Here are experts to comment on aspects of yesterday's tragic events in New York, Washington, and elsewhere in the country, from Dick Jones Communications.
THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY
"Clearly our reliance on security technology has been ineffective. This probably will have a similar effect that the Gulf War had on transportation demand in 1989. The consequence of this could be a tremendous downturn in air traffic demand from fear by consumers. This will probably cause financial performance of airlines to suffer more significantly." - Paul Dempsey, director of transportation law program and professor of law at the University of Denver.
CONTACT: 303-871-6260 office (available at this number Wednesday), 303-526-1797 (home).
Dr. Joe Szyliowicz, professor of international studies and founder of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver is an international expert on transportation policy, technology and development. His special interests are in aviation security, terrorism and the Middle East and he is a member of the government organization Homeland Defense to help combat domestic terrorism. He is the author or co-author of a half-dozen books on transportation, energy, technology and the Middle East, including Denver International Airport: Lessons for the 21st Century, which he co-authored with fellow ITI members Paul Dempsey and Andrew Goetz. Contact: 303-773-3861 home, 303-871-2992 office.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
"Uncertainty as a rule is bad for the economy and particularly bad for the stock market. However, war-time footing is not entirely bad for the economy. That's just an economic reality. If we're gearing up for military action, stock will do well in that environment." - Dr. J. Patrick Raines, professor of economics at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Dr. Raines also teaches comparative economics, including Islamic economics. "It really might be helpful for people to understand something about the economic principles that might have driven Islamic fundamentalists to do this, if that is who is responsible. They are adverse to interest and consider all interest as usury. It's something they've extracted from the Koran. By attacking the World Trade Centers, they were really striking the heart of capitalism."
CONTACT: 804-289-8566, [email protected].
Dr. Dave Hopkins, director of International Business Programs management of Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Hopkins is on the board of the Denver World Trade Center and can certainly discuss the economic impact of the attack.
CONTACT: 303-871-2210 (available Wednesday).
Mac Clouse, chair of the department of finance at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, is an expert in national and international finance and is able to provide commentary on the implications to the United States and to the world of closing Wall Street and having a terrorist attack directed at America's financial center.
CONTACT: 303-871-3320 office, 303-871-9451 home, 303-913-7318 cell.
John Burnett, professor and chair of the department of marketing in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, recently completed a book managing through crises and major catastrophes. Burnett can provide five specific tips to business leaders and managers, detailing steps the should take to keep their businesses or government offices operating efficiently during a crisis.
Contact: 303-871-2168.
GLOBAL IMPACT
"This is evidence that a powerful country like the U.S. is sometimes indefensible against individuals willing to commit terrorism and suicide. Though on a smaller scale, this is a situation that faces the Middle East. There are explosions - people who explode themselves in cars and in walls - that happen every day in Israel, but how can you really stop it? The US is facing the same incapability of dealing with this situation as the Middle East does." - Dr. Shaul Gabbay, director of the Center for the Study of Israel in the Middle East at the University of Denver.
CONTACT: 303-744-7095 (home, available at this number Wednesday); 303-871-2560 (office).
Ved Nanda, vice provost for internationalization and a professor of law at the University of Denver. Based on scholarship and practical experience with governmental and non-governmental organizations and with conflicts within states, the following areas are those which Nanda may comment on: human rights, war and peace, and international conflict resolution and management.
CONTACT: 303-871-6276.
Tom Farer, dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Within the U.S. government, he has served as special assistant first to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense and then to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. Farer has published 11 books and monographs and over 80 articles and book chapters primarily concerning issues of international and comparative law, foreign policy, human rights and international institutions. He has also studied the operations of international Organizations and in 1993 served as legal consultant to the United Nations Operations in Somalia. In that capacity, he investigated the attacks on UN forces and submitted a report to the Security Counsel. In 1980, he participated in the successful resolution of the hostage crisis arising from the occupation of the Dominican Embassy of Bogota, Columbia by members of the M-19 guerilla organization. He also has experience with hostage situations.
CONTACT: 303-871-2539, [email protected]
Dr. Jonathan Adelman, professor for the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, is an expert on comparative revolutions and the military. He is currently working on a book about terrorism and global threats. His specializations include foreign and domestic policies; comparative politics; comparative communism; and revolutions.
Contact: 303-355-0166, [email protected].
Michael Cipollaro is a visiting professor of international business and international economics and politics at the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fl. Having lived in Europe for 20 years before returning to the US to run the global businesses of two Fortune 500 companies, Cipollaro is an expert in international business and political economy. He as been a source for the media in Florida during the attacks.
CONTACT: 407-294-9483 or [email protected].
SOCIAL/CULTURAL:
"One of the things that will change is the level of fear in American people. Americans often react to tragedy, as all humans, first with disbelief, and then with fear. A couple of things socially and psychologically can happen. People will get angry and react with more punitive actions - desensitizing the modes of resolution. Others will try and work through more peaceful resolutions - figuring out what it is that brought these people to destroy other innocent people, and then try and come up with more peaceful solutions to be developed." - Dr. Carol Thompson is a associate professor of sociology and head of department at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Tex. She's a cultural specialist who has background in deviance, and can also provide reaction to the victims in tragedy. As a sociologist, she says she's trained about cultural issues and crime and societal trends.
CONTACT: 817-257-6200 (office), 817-860-0208 (home).
MENTAL HEALTH
"One of the most important needs of the victims and their families is for clear and accurate information. Obviously, that's a tough challenge with so many events happening in so many places with this attack. One of our priorities in Oklahoma City was to set up a way to relay regular information to the family members, prior to it being released to the media. Giving people information quickly and accurate, that has been verified, is so important. But it's also very difficult because it's so hard to provide clear and accurate information because of the extent it is being provided -- with all the media reporting on it as it unfolds." - Susan Weeks, a disaster mental health specialist with the American Red Cross, who is also an instructor in The School of Nursing at TCU in Ft. Worth, Tex. She was part of the response team to the Oklahoma City bombing and is on standby right now from the Red Cross for this disaster.
CONTACT: 817-257-7519 (office), 817-942-8717 (pager).
"Sudden death like this is very hard. Prolonged death - cancer, disease - is hard, but you at least have a chance to say good-bye. In this situation, there can be a lot of unfinished business, maybe a loved one leaving for work after an argument. What was very normal becomes very tragic. Such a large number of people will be affected. This is not like Pearl Harbor, where those people were in the service, the world was at war and there was always a threat of violence. This isn't like that. When you send your loved ones off to work, you don't expect this to happen. And that's part of the harm the terrorists intended. It makes everyone feel vulnerable." - Dr. Da'lynn Clayton, associate professor of nursing and grief expert at Harding University in Searcy. Ark.
CONTACT: 501-279-4686; [email protected].
"It can feel very isolating to go through a tragedy like this. It can be helpful to know this is a feeling shared by many." - Dr. Katherine Bradley, director of counseling at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., who has tips on how people can both cope with the tragedy, and help others cope.
CONTACT: 570-372-4238, or [email protected].
"This (the terrorist events of Tuesday) is especially difficult for people to get a grip on a nightmare of this magnitude when the tragic events are so readily available at everyone's fingertips via broadcast and electronic media. There is no way of comprehending this in pieces. If the images become too overwhelming, turn them off." - Dr. Stephen Paolucci, chairman of psychiatry department for the Geisinger Health System -- a statewide health system which serves more than two million people in 31 counties in Pennsylvania. His wife, Sue Paolucci, is also the director of emergencies and consultation services for Geisinger. Either one of them would be a good source on coping with the psychological impact of today's events.
CONTACT: 570-271-6486 (office), 570-523-7622 (home), or call either Dave Jolley at 570-826-7889, or Chris Johnson at 570-271-6384 in their media and community relations office.
Susan Manning, associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. Manning was at the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and experienced that event along with several other current and former GSSW faculty members. She also has a background in mental health.
CONTACT: 303-871-2865.
Catherine Alter, dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and professor at the University of Denver. She can contact from a personal standpoint, expressing concern for the effects this may have on people relieving the 1993 trauma. She also has natural disaster relief experience.
CONTACT: 303-871-2203
Stephen Shirk, associate professor of psychology and director of the Child Studies Center at the University of Denver, is able to discuss adult and children responses to natural disasters and traumatic events such as those that occurred yesterday.
CONTACT: 303-871-3677.
Robbie Rossman, senior clinical professor in psychology at the University of Denver, can discuss the intense emotional response some people experience with continual viewing of traumatic footage, such as is being viewed on television. The intensification of distress can be very traumatic and people should monitor their stress level.
CONTACT: 303-871-3716.
TRAUMA
Dr. Matthew Indeck, surgeon and trauma specialist, Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. -- the major hospital in the Geisinger Health System, which provides health services to 31 counties and nearly two million patients in Pennsylvania. He can certainly comment on the trauma crises facing medical teams in New York. Geisinger Health System's Life Flight III Helicopter was dispatched to Teterboro, N.J., to assist in transporting victims of the World Trade Center disaster to hospitals.
CONTACT: 570-271-6361, or call either Dave Jolley at 570-826-7889, or Chris Johnson at 570-271-6384 in their media and community relations office.
RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS
Carl Raschkle, professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, is available to comment on possible religious dimensions of terrorist violence. He is the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles on topics of popular religion in culture and society. This best-known work , Painted Black, surveys the relationship between certain religious cults and violence in contemporary society.
CONTACT: 214-402-3801 cell.
Liyakat Takim, professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, is available to discuss Islam and the Koran. He can shed light on the theological dimensions of Islam and how the Koran strongly condemns the taking of innocent lives. He also can talk about Muslims in America. "We should stop talking about Islam and the West and start talking about Islam in the West," he says.
CONTACT: 303-871-3503.
TERRORISM
"We're talking about a horrific event on a proportion that I don't think this country has even seen in the past. It's hit so close to home, during your daily routines, that I think we'll see the repercussions for some time. What makes something traumatic is that is it something we couldn't possibly anticipate and that shapes our assumptions about the world and its predictability. For many people today, it's very likely of having that effect of rocking assumptions of what may or may not happen from one moment to the next." - Dr. Steven Gold, director of the Trauma Resolution Integration Program at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
CONTACT: 954-262-5714, [email protected].
"The U.S. is a prime target for terrorist attacks and has been for some time, but today's attack was the most impressive act of terrorism this country has ever seen." - Dr. John Hepp, assistant professor of history at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He teaches courses in, amongst others, foreign policy.
CONTACT: 570-408-4225, [email protected]
INTERNET
Stephen Haag, professor and chair of the Department of Information Technology and Electronic Commerce, University of Denver, can speak in detail about the Internet as it relates to business and social implications of terrorist attack. He also can discuss methods in which some terrorist organizations have used the World Wide Web to coordinate activities by posting encrypted messages on what appear to be normal business Web sites. Haag is the author of 11 textbooks on computing and eight journal publications. His areas of expertise are software engineering and electronic commerce.
CONTACT: 303-809-6308.
MILITARY RESPONSE
"I'd like to light up Afghanistan, but rationally it's not the right thing to do. How are we going to respond? We can't go off half-cocked looking for revenge. We are a nation of laws." - Jeffrey Whitman is an associate professor of philosophy and retired U.S. Army officer at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., who can comment on military actions and ethics.
CONTACT: 570-372-4168 (office), 570-743-8314 (home), or [email protected]
LEGAL
"It is unlikely that legal action, in the sense of a court-based process, will be among our first efforts to respond to yesterday's criminal acts of terrorism on our nation. It is certainly legal, and certainly likely, that the United States will respond with considerable military force initially, as soon as appropriate targets are identified with a reasonable degree of precision. Later, it is possible to pursue redress in such venues as the International Court of Justice as a follow-on. United Nations sanctions are another form of official action we can pursue in the days ahead. If we find the terrorists had financial backing from a government, and/or are being knowingly harbored, trained, equipped, or otherwise aided and abetted by a government, President Bush made it clear last night that we will make no distinction between the actual murderers and those who help them, before or after the fact. It would make a military and legal response much easier if we were to identify such governmental complicity, because governments, unlike terrorists, have well-known, comparatively easy to locate leaders, important buildings, key infrastructure, and other targets of opportunity for both a retaliatory strike and subsequent legal action. By the way, it was remarkable to me that some observers initially thought the limited explosions in and around Kabul last night were attributable to our military. That wasn't us. When it is us, you'll know it." - Professor John C. Kunich, Associate Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of Law.
CONTACT: (401) 254-4615 or [email protected]
If the U.S. can identify suspects in the terrorist plot, their criminal prosecution would not be compromised if they were taken by force from another nation says Daniel Murphy, professor of international law at the University of Richmond. "How they get to this country doesn't much matter," he notes. "Even kidnapping doesn't disqualify their prosecution in U.S. courts." The premise, he says, is that once here they have the same rights available to all defendants including the premise of being innocent until proven guilty. "Would we create an international wrong by kidnapping? Yes. It could be, however, that the U.S. would look upon this as a transaction cost." Murphy also says that if the U.S. finds that another nation has harbored the terrorists or has aided and abetted the terrorism act then the U.S.--if it retaliates--would likely try to make a case of self defnese as its reason for doing so. "Retaliation is probably not legitimate under international law. To argue self-defense the U.S. would probably have to show that there are plans for future terrorism and that by retaliating the U.S. is really acting in self defense." He notes, however, that the U.S. might view a violation of international law as simply the cost of doing business in this instance.
Contact Murphy at 804-289-8187.
Under American as well as international law, those responsible for the attacks are subject to both civil liability - paying financial compensation to victims and survivors - and criminal punishment - being sentenced to jail and possibly death for such offenses as air piracy, terrorism, and murder. Given the large number of potential claims, the civil lawsuits almost certainly will be consolidated and heard in federal court, either in New York City or, less likely, Washington, D.C. The location of the criminal trials will depend on where the bombers are apprehended.
