Sunday 30 Sept 2001
Dear Jaspers,
The jasperjottings email list has 1,020 subscribers by my count.
Don't forget:
Wednesday, October 24th - Annual Career Fair
Contact Pat Wallace 718-862-7421 pwallace@manhatan.edu
Sunday October 28th – High school students open house
contact Grace Feeney 718-862-7432
If you don’t read anything else, read News2, it personifies a Jasper spirit. If I was in the administration, I single this Jasper out for an award as representing a significant accomplishment.
The 911 attack has four Jasper fatalities reported. I have no way of knowing if this is right or complete. I depend upon you the reader as my reporting staff. Without your interest and intellectual contributions (i.e., recruiting readers, reporting news, and being detectives), this effort will be very lame.
ALL BOILER PLATE is at the end.
Signing off for this week.
While you have many topics demanding your attention, we need simple effective actions that restore confidence. Since most pilots are reserve officers and are either qualified with firearms or could be requalifed in a short time, just remove the restrictions on them. Instant sky marshals at a near-zero cost. In addition, creating gun-free zones has demonstrated how ineffective it is in providing security. It shows that Americans need to be armed. We the people are the "police". The uniformed police operate under our authority and as such deserve our support. However, we should exercise our natural right to self-defense. Allow citizens to arm themselves. Think about the passengers who unarmed were able to stop one the hijackings. Last night listening to America’s Most Wanted, I heard three stories about missing women. Colt created “the great equalizer”. If any of these three women or the one male bystander had been armed, then they might be reporting a different story. I trust my fellow citizens to be at least as good as the police who are an extension of us. Not our “protectors”, but our servants. Additionally, and most important, our rights must not be diminished in a rush to provide "security". Remember Ben Franklin's admonishment about liberty and security.
Reflect well on our alma mater, this week, every week, in any and every way possible, large or small. God bless.
"Collector-in-chief" John
reinkefj@alum.manhattan.edu
=====
CONTENTS
1 Formal
announcements
1 Jaspers publishing web pages
1 Jaspers found web-wise
1 Honors
0 Weddings
0 Births
0 Engagements
0 Graduations
5 Obits
2 "Manhattan in
the news" stories
0 Resumes
2 Sports
7 Emails
[PARTICIPANTS BY CLASS]
|
Class |
Name |
Section |
|
? |
Troiano,
Charles |
|
|
1941 |
McGovern,
John Patrick |
|
|
1947 BA |
Joyce,
Charles J. |
|
|
1955 BA |
Whalen,
Thomas |
|
|
1960 BS |
Zagursky,
Joe |
|
|
1963
BCE |
Tomasetti,
Richard L. |
|
|
1965 BA |
Logan,
Douglas G. |
|
|
1967 BA |
Goll,
Jack |
|
|
1970
BSME |
Keilly,
John |
|
|
1971
BA |
Gabriel,
Richard |
|
|
1974
A |
O'Connor,
John |
|
|
1976
BA? |
Tobin,
John |
|
|
1976
BA? |
Tobin,
John |
|
|
1976? |
Coppo,
Joseph |
|
|
1976? |
Coppo,
Joseph |
|
|
1982
BSEE |
DeVito,
Daniel A. |
|
|
1984 |
Moroney,
Dennis G. |
|
|
1990 |
Rickborn,
Nerina |
|
|
1994
BA |
Boland,
Mark |
|
|
MC Staff |
Mcgeveran,
WILLIAM A. |
[PARTICIPANTS BY NAME]
|
Class |
Name |
Section |
|
1994
BA |
Boland,
Mark |
|
|
1976? |
Coppo,
Joseph |
|
|
1976? |
Coppo,
Joseph |
|
|
1982
BSEE |
DeVito,
Daniel A. |
|
|
1971
BA |
Gabriel,
Richard |
|
|
1967 BA |
Goll,
Jack |
|
|
1947 BA |
Joyce,
Charles J. |
|
|
1970
BSME |
Keilly,
John |
|
|
1965 BA |
Logan,
Douglas G. |
|
|
MC Staff |
Mcgeveran,
William A. |
|
|
1941 |
McGovern,
John Patrick |
|
|
1984 |
Moroney,
Dennis G. |
|
|
1974
A |
O'Connor,
John |
|
|
1990 |
Rickborn,
Nerina |
|
|
1976
BA? |
Tobin,
John |
|
|
1976 BA? |
Tobin,
John |
|
|
1963
BCE |
Tomasetti,
Richard L. |
|
|
? |
Troiano,
Charles |
|
|
1955 BA |
Whalen,
Thomas |
|
|
1960 BS |
Zagursky,
Joe |
[FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT JASPERS]
Copyright 2001 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire
September 26, 2001, Wednesday
HEADLINE: OdysseyRe Announces New Chief Financial Officer
DATELINE: STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 26, 2001
Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. (NYSE and TSE: ORH) announced today that Charles Troiano will become Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of OdysseyRe, effective October 1, 2001.
Mr. Troiano will also become the Chief Operating Officer of OdysseyRe's principal operating subsidiary, Odyssey America Reinsurance Corporation.
OdysseyRe's present Chief Financial Officer, Roland W. Jackson, will be assuming new responsibilities with Fairfax Inc., a subsidiary of OdysseyRe's majority shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. Mr. Jackson will oversee and structure U.S. and international financial aspects of Fairfax's operations, reporting directly to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax, V. Prem Watsa. Mr. Troiano served as Chief Executive Officer of Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation of America from 1997 to 2001. Prior to that he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Munich American Reinsurance Company in New York. Mr. Troiano, a certified public accountant, began his career in 1975 with Coopers & Lybrand. He is a graduate of Manhattan College.
Commenting on these new responsibilities, Andrew A. Barnard, President and Chief Executive Officer of OdysseyRe noted that, "We owe Roland Jackson an enormous debt of gratitude for his tireless efforts in building OdysseyRe and guiding us through the IPO process. We look forward to continued association with Roland through his new responsibilities at the holding company of our majority shareholder. Charlie Troiano brings a wealth of industry and financial experience to OdysseyRe. We look forward to his participation in the senior management of our group."
OdysseyRe is a leading U.S.-based underwriter of property and casualty reinsurance on a worldwide basis, with principal locations in the United States, London, Paris, Singapore, Latin America and Toronto. OdysseyRe is rated "A" by A.M. Best and "A-" by Standard & Poor's.
<extraneous deleted>
CONTACT: Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. Donald L. Smith, 203-940-8610
LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2001
[MCOLDB: ????]
