Organizers hope programs spark 9-11 dialogue / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, September 6, 2006

September 6, 2006

Next week Lawrencians, along with other Americans, will take time to remember and reflect on the terrorist attacks five years ago on Sept. 11, 2001.

"I know there are still people out there who want to talk about it," said Arla Jones, vice president of the Lawrence-Douglas County League of Women Voters. "I think it is important to remember."

The league has joined with Lawrence Public Library, some Kansas University students and 100 Good Women to conduct a series of programs about 9-11. The programs were organized in conjunction with the September Project, a nationwide grass-roots effort to get people together to talk about 9-11 issues.

The library, 707 Vt., begins its series of programs at 7 p.m. Monday, with a discussion on surveillance and security issues that have come up since 9-11. The talk will be led by KU law professor Mike Hoeflich.

Other free programs scheduled at the library:

¢ 7 p.m. Tuesday: A panel of religious leaders will discuss understanding differences and building interfaith relationships.

¢ 7 p.m. Sept. 13: Five international students at KU will talk about diverse views on the terrorist attacks and share their experiences as citizens of their respective countries. It is co-sponsored by Womanspirit Connection.

¢ 2:30 p.m. Sept. 17: Kansas Court of Appeals Judge G. Joseph Pierron will lead the group in a re-creation of actual legal cases with the audience playing roles of litigants, lawyers and judges. The session is sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council, Kansas Judiciary and Kansas Bar Assn.

"We hope that people will turn out and that they find something useful and interesting," Jones said.

KU also will participate in 9-11 commemorations. Daniel Libeskind, an architect who worked on the design of the 9-11 memorial in New York City, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Kansas Union's Woodruff Auditorium.

Some of his work, along with that of KU students, is on display in the gallery on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union. The display will remain until Sept. 29.

A display of 9-11 photographs taken by The Associated Press is on display through Tuesday at KU's Dole Institute of Politics. The exhibit is free.

At 7 p.m. Monday, Liberty Hall will show the movie "Loose Change," a documentary highlighting various questions about 9-11.

Jones, a librarian at Lawrence High School, has found an interest in 9-11 among the students there, she said.

"There are students who remember that day vividly," she said. "It's not unlike the generation that remembers when (President) Kennedy was shot."