Preparing for 9/11 in Amherst

 The Town of Amherst will mark the 9-11 anniversary in various ways today.

• The by now customary ringing of the Fire Station bell at the hour of the first plane's impact

• The official ceremony takes place downtown, on the Common:

-12:30 to 1255 – Assembly.
-12:55 to 1:00 – Remarks by Selectboard Chair.
-1:00 to 1:01 – National Moment of Remembrance.
-1:01 to 1:02 – Grace Church bells ring.
-1:03 to 1:15 – Remarks by Chiefs Whitehead UMASS/PD, Livingstone APD, Nelson AFD.
-1:15 to 1:20 – Ringing of Amherst Fire Dept bell followed by a prayer and a final bell ringing .
-1:25 – Piper plays Amazing Grace. -
1:30 – Dismissal.

Among the private or unofficial commemorations.

• Many local churches are marking the day in their regular services.

• In addition, there is the collective "Memory, Healing, and Hope: An Interfaith Gathering on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11/01":

"Processions of various faith communities -- including Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Quaker, Baha'i and Buddhist -- will begin throughout the day. People of all faith communities and no faith are invited to begin gathering on the Common at 4 p.m. when bells will toll around town. After processing solemnly around the Common, we will enter Grace Episcopal Church (on the Common) at 4:30. Those who are unable to participate in the processions are welcome to gather in the church before 4:30. The service will include the reading of names of some of the dead, the sharing of prayers and readings, and a litany of healing and hope. be an interfaith procession around the Common, to the ringing of church bells at 4:00, followed by an interfaith service.

• Grace Church is also hosting a community performance of the Mozart Requiem at 7:30 p.m.


• The Remember 9/11 Committee, led by Larry Kelley and Kevin Joy, have hung a large American flag on the Common. In front of it, from 9 to 12 p.m. will be two powerful vertically aimed searchlights, echoing one of the most striking early memorials to the twin towers. There will be an open microphone at which residents may share recollections and feelings.

* * *

[updated: the original post should have contained the list of local events, from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10 Sept.:]

Sunday AMHERST

· Memorial Service, 8:30 a.m., Amherst College, Memorial Hill. The gathering will feature music from the Amherst Choral Society and carillon bells, silence and words of reflection from President Carolyn A. Martin and Paul Sorrentino, director of religious life at Amherst College.

· "From Towers and Tragedy to the Birth of a Book," 1 p.m., Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 West Bay Road, Amherst. Author Mordicai Gerstein tells the story behind his book "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers"

· 9/11 Commemoration, 4 p.m., Amherst town common on South Pleasant Street. An interfaith gathering.

· Memory, Healing and Hope, Interfaith Gathering, 4:30 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst. Religious groups will hold the service, which is to include a reading of names, religious texts and prayers and a litany.

· Community Sing of Mozart Requiem in Commemoration of 9/11, 7:30 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. All are welcome to listen.

· Amherst Remembers 9/11, 9 p.m., Amherst town common on South Pleasant Street. Spotlights representing the Twin Towers will shine into the air until midnight, a large American flag will serve as the backdrop and a Twin Towers float from the first Independence Day parade following 9/11 will be on display.

BELCHERTOWN

· Candlelight Vigil, 5-8:30 p.m., Belchertown town common, North Main Street. The 9/11 memorial vigil is being held by the Belchertown Friends of First Responders.

EASTHAMPTON

· Remembrance Ceremony, 10 a.m., outside the Easthampton Public Safety Complex, Payson Avenue. The public event will be led by the Easthampton Fire and Police departments.

GRANBY

· Sept. 11 Memorial Service, 2 p.m., Granby town common. Members of the Fire and Police departments will be attending the special memorial service led by the Church of Christ Congregational Church of Granby.

HATFIELD

· Service of Remembrance, 10 a.m., Hatfield Congregational Church, 41 Main St. A service to honor all those who were affected by 9/11.

HADLEY

· Special 9/11 Mass, 10:30 a.m., Most Holy Redeemer Church, 120 Russell St., Hadley. Emergency responders are invited to attend the Mass, where Rev. Shaun O'Connor will offer a special 9/11 anniversary blessing.

LEVERETT

· Memorial Service of Appreciation, 7 p.m., North Leverett Baptist Church, 70 North Leverett Road. A service to remember those that died on Sept. 11 and to appreciate those who currently serve their country and communities. Keith Rivers, a retired New York City police officer, will speak about what it was like to witness the events of 9/11.

NORTHAMPTON

· Northampton's Day of Remembrance, 9:50 a.m., Northampton Fire Department, Carlon Drive. The city will commemorate the event with a moment of silence, a prayer by Chaplain Bruce Arbour and recitation of The Firefighters' Prayer.