[JASPERS PUBLISHING WEB PAGES]
http://hometown.aol.com/normalzboring/index.html
[JASPERS FOUND ON & OFF THE WEB BY USING THE WEB]
Daniel A. DeVito
Partner
New York Office
Intellectual Property Matters
J.D., St. John's University, 1987
B.S.E.E., Manhattan College, 1982 (cum laude)
Daniel A. DeVito has considerable experience litigating intellectual property cases, including complex high-technology patent cases, at both the trial and appellate level. He also has extensive experience in proceedings before the International Trade Commission.
Mr. DeVito has litigated matters involving digital electronics, computer software, online technologies, intelligent information systems, advanced telecommunications systems, semiconductor design, fiber optic transmission systems, cellular network systems, mobile telephone application programs, complex wavelength division multiplexing technology, and aircraft engines.
A registered patent attorney, Mr. DeVito devotes a substantial part of his practice to matters involving software, business method and e-commerce patents. His practice also includes counseling corporations on acquiring, evaluating, licensing and protecting intellectual property rights, and with regard to implementing and maintaining effective corporate risk-management policies. Mr. DeVito has worked extensively with clients in designing and implementing pioneering intellectual property insurance products.
Mr. DeVito is an active member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He chairs the Antitrust, Inequitable Conduct and Misuse Committee of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. In addition, Mr. DeVito founded and was chairman of Intellectual Property, Computer and Telecommunications Committee of the Westchester County Bar Association.
He has authored or coauthored numerous articles covering a broad range of substantive and procedural issues concerning intellectual property litigation and has contributed to several treatises.
Mr. DeVito has spoken on intellectual property law issues at conferences and seminars sponsored by the Practising Law Institute, the American Conference Institute, the American Corporate Counsel Association and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.
Authorships
Author, Jury Trial Here to Stay in U.S. Patent Cases, Managing Intellectual
Property (May 1997)
Supreme Court Affirms the Viability of the Doctrine of Equivalents, Managing
Intellectual Property (April 1997)
Exploring Anew the Attorney-Client Privilege in Patent Litigation: The Pendulum
Swings Again, This Time in Favor of Protection, AIPLA Quarterly Journal (July
1995)
Minimizing and Covering Risks of Patent Infringement in Technology-Based
Corporations, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (March 1995)
"Intellectual Property Takes a Seat in the Boardroom: Corporate Governance
Requires an Understanding of Offer and Director Liability for Patent
Infringement, Director's Monthly (February 1995)
[JR: When I found this I emailed an invitation and he has begun receiving jottings.]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Heidi W. Giovine
(718)862-7232
hgiovine@manhattan.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MANHATTAN COLLEGE ALUMNUS RICHARD L. TOMASETTI TO BE HONORED AT ANNUAL FALL HONORS CONVOCATION
RIVERDALE, N.Y. -- Richard L. Tomasetti, president of The Thornton-Tomasetti Group Inc., will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Manhattan College during the College’s Fall Honors Convocation on Sunday, October 14 at 4pm in the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers.
A 1963 graduate of Manhattan College, Mr. Tomasetti has 30 years of worldwide design experience as a structural engineer, which includes numerous major projects including Plaza 66 in Shanghai, the tallest concrete building in China. Recently his firm completed the preliminary assessment of the 195 buildings affected by the World Trade Center disaster. The firm’s three divisions, Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers, LZA Technology and LZA Associates, provide multi-disciplinary building design, investigative and restoration services throughout the world.
An active author, lecturer and recognized investigator of structures in distress, Mr. Tomasetti is the recipient of the Engineering-News Record 1982 citation, “Those Who Made Marks,” for developing the “stressed-skin” structure for One Mellon Bank Center in Pittsburgh.
After receiving his B.C.E. from Manhattan, Mr. Tomasetti earned his M.S. degree from New York University and completed additional post graduate studies at the University of Connecticut and Polytechnic Institute of New York. He has received numerous awards for innovative design and has been honored for his contributions to the construction industry. Mr. Tomasetti has received the 1996 LIFE Industry Leadership Award, the 1999 Concrete Industry Board Leader of Industry Award and the Founders Award from The Salvadori Center.
A resident of New York City, Mr. Tomasetti is a director and past vice chairman of the New York Building Congress and has been vice president of the New York Association for Consulting Engineers. He is past chairman of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Committee on Tall Buildings, co-author of the ASCE Manual, “Quality in the Constructed Project,” and a member of New York City’s Seismic Code Advisory Board. He has recently co-authored the book, Exposed Structure in Building Design and is a member of the Manhattan College Council on Engineering Affairs.
During the ceremony, over 100 seniors will be inducted into Epsilon Sigma Pi, the oldest college-wide honor society on campus. Students who have earned a scholastic index of 3.4 for the first six semesters at Manhattan College are eligible for membership.
Located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution in the Lasallian tradition that offers over 40 major fields of study in the programs of arts, business, education, engineering and science.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Collector's prayer: And, may perpetual light shine on our fellow departed Jaspers, and all the souls of the faithful departed.]
Copyright 2001 Ventura County Star
Ventura County Star
September 26, 2001 Wednesday
SECTION: Obituaries; Pg. B05
HEADLINE: East county obits: Darcy Hayes, John Patrick McGovern
<extraneous deleted>
Simi Valley
John Patrick McGovern
John Patrick McGovern died after a long illness on Sept. 23, 2001.
Mr. McGovern was born Sept. 8, 1918, in New York City, raised in Cliffside Park, N.J., and graduated from Manhattan College in 1941. He served from 1942 to 1945 in the United States Navy, where he met Ona Sharp. They were married on Nov. 3, 1945, in Galveston, Texas. Mr. McGovern worked for the Veterans Administration from 1947 to 1978, rising from clerk-typist to senior staff assistant to the director. He retired in 1977 and moved to Simi Valley, where he was a devout and generous member of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church and actively participated in his local chapter of NARFE.
He was a loving husband to Ona, beloved father to John, Mary, James, Kathleen, Thomas and Timothy; grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of four.
He will always be remembered as a kind, gentle and devoted man who served others before himself.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at Reardon Simi Valley Mortuary. A funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, Simi Valley.
LOAD-DATE: September 26, 2001
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
September 20, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle
SECTION: State and Regional
BYLINE: By The Associated Press
Some of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks:
<extraneous deleted>
JOHN TOBIN, 47, of Kennilworth, most enjoyed spending time at home, helping out neighbors and being with his wife and two children. Tobin, vice president of FINPRO, a division of Marsh and McLennan Inc., was at a business meeting in the World Trade Center last Tuesday. Tobin will be remembered for his outlook on life. "He treated everybody the same," said Barbara Tobin, his wife of 24 years. "He was very modest. You wouldn't know the kind of job he had. He didn't need material things." Tobin earned an undergraduate degree from Manhattan College, enrolling in night classes while working for Equity Life Insurance to help out with his parents' finances. "He was probably old before his years in terms of responsibility," his brother, Michael Tobin of Bogota, said.
LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2001
Copyright 2001 The Hartford Courant Company
THE HARTFORD COURANT
September 20, 2001 Thursday, 6/7 SPORTS FINAL
SECTION: MAIN; Pg. A2
HEADLINE: FOCUS; THE VICTIMS; TERROR IN AMERICA: CONNECTICUT
BYLINE: Compiled by Courant Staff Writers Josh Kovner and Diane Struzzi.
Here are some of Connecticut's presumed victims of the plane hijackings and terrorist attacks Sept. 11 on the World Trade Center.
<extraneous deleted>
Joseph Coppo, 47
New Canaan
Coppo joined Cantor Fitzgerald less than a year ago, after the giant bond firm bought out a small, successful company co-owned by Coppo that traded in municipal bonds.
Coppo moved into Cantor's offices on the 104th floor of 1 World Trade Center, the north tower.
On the morning of Sept. 11, the father of four was on the phone with a close friend from California. At 8:48, he abruptly cut into the conversation.
"He said, 'A plane just hit the building. I've got to get out of here,"' Coppo's son, Matthew, 18, recounted.
That is all the family knows.
Matt's brother, Joseph, 19, went to Cantor Fitzgerald's information center at a hotel in lower Manhattan, but could learn nothing about his father.
Coppo was the captain of the Manhattan College baseball team in the early 1970s, and imparted his love of sports to his children. He coached youth baseball and basketball in New Canaan.
"For him, everything centered on us," said Matt, a senior at St. Luke's in New Canaan.
"He taught us a lot of things through sports. He never forced us, but if we didn't go out for something, he'd ask why. He used sports as a base point."
Coppo's wife, Patricia, is a homemaker, and his daughter, Kathleen, 22, teaches school in Rye, N.Y. Joseph is a sophomore at Boston College, and the youngest, John, 13, is an eighth-grader at St. Luke's.
<extraneous deleted>
LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2001
Copyright 2001 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)
September 23, 2001 Sunday ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A64
HEADLINE: OBITUARIES;
PAID DEATH NOTICES
<extraneous deleted>
COPPO COPPO-Joseph J. Jr. of New Canaan, Ct formally of Baldwin, NY suddenly and tragicaly on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center, Vice President, Municipal Bonds, with Cantor Ftizgerald. Beloved husband of Patricia (nee Brennan). Adoring father of Kathleen, Joseph, Matthew and John. Devoted son of Jean and the late Joseph J. Coppo of Baldwin and dear son-in-law of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Brennan. Loving brother of Mary and Hal Anderson of West Islip. Also survived by many caring brothers and sister-in-law, nieces and nephews. A loved and cherished friend of many. Joe graduated from Maria Regina HS and Manhattan College where he cap tained the baseball team. Currently was very involved in youth sports and founded the New Canaan Baseball Association. A Memorial Mass of Resurrection, Saturday, September 22nd at noon at St. Aloysius RC Church, New Canaan, Ct. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Brother James Collins Fund, c/o Manhattan College, NY.
<extraneous deleted>
LOAD-DATE: September 23, 2001
Copyright 2001 Bergen Record Corporation
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
September 20, 2001 Thursday All Editions
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. l09
HEADLINE: OBITUARIES
SOURCE: The Record
<extraneous deleted>
CHARLES J. JOYCE, 79, of Fair Lawn died Wednesday. Before retiring in 1974, he was an accountant for Asiatic Petroleum, New York City, where he worked for 28 years. He was a graduate of Manhattan College. He was an Army Air Force veteran of World War II. He was a parishioner of St. Anne R.C. Church, Fair Lawn, where he was a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and a former usher and senior altar boy.
Arrangements: Vander Plaat Colonial Funeral Home, Fair Lawn.
<extraneous deleted>
LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2001
Copyright 2001 Bergen Record Corporation
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
September 24, 2001 Monday All Editions
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. l03
HEADLINE: OBITUARIES
SOURCE: The Record
<extraneous deleted>
WILLIAM A. McGEVERAN, 90, of Glen Rock died Saturday. He had been an accountant and manager of the Christian Bros. dining facility at Manhattan College. Previously, he was manager of Jim Downey's restaurant, New York City. He was a parishioner of St. Catharine R.C. Church, Glen Rock. Arrangements: Feeney Funeral Home, Ridgewood.
LOAD-DATE: September 24, 2001
[MANHATTAN IN THE NEWS OR FOUND ON & OFF THE WEB]
[News1]
Copyright 2001 Orange County Register
The Orange County Register
September 25, 2001, Tuesday
SECTION: Sports
HEADLINE: Cypress graduate leads NAU
<extraneous deleted>
BITS & PIECES:
<extraneous deleted>
Kim Frederick picked up her first double-double of the season (16 kills, 13 digs) against Fairleigh Dickenson and helped lead the Manhattan College women's volleyball team to the Cornell Invitational championship. The middle blocker is a graduate of El Modena High.
LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2001
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
September 21, 2001, Friday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 34; Column 5; Editorial Desk
HEADLINE: The Case for War, and the Case for Restraint; You Won't Walk Alone
To the Editor:
Re "Fear in the Open City," by Anika Rahman (Op-Ed, Sept. 19): As a citizen of this city, I find myself filled with grief over the losses we have suffered. As a classmate of Rudy Giuliani (Manhattan College '65), I well with pride in his performance, and pledge my untiring assistance during the reconstruction. And as a Vietnam veteran, I abhor the fact that fellow New Yorkers like Ms. Rahman are feeling afraid to walk our streets.
Ms. Rahman, I offer to be your personal escort. If you feel afraid, call me, and I will walk proudly by your side.
DOUGLAS G. LOGAN
New York, Sept. 19, 2001
The writer is a former commissioner of Major League Soccer.
LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2001
September 26, 2001
WOMEN’S SOCCER TOPS RIDER 3-1
Junior Kristin Stroppel Scores Three Points in Win
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Manhattan College women’s soccer team beat Rider 3-1 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game on Wednesday.
With the win the Lady Jaspers improved to 4-4-1, 2-2 MAAC while Rider dropped to 3-4, 0-1 MAAC.
Junior Kristin Stroppel (Cornwall, NY) scored what eventually would be the game-winning goal at the 44:59 mark after assisting the first goal of the game by junior Lindsay Bernstein (Stormville, NY) at 21:30. Senior Ja Na Jorgensen (Newburgh, NY) added the insurance goal at 58:06 on an assist from sophomore Chelsea Volpe (Baldwin, NY).
Manhattan goalkeeper Jean Marie Gilbert (Commack, NY) was outstanding in goal with nine saves, while defenders Katie Corrao (Commack, NY) and Vanessa DiPaolo (Warwick, RI) each tallied an assist.
Manhattan returns to action this weekend when they face conference rivals Canisius and Niagara at Gaelic Park. The Lady J’s face Canisius at 1:00 PM on Saturday and Niagara at 10:00 AM on Sunday.
September 25, 2001
VOLLEYBALL DROPS HOME OPENER 3-1 TO ST. JOHN’S
Captains O’Dorisio and Frederick Register Double-doubles
RIVERDALE, NY – Despite the powerful hitting efforts of captains Kim Frederick (Orange, CA) and Amy O’Dorisio (San Diego, CA), the Manhattan women’s volleyball team could not hold on as St. John’s won three games to one this evening. The game results were 30-27, 33-31, 25-30, and 30-27.
Junior O’Dorisio led with a season high of 25 kills and 24 digs. Senior Frederick had her second double-double of the season averaging a .308 hitting percentage, 16 kills and 14 digs. Setter Bridgett Geddes (Escondido, CA) totaled 55 sets and 12 digs.
Manhattan led 19-10 in the second game before St. John’s rallied back to win 33-31. The Lady J’s pumped up the pressure in the third game to win, however they could not withstand the hitting of the Red Storm’s Rosalyn Dang (Honolulu, HI) and Sarah McCrary (Walnut, CA). McCrary had 16 kills and 13 digs while Dang totaled 14 kills and 10 digs for the evening.
The loss drops the Lady Jaspers to 5-7 and the Red Storm advanced to 10-2.
Manhattan will travel to Fairleigh Dickinson this Friday, September 28th for a 7:00 PM match up.
September 25, 2001
MEN’S SOCCER FALLS TO RIDER 4-1
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Manhattan College men’s soccer team lost to Rider 4-1 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Tuesday that was originally scheduled to be played at Manhattan.
The loss dropped Manhattan to 2-4, 0-2 MAAC, while Rider improved to 1-4-2, 1-1 MAAC.
Following a scoreless first half, Rider junior Jake Trainer (Sparta, NJ) scored the first of his two goals to give the Broncs the lead just 47 seconds into the second half. Rider scored three more times after a Manhattan red card gave the Broncs the man advantage.
Manhattan freshman Matt Salotti (Fairfield, NJ) scored his second goal of the season at the 77:59 mark, on an assist from sophomore Edward McCaffery (Bergen County, NJ) and junior Nino Silvestro (Ossining, NY).
Manhattan goalkeeper Jesse Lardner (Spencer, NY) had ten saves in the loss.
Manhattan returns to action on Friday, September 28 when they travel to West Point to face Army at 7:00 PM.
September 25, 2001
VOLLEYBALL RANKS HIGH IN MAAC WEEKLY REPORT
RIVERDALE, NY – Manhattan College women’s volleyball team ranked third in assists and blocking according to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Volleyball Statistics of the week. The Lady Jaspers also ranked fourth in kills, sixth in hitting and digs, and seventh in service aces.
Junior co-captain Amy O’Dorisio (San Diego, CA) took second place in kills and fourth in digs. O’Dorisio is averaging an impressive 4.02 kills per game and 4.05 digs per game this season. Setter Bridgett Geddes (Escondido, CA) is averaging 10.10 assists per game giving her second place honors in MAAC assists. Newcomer Allison O’Neill (Houston, TX) ranked second in service aces. Senior captain Kim Frederick (Orange, CA) leads the Lady J’s in blocks and ranks in the top ten in that category.
The Lady Jaspers will have their first home game tonight against St. John’s at 6:00 in Draddy Gymnasium.
September 24, 2001
MANHATTAN’S CO-CAPTAIN AMY O’DORISIO NAMED MVP AND ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Captain Kim Frederick named to All Tournament Team
ITHACA, NY – Manhattan College women’s volleyball junior co-captain Amy O’Dorisio (San Diego, CA) earned the Most Valuable Player honor and was named to the All-Tournament team at the Cornell Invitational last weekend. Senior captain Kim Frederick (Orange, CA) was also named to the Cornell All-Tournament team.
Junior O’Dorisio led the Lady Jaspers to a 4-0 record and the tournament title this weekend. She had a season high of 20 kills and 26 digs against Fairleigh Dickinson and came away with another impressive double-double against Stony Brook later that afternoon with 17 kills and 19 digs. O’Dorisio finished the invitational totaling 66 kills, 70 digs and 8 service aces.
Frederick also performed very well against Fairleigh Dickinson picking up her first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs. Frederick totaled 41 kills and 37 digs and 19 block assists at the Big Red Invitational.
The Lady Jaspers will have their first home game tomorrow night against St. John’s at 6:00 in Draddy Gymnasium.
September 23, 2001
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL WINS THE CORNELL INVITATIONAL WITH 4-0 RECORD
Amy O’Dorisio Leads with
Double-doubles
ITHACA, NY – Manhattan women’s volleyball team went undefeated this weekend at the Cornell Invitational beating Fairleigh Dickinson three games to one and after a two match deficit rallying back to beat Stony Brook three games to two. The game scores were 30-26, 30-28, 33-35 and 30-21 against Fairleigh Dickinson and 26-30, 23-30, 30-28, 30-27 and 15-13 against Stony Brook. The Lady J’s swept St. Francis, 3-0 and Cornell, 3-2 in yesterday’s competition. The Lady Jaspers are now 5-6 for the season.
“This was a big turning point,” said Coach Pete Volkert (Corcordia ’92), “and after winning the Bucknell Invitational and Orange Classic last year this is definitely the direction we want to go in.” Coach Volkert is in his fifth season with Manhattan.
Junior Amy O’Dorisio (San Diego, CA) had an outstanding weekend for the Jaspers. O’Dorisio led the team with 17 kills and 19 digs against Stony Brook. While junior Lauren Belcher (Huntington Beach, CA) had 16 kills and freshman Allison O’Neill (Houston, TX) added with 12 kills in their win over the Seawolves.
The Lady Jaspers will return to action this Tuesday when they have their first home game of the season in Draddy Gymnasium against St. John’s at 6:00 PM.
September 23, 2001
BASEBALL TO COMPETE IN BATTLE OF THE BOROS
RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan College baseball team will compete in the “Battle of the Boros” baseball tournament September 28-30 at KeySpan Park, Home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. In what is poised to be a new annual event, the Battle of the Boros will feature Columbia University, Long Island University, Wagner College, Fordham University, host St. Francis College and Manhattan in this year’s tournament.
Game Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 28th: Game #1 – Columbia vs. LIU – 3PM
Game #2 – Manhattan vs. Fordham – 7PM
Saturday, Sept. 29th:Game #3 – Losers Games 1 &2 –
10AM
Game #4 – Winner Game 1 vs. Wagner –
2PM
Game #5 – Winner Game 2 vs. St.
Francis – 6PM
Sunday, Sept. 30th:
Game 6 – Championship
Winners Games 4 & 5
Game 7 – Consolation
Losers Games 4 & 5
For more information please call 718-489-5485.
September 22, 2001
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TRIUMPHS THROUGH DAY ONE OF THE CORNELL INVITATION
ITHACA, NY – The Manhattan College women’s volleyball team (3-6) swept St. Francis (PA) three games to none and defeated Cornell three games to two in the first day of the Cornell Invitational. The games scores were 30-25, 30-14 and 30-21 against St. Francis and 30-19, 25-30, 30-16, 16-30, and 15-10 against Cornell.
Junior Amy O’Dorisio (San Diego, CA) led the Lady Jaspers with 15 kills vs. the Red Flash and 14 kills vs. the Big Red. Senior Kim Frederick (Orange, CA) had 9 kills, 13 digs and two service aces vs. the Red Flash. Junior setter Bridgett Geddes (Escondido, CA) also played well with 8 kills, a .500 hitting percentage, 36 sets and 11 digs vs. the Big Red.
The Jaspers will continue play in the invitational tomorrow morning against Fairleigh Dickinson at 9:00 AM and will face Stony Brook in the finale at 1:00 PM.
September 22, 2001
WOMEN’S TENNIS FALLS SHORT AT EASTERN COLLEGIATES
WEST POINT, NY – The Manhattan College women’s tennis team was one of 19 teams competing at the 2001 Eastern Collegiate Championship this weekend at the United States Military Academy.
In the #1 singles consolation final, Manhattan’s Nanaxhi Chavez-Geller (New York, NY) fell in a hard fought straight sets match to Howard’s Tatiana Okpala, 6-3, 7-5. In the first round, Chavez-Geller lost to LIU’s Rachel Berenbaum, 6-2, 7-5.
In doubles action, the #1 team of Shaleen Dastur (Florida, NY) and Courtney James (Mt. Kisco, NY) lost to Meggan Dencker and Andrea Scott of Lehigh 9-7. In the #1 doubles consolation round, the tandem of Dastur and James dropped a heartbreaker to Ellen Anolin and Sheana Sinclair of LIU, 9-8. Finally, in #2 doubles, the duo of Jessica Kulack (Meridian, ID) and Megan Smith (Ramsey, NJ) dropped an 8-1 decision to Natasha Bode and Phyllis Joe of George Washington.
The women’s tennis team returns to action next weekend when they travel to Hamden, CT for the Quinnipiac Invitational September 28-30.
September 22, 2001
CROSS COUNTRY RUNS WELL AT MONMOUTH INVITATIONAL
MIDDLETOWN, NJ – The Manhattan College men’s and women’s cross country team finished in third and fifth places respectively at the Monmouth Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Matt Spring (Marcy, NY) was the Jaspers’ top finisher, placing fourth overall (26:06.6) while junior Andres Cordero (Little Falls, NJ) ran 26:27.4 for a tenth place finish overall. The men’s field consisted of 164 athletes and 15 teams.
Senior Kristen Cerasi (Eastchester, NY) led the Lady Jaspers, finishing 12th overall running 19:19.6. The women’s field consisted of 204 athletes and 18 teams.
The teams return to action on Friday, October 5 at the Metropolitan Championships held at Van Cortlandt Park at 3:00 PM.
Men’s Team Results
1. Cornell
2. Farleigh Dickinson
3. Manhattan
4. Columbia
5. Seton Hall
Women’s Results
1. Cornell
2. Penn State
3. Columbia
4. Iona
5. Manhattan
September 22, 2001
WOMEN’S SOCCER DROPS 4-1 DECISION TO LOYOLA
BALTIMORE, MD – The Lady Jaspers were the first to strike but the Loyola Greyhounds scored four unanswered goals in the second half to earn their first victory of the year, a 4-1 win over Manhattan Saturday afternoon at Curley Field.
Manhattan falls to 2-4-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the MAAC, while Loyola is now 1-3-0 and 1-0-0 in the MAAC.
After a scoreless first half, senior Laurie Spera (East Northport, NY) scored her second goal of the season at the 56:17 mark of the second half to put the Lady Jaspers up 1-0. But that lead was short-lived as Loyola’s Becky Bieneman tied the game at 1-1 on a header just three minutes later. Then at the 68:31 mark, the Greyhounds’ Katie Elliott scored what would prove to be the game-winner as she beat Manhattan goalkeeper Jean Marie Gilbert (Commack, NY) in the lower right corner. Loyola would add two more insurance goals late in the game to seal the victory.
Gilbert stopped seven shots for the Lady Jaspers in the losing effort.
The women’s soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, September 26 when they travel to MAAC rival Rider for a 4:00 matchup.
[Sports2]
September 23, 2001 Sunday QUEENS EDITION
SECTION: SPORTS, Pg. C26
HEADLINE: LOCAL COLLEGES;
Rams Score First, but Fall to Colgate
<extraneous deleted>
Women's Soccer
<extraneous deleted>
Loyola 4, Manhattan College 1: After a scoreless first half, Laurie Spera scored at the 56:17 mark to give Manhattan (2-4-1, 1-2 MAAC) the lead, but Loyola (1-3, 1-0) responded with four unanswered goals, the tying score by Becky Bieneman and the go-ahead score by Katie Elliott.
<extraneous deleted>
Cross Country
Manhattan Men 3rd, Women 5th. The Manhattan men's team finished third at the Monmouth Invitational behind Cornell and Farleigh Dickinson. Matt Spring was the top finisher for Manhattan, placing fourth overall (26:06.6), and Andres Cordero ran 26:27.4 to finish 10th. The women's team finished fifth with Kristen Cerasi leading Manhattan with a 12th-place finish (19:19.6).
LOAD-DATE: September 23, 2001
From: jack goll
Subject: Re: World Trade Center
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 19:20:57 -0400
You are my brother & I also share your pain & anguish.We were taught that prayer will help. I will try.If this does not work, well ....
Looks like we finally have a President who knows how to respond.
Regards, Jack
----- Original Message -----
From: A friend of Jack’s
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: World Trade Center
Jack,
God bless you! And,God bless America!
I need to confess that this thing has me nearly unmanned. Late last night, the TV news had a segment wherein the wives and children made emotional appeals for info on their husbands and fathers who are missing. I lost it, then. I have tears in my eyes as I hunt and peck this. That is not me.
Have been praying (I’m a relapsed Catholic) ever since the attack. Tried to give blood yesterday. They said come back, had too many donors to handle. We need to come together and work to keep the economy going and spark the recovery. This is no time for gloom and doom. There is a lot of work needing to be done,and we have to pull together and get at it.
I went to work, as usual on Tuesday, 9/11. Took the LIRR to Penn Sta. Rode the #2 IRT Train to Wall and William, arriving there 9:10AM. They wouldn’t let us out by the usual exit, Wall/William. Went out the next one back. A construction worker came into the subway, and said, turn around and go home.
I should have listened.
When I hit the street, there was already paper debris and smoke everywhere even though we were about ¾ mile away from the WTC. I went into my office in 20 Exchange Place, FDIC, and heard about the first airliner strike. Shortly after we heard the second. Most had CNN on-line live TV on in the offices.
An hour or so later, it became as dark as night as the smoke and debris from the collapses surrounded us. Heard a rumble and saw a flash.
About Noon, they told us the NYFD (God bless those magnificent heroes and have mercy on those gallant men who gave their lives: greater love hath no man than to give his life for his fellows.) had ordered the evacuation of the building. I stayed until 2PM, because I wanted to let the smoke clear, and our offices air quality was good. Luckily, my wife’s brother-in-law works at 120 Wall, and he had a car. Wet my handkerchief for a makeshift gas mask and walked over there. We were able to walk uptown along Water Street and get it out of the parking lot and drive out. We gave a couple of other lost souls a ride to Grand Central Station. Took about two hours to get home by local streets. Thank God, we were home in eastern Queens by 4PM.
We don’t know when they will let us back into lower Manhattan to get to the office. I had an appointment at a bank in Yonkers, today, that I made a point in making. The other agency guys cancelled. I just felt I needed to show the colors. Stayed a while to talk to the people there and told a little of what I saw. Traveled to and from pretty good except, I’m an idiot, I got lost. Am home now and my boss said he’d call if he needed me. I doubt we will be back in the office before next Monday, if then. Amazingly, we had electric and good phone throughout.
We are at war. If we do not act this will happen again. Congress must declare war. And, not a Vietnam, limited war.
We need to commit an act of huge armed force against these filthy pagan fanatics! Not as an act of vengeance, but as an act of deterrence against future strikes. We have a right to protect our children and our homes!
America has an absolute right to protect itself from the murders and devastations of the filthy pagans. We need to decide whom we need to destroy, and hit their country with ICBMs. I don’t want one GI to get killed. They hit us with everything they got, we need to do the same. Any nation that harbors or supports or tolerates terrorists is at war with the US, and liable to massive destruction. At least, if the Taliban don’t then go in and turn over the rest of the murderers, we should nuke Kabul. Terror is the only thing these grandsons of monkeys and pigs understand.
These murderous idiots are still fighting the crusades. It appears they never heard of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. I seems theirs schools didn’t teach about the fire bombings of Tokyo and Dresden. We did not concern ourselves with civilian casulaties, then.
None of this is racism or xenophobia. It would be an exercise of our right, no our duty, to defend our country and our way of life. Our strength is that we are free people who can act. There are tens of thousands of potential terrorists among us! All these people’s homes need to be searched. All Arab Moslems need to be placed under police surveillance, especially when they travel in motor vehicles and airplanes. This horror will happen again, if we fail.
Gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked.
<name deleted by jr>
[JR: Touching and scary at the same time. If it comes to pass that we do start nuking people then perhaps the fanatics have won. I guess I am getting older and wiser. The death and destruction of the WTC was horrific. But, like the educated people we claim to be, we need to be circumspect and thoughtful about how we respond. At the risk of offending some people, we have a right to what I will call a measured response. Nuking Kabul while satisfying is counter-productive. There are a tremendous number of possible downsides, all of which are no mutually exclusive. It would probably rally the Muslim and possibly Arab world against us. It would take away from us the moral high ground of the injured party. It would escalate the violence to where we could expect the next tit for tat here. There is very little upside other than a gut level satisfaction. Bottom line when you go to war people get killed. I’m against killing. There is a case to be made here for a justified war. But, nuking a fourth world country is not it. Let’s hope that the leadership has the wisdom to see this. I’m not so sure. I would point out the Libertarian approach to this would be to post a reward and let those so motivated to do the dirty work. Not as satisfying but much more effective. Let’s say a 100 million tax free to the person or group who can take these people down. In the meantime, don’t take your eye off the ball – our freedoms. The new Homeland Security czar is a real threat to our freedoms.]
[JR: 1967 BA]
From: John O'Connor (1974 A)
Subject: Re: Invitation with Jasper Jottings 2001-08-12 (from home plate)
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 22:18:52 -0500
Please include me on your distro list.. Thanks
[JR: Done]
From: Keilly
Subject: RE: Jasper Jottings 2001-09-23 (from home)
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 01:39:28 -0400
Dear John:
I agree with a lot of what the Libertarians have to say, but not on this issue. We just learned the hard way that in war, “away” is infinitely preferable to “home” action. The world is a “dangerous neighborhood” and has been for most of the past few 100 years...maybe more. America is a global leader and consequently, we are cast in the role of “cop on the beat.” I am all for going after as many of the bastards responsible for this (and USS Cole, and the embassies and the barracks at Al Khobar, and....) as can be found --be they bankers, diplomats, heads of state or foot soldiers. But I don’t for one minute believe that “rolling up our national sidewalks” afterwards is the answer to terrorism. Their irrational hatred has more to do with the prosperity, freedom of expression and freedom of worship we enjoy here than it does with anger over any troops on foreign soil.
Appeasement doesn’t work. Ask Neville Chamberlain. The days of “surgical strikes” by cruise missiles are over. We didn’t have the stomach to crush terrorism when it first reared its ugly head. Now, dealing with this runaway beast will require another generation of young Americans to shed their blood, just as the “Greatest Generation” did in WWII. Worse yet, this will not, indeed cannot be run like a “traditional” or “clean” war, fought with some semblance of “rules.”
In a country that thought “PC” was an important issue, we’re now going to have to stop “playing nice” and start “playing dirty.” As one Canadian paper said, “No one was out to arrest Hitler.” Terrorists have shown how willing, even eager, they are to kill innocent civilians…Moms, Dads, boys and girls. Preventing anything remotely like a recurrence of September 11th must be a national priority. Therefore, we must be willing to make pre-emptive strikes whenever and wherever we deem necessary. Israel manages to survive in a really dangerous neighborhood because they put their national security ahead of the diplomatic niceties and do what needs to be done. Their Air Force blew up a reactor in Baghdad years ago, without waiting for Sadam to strike first with nukes. Before that, their agents went into Latin America (uninvited), snapped up Adolph Eichman and brought him back (sans any formal extradition) to stand trial. Pre-emptive, aggressive actions need to become an integral part of US strategy if the free world is to be rid of global terrorism. The Russians deal even more harshly with terrorists – and in terms they understand. When the Hamas in Lebanon grabbed up a Russian official, the USSR sent in Special Forces who found a Hamas leader, killed him and thirty members of his family and left their bodies in the street. Ghastly? Absolutely! But not surprisingly, no more Russians “disappeared.”
Unless America can stomach doing “what works” as opposed to “what’s nice” it will be forced to stomach more horrific scenes like those we saw on September 11th. An awful, but clear choice, in my book. I pray to God (notice, that’s OK again now, “PC” be damned) that we can one day recapture our innocence. But until we can eradicate the risk of innocent people being killed en masse so some twisted fanatics can make a “statement” we must no longer “work and play well with others” who seek to do us such harm. We certainly did not ask for this kind of fight, but now that someone else has started it, the faster we can end it, the better; the dirtier we play, the faster it’s likely to end.
God bless all Jaspers. God Bless America!
John Keilly
BS ME 1970
[JR: <1> Might you consider that our “self-appointed” role of global policeman is inappropriate. The dead old white men basically warned us to mind our own business. We have been negligent is self-defense for a while – the Marine Barracks, Cole, and who knows what else (e.g., Seattle, attempts we didn’t hear about, & TWA 800?). Clinton bombing aspirin factories didn’t help. Our political leadership should be watched carefully. The left and right mange the “news” to their own ends. I lived through the Vietnam era and we could get sucked in again. I don’t know what caused it but we have to finish it. <2> “Chamberlain’s appeasement” may not be as taught. No one was prepared for war. So perhaps, he bought some time. <3> We can take some lessons from Israel and Russia. At least they have some interesting ideas. <4> I’m not sure the “dirtier it is played” is how we want to approach it. People will die in this exercise. We have a moral obligation not exceed the bounds of a “just war”. Don’t get me wrong. We got a bloody nose. We have to give worse to prevent worse. It’s just the how and how much that needs careful calculation. < 5> God has blessed us with an interesting opportunity disguise as a tragic problem. We can use it to “play and work better with others”, recapture our faith, or just think about what is important. The only way we lose is if we “lose” our freedom, “lose” our cool nuking things, or “lose” the American spirit that makes us the people we are. <6> A fitting end GB, GBAJ, and GBA]
From: Mark Boland (1994 BA)
Subject: RE: Jasper Jottings 2001-09-23 (from home)
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 08:15:54 +0200
FYI , I have only received a small portion of your wonderful email. Perhaps others to, or it just didn't make it across the Atlantic.
Regards,
mmb
[JR: Resent. There was one other complaint. ]
From: Nerina Rickborn <rickborn@musc.edu>
Subject: deceased jaspers
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 9:24:00
John,
You mentioned in your last update we had lost two jaspers in the World Trade Center attacks, would you mind telling me their names. To the best of my knowledge no-one I know was lost but I'd like to make sure.
Thank you
Nerina '90
[JR: This is what I have seen reported.]
Gabriel, Richard (1971 BA) was on Flight 77.
Moroney, Dennis G. (1984) missing @ wtc
Tobin, John (I believe is 1976 BA) was at a meeting in the wtc
Coppo, Joseph (1976?) worked at Cantor Fitzgerald in the wtc
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 09:34:19 -0400
From: "Thomas Whalen"
Subject: Re: Jasper Jottings 2001-09-23 (from home)
eliminate my name from all future messages
[JR: Done?]
[MCOLDB: 1955 BA]
From: Joe Zagursky
Subject: Netanyahu on 9/20/01
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 02:38:28 -0400
By accident, I watched Mr Netanyahu's presentation to the House committee on Government Reform. I've not seen it on any network except for Fox News.... Just some snippets.
It was one of the most impressive speeches that I heard in a long time. It describes what we're facing very well! Please read it and pass it on to your correspondents. To me, it is a true "wake up call" on the business that we're involved in today. It is a fairly long read but worth it.
Bless you,
Joe Z
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statement of
former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
before the
Government Reform Committee
September 20, 2001
Chairman Burton,
Distinguished Representatives,
I want to thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. I feel a profound responsibility addressing you in this hour of peril in the capital of liberty.
What is at stake today is nothing less than the survival of our civilization. There may be some who would have thought a week ago that to talk in these apocalyptic terms about the battle against international terrorism was to engage in reckless exaggeration. No longer.
Each one of us today understands that we are all targets, that our cities are vulnerable, and that our values are hated with an unmatched fanaticism that seeks to destroy our societies and our way of life.
I am certain that I speak on behalf of my entire nation when I say - Today, we are all Americans - in grief, as in defiance. In grief, because my people have faced the agonizing horrors of terror for many decades, and we feel an instant kinship with both the victims of this tragedy and the great nation that mourns its fallen brothers and sisters.
In defiance, because just as my country continues to fight terrorism in our battle for survival, I know that America will not cower before this challenge. I have absolute confidence that if we, the citizens of the free world, led by President Bush, marshall the enormous reserves of power at our disposal, harness the steely resolve of a free people, and mobilize our collective will - we shall eradicate this evil from the face of the earth.
But to achieve this goal, we must first however answer several questions: Who is responsible for this terrorist onslaught? Why? What is the motive behind these attacks? And most importantly, what must be done to defeat these evil forces?
The first and most crucial thing to understand is this: There is no international terrorism without the support of sovereign states. International terrorism simply cannot be sustained for long without the regimes that aid and abet it. Terrorists are not suspended in mid-air. They train, arm and indoctrinate their killers from within safe havens on territory provided by terrorist states. Often these regimes provide the terrorists with intelligence, money and operational assistance, dispatching them to serve as deadly proxies to wage a hidden war against more powerful enemies.
These regimes mount a worldwide propaganda campaign to legitimize terror, besmirching its victims and exculpating its practitioners --- as we witnessed in the farcical spectacle in Durban last month. Iran, Libya, and Syria call the US and Israel racist countries that abuse human rights?
Even Orwell could not have imagined such a world. Take away all this state support, and the entire scaffolding of international terrorism will collapse into the dust. The international terrorist network is thus based on regimes - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Taleban Afghanistan, Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and several other Arab regimes such as the Sudan. These regimes are the ones that harbor the terrorist groups: Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Hizballah and others in Syrian-controlled Lebanon, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the recently mobilized Fatah and Tanzim factions in the Palestinian territories, and sundry other terror organizations based in such capitals as Damascus, Baghdad and Khartoum. These terrorist states and terror organizations together form a terror network, whose constituent parts support each other operationally as well as politically.
For example, the Palestinian groups cooperate closely with Hezbollah, which in turn links them to Syria, Iran and Bin Laden. These offshoots of terror have affiliates in other states that have not yet uprooted their presence, such as Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Now, how did this come about? The growth of this terror network is the result of several developments in the last two decades: Chief among them is the Khomeini Revolution and the establishment of a clerical Islamic state in Iran. This created a sovereign spiritual base for fomenting a strident Islamic militancy worldwide - a militancy that was often backed by terror. Equally important was the victory in the Afghan war of the international mujaheedin brotherhood. This international band of zealots, whose ranks include Osama Bin Laden, saw their victory over the Soviet Union as providential proof of the innate supremacy of faithful Moslems over the weak infidel powers. They believed that even the superior weapons of a superpower could not withstand their superior will.
