UB quick to respond to terror attacks
Emergency center set up to offer assistance to students, staff affected by tragedy

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

The university was quick to respond to Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, providing assistance to students and faculty and staff members affected by the events and offering sympathy for the victims.

President William R. Greiner cancelled classes for Tuesday afternoon and declared the rest of the day "a day of mourning and memorial" for the victims.

"We do so out of respect for the dead, dying, wounded and their families," Greiner said in a memo to the university community issued early Tuesday afternoon. "Our students, faculty and staff are in pain and shock at this moment; some of us have been very directly affected by today's attacks; all others share in the ongoing horror that the day has brought to this country. Together, we stand united as a university community on this day, and together we express our solidarity as Americans and as educators dedicated to bringing an end to unconscionable acts such as these," Greiner said.

Approximately 4,000 students—one-third of the undergraduate student population—are from the New York City area.

The Office of Student Affairs set up an emergency response center in 210 Student Union on the North Campus that will remain open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. through tomorrow to offer assistance to students and other members of the university community who may have friends or family involved in the tragedy.

Counseling is being provided by staff of the Counseling Center, Campus Ministries and the School of Social Work. Telephone communication links to New York and Washington, as well as updated information on the ongoing tragedy and responses, also are available.

Students who need assistance, and faculty and staff members dealing with affected students are encouraged to contact the center at 645-INFO or 645-6125.

A special hotline for parents of UB students also was set up to ease access to information on campus conditions and responses.

The Counseling Center and the Student Health Center will remain open throughout the week to provide support. The Counseling Center may be reached at 645-2720; the Student Health Center at 829-3316.

Faculty, staff and students wishing to donate blood can visit the American Red Cross blood-donation sites in Squire Hall on the South Campus—open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday—and in 210 Student Union from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday.

In addition to offering counseling, Campus Ministries held two prayer services for members of the university community yesterday, a Catholic Mass and an interfaith prayer service.

Television monitors in the Student Union and Harriman Hall on the South Campus will broadcast network news coverage of the attacks and response throughout the day for the rest of the week.

Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, said that students were availing themselves of the services provided by the response center, noting that it was busy all day on Tuesday. The effort was repeated in the residence halls Tuesday night, he added.

"Students were most interested in access to the phones and to see what kind of updated information they could get," he said.

Black noted that as Tuesday evening went on, students started to make contact with family and friends, many of whom were only just getting out of Manhattan or getting to a telephone.

He said that a number of faculty and staff members have come to the response center to offer their assistance. "It's great to see," he said.

Black added that there was "no question" that members of the university community have rallied around those affected by the tragedy.

Based on the activity at the central response center, "I can just imagine the wonderful one-on-one stories out there," he said.

The events of Tuesday prompted the Division of Athletics to cancel UB's participation in all non-conference contests scheduled for the rest of the week.

"While the events today are tragic for all Americans, they hit particularly close to home for many members of the university community and our students, said Bob Arkeilpane, athletic director. "Out of respect for those that have been killed or injured, we think that the postponement of these activities is the most appropriate response."

The status of the Mid-American Conference events scheduled for this weekend—the women's soccer matches vs. Akron and Kent State, and the cross-country squad's participation in the Ohio University Invitational—were to be decided in a teleconference call with MAC officials yesterday morning.

A decision on whether the UB-Army football game, to be played at Army on Saturday, was expected to be made sometime yesterday.

As of Reporter press time, the Student Association and University Union Activities Board were planning to stage Fall Fest, according to Maggie Hausbeck, UUAB director. Planning for the concert was still ongoing, Hausbeck said, but changes to the program may be made, such as having a moment of silence to remember the victims.

University officials advised that other non-academic campus events scheduled through the weekend may be postponed or rescheduled. Event sponsors should be contacted directly for more information.

Additional information on UB programs and events may be obtained from WBFO 88.7 FM or through the UB home page at www.buffalo.edu.

"As Americans, we will go through a period of pain and shock, but it is my firm belief that throughout this ordeal, each member of our UB family will display the qualities of character, compassion and courage that make the United States of America a great nation," Greiner said in his statement to the campus community. "We will deal first and foremost with the wounds of the victims, we will then turn to the wounds of our community and of the nation, and together we will heal our university community, state and country from the ravages of this great sin.

"A day such as today underscores our importance and our responsibility as teachers and as researchers as we continue our efforts with our students and colleagues to build a strong and coherent framework of knowledge and understanding that may move the world away from this kind of madness," he said.

"We must work to ensure that our world will never stop striving for the triumph of humanity over such unspeakable inhumanity, both here at home, and in all other places and societies."