~ open letter to georgia tech faculty and alumni:

September 19 World Trade Center forum in poor taste.

  As a Georgia Tech alumnus and a New Yorker, I feel compelled to express my feelings concerning your ‘forum on the World Trade Center’, to be held on September 19. While I agree that the Twin Towers are magnificent creations, definitely worthy of formal and structural celebration and study, I question the appropriateness of your timing. At this very moment, there remains the possibility that there are people still trapped in the rubble. There exists the uncertainty of loved ones as to the fate of their friends and family members who worked in or near the center. Dust still fills the eyes of every one of us who walk through the streets of New York, gaping at the holes in the sky, earth, and our city. While the towers’ power and legacy should not be forgotten or ignored in the wake of the tragedy on September 11, as their past images and studies may still provide us solace and learning, perhaps it is more suitable for a few moments of silence to be given before taking advantage of the developments concerning them. Otherwise, the forum may be seen as sensationalist and exploitive, rather than informative and respectful. I do agree that a forum on this masterpiece is warranted, but a move this quick seems to have the manipulative trappings of a daily talk show or scandal sheet, not the profound substance of academia.
Respectfully,

-a

public response: