After the attacks of Sept. 11, many students were left with a question ? ?What can I do to help?? The UR community has responded in various ways throughout the past week.
A large number of students responded by trying to raise money. Some floors in the Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls have set up dinners to raise money, others have done floor collections. Organizations on campus have also started collections, such as University Health Services, Interfaith Chapel and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
Planning
Senior Lonny Mallach has been involved with coordinating some of Students? Association?s efforts, especially those centered around the upcoming benefit concert. ?They wanted to do something, they wanted to help,? he said about the outpouring of student support. As of Wednesday, the main drive had collected over $12,000. They hope to reach a goal of $20,000 by this weekend with the help of the benefit concert.
The concerts, featuring the Yellowjackets, Midnight Ramblers, Vocal Point, In Between the Lines, Strong Jugglers, and special guest a cappella group, In Acchord, will be held tomorrow and Saturday night in Strong Auditorium.
There have also been outward shows of patriotism on campus. Most prominently, two flags appeared on the outside of the third floor of Anderson Tower Thursday Sept. 13.
Sophomore Michael Maskalans said he put one of the two flags there ?as a basic show of patriotism? in response to the way America had reacted to tragedy. ?I was proud to show my support for the way America was handling it,? said senior Aaron Zschau, who put up the other flag.
Patriotism also showed at the vigil service Friday, Sept. 14, where people broke out into songs including ?America the Beautiful? and ?God Bless America.? The Pledge of Allegiance was also said while many in the crowd turned towards the flag, flying at full-staff, for the last day this week.
The vigil, which was attended by students, chaplains, faculty and community members, was held on the steps of the Eastman Quad facing the Interfaith Chapel. It was advertised by a combination of e-mail and posters.
When no apparent leader came forward at 7 p.m., the advertised start time, sophomore Ben Biggs stepped up. ?No one else seemed to be doing anything, so I thought I might as well get things started,? Biggs said.
His speech was followed by a few other speeches and songs intermixed with a half-hour of silence. The men?s soccer team and women?s softball team both interrupted their practices and showed up in uniform at the vigil. The Rev. Brian Cool, university chaplain, closed the vigil with a non-denominational prayer.
UR Peace reacted by planning a forum to discuss the way in which the U.S. government should react to the attacks. Junior and president of UR Peace Ashok Krishnan said that all of the approximately 25 people agreed that the attack was horrific and that American retaliation would only cause more civilian death.
?Instead of stopping the violence, it would perpetuate more violence,? Krishnan said.
A Green Party event advertised as a ?Rally for Restraint? was held in Rochester Saturday Sept. 15 to talk about government reactions. ?There were reactions from the different religious organizations in Rochester. Nothing was antigovernment,? said junior Ahlea Howard, who attended the event.
One thing that all the students stressed throughout their reactions is the importance of not reacting violently towards other people in the United States. Krishnan discussed the importance of signs of unity and patriotism during this time.
?It is a good thing that they are there,? said Krishnan. ?It helps us remember we are all part of the same nation, and it should also remind us that all people who live in this country are part of this country.?
Miller can be reached at amiller@campustimes.org.
