Sacramento State professors offered their different perspectives on the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington at two forums in the University Union Nov 13.

The forums, titled “War, Peace and the Mass Media” and “Coping With Tragedy: Making Sense of September 11th,” offered advice for students and faculty on how to make sense of the tragedy and its after-effects.

The first forum, held at noon in the Hinde Auditorium, dealt with the media?s role during wartime as well as its effect on public opinion. Government Professor William Dorman led the discussion, with fellow Government Professor Buzz Fozouni and Communication Studies Professor Barbara O?Connor also sitting on the panel.

The panelists discussed the question, “What do Americans believe about such conflicts and how do they come to believe it?”

Dorman said the press serves two important functions during times of war.

“The first function is the Agenda Setting Function which directs our attention to some things and not to others, and the second function is to determine how stories are being represented, which is also called the Framing Effect,” Dorman said.

Dorman explained that before the tragedy, most Americans did not know what the Taliban or the Northern Alliance were. He said that not all policy options are treated equally by the press in wartimes, and that the public must learn how to evaluate sources of information in order to have a learned opinion on an issue.

Fozouni said the media plays a pivotal role in defining and measuring public opinion.

“Ultimately, it will be political factors, not military force, that will determine the outcome of the war,” Fozouni said.

A large crowd of students gathered for the event, and many said they learned a lot from what the professors had to say.

“It was insightful; I was given good advice to check out foreign media. European news is much different than American news coverage,” said senior Bruce Boehm.

Senior Nicole Ceccarelli said she is interested in learning more about the subject, so much so that she?d consider switching her minor.

“After the whole event, I think I would want to minor in Peace and Conflict Resolution,” Ceccarelli said.

A second forum examining ways of dealing with the tragedy followed the media lecture at 2 p.m., featuring Chaplain Ray Guinta and psychology instructor Micheal Duveneck.

Although fewer students attended the latter session, those in attendance heard a personal account of the tragedy. Both speakers had visited “Ground Zero,” the site of the collapsed World Trade Center buildings in New York, and spoke of their experiences.

Guinta explained that everyone has their own way of dealing with the tragedy. He said people on the West Coast are coping under the surface, but that the grieving process is a natural part of healing that all must go through.

“No one is not affected by the tragedy,” Guinta said. “Everyone has their own story.”

Guinta started an organization called “We Care” which goes around the country to sites where tragedies have occurred to help people cope with what they have endured. Guinta explained that the best thing for people to do is to face reality, and admit what they are feeling.

“Generosity shines through in a time like this,” Guinta said. “I was touched by the love of those who gave everything to help.”

Duveneck spoke of his experience at “Ground Zero” as a therapist. He discussed the pattern of physical responses that a person will go through when loss has been experienced.

Duveneck also explained some of the individual responses that people had in New York to the tragedy. He said he doesn?t know if we will ever make sense of what has happened, but that there is hope.

“We have countries that have relations with one another that never did before,” Duveneck said. “There is change when we are forced to change.”

The forum became very emotional toward the end as one woman in the audience who had worked on the 83rd floor of the World Trade Center began to explain what she had been going through.”This forum made me feel almost as if I had forgotten about the tragedy, but it is still very real, and there are still so many grieving from it,” said sophomore Melissa Spitzer.