To this should also be added Saddam Hussein's escape from destruction at the end of the Gulf War, his dismissal of UN monitors, and his growing confidence that he can soon develop unconventional weapons to match those of the West. Finally, the creation of Yasser Arafat's terror enclave gave a safe haven to militant Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Like their mujaheedin cousins, they drew inspiration from Israel's hasty withdrawal from Lebanon, glorified as a great Moslem victory by the Syrian-backed Hizballah.
Under Arafat's rule, these Palestinian Islamic terrorist groups made repeated use of the technique of suicide bombing, going so far as to run summer camps in Gaza that teach Palestinian children how to become suicide martyrs.
Here is what Arafat's government controlled newspaper, Al Hayat Al Jadida, said on September 11, the very day of the suicide bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon: "The suicide bombers of today are the noble successors of the Lebanese suicide bombers, who taught the U.S. Marines a tough lesson in [Lebanon]" These suicide bombers are the salt of the earth, the engines of history" They are the most honorable people among us".
A simple rule prevails here: The success of terrorists in one part of the terror network emboldens terrorists throughout the network. This then is the Who. Now for the Why.
Though its separate parts may have local objectives and take part in local conflicts, the main motivation driving the terror network is an anti-Western hostility that seeks to achieve nothing less than a reversal of history. It seeks to roll back the West and install an extremist form of Islam as the dominant power in the world. It seeks to do this not by means of its own advancement and progress, but by destroying the enemy. This hatred is the product of a seething resentment that has simmered for centuries in certain parts of the Arab and Islamic world.
Most Moslems in the world, including the vast majority of the growing Moslem communities in the West, are not guided by this interpretation of history, nor are they moved by its call for a holy war against the West.
But some are. And though their numbers are small compared to the peaceable majority, they nevertheless constitute a growing hinterland for this militancy. Militant Islamists resented the West for pushing back the triumphant march of Islam into the heart of Europe many centuries ago. Its adherents, believing in the innate supremacy of Islam, then suffered a series of shocks when in the last two centuries that same hated, supposedly inferior West penetrated Islamic realms in North Africa, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.
For them the mission was clear: The West had to be first pushed out of these areas. Pro-western Middle Eastern regimes were toppled in rapid succession, including in Iran. And Israel, the Middle East's only democracy and its purest manifestation of Western progress and freedom, must be wiped off the face of the earth.
Thus, the soldiers of militant Islam do not hate the West because of Israel, they hate Israel because of the West -- because they see it is an island of Western democratic values in a Moslem-Arab sea of despotism.
That is why they call Israel the Little Satan, to distinguish it clearly from the country that has always been and will always be the Great Satan - The United States of America.
Nothing better illustrates this then Osama bin Laden's call for Jihad against the United States in 1998. He gave as his primary reason not Israel, not the Palestinians, not the "peace process", but rather the very presence of the United States "occupying the Land of Islam in the holiest of places" - and where is that? - "the Arabian peninsula" says Bin Laden, where America is "plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, and humiliating its people". Israel, by the way, comes a distant third, after "the continuing aggression against the Iraqi people". [Al Quds al Arabi - February 23, 1998] For the Bin Ladens of the world Israel is merely a sideshow. America is the target.
But reestablishing a resurgent Islam requires not just rolling back the West; it requires destroying its main engine, the United States. And if the US cannot be destroyed just now, it can be first humiliated -- as in the Teheran hostage crisis two decades ago -- and then ferociously attacked again and again, until it is brought to its knees. But the ultimate goal remains the same: Destroy America and win eternity.
Some of you may find it hard to believe that Islamic militants truly cling to the mad fantasy of destroying America. Make no mistake about it. They do. And unless they are stopped now, their attacks will continue, and become even more lethal in the future.
To understand the true dangers of Islamic militancy, we can compare it to another ideology which sought world domination - communism. Both movements pursued irrational goals, but the communists at least pursued theirs in a rational way.
Anytime they had to choose between ideology and their own survival, as in Cuba or Berlin, they backed off and chose survival. Not so for the Islamic militants. They pursue an irrational ideology irrationally - with no apparent regard for human life, neither their own lives nor the lives of their enemies. The Communists seldom, if ever, produced suicide bombers, while Islamic militancy produces hordes of them, glorifying them and promising them that their dastardly deeds will earn them a glorious afterlife.
This highly pathological aspect of Islamic militancy is what makes it so deadly for mankind.
When in 1996, I wrote a book about fighting terrorism, I warned about the militant Islamic groups operating in the West with the support of foreign powers-- serving as a new breed of "domestic-international" terrorists, basing themselves in America to wage Jihad against America: Such groups, I wrote then, nullify in large measure the need to have air power or intercontinental missiles as delivery systems for an Islamic nuclear payload. They will be the delivery system. In the worst of such scenarios, I wrote, the consequences could be not a car bomb but a nuclear bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center.
Well, they did not use a nuclear bomb. They used two 150 ton fully fueled jetliners to wipe out the Twin Towers. But does anyone doubt that given the chance, they will throw atom bombs at America and its allies? And perhaps long before that, chemical and biological weapons? This is the greatest danger facing our common future. Some states of the terror network already possess chemical and biological capabilities, and some are feverishly developing nuclear weapons. Can one rule out the possibility that they will be tempted to use such weapons, openly or through terror proxies, or that their weapons might fall into the hands of the terrorist groups they harbor?
We have received a wake up call from hell. Now the question is simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do we press a collective snooze button and go back to business as usual? The time for action is now.
Today the terrorists have the will to destroy us, but they do not have the power. There is no doubt that we have the power to crush them. Now we must also show that we have the will to do just that. Once any part of the terror network acquires nuclear weapons, this equation will fundamentally change, and with it the course of human affairs.
This is the historical imperative that now confronts all of us. And now the third point: What do we about it?
First, as President Bush said, we must make no distinction between the terrorists and the states that support them. It is not enough to root out the terrorists who committed this horrific act of war. We must dismantle the entire terrorist network.
If any part of it remains intact, it will rebuild itself, and the specter of terrorism will reemerge and strike again.
Bin Laden, for example, has shuttled over the last decade from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to the Sudan and back again. So we must not leave any base intact.
To achieve this goal we must first have moral clarity. We must fight terror wherever and whenever it appears. We must make all states play by the same rules. We must declare terrorism a crime against humanity, and we must consider the terrorists enemies of mankind, to be given no quarter and no consideration for their purported grievances.
If we begin to distinguish between acts of terror, justifying some and repudiating others based on sympathy with this or that cause, