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The potential collateral effects of the terrorist attacks would affect us daily: Longer lines at airports. Armed guards in
public buildings. Diminished access to our government. Lost liberties.
Dr. Ray B. Browne heard the question and deflected it.
"You've got the wrong number,"said the Distinguished University professor emeritus of popular culture at Bowling Green State
University. "You should call God."
God only knows what's to become of our world.
Like so many others, Browne, who founded Bowling Green's Popular Culture Department 28 years ago, can only guess how Sept.
11, 2001, will permanently change the nation.
From the halls of academia to the corridors of Congress, from the dank grayness of New York City's ground zero to the glorious
greenness of rural Ohio, Americans are left to wonder what the future holds.
Today, there is one certainty: The world has changed - and not for the better.
"Never again can we be safe and feel secure because of the possibility of this happening again,"said Dr. Arthur G. Neal, professor
of sociology at Portland State University in Oregon and Bowling Green professor emeritus of sociology.
The relentless fear permeating the land since the terrorist attacks is changing people's behavior and driving immediate political
actions that will alter the nation's future.
All facets of life - air travel, architecture, business, entertainment, family, government, sports, you name it - will feel
the collateral effects.
Among the potential changes: the introduction of national identification cards, fewer skyscrapers, longer lines at airports
and border crossings, armed guards in public buildings and at utilities, diminished accessto government, lost liberties.
Decisions made in coming weeks will be aimed at eradicating terrorism, but they could have lasting ramifications. And the
promise of a more secure America gives rise to the threat of a more closed, xenophobic, restricted society.
Predicting the future, as always, relies on understanding the past, but the country has never experienced anything quite like
the horror of Sept. 11.
"History is pretty fallible in this instance,"Browne said. "The whole stream of it has been shaken up and broken, because
human life is not the same anymore."
Widespread anxiety
Jack Sherman, an electrical engineer from Newark, worries that his son will be drafted next year when he finishes work on
a master's degree at Purdue University.
"That could take him right into war,"said Sherman, 56. "I'd much rather go myself."
Sherman was fishing with three friends in Ontario when terrorists, using hijacked commercial jets, crashed into the twin towers
of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
One night during the trip, the four went to a karaoke bar in a tiny town and received a hero's welcome.
As the bar prepared to close, Sherman said, the owner stood on stage and apologized for not having a patriotic song to play
for "our American brothers."
She dedicated the last song to them.
"There were 150 people in the bar, and they all stood up and cheered and clapped and came over and hugged us,"Sherman recalled,
his eyes welling. "One gentleman said he felt more like an American than a Canadian."
That experience as well as the anguish Sherman feels over possibly seeing a son off to war underscore both a fear among other
nations that terror could breach their borders and a realignment of American political priorities.
In his speech Thursday night, President Bush told the world, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists" - an
ultimatum that could redefine America's friends and foes for years to come. And in warning of a protracted struggle, Bush
put a generation of young people on notice that their lives could be altered, even ended, by war.
U.S. patriotism runs high now, and support from most of the world is strong. But the carnage of war over time can lead to
a waning commitment, dissension within the ranks and a splintering of alliances, especially when the enemy is not so readily
identifiable.
"The power of destruction has passed from the hands of the governments to the hands of the small units that are invisible,
powerful, hard to find, hard to destroy and absolutely terrifying,"said Browne, contending that the current patriotic fervor
will "not last as long as it would if we had an enemy with a face and a nationality."
The attacks rallied the nation, but a long war will require sacrifices - from loss of life to lines at gas stations - that
could divide the nation. "Here in Portland, more than 1,000 showed up the other day to protest the war talk of the present
administration,"Neal said. "It's very likely to happen more between those who want to take a hawkish approach and those who
want to take a dovish approach."
Meanwhile, the nation's political and budgetary priorities have shifted from domestic commitments such as prescription-drug
coverage to the requirements of going to battle overseas. And the attacks have spurred a new emphasis on homeland defense.
