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Students, faculty share what 14th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 means

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A Remembrance

He was gridlocked on a Tuesday, and Stephen Siller, a firefighter, was panicked. He heard from his radio scanner that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers, and he needed to get to lower Manhattan to respond to the scene. But traffic was unyielding, so he got out of his car on the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, grabbed all 60 pounds of his gear and started to run.

At the end of the day, Siller was one of 2,977 victims of Sept. 11, 2001. Yet as American history would ensure, as would Siller’s family and friends, Siller would never fall into the cracks of obscurity.

Siller is the driving force behind the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K run and walk, said Kelly Rogers, a Rutgers Business School sophomore.

Rogers’ uncle, who was a close friend to Siller, helps out with the foundation and the run, she said, and Siller’s face makes 9/11 a poignant day for her, 14 years later.

Next to Siller, Rogers, a resident of Middletown, New Jersey, acutely feels the impact of 9/11 — Middletown was the second hardest-hit city for casualties, next to New York City, she said.

“It’s almost how surreal how long it’s been, because it’s been 14 years and I’m 19 years old,” she said. “So it’s something I’ve grown up with.”

From a Different Set of Eyes

Similarly, Vivek Ananthanarayanan, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, experienced 9/11 as a child, and matured while the dominant American political scene in the mid-2000s asserted an offensive surge into the Middle East.

But Ananthanarayanan, who condemned the terrorists who attacked on 9/11, said Sept. 11 was the result of “some wrong political moves” the United States made during the wars in the Middle East.

“For example, (the war in Afghanistan), the (United States) helped Osama bin Laden build up his army, which eventually became Al Qaeda and the Taliban,” he said. “Which is okay, because they were fighting the Soviets. But then they stopped funding them, and then in retaliation they fired back, which was 9/11, which, of course, was no excuse, but I do feel that is an important lesson.”

He said he recognized his opinion might be unpopular, but hopes people look at 9/11 in a larger context.

“We at least need to take a moment and think about what happened that day, and why it happened, and what we can learn from it, which I think is very important,” he said.

From the Classroom

Fourteen years ago, Melissa Aronczyk saw 9/11 as coverage unfurled — but she followed it from Canada.

“I still hesitate when that’s the date and I write down that date,” said Aronczyk, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. “It still gives me pause. I was in Canada when it happened so it seemed very distant back then, but on the other hand it’s still very present in so many ways.”

9/11 is present when she teaches about privacy and surveillance, she said. Every time she teaches it, she can’t be help but be reminded.

Students, too, remind her that 9/11 still sears, especially for students who lost loved ones in the attacks.

“There are a lot of — if not daily — regular reminders of what happened, so it’s especially not gone,” she said.

Counseling for grieving members of the Rutgers community as well as general counseling is available at Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program and Psychiatric Services, located at 17 Senior St. on the College Avenue campus and 61 Nichol Ave. on Douglass campus.

Students living in on-campus facilities are also encouraged to communicate with their Residence Life staff to cope with the loss. Off-campus or commuter students can speak with their Dean of Students.

Tim Grimm, located at Bishop House, 115 College Ave., is the College Avenue campus Dean of Students. Michelle Jefferson, located at 305 College Hall, is the Cook and Douglass campuses' Dean of Students.

Jeffrey Broggi, located at Lucy Stone Hall A239, is the Livingston campus Dean of Students. Sandra Castro, located at the Busch Student Center, is the Busch campus Dean of Students.



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