4 i | P / aca rcon one ey Re AEA CARE NS Sh Rats CALE INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 MY POINT OF VIEW | ARON STRUMECKI A new reality dawns T HE NIGHT before I had a long night al the computer and [ had stayed up far too late for a good night’s rest. I had a silent resolution to keep my eyes closed as long as possible, but as soon as the radio came on that morning, my eyes opened with shock, Two planes had struck the World Trade Center in New York, apparently comman- deered by terrorists. A third plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Thousands were feared dead, It seemed far too strange to be true. It was all too insane — too crazy to be real- ity. This was something out of a movie. This couldn't possibly be real. Could it? I immediately got out of bed, dressed and | then turned on the TV, only to see the shock- ing footage of an airliner slamming and explo- ding into the side of a building. Again, the an- houncer repeated the words that I stubbornly now knew to be true, and at that moment knew . my life, and the world around me, would be forever changed. Moments later the first tower collapsed in a heap of dust and clatter. I had thought, as a someone fed on the breast of the media ma- chine, there was nothing that could shock me anymore. I thought I had seen it all. It too, left me shaking, wondering about alli the questions that inevitably follow. What would happen next? I needed to understand. Glimpses of Saving Private Ryan flashed in’ my head, along with all the documentaries I'd seen on Nostradamus. Would our world leaders with terror? . T guess in many ways my mind has not left the pre-millennial madness around Y2K. I was working at Canadian Tire in Kelowna at the time, and I can remember with great clarity the large amounts of people buying supplies for the end of the world. Although it was not spoken to at the time it seemed there was an underwritten attitude that the anticipated end of the world was an expec- ted judgment on the way we lived our lives. | had thought there was noth- ing that could shock me any- more. | thought | had seen it all.’ Today, that same attitude seems to be ex- pressing itself in the sometimes silent, some- times vocal, condemnation of American for- eign policy, culture, and corporate dominance at the expense of others. If we in Canada have any immunity from similar terrorist acts, it's only because we've haven’t been as successful, but it’s not for the lack of trying. For the other side of the equation we have to look at religion, and the fundamentalists that inevitably seem to follow. Religious into- Jerance, whatever creed it belongs to, whether ' Christian or Muslim, seems to have no purpose in life except to breed war. In the past we had events like the Spanish follow. madness: with madness, or follow. terror: Inquisition or the Crusades; today we have | constant conflict in places like Israel, Ireland or Serbia. Always, it seems, creating nothing but pain and suffering for everyone involved. In the end, the utter hell unleashed last — week reveals one essential fact that I think we, as a human people, have overlooked for far too long, an idea whose time has come. To me, this horror forces us to realize two essential facts; we are one world now, and one human race. Any other assumption, division, or philosophy, [ believe, will Jead us down the ’ garden path to ruin and destruction, We, as a human race, must sirive for truth, justice, and equality for all. If we do not succeed friends, I believe we will see acts that will make last week’s pale in comparison, We must seek democracy for all; strive to understand what that means, and how we must get there. We must accept the fact that our actions here, in Terrace or otherwise, has an affect on others, and act in like manner. If there is anything positive that is to come “out of this horrendous act, maybe it will be that people will start to recognize this new reality, Maybe now people will realize that talks about racism in Durban South Africa does af- fect us. Maybe people will realize that pollu- tion is a global issue, Maybe corporations.and companies will realize that their behaviour makes a difference too. - Maybe when you read the newspaper to- morrow you'll realize that the rest of the world is watching what you do too... TERRACE. STANDARD » The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 19, 2001 - B] SECTION B LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS pause for a minute’s silence to recall the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Emergency personnel here gathered to remember the sacrifices made by their U.S. colleagues. ‘Our lives have changed forever’ Terrace tries to comprehend ‘A terrible day in the history of the world.’ By JENNIFER LANG TRAFFIC IN front of city hall came to a standstill Priday. A national day of mourning "-event to remember victims -of-last-- week's terrorist attacks on the U.S. drew so many people the crowd spilled out onto the street.. ” Skeena MP Andy Burton called it a horrendous action that has left people feeling outraged. “Our lives have changed forever,” Burton said. “Our hearts and minds are with our neighbours to the south as North America re- covers from this terrible tragedy.” Local firefighters, ambulance personnel, search and rescue vo- lunteers, RCMP constables, dig- nitaries — and members of the public solemnly gathered for the event, one of many across Canada and the U.S. and Europe. “We just simply want to ex- press our solidarity with our neighbours to the south,” cily councillor Val George said, Skeena MLA Roger Hartis was about to board a plane in Vancou- ver when he saw the news on an airport TV screen, He called the events a sense- less act of terrorism that’s beyond comprehension. “Qur world will never be the same afier Sept, 11,"" he said. Members of the Royal Cana- dian Legion laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in remembrance. People sang both the American and the Canadian national an- thems before observing one min- “Thousands of lives have been lost,”’ he said, “Hopefully, the loss of their lives will not be the end, =o wy a “None of us sis feeling ; as sate ¢ as we once did,’ wo ute of silence. Although separated by a conti- nent, emergency responders in Terrace wanted to take time to mourn their colleagues, those men and women who lost their lives when they tried to rescue office workers in New York City The massive twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed into mountains of rubble in the Sept. 11 attack, As rescue efforts continued around the clock in New York — and at the Pentagon, emergency crews here “wish we were with them” to assist, said Carl Was- sink, chief of the B.C. Ambulance station in Terrace. Dave Jephson of the Terrace Fire Department said emergency crews in New York gave their lives in service of their commun- ity. He asked people to pray for the lives of the pilots, the rescue crews, and the families of the vic- tims. “It’s a terrible day in the his- tory of the world,” RCMP Insp. Doug Wheler said. but it will be the beginning of the end of terrorism in the world.” Northwest Community College president Stephanie Forsyth, who had been stranded jn Victoria, said everyone can identify with the attack on the U.S. “We know, as Canadians, these hijacked planes could just as easily happened over Canadian skies,” she said. “None of us is feeling as safe as we once did.” Forsyth said people here share a deep sense of communal loss and stressed our response should be one of compassion, not hatred and racism. Le The community gathered in prayer Sunday afternoon to stand before God and contemplate the tragic events of Sept. 11. Terrace’s church leaders and pastors held a non-denominational prayer session at the Terroce Pen- tecostal Assembly that was open to anyone who wanted ta allend. Readings from scripture, hymns and prayer were planned, but no formal sermon, Pentecostal as- sembly pastor Jim Barber said. “We really want to involve a wide diversity of people,” Barber said. -+ Nearly one-dozen pastors and church leaders intended to take Patt, “““Te’s just a time of being | in each others’ presence and ack- nowledging. our dependence on God,” he said, The community call to prayer was organized in response to the lerrorist attacks on the U.S, after local church leaders held a joint prayer session of their own. They met at St. Matthew's An- glican church Tuesday, after learning of the attacks. Skeena Junior instructors Mary Papais and Greer Kaiser orga- nized a gathering for staff and stu- dents outside on the school’s field © Friday to mark the tragedy. : “The world has turned upside down for us since Tuesday,” Kai- * ser said, The events “fit in eerily” with what students were being taught in her class, she said. “Now, here we are in the mid- dle of chaos in North America, and the kids want to talk about it,” she said. We're a global community now,” Viewers may be traumatized, expert says Terrorist attacks didn't happen here. But you may feel like they did. By JENNIFER LANG If you’re feeling more irritable than normal, and you’re finding it hard to sleep, you might blame the news. Jan LeFrancois, coordinator of the Terrace Victim’s Assistance Program, says shocking and traumatic events victimize the people who witness them ~ even if it’s only because they watched TV or read coverage in a newspaper, In a world where live TV news channels are a Staple on the dial, cameras have captured shocking and traumatic events as they took place before. For example, the world was watching when the space shuttle Challenger cxploded just seconds after liftoff in 1986. But we've never seen anything like the ter- rorist attack on the U.S., she says. “This is much more traumatic,” said, “People are witnessing that plan hitting that building,” she said, referring to the jet that hi- jackers flew siraight into the second tower of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan: on their terrorist mission. LeFrancois “There isn’t anybody I've talked to that isn’t personally impacted — just because they knew it could be them, and it could be anywhere,” she said. “Those were just people who were getting up in the morning and poing to work and think- ing it’s going to be another day at the office.” Victim support workers, like those who vo- lunteer for TVAP, routinely assist people who have witnessed fatal traffic accidents and other shocking events. ~ Witnesses often go through a type of post- traumatic stress disorder called critical inci- dent stress. It's the body’s way of dealing with a psy- chological jolt to the system. And on Sept. 11, we had a doozy. Tuesday, she said, was “just a day of shock and horror.” Even though people here weren’t directly involved, there may be people who experience some of ihe symptoms of post-incident stress ripple effect on the world, just seeing those pictures and just imagining in your mind what happened.” LeFrancois said it may take people here a few weeks to get over the shock of what they’ve seen and resume a normal routine, In the meantime, she advises people to aliow themselves time to feel the emotions of shock, sadness, or anxiety they're experien- cing. She suggests people talk about how they feel with people they care about. She also recommends people ensure they make use of any of the regular coping skills they have to deal with more routine kinds of stress, “Crying is OK,” she said. “Shedding a tear for humankind is just being human.” Some of the warning signs of critical inci- dent stress are: irritability, being more with- drawn than normal, or even a change in nor- “It has a ripple effect on the world, just seeing those pictures and Just imagining in your mind what happened.” just the same, “A lot of us are working in an adrenalin | mold,” she added. mal eating habits or sleeping habits. “We need to be patient, we need to listen, and we need to not diminish peopte’s feelings “There ace a lot of casualties here. It has a about what happened here.”