· Movie Screening, 2 and 4 p.m., Wright Hall, Smith College, Northampton. The Media Education Foundation will screen two films, "Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of American Empire" at 2 p.m. and "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning us to Death" at 4 p.m. There will be a Q&A session with foundation Executive Director Sut Jhally and Trinity College professor of international studies Vijay Prashad following the screenings.

· Remembrance and Hope, Interfaith Community Service, 4 p.m., Smith College, Helen Hills Chapel, Northampton. The faith communities of greater Northampton will mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with a service of music, poetry, prayer and song.

SOUTH HADLEY

· South Hadley 9/11 Anniversary Ceremony, 1 p.m., South Hadley town common, on the corner of Routes 47 and 116. The ceremony will be led by the town's two fire districts and will include speeches and singing. Various public safety personnel and city officials will participate.

· Multifaith Service, 3 p.m., starts at South Hadley town common and continues in Abbey Memorial Chapel on the Mount Holyoke College campus. A reception will follow.

SUNDERLAND

· Service of Remembrance, 10 a.m., First Congregational Church, Sunderland. At 10:15 a.m., the special remembrance service will conclude and members of the town's police and fire departments wil attend a commemoration in Greenfield. The regular worship service will then begin.

WILLIAMSBURG

· Remembrance Service, 8:45 a.m., Williamsburg Fire Station, North Main St. Rev. Worth Noyes will speak at the event and firefighters will ring a fire engine bell in memory of those who perished on 9/11.

Monday

AMHERST

· Ringing of the Bells. The UMass campus will hear the ringing of the bells in the Old Chapel at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:45 a.m., and 10:10 a.m., marking the times of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the crash of the airliner in Pennsylvania on that day.

· "9/11 Plus Ten: Islam, the Middle East, and U.S. Foreign Policy," 7:30 p.m., Hampshire College, Franklin Patterson Hall. Free faculty panel chaired by professor Michael Klare.

NORTHAMPTON

· "9/11 Reflections: Ten Years Later," 4:30 p.m., Smith College, Nielson Library Browsing Room, Northampton. The Global Studies Center will host the panel discussion to offer observations and impacts of Sept. 11.

Friday-Sunday and beyond

AMHERST

· The Amherst community is invited to express their sentiments about 9/11 using markers provided in Keefe Campus Center at Amherst College.

· "9/11: How We are Different 10 Years Later," Tuesday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m., Amherst College, Converse Hall. A panel featuring professors Frank Couvares, Lawrence Douglas and Pat O'Hara, moderated by Gregory Call, dean of the faculty.

NORTHAMPTON

· "Remembering 9/11," Smith College campus exhibition runs through Dec. 22 in the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Neilson Library. The exhibit features a dozen books and photographs created by 16 artists and writers.

Earthquake and Hurricane Clean-up

The communities of the northeast are still cleaning up after the flooding that hit parts north and west of here particularly hard. This afternoon, when I was driving to and from Westfield via I-91 and I-90 on the way to the annual "Pyrapalooza" (more on that later), I still saw lighted highway warnings of detours for travelers attempting to head west to destinations such as Shelburne Falls and Savoy. And I spoke with acquaintances who live in New York just west of the Massachusetts border. Both of them work in the public sector and have been involved in clean-up efforts. They told of devastated small-torn centers, with whole rows of buildings either washed away or flooded so badly as to require virtually complete reconstruction if not demolition. The husband had just come off a string of twelve-hour shifts and was exhausted.

Actually, though, my topic today is more figurative than literal.

When the twin disasters struck within days of each other, I was curious to see how many idiotic statements about divine wrath, just punishment, and the like, would crop up.

The answer seems to be: surprisingly few. After all, the earthquake hit hardest in the Washington, DC, area, and the hurricane was particularly destructive in the Northeast. Could it be so hard to see God's hand in the devastation of the heartland of "big government" and the proverbial liberal (Volvo-driving, quiche-eating, etc.) establishment?

To be sure, Michele Bachmann got some grief for remarks she made about two such natural upheavals in quick succession being a wake-up call about out-of-control government spending, but in fairness, she was making a clumsy attempt at humor. She says enough nutty things (especially about American history: 1, 2), that it would be uncharitable as well as unjustified to go after her for this one. It is a "target-rich environment," as they say in the Army.

By contrast, Pat Robertson did not disappoint:

"Ladies and gentlemen I don't want to get weird on this so please take it for what it's worth," Robertson said.

"But it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America's power, it has been the symbol of our great nation, we look at that monument and say this is one nation under God," he continued.

"Now there's a crack in it, there's a crack in it and it's closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention," he said.

"It seems to me symbolic," Robinson said. "When Jesus was crucified and when he died the curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom and there was a tear and it was extremely symbolic. Is this symbolic? You judge."

Now, the comparison with the Crucifixion seems forced and (although I am perhaps not fully qualified to judge) almost blasphemous. Still, at least the DC damage is verified. According to the Gospels, the Crucifixion was accompanied, as well, by an earthquake and an eclipse. The great historian Edward Gibbon raised some questions about all this in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:

But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world, to those evidences which were represented by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and of their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, daemons were expelled, and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended for the benefit of the church. But the sages of Greece and Rome turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary occupations of life and study, appeared unconscious of any alterations in the moral or physical government of the world. Under the reign of Tiberius, the whole earth, or at least a celebrated province of the Roman empire, was involved in a preternatural darkness of three hours. Even this miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice in an age of science and history. It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate effects, or received the earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena of Nature, earthquakes, meteors comets, and eclipses, which his indefatigable curiosity could collect. Both the one and the other have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye has been witness since the creation of the globe. A distinct chapter of Pliny is designed for eclipses of an extraordinary nature and unusual duration; but he contents himself with describing the singular defect of light which followed the murder of Caesar, when, during the greatest part of a year, the orb of the sun appeared pale and without splendor. The season of obscurity, which cannot surely be compared with the preternatural darkness of the Passion, had been already celebrated by most of the poets and historians of that memorable age. 

Abridged translation into modern idiom:

Dude! So, there were all these great scientists back then, and none of them, like, noticed any of this?! What's up with that? Just sayin'.

The report went on to conclude that it was unclear why Robertson would want God to damage the National Cathedral, as well. Actually, it's perfectly clear. That ecclesiastical edifice belongs to the Episcopal Church: Aside from the fact that he would have no natural sympathy for a mainline church with liberal proclivities, he was outraged in 2006 at at the appointment of a Presiding Bishop who denied that Jesus was the only path to God (and favored ordination of gays and acceptance of same-sex marriage). Pinnacles were bound to fall off, though why it took five years for the wrath of God to build to this stage, and why it was not more ferocious, well, that may be less than evident. As we say, He works in mysterious ways.


From the vaults:
For the record or the hell of it, here are the posts that I wrote in response to superstitious and nasty verdicts on the Haitian earthquake.

• On the Earthquake (13 Jan. 2010)
• Who's Being Diabolical Here? Pat Robertson Blames Earthquake on Revolutionary Haiti's Pact With the Devil (13 Jan. 2010)
• Haiti Update (8 Feb. 2010)
• Chilean Earthquake: The Devil's in the Details, or: Kleist vs. Robertson (resist [P]at answers) (2 March 2010)

Amherst College, according to Twit Cleaner

Amherst College, according to the analysis of Twit Cleaner:

(Hey, I didn't write this. Just quoting.)

Labor Day 2011: What to Celebrate?

Things may not be quite as grim as in that satirical video that I posted a while back, but Labor Day today does a bit more somber even than in recent years: a dismal jobs report for the past month (1, 2), Congress and White House deadlocked over economic and fiscal policy, a petulant and indecisive President who seems unable to act and able only to infuriate supporters and foes in equal measure.

The New York Times editorial concluded,

This is not a history that crosses the minds of most Americans during a three-day weekend that feels like the border between summer and fall. (On Labor Day, we try our best to remain unaware that stores have already stocked up for Halloween.)

But change the emphasis from labor to jobs and you come upon a subject that is very much on the minds of Americans, and not merely among the 14 million officially unemployed people in this country, a number equivalent to the population of Illinois, Wyoming and Vermont.

Perhaps Labor Day should be a day to consider the struggles of so many Americans eager to work but unable to find jobs. Perhaps it should be a day for parades of the unemployed, to remind us of the dignity of work and the indignity of being out of it.

Among other things, this strong statement stands in the most striking contrast to the banal and platitudinous observations that this same publication offered up only a year ago at this time.

Maybe something has started to sink in. In "The Limping Middle Class," economist and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has some analysis and striking graphics, illustrating the difference between "The Great Prosperity: 1947-79" and "The Great Regression: 1980-Now" (hint: those dates aren't coincidental).

Well, maybe at least the unemployed will have time to read.

Some further Labor Day resources:

• Darlene Superville, "Obama Labor Day Speech: President Says Congress Must Pass Jobs Plan (video)" Huffington Post, 5 Sept.
• Sam Hananel, "Labor Unions Adjust to New Reality Under Obama," Huffington Post, 5 Sept.