"There is a real examination of what we need to do to prevent future terrorist acts, knowing that the next time terrorists
strike, it may not be with an airplane but with a bomb in a car or a truck, or with deadly chemicals," said Sen. Mike DeWine,
an Ohio Republican and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I don't know how long this is going to take, but it's
going to take a long time."
An uneasy feeling
Outside a Westerville day-care center last week, Lisa Howard discussed how the attacks have left her with a gnawing anxiety.
"I don't feel secure now because there is a constant worry in the back of my head that something's going to happen,"said Howard,
24.
Looking at her children, ages 4 and 6, she added, "I just always want them to be close to me now."
Sitting in Nationwide Arena on Tuesday for the Blue Jackets preseason hockey game against Nashville, Worthington resident
Carol Barker acknowledged a tinge of trepidation about being in a venue with thousands of others, wondering whether such places
might become targets.
"It was in the back of my mind, but then all of this has never left my mind," said Barker, 35, a registered nurse. "Every
time I hear an airplane, I get a knot in my stomach."
As he prepared last week for a plane ride to Los Angeles for yesterday's UCLA game, Ohio State athletics director Andy Geiger
confessed that the trip would give him pause.
"I will think different thoughts about getting on this flight than I have any other," he said.
Wherever we go now, it seems, Americans can't escape the apprehension, the sense of uneasiness.
"None of us are the same. It's that simple. None of us are the same," said Daniel Friedman, director of the school of architecture
and design at the University of Cincinnati.
Such fears already have prompted changes that affect our daily routines.
At airports, passengers must arrive two to three hours ahead of flight times, more stringent security checks have been instituted
and concourse accessibility has been restricted.
Flying might become safer as a result of new security measures, but the fear sown by terrorists will linger, causing fewer
passengers, fewer domestic and overseas flights and more stops in out-of-the-way hubs, said Bill Oliver, vice president of
The Boyd Group, an aviation consulting firm in Evergreen, Colo.
"Clearly, we think there are a group of passengers who will not fly again,"said Oliver, predicting that retirees and those
within four hours of destinations will drive or take a bus.
The inconveniences could mean less business travel, increased teleconferencing and more work-at-home arrangements - exacerbating
the financial pain being felt by the travel and convention industries.
Oliver thinks the Federal Aviation Administration is acting in knee-jerk fashion by ordering security requirements that ultimately
might have little effect on safety but could permanently damage the airline industry.
"This is not what we're about," Oliver said. "We love our freedom, we love to travel, and we're used to moving about at will.
Anything we do to hinder that is letting the terrorist win."
Increased precautions
A desire not to give in to terrorism is precisely what motivated Mary Peterson and her husband to proceed with a vacation
to Maine for their 10th wedding anniversary.
Days earlier, several of the hijackers had entered the United States by flying into Portland, the Westerville couple's destination.
"I wondered if we were doing the right thing because we have two children," said Mrs. Peterson, 40, a lawyer. "But I felt
very strongly that the terrorists weren't going to win. The trip was planned since February, and I thought, 'Damn it, if the
airlines are flying, we're going.'"
The President has encouraged a return to daily routines as a way of showing the world that America cannot be cowed by terrorism.
But even as Bush spoke the words, changes were being advocated or implemented in towns and cities across the country.
Many noticeable modifications involve professional and college sports.
At last week's Blue Jackets game, handbags were checked.
And when the Buckeye football team plays at home again, the night of Oct. 6 against Northwestern, fans will be prohibited
from bringing backpacks, fanny packs and bags larger than a small purse into Ohio Stadium, Geiger said. All objects and bags
might be subject to inspection before entry.
For years, Geiger said, OSU had tried to persuade the FAA to prohibit banner-towing planes from flying over Ohio Stadium for
safety reasons. On Friday, the government banned all aircraft from flying within 3 miles of major professional and college
sporting events and any other large open-air gathering.
Those attending Major League Baseball games are being subjected to body searches, and NFL fans attending games today were
urged to arrive early because of delays expected from stringent security checks at entry points.
Tightened security
In our homes and workplaces, too, changes are inevitable.
Vito Petitti, who trains military and law-enforcement personnel in counterterrorist tactics and operates a security consulting
firm based in San Diego, expects an increase in home- and business-security devices.
The FBI has sent an email to water departments nationwide, warning them to take extra precautions against saboteurs, said
Jeff Hubbard, an administrator for the Columbus Division of Water.
Petitti cautioned, however, that governments should not rush to spend resources, already stretched, to protect utilities and
buildings that are unlikely terrorist targets.
Terrorists, he said, choose targets based on their symbolic value - "things the whole world can identify with."
Thus, a Columbus power plant, for instance, isn't likely to be targeted.
"Terrorists want to see towers fall and lots of lives lost," Petitti said.
In the field of architecture, safety has always been the top concern, said the University of Cincinnati's Friedman, but the
attacks probably will lead to heightened security measures in new buildings.
The violence, he said, doesn't necessarily portend the end to new skyscrapers.
"An airplane struck a very low building, one of the most secure buildings in the world," Friedman said, referring to the Pentagon.
"If you ask whether we can continue to build very tall buildings, then you must ask whether we're going to start building
buildings underground. I don't think we're going to retreat from tall buildings."
Yet he acknowledged that developers might avoid building skyscrapers if people's concerns about going into them persist.
The attacks and the resulting fears already are ushering forth increased government surveillance powers, and they could lead
to national identification cards for all citizens, Petitti said.
Central Ohioans interviewed by The Dispatch generally seemed resigned to the prospect of sacrificing some civil liberties
in the name of enhanced security.
"We likely will settle for less privacy so the government has sufficient information about who's who and who's doing what,"
said Jim Underwood, owner of a Columbus firm that conducts strategic research for government and business.
"We will accept luggage and package inspections, long lines and delayed flights as a routine part of travel, and we will be
generally more willing than before to allow Big Brother to look over our shoulder."
Lasting suspicions
American democracy, too, will suffer, said Mark R. Weaver, a former Ohio deputy attorney general and an expert on open government.
"In the future, the fear of terrorism will keep government leaders further from the people," Weaver said.
"Daunting security measures in government buildings will further deter citizens from seeking out the people who represent
them. This may add to the apathy about government that America has seen over the last several years."
United in crisis now, Americans could become more withdrawn and xenophobic, perhaps leading to stricter immigration policies
and certainly longer waits at entry checkpoints.
The terrorist attacks "are going to lead to increased suspicion and distrust," said Neal of Portland State University. "We're
going to distrust outsiders and immigrants. People's stereotypes and racist attitudes will be brought out into the open."
A Gallup Poll taken the weekend after the attacks showed that 58 percent of the respondents favored requiring Arabs, including
those who are American citizens, to undergo greater scrutiny before boarding airplanes; 49 percent favored requiring them
to carry a special identification card.
Bowling Green's Browne said fear might cause us to racially profile Arabs, even though "We're going to be ashamed of it."
The media, Browne predicted, will do their part to deter prejudice by portraying Arabs in positive roles. Still, he worries
about a return to the Rambo days.
"There is going to be a spate of movies and TV programs showing that not all Arabs are bad, and that will help tone down the
hatred and fear," Browne said. "Then (Hollywood) will discover there's not much money in that, and we'll go back the other
way."
With terrorist leaders targeting Americans everywhere, children might stay closer to home when they grow up.
"I've always wanted my children to go to a big-name college like Harvard, but right now Ohio State is just fine," said Janice
Carter, 30, a Columbus-area hairstylist and mother of five. "I want them close to me."
Underwood foresees more citizens moving to suburban and rural areas that are less likely to be targeted.
As the United States prepares for war, Americans cannot shake the fear that terrorists could strike again-anytime, anyplace.
Such anxiety could poison how we regard not only foreigners but also fellow citizens.
Especially in urban areas, Neal said, we'll "become more suspicious of the neighbor next door, because in terrorism you really
don't know who's doing it."
Said Carter: "We don't know whether to embrace each other or be scared of each other."
God only knows what's to become of our world.
Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch / Joe Hallett, Dispatch Politics Editor
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