The Chart Online

Students share different views about attacks
By Mandi Steele

International Editor

Americans have their own feelings about what happened on Sept. 11, but do people from other countries feel differently about the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil?

Jacob Szczipanski, junior economics major, came to Missouri Southern this semester from Germany. He said he watched the 9-11 events on television, and somehow, what he saw hurt.

"It showed us that nobody can be secure in the world - even the United States," Szczipanski said.

The news of the attacks was the most important news around the world for weeks, he said. Szczipanski doesn't see the terrorist attacks as only a U.S. crisis.

"I see it as a problem for the whole world," he said. "Now it was the United States, maybe next year it's Germany. I don't know."

Germany has also seen its share of tragedies, which compare to the losses felt on 9-11, Szczipanski said, referring to World Wars I and II.

Anh-Dien Nguyen, freshman undecided major, is from Vietnam and first saw the news of the attacks while at school.

"I was shocked," he said. "'How could someone do such a thing?' That was the first thought that came through my mind."

Nguyen thinks the United States is justified in the way the country has responded to the attacks.

"No one should get away with [such] an awful thing," he said.

The effects of 9-11 have been widespread. International students agree security in their countries' airports has been strengthened. Yukiko Sano, senior political science major, said she noticed more security at the American Embassy in Japan when she went for her visa.

After 9-11, Sano said her family was afraid for her and didn't want her to come to the United States. Sano came anyway even though some of her friends, who had planned to come before the attacks, decided to stay in Japan.

Sano said the events on 9-11 were "scary" because she didn't want either the United States or Japan to be dragged into a war. She said Japan remembers the horrible experiences it suffered during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks. This is why she doesn t want a war to erupt. She doesn't think this country should be attacking Afghanistan, but that it should let the United Nations handle the situation.

Sano feels sorry about what happened in New York, but thinks the U.S. news media over dramatized the 9-11 events. It seemed like "propaganda," she said, because it was on every channel for such a long time.

Anthong Hoang, freshman pre-pharmaceutical major, is from Korea and said he also saw a change since 9-11.

"It makes you think that you can't trust people as much as we used to," he said.

Tuan Nguyen, freshman undecided major, said he felt sympathy for those who died in the twin towers and the airplanes.

"I was shocked when I first heard of it on the news," he said.

Tuan is also from Vietnam and doesn't believe the United States overreacted after the attacks.

"Justice had to be served," Tuan said.