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This blog is for LBST 499- places, spaces and posers. It will serve as an asynchronous discussion for students to reflect on class readings, activities, cultural events, and discussions as it relates to your lives. As you contribute, you may raise questions, consider responses, and generate possibilites for follow-up activities in class. There is no maximum or minimum length.
This blog is for LBST 499- places, spaces and posers. It will serve as an asynchronous discussion for students to reflect on class readings, activities, cultural events, and discussions as it relates to your lives. As you contribute, you may raise questions, consider responses, and generate possibilites for follow-up activities in class. There is no maximum or minimum length.
Who do you want to be your next president?
ABOUT ME
- sjMiller
- I am a funky, fresh, wheelin' dealin kind of PER-son who likes to hip-hop with my hippity hops and learn with the peeps. questions contact: sjmiller@iup.edu
7 comments:
During the discussion of 911 and monuments in class today, I felt that I agree with a lot of the comments that everyone had. I too feel that a monument in a sense takes away from the actual event. Although its intentions are to help us to remember the event, I feel that for me, I would rather see memoirs of the actual event.
For instance, in 2004, I visited NYC and the 911 memorial site. I was very moved by site and felt that it had a great impact due to the space being almost left as is. It really hit home and I think that had I visited right after 911 and seen the flowers, cards, personal items, etc. left in front of the space, it would have made even more of an impact.
Overall, I feel that monuments shouldn't be stone structures, but instead a representation of those who lost their lives, lost loved ones, or were involved in whatever the event was that occured.
After class today, I stepped into a wholly depressing lunch with a friend and fellow journalism major. (Jeez – it seems impossible for me to not tout my major around like a star on my sleeve.) My friend (let’s call her Rachel) and I had one of the deepest discussions I’ve ever been able to carry on over a lunch of sesame chicken and a fortune cookie.
The class's discussion was more difficult for me to stomach than I would have expected; that discussion flowed into my lunchtime water cooler talk, and left the two of us sitting in the middle of Folger dining hall, swapping stories of death and our own impending fears of this country’s future.
I suppose that maybe I was too selfish and self-involved to speak up much in class today, but the talk about memorials and what they mean to our history and us was a bit disheartening to me. I can’t say that I have an official stance on the matter, but I do feel that people deserve to be remembered, and future generations have as much right to know about their ancestors as we do about ours. It seems unfair for people to assume that our children, and our children’s children, and so on, will understand what happened on September 11, 2001. None of us can fully comprehend the impact of WWII on our grandparents’ economic lives, or Vietnam and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy on our parents’ political views. And anyone born since September 12, 2001, will never have the same understanding of the day the World Trade Center towers tumbled to the ground. It scares me to realize that without memorials standing across the country (and the world), we may come to slowly slip away from our own history, instead of embracing it.
As people talked about the desensitization memorials create in their own views, my mind kept driving back to the small highway that winds around my town, most notably right past most of my high school’s students’ houses. But then it comes to a screeching halt by the flowers, balloons, “HONK IF YOU MISS DOUG” signs, photos and personal memorabilia dedicated to Doug, the unfortunate victim of a grizzly car crash this past summer. Doug graduated from my high school one year after me, and was easily one of the most beloved students ever to grace the school’s hallways. Jeff was the snarky jackass who barely graduated as a member of my class, and the one who crossed the double yellow lines and crashed his SUV into Doug’s head-on on the night of August 15. I have been jaded through the years; at the age of 22, I can sadly admit that I personally know at least seven people who have passed away (via manslaughter, suicide, etc). I am not claiming to hold a world record, but, in the simplest of terms, it just seems wrong that anyone, before they graduate college, should have seen so much death plague their world.
I feel bad that I dragged Rachel into the solemn discussion over our hour-plus-long lunch. We shared our “where were you when you first heard about the 9/11 attacks” stories, expressing interestingly different scenarios. She calmed my woes of every-day tragedy, via school shootings and my constant fear of death (I truly believe one day I will just slip on the ice, crack my head open and bleed to death). It’s hard to communicate to someone the feelings that run through you involving the death of a friend, or even acquaintance, but to know that I’m not alone in sitting in class, wondering what my quickest escape route may be if someone pulls a gun out of their sock and opens fire.
Every time someone said the word “memorial” today, I couldn’t get the image of a cemetery out of my head. Gravestones everywhere, memorializing those who have passed on, but in a much more personal way than a wall of names of the Vietnam soldiers killed fighting for freedom. My thoughts flowed between the makeshift “memorial” along the side of the highway, to the lowering of Doug’s coffin into the ground. During most of today’s class discussion, I felt my heart racing, my palms sweating and my body stiffening. Tears continually welled up in my eyes; I almost stepped out into the hallway just to find my bearings. I will admit that I’m not entirely sure why I felt so upset about the topic; I usually keep my cool during “hot button” discussions.
As I look back on the day the Twin Towers fell, I wish I had something of my own to commemorate it, but all I can hold onto is the memories, and the day’s newspaper my parents keep stored somewhere. It almost seems necessary, for purposes of moving forward with our lives, to remember, in whatever way possible, the innocent lives taken every second, of every day, of every year.
I definiteyly agree with both marissa and steph. 9-11 is something that i will never forget. THe morning the towers were attacked i was walking into my spanish class, and was bombarded with frantic students and teachers. TUrns out that my spanish teachers sister worked in the twin towers and my teacher had just left to go to New York. That really hit hard, because someone that i came in contact with everyday was so deeply effected by this tragedy. That was by far one of the scariest days of my life.
Couple months later my family decided to go to ground zero. It was extremely heartbreaking, and sad. Seeing the flowers, the pictures of people that were still missing, the candles. It really hit hard. It wasn't untill then that i truly realized what happened, and how many people were effected and are still reliving that day everyday.
I lived in NYC last summer, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. It was really interesting talking to the people i interned with and asking them where they were when it happened and how they feel about the situation.
I lived in 34th st between 9th and 10th avenue near madison square garden and penn station. SO every night around bedtime, a fleet of police trucks and fire trucks had drills up and down the street, preparing in case another 9another tragic event like 9-11 happened. It was sad to think that these people really do relive this event every single day of their lives.
Not sure if anyone remembers but during the summer in July a steampipe exploded in the middle of a intersection in midtown manhattan. (link about it:http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/buildings-evacuated-after-midtown-explosion/) I worked in midtown manhattan and was on my way home but luckily had made it home before it happened. People supposively ran out of their shoes they were so scared. Everyone thought it was another attack. I had friends and family calling me making sure i was okay, because they knew i worked in that area. I could only think wow this was just steampipe bursting, how in the hell was 9-11.
ANyways, i agree with Steph, monuments need be there. Otherwise we as people forget, and then things begin to repeat themselves. I dont believe getting rid of personal remembrances like flowers and pictures is right though, because that is often peoples way of coping and mourning.
These thoughts are disjointed...just a few points to be made.
I'm not sure that I have much to add on the subject. In reiteration, I need to say that Steph is correct...we can't be so naive as to assume future generations will feel the same about these events as we do. For example, I recognize that World War II was a turning point in our nation's history, but, unlike some of my elders, a tear won't come to my eye...a tear will never appear in that capacity; however, I've shed tears for 9/11, and can only imagine that future generations will not.
Also, it isn't to say that we deserved to have planes flown into the World Trade Center Twin Towers, but it is safe to say that it opened the eyes of a lot of people. It is sad that we take for granted so many things until tragedy strikes; the United States never had a major attack on its soil (save for the Revolutionary War)...recent history has proven the United States to be invulnerable, an unmovable mountain. At this point in time, that notion has been proven false, that we are just as frail as other nations.
9/11 also brought to light some of the issues that plague our society. I don't want to whine about the commercialization of the US because, I believe, all of you have heard it before; but, 9/11 is a prime example of the commercialization that we so readily embrace. The day after, everyone hung their flags outside of their houses, brandished US flag pins, and strode the streets as a unified American public. As time went on, the flags became more, they appeared on cars, mugs, windows, etc...where were they made? While some were made in the US, it may be interesting to note that some were made in China...both nations had companies perfectly willing to exploit and profit off of a national tragedy.
As more time went on, flags began fading out of sight, the ones on cars became tattered and torn, and the pins were left to gather dust in jewelry boxes. I don't want to say that all people forgot their patriotism, far from it, but 9/11 seemed an event of unification, and once we got back into our normal lives, we once again became individualistic.
Are these bad things? Are they good? Should we care? I don't have the answers...and after our last class I still did not have the answers.
i think i was a little hasty and misunderstood with my comments in class, i don't completely disagree with the idea of having monuments erected, but i think more and more it's just about the "wow" factor and the personal people who were affected get lost in the process.
For example, in almost every city in america there is a war memorial. most of them consist of a wall or a statue with names of the deceased carved in. although these are beautiful and often very detailed, i have never been so affected by any type of war memorial as i was when i went to arlington national cemetary. it's different being in that place, it's simple and understated. The graves all look the same, and there are no huge monuments erected. even the gravesite of JFK and the tomb of the unknown soldier are simple, but completely moving. JFK's grave, along with his wife and two children, sits on a patio type thing with an eternal flame burning. it's a simple reminder of an amazing person without the glitz and glam that i think takes away from the memories.
another example is the johnstown flood. the damn broke in my backyard, and there are about five different memorials erected in cambria county. most of us did the field trip to the museum if you live in the area, but when i was in high school one of my teachers took us on a real trip. instead of going to the museum and seeing the monuments, we went to the damn site and read accounts of what actually happened and how it affected people. it was intense, and so much more meaningful to me than just getting the strict facts. to me, i think the most moving monument is the rememberences of the people affected, not the memories of the history makers (because as we know, history is usually written by the powerful and not by the common man.)
so my argument is, it's important not to lose the people involved in these tragedies when we erect monuments. it's amazing to have monuments dedicated in their honor, but they should be remembered as something more than just a name carved into a wall.
don't have much of an opinion regarding monuments. Maybe I just don't normally think about them (which I suppose is rather sad). When 9/11 happened I was asleep. My wife at the time walked in the bedroom and accidentally woke me. I asked her what she was doing home (since she should've been at work) and she said that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and one had collapsed...she then told me to go back to bed and walked out of the room and shut the door.
I remember laying there thinking "What did she just say?" I was working on probably 2.5 hours of sleep since I had worked the night before. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV 2 minutes before the second tower collapsed. I remember just sitting there watching the train wreck occur over and over and over again. How anyone could pull their eyes off the television is beyond me. It was chilling to watch.
It bothers me to watch these so called "conspiracy theories" about seperate explosions in the buildings on seperate floors and how there was more going on than just the crashing of planes. These so-called documentaries drive me crazy with all their accusations. Do people really believe that an explosion from an airplane (of that size) smashing into a building isn't going to travel through the ventilation systems and torn open elevator shafts? I'm pretty sure that the people who worked up top didn't take the stairs to get to their offices. Anyhow...this is going off topic.
I think for a monument, I do believe that the towers should be rebuilt...even though there is no plan for that. What better way to show the world our resolve than to "rebuild" what was there. I don't think much about monuments like I said so whatever the new one will look like is totally up to someone else. When I think of monuments I think of the Vietnam Memorial first and foremost. It's designer was highly scrutinized for his design when it was first built, but overall it's design is beautiful. It's so simple that it doesn't take away from the experience of visiting the location or the feelings that one may have while being there.
I think that monuments are important so that we as a people can honor those who helped us achieve what we have in life...such as George Washington, Abe Lincoln, etc. and that memorials be erected in whatever form so that we have some place that people from all over the country can go to remember those who we've lost.
This seems a little unorganized and random to me as I write it, so hopefully it makes some sense.
Doug Thomas
Yes that class period was very emotional for some people but it also brought out a lot of truth. During the clas disscussion I mentioned that there should not be a monument to replace the twin towels. My reason for this is that myself personally, by placing a monument in the representation of the building, brings back memories that some people may want to forget. However, I am not saying that there should not any anything there to mark the date of 911, I'm just saying that it should not replce the twin towers, which was also important to the state of New York and its relation to other countries around the world
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