possible attacks, and insurance costs have increased across the board. In addition, air travel has become more time consuming and more inconvenient to travelers because of the added inspections. Thus, the cost of airport operations has risen significantly, Professor Gonzalez says.

“All of these facts have made our economy less efficient than it was before Sept. 11,” he says. “This is what I call the terrorist tax.”

SAMMYE JOHNSON, communication,  “Magazines Got More Patriotic, but They Are Struggling Financially”

A number of consumer magazines ceased publication in the fall of 2001, but the decisions to close were based on business reasons and had been made before the terrorist attacks, says Sammye Johnson, Lozano Professor of Journalism in the communications department.

Professor Johnson is a magazine analyst who has examined how magazines covered the attacks. “We began to see more flag covers. There was a great feeling of patriotism,” she says. She also has looked at the business implications. Magazines such as Mademoiselle already had been slated for closure when the attacks occurred, but unexpected declines in advertising revenue occurred at travel publications and high-end or luxury magazines such as Kiplinger’s, Smart Money, and Worth, she says.

The newsweeklies – Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report – rushed special issues into print in the days immediately following the attacks. Was it a worthy endeavor? “It’s very costly to print seven million copies of Time without advertising, but the circulation – in terms of newsstand sales – went up,” Professor Johnson says.

What will be interesting to observe is whether this September’s retrospectives and analysis issues will again boost circulation, she says. Meanwhile, magazines whose sales were not curbed at all by the terrorist attacks include bridal publications and those targeting teenagers.

 

Other Trinity Professors with Sept. 11 Expertise

n      SABER ELAYDI, mathematics, connections between U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, and terrorism; Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is a native Palestinian.

 n      DAVID LESCH, Middle East history, U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the debate over whether we should invade Iraq, changes in the Middle East since Sept. 11

 n      MARY ANN TÉTREAULT, Cox Distinguished Professor of political science, how the Bush Administration’s policies were altered by the attacks.

 n      DAVID A. CROCKETT, political science, a presidency expert who can talk about how history may remember President Bush’s decisions and policies.

 To visit with Trinity professors about their views on Sept. 11, contact Susie P. Gonzalez at susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu or Russell Guerrero at rguerrer@trinity.edu or call either at (210) 999-8406.