• The Nation has compiled a list of "Top 10 Labor Day Songs" (with audio and video)
• The Library of Congress, which last year focused on the history of the holiday, this year offers a guide to resources on labor and labor history.
• In "Sacrificing Their Lives to Work," The New York Review of Books calls attention to the deaths of 72  migrant workers murdered by drug dealers while trying to reach the US last year. (Further information at 72migrantes.com)
• Blogger and fellow Tweep Barbara Sarudy (@History_Art) has a feature on "Women and Labor Day." History magazine (@HistoryMag) even picked up and tweeted her "Labor Day Photos of 19th-Century African American Women Working."
• The Jewish Museum tweeted, "Here's to all the social and economic achievements of American workers!" along with an untitled Ben Shahn photo of workers in a field, c. 1935.
• The Newseum asks, "What was the worst job you ever had?"



Previous posts from this site:

• from 2010: "What's Left? Squeezing the Workers Out of Labor Day"
• from 2010: "Labor Day Postscript"
• from 2009:  "Labor Day . . . and who was talking about the Labor Movement?"

The Hurricane Track Through the Northeast

Amherst is fortunate in having not only an outstanding emergency response team, but also an outstanding IT department, led by Director Kris Pacunas, who, together with GIS Administrator Mike Olkin, has made it possible to put the latest technologies to use in the service of planning as well as communication and data management. Our GIS (Geographic Information Systems) are particularly robust, and offer residents information not only on properties and zoning, but even street trees, sewers, and cemeteries.

The Valley is also home to a lively and informal Valley GIS network, whose members, drawn from government, academe, and other areas, gather together outside of work to share tips on technology and data sets.  They were therefore on top of the evolving earthquake hurricane reports and helped to circulate information in the community.

Here is a fine representation of of the track of Hurricane Irene and its precipitation, prepared by Andy Anderson of Amherst College.

Here, from the US Geological Survey, is further information on the hurricane, as well as the August earthquake.

Resources:

• The US Geological Survey offers this handy overview of what GIS does and how it works
• a recent video explains the role of the military in developing GIS

Student Return updates

I met with my new first-year advisees yesterday, had a great class.

In the meantime, with every passing day, Amherst is assuming its school-year character.  Driving past a student rental yesterday evening, I saw my first big lawn party with a sign informing drivers, "You honk, we drink."

Of course, as one of my Tweeps recently remarked, "if they need a reason to drink (honk) they just aren't in the big leagues ;-) " I replied that it was probably just that they were not very athletic and considered this a form or sport.

In the meantime, inspired by the satirical advice proffered to new Boston-area students, I am thinking of collecting my own advice for the new Five-College arrivals.

First admonition:

Be sure to pronounce the "h" in Amherst very clearly, so that people will not think you are an ignorant outsider.

Your suggestions?

Historical Anniversaries: Muammar Gadhafi Takes Power

As the various this-day-in-history sites remind us, today is the anniversary of the day, 42 years ago, when Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (or Qaddafi, as we used to spell it, and Gadhafi, as we are often now spelling it) overthrew King Idris of Libya.

I just have one thing to say:  So, how's that evil dictator thing working out for you these days??

Student Return Redux 3: Rejected!

To complement the recent posts on the annual return of the students from their summer migrations (1, 2, 3):

As the new college year begins around the country, I hope that students and their parents are happy with the choices they have made. Some students of course met with rejection from some of the institutions to which they applied, and that's never pleasant. Still, the modern rejection letter is an overflowing cup of kindness compared with the bitter medicine they spooned out in the old days.

Take a look at this earlier post containing a 19th-century rejection letter, whose terse message could nowadays be translated as:

"Dude! Shape up, and call us when you're serious and have got your act together!"

Student Return Redux 2: The Young and the Restless

To complement the recent posts on the annual return of the students from their summer migrations (1, 2):

Think students in Amherst are too wild? Think they have too much power over both town and gown?

Think again.

And ever wonder where that "town-gown" phrase came from in the first place?

Check out this earlier post on the origins of the university and the character of student life in the Middle Ages.

Student Return Redux Resource 1: The Young and the Rested

In my previous post, I alluded to the anti-student sentiment that occasionally crops up here among some of our residents. Like it or not, we're a young town.

Thanks to the relatively small size of the permanent population and the large size of the student population, Amherst happens to be the town with the lowest median age in the Commonwealth (21), whereas Alford is the oldest (60.5). The median age in Massachusetts as as whole is 38.5.

Check out this earlier post, which features text and video from a Boston Globe piece on the topic. Choice phrases: "a town of bachelors and bachelorettes," and "a lot of hipsters going around."