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Our parents will forever be able to recall where they were when Kennedy was shot. Older siblings can tell you their exact location during the Challenger explosion.

And now, each and every American, young and old alike, will remember the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

The American psyche will be forever altered as the nation is forced to examine its fears, its vulnerabilities and, ultimately, its position as an impermeable safe haven in an uncertain world.

Putting yesterday's incident in perspective, Penn Psychology Professor Harvey Grill noted that more people were likely killed "in a few short minutes in New York than were killed in Vietnam."

"We're drawn to the enormity of it," he said. "It reveals a vulnerability about life in America. We're used to having our wars fought at a safe distance from where we live and this shows it can happen right in front of you."

As television sets across the nation -- and across campus -- were tuned to news stations, images of explosions and hysteria were brought to life. Many students huddled in masses to view the unraveling of yesterday's tragic events.

And as students gathered together in dorm rooms, lounges and common areas, they grappled with a renewed sense of vulnerability -- a sense that Grill believes will be followed by feelings of terror.

"My guess is there's a real palpable amount of fear.... It's going to trigger a big deal of paranoia and suspicion," he said.

Both of these feelings revealed themselves on campus yesterday morning as students waiting to purchase bulkpacks in the basement of Steinberg-Deitrich Hall were jolted out their mid-morning routine by CNN's initial announcement of the attacks.

Some stood transfixed by the breaking news, while others traded conspiracy theories.

"Everybody's going to feel vulnerable, [which is] going to lead to anger," Grill said.

Then the news sunk in, and many Penn students reached for virtually useless cell phones, finding the need to reach out to others, calling family and friends -- many of whom had no connection to the event.

According to Meeta Kumar, a Counseling and Psychological Services staff member, the inclination to exhaust all of one's contacts is part of a natural need for people to validate their own mixed emotions and to connect with someone else over an event that shakes their basic sense of security and order.

To facilitate this need for community, CAPS has created a hub in Houston Hall where students can gather, seek counseling -- in individual and group settings -- and contact others away from Penn by phone and e-mail.

"It's important for many people to have a sense of community in a time like this," Kumar said. "Banding together is almost necessary. Seeing and hearing other people's reactions to an event like this causes a sort of mass hysteria to spread through an area."

According to psychologist Francisco Gilwhite, events such as yesterday's attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon become lodged in society's collective memories.

And even though there is a tendency for people to forget the details of a particular story or event, the 24-hour news cycle and omnipresent media that permeated campus yesterday will provide society with constant reminders of exactly what has occurred.

Though in the long-term the event will certainly create a defining moment in everyone's personal history, initial reactions to hearing news of this magnitude and severity will inevitably vary. According to Kumar, an almost painful, visceral response is among the most common.

"It usually begins with shock," Kumar said. "As the unreality of the situation sets in people become numb; some people become hysterical and angry. It is a gut response that happens even if people are not affected by the news personally."

According to Penn Psychology Professor Jonathan Baron, there is nothing irrational about the hysteria, panic and sorrow American citizens have thus far exhibited.

"People are reacting in a perfectly rational way. They are shocked, sad, crying, feeling sorry for the victims, but also angry, and these are normal emotions," Baron observed of scenes on both Penn's campus and on the news.

According to Baron, the initial response of fear that reverberated through the country was triggered by the fact that yesterday's attack represented a nightmare come true. This, Baron said, creates new dangers in the short and long term -- and new fears.

"We've had this risk all along, and people have planned for it," Baron said. "But now there is perceived to be more risk, more to be afraid of."

With many thinking the risk of future attack has now increased, Baron believes that overreaction could possess the general public in coming months, or even years.

"I think people will overreact to the fear of this kind of risk in the same way that people buy earthquake insurance after the earthquake -- when they no longer need it. We will create a whole lot of regulations and laws that may in fact make things worse rather than better."

Grill noted that most Americans will look to point a finger of blame at outside entities, rather than searching for domestic inadequacies.

Instead of focusing on the relative insecurity of the nation's airports, most will likely focus their anger towards the Middle East and terrorists many suspect may have orchestrated yesterdays' attacks.

Grill further noted that yesterday's attacks revealed the "animosity" towards America felt by other parts of the world and alerted Americans that the nation is not immune to additional -- and more technically advanced -- attacks.

"There's a vulnerability Americans have been hiding behind that they can't hide behind anymore," he said. "We could be in store for much worse."

It's "unlikely we'll direct our anger at ourselves," he said. It's "easier [to direct it] at some amorphous, darker-[skinned] target."

Additionally, Grill emphasized the unbelievable nature of yesterday's attacks, noting that the magnitude will likely cause "some soul searching."

"It's very hard to fully process that these two structures... don't exist anymore," he said. "It's very hard to fathom."

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