9/11 Mental Scars Could Stay With Kids

— -- N.Y. Kids May Carry 9/11 Mental Scars as Adults

Y O K O H A M A, Japan, Aug. 26 —

Thousands of children living in NewYork are struggling with mental problems related to Sept. 11that in many cases will last into adulthood, according topsychiatrists who studied the impact of the attacks.

As the anniversary of the attacks that killed 3,000 peopleapproaches, the study suggests the mental health of a wholegeneration of young New Yorkers has been damaged, with problemslike alcohol abuse and depression showing significant rises.

"For thousands of children this is an image, an experiencethat they carry with them for life ... it's a wholegeneration," said Christina Hoven, one of the psychiatrists whoconducted the study on around 8,300 New York children agedbetween nine and 18.

The children who took part in the study were assessedaround six months after the attacks and either lost a relativein the World Trade Center or had one who escaped.

Hoven said the surprising aspect of the results was thatthe eight forms of mental illness, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse, were just asprevalent in children who were nowhere near Ground Zero as inthose who had witnessed the attacks firsthand.

"All of the eight disorders were quite elevated from whatcould be expected in the general population," Hoven said.

"We took the entire city and what was surprising was thatrates around the city were quite similar so the important thingwas not proximity to the disaster but age, with youngerchildren being more vulnerable." Haven and her colleagues atColumbia University are in Japan for the World PsychiatryCongress where they will present the results of their study onTuesday.

She said many of the symptoms mirrored mental problems moreoften seen in war zones, which suggested that many of NewYork's 1.2 million children may be unaware of the mental scarsthey are carrying until later in life.

Another traumatic event, such as a car crash, couldsuddenly trigger a mental reaction in adulthood.

"We're talking about a very large population at risk," shesaid. "We know enough about the effects of the ravages of war.They keep it a secret, they don't tell their children what theyexperienced. It's something you don't even want to repeat, butthen suddenly there's a car accident and you relive it."

While the children had shown a similar reaction to theirpeers in war-torn countries, the study also found that NewYork's unique ethnic mix and its transport system made forimportant differences.

Many children of immigrants who had experienced traumaabroad are more vulnerable to Sept. 11-related problems due topast experience.

The fact that so many children travel a long distance toschool had also resulted in a sharp increase in agoraphobia, afear of open spaces, that is not normally associated withdisasters.

Hoven said that on average, around three to five percent ofchildren could be expected to suffer from the complaint, butthe study had found levels at about 15 percent.

"In New York city, 750,000 children a day travel to school... agoraphobia makes a lot of sense because of the exposure ofhaving to ride in these situations," she said.

— Reuters

Federal Appeals Court Agrees to Public Hearing

D E T R O I T, Aug. 26 —

A federal appeals court today upheld a lowercourt ruling that a deportation hearing must be open to the publicfor a man accused of running a charity that funneled money toterrorists.

Rabih Haddad of Ann Arbor has been detained since his Dec. 14arrest on a visa violation. That same day, the Treasury Departmentfroze the bank accounts of his Global Relief Foundation and agentsraided its office in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview.

Federal officials sought a closed deportation hearing for Haddadon national security grounds, arguing that opening the session tothe public and news media would help terrorists understand thegovernment's strategy.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals inCincinnati was unanimous in rejecting the government's appealtoday.

"A government operating in the shadow of secrecy stands incomplete opposition to the society envisioned by the framers of ourConstitution," it said.

The government appeal had been opposed by lawyers for theAmerican Civil Liberties Union, several newspapers and Rep. JohnConyers, D-Mich.

"Government incompetence flourishes in secrecy," HerschelFink, a lawyer for the newspapers, told the appeals panel earlierthis month. "We take no position on whether Haddad should bedeported. Our concern is getting information and giving it to thepublic."

Haddad has sought political asylum in the United States, sayinghe feared he would be persecuted if he returned to Lebanon.

— The Associated Press

Five-Day Terror Teaching Plan

P R O V I D E N C E, R.I., Aug. 26 —

The Sept. 11 attacks have spawned a newcurriculum for teachers nationwide.

The five-day teaching plan, "Responding to Terrorism:Challenges for Democracy," will be used this fall by about 1,300teachers, including at least 28 in Rhode Island.

The course work was created in part by the faculty at BrownUniversity's Watson Institute for International Studies, who wantedto incorporate the devastating strike on U.S. soil into shortteaching units for secondary-school teachers.

"We said, 'We can't do this,"' Susan Graseck, director of theChoices program, told the Providence Sunday Journal. "Then wesaid, 'We must do this.' People were lining up to give blood — wedecided to give curriculum."

A month after the terrorist attacks, scholars at the WatsonInstitute and the Choices staff began developing a series of policyproposals that high-school students could explore.

The Watson Institute's Choices curriculum challenges students toconsider larger policy issues with terrorism, such as how torespond to attacks and how to protect against future acts.

To prepare students for a debate, the unit provides backgroundreading on the history of terrorism, from the French Revolution tothe present. It also examines the role of political Islam in theMiddle East.

The unit explores why Americans have been targeted, what thepossible threats are, and what issues complicate the United States'response.

What sets the program apart from many others is that it thrustsstudents into history by having them take the role of policymakers.Classes are divided into groups, and each student defends a policydecision.

"One of the biggest challenges is when students ask, 'Why do weneed to study history?"' said Dana Tatlock, a history teacher atWheeler, a private school in Providence. "With this curriculum,kids see that current decisions have a lot to do with what happenedin the past."

— The Associated Press

Giuliani: We Must Plant the Seeds of Democracy

C O L O R A D O S P R I N G S, Colo., Aug. 26 —

Former New York City Mayor RudolphGuiliani touted stronger military defenses in the short-term anddemocracy in the long-run Sunday as assurances for a peaceful andsafe world.

Guiliani spoke on Sunday to an audience of more than 700 at ascholarship fund-raiser for the University of Colorado at ColoradoSprings. The $250-a-plate dinner was held at The BroadmoorInternational Center.

"If we want real peace, we have to do everything we can toplant the seeds of democracy," Guiliani said.

The former mayor, who led a defiant city as it rose from theashes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, called them the worst sortof wake-up call but added that Americans learned from the tragedy,according to Monday's Colorado Springs Gazette.

"The minute you face reality, you're safer," he said. "Thefirst thing that's happened is we've gotten a sense of the world welive in."

Disdaining a lectern in favor of pacing on stage, Guiliani said,"If Sept. 11 serves one purpose, it's that we shouldn't becomplacent."

Guiliani's speaking fee was confidential.

Since leaving office in January because of term limits, he hasbeen in high demand on the lecture circuit and has founded aconsulting firm that provides strategic, financial and investmenthelp to businesses.

It has been estimated Giuliani earns as much as $100,000 perspeech.

During Sunday's speech, he likened the 1990s to the 1930s,saying that America turned inward after foreign policy success anddemilitarization.

To help prevent attacks, America needs to strengthen itsintelligence-gathering and domestic defenses against biologicalweapons and nerve gas, he said.

Globally, the spread of freedom and democracy is the path tolong-term security, he said.

Proceeds from the evening, sponsored by the University ofColorado Foundation, will help pay for scholarships at theUniversity of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Guiliani received a standing ovation when he was introduced asthe "Kid from Brooklyn." He also took part in question-and-answersessions before and after the speech with about 40 CU-ColoradoSprings students.

He told students that he believed Ground Zero, where the twintowers of the World Trade Center collapsed, should be a historicsite that isn't covered over with office buildings.

— The Associated Press