If they are caught on American soil, their trial presumably would take place in federal court in a western state to ensure an impartial jury. If, as is more likely, the bombers are taken into custody on foreign soil, their trials probably will take place in a neutral location, as happened with the Libyans accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland. As in that case, The Hague in the Netherlands would be the most obvious site for a trial. Whether U.S. criminal law would be used is hard to say, and may depend on the status of the International Criminal Court (which, although not yet functioning, is quickly moving from the blueprint stage to reality). Lastly, if a foreign government, such as Afghanistan, is found to have supported the operation, the U.S. could attempt to sue that government in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The jurisdiction of the ICJ is limited and complex, however, and any such proceeding would take years.
The U.S. also could attempt to sue the foreign government in a U.S. federal court, although I think the prospect is unlikely due to the negative publicity that would surround such a lawsuit. Of course, the U.S. also could impose unilateral sanctions against the foreign government and introduce resolutions at the United Nations condemning its actions and calling on other countries to join the U.S. sanctions." - Bob Jarvis is a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. An international lawyer, who also teaches a class in international law, Jarvis has commented on past terrorist activities and was following today's events closely.
CONTACT: 954-537-2104 (home), 954-452-6172 (office), [email protected]
COPING - AND HELPING OTHERS COPE"When appropriate, provide reassurance that family and friends are safe. Tell your children that they are loved and always will be. Maintain a daily schedule that is predictable and consistent. Answer your child's questions honestly, providing information in a way that is appropriate for his age and level of maturity. Listen to your child's questions and understand what he is asking. If your child is asking many questions about the tragedy, he may not be a interested in the details of the tragedy as he is in obtaining reassurance that your family is safe. Share your feelings honestly and appropriately. If you feel sad or frustrated, let your children know you are upset by what happened. You can talk to them about how you cope with difficult emotions and show them how you deal with difficult times. For example, let your children know what is helpful for you, such as: prayer or reaching out to loved ones to share emotions.
How much you share with your child depends on his age and level of development. Be careful not to overwhelm your child or rely on him for emotional support. *Another way families may respond to tragedy is by taking action to help others. Perhaps you will donate blood or funds for rescue efforts. When appropriate, talk to your child about this. Also, if your older child has indicated an interest, help identify ways he can actively respond to this tragedy, too. For example, he may choose to write a letter about his feelings or he might talk to his teacher about creating a peer group in school to encourage others to express themselves. Encourage your child to express his feelings through words as well as other means. Books, art and music may be ways to facilitate the expression of emotions among children. Avoid excessive exposure to violent images in the media. Children may become especially fearful by the images on television. Or, they may become sensitized to those images with repeated exposure. When parents feel it is appropriate, they are encouraged to limit repeated exposure to the news reports.
When children do view the images and stories, watch them together so you can answer questions and talk about relevant issues and feelings. You may notice some signs of distress such as fussiness, fear, sadness or nightmares. Respond lovingly and calmly. If your child appears particularly stressed, depressed or fearful, or you have other concerns, seek professional support. Similarly, it is normal for parents to experience strong feelings regarding this tragedy. Talk to your friends, colleagues or a professional, if indicated, regarding your feelings. When you seek support for yourself, you will be better able to help your children." - Dr. Debbie Glasser, director of Family Support Services at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.
CONTACT: 1-800-541-NOVA, ext. 6975 or [email protected].
"Take care of you and your partner first. Go ahead and call your loved ones, share your worry with others and don't get isolated. Do something active to regain a sense of control over your life. Talk with your children. Avoid television and news media images with the youngest children. The pictures are more terrifying than the words, and the after-effects of images can last for years. Think about and prepare your interpretation of the events. Take some time to understand your own views, then prepare an explanation at your child's mental level of development." - Dr. Sharon Carnahan, associate professor of psychology at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. She can also provide age-specific suggestions on talking to children about the attack.
CONTACT: 407-646-2548 or [email protected].
Dr. Mark Sowick, director of campus counseling at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa offers this advice to those who know someone who was affected by the attacks: "Be available to talk. Ask open-ended questions. Avoid analysis. Accept the person's response to the situation, and don't judge the reaction you get, be it anger or sadness. Help the person to supportive services and people. Be open to future discussion. If you have been effected, surround yourself with people who care about you. Don't stop talking. Try not to judge of analyze your reaction. Expect to be confused, upset and unable to concentrate - this is normal. Focus on positive memories and forgiveness, not anger or negatives."
CONTACT: 570-408-4732 or [email protected].
Please contact us at (814) 867-1963, or e-mail me back is you have additional questions or needs. Dick Jones Communications assists 15 colleges and universities, and one statewide health care system, with their public affairs work.
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