The United States is in a state of national tragedy today after the attacks on the World Trade Towers and on the Pentagon. This morning, Texas Tech professors discussed the tragedy, the actions the government should take and the grief the nation is facing. David Williams, an associate professor of communications studies at Tech is an expert in crisis management. "The first thing they need to do is get President Bush back on TV as soon as possible," he said. "The nation needs reassurance from the president. They need that reassuring tone and presence that can only come from the president at a time like this. It's so far beyond what they (the government) could have planned for. They are stuck in a reactive position. The only thing the government can do immediately is to respond with resources. All that can be done is to react to the situation. The locations that were hit will hit the American psyche. Everyone knows what the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers look like, so it will take a while to get over."Alan Korinek is the associate professor of employee assistance programs in the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and an expert in grief management."Obviously what's happened is very shocking," he said. "One of the things that contributes to grief reactions is that, often times, people don't know fully what has been lost. It shatters one's sense of security and creates a loss of its own that is pretty profound. We like to feel safe wherever we may be, in our homes or our workplaces. The whole nation is experiencing shock right now."
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