Fall 2001 Page 4

 

 

Laboratory Under Siege

Kathleen Nolan

 
Where were you when the attack on the World Trade Center occurred? This is a question I have oft heard repeated over the last few weeks since September 11, 2001. I can tell you that I was in the middle of teaching an Anatomy and Physiology laboratory that had started at 8 A. M. The students were at the point where they were going to take body measurements (arm length vs. height), and we were going to graph the results in their lab manuals. It was the students’ first laboratory of the semester. At 9:20 A.M., all of us were still ignorant of the attacks. I went up one flight to obtain meter sticks from the lab supervisor. She came racing down the hall and apologized for being late, "There had been a bomb scare in the subway, but I am here now." One of our students said, "Take a look out the window---both towers of the World Trade Center have been crashed into by planes." St. Francis College is about a mile as the crow flies from that area of Manhattan. From our vantage point, we could clearly see the top two-thirds of the towers. They looked like two smoke stacks. We could see the hot flames inside and windows falling out of the buildings.

Kathleen Nolan seen here on the lakefront dinner cruise at ABLE 2001 (University of Chicago).


The tragedy touched many of us in personal ways. The chairman of biology was fearful for his wife's safety. She is a staff development teacher, and goes to different schools every day (she was safe). He resumed teaching his class, as did I, after a few phone calls. I thought that teaching and learning might have a calming effect. We took our measurements and were temporarily distracted from the view from the other room. Thoughts were swirling through my head such as, "Who ever allowed such tall buildings to be built? And, "I don’t really know what to do here---perhaps routine is best. The students shouldn’t really be robbed here of an education." I also instinctively knew that we would be there awhile, as I doubted the subways would be running.

At 11:00 A. M. it was all over---both the students' first laboratory period and the existence of the World Trade Towers. We looked out the window and saw a cloud of billowing gray smoke headed across the Harbor our way. Everyone was hanging out on the front steps. We were all pretty numb. I took out $300 from an ATM, and went to the hospital around the corner to try to give blood. It was very smoky out and my lungs hurt. Some people were wearing facemasks. The hospital turned us away; there had been so many people willing to donate already.

I eventually made it home that afternoon; some of the subways resumed running. My good deed that day was to help my 77-year-old neighbor negotiate the unfamiliar territory of Grand Central Station. She appeared on 42nd St. and Lexington Ave. at the same moment that I did when her bus went out of service.

The college canceled classes the next day and we tried to pick up the pieces on Thursday. I began with general bio lab on the microscope in the afternoon, which was pretty great. It was good to finally be distracted after being glued to the TV for 48 hours.

A few weeks and many memorial services later, we are trying to heal. St. Francis College lost two students and at least 20 relatives of students, faculty and staff. We’ve lost a few alumni, and the total count is not yet known. As we go to war and worry about anthrax vaccinations, I hope that we will be able to carry on our mission of laboratory education. I feel that our jobs are indeed very important for national security as we will need our future biologists, not only as resources for the health of the public, but for reasons that are yet undiscovered through research.

 

 

ã 2001 ABLE. All rights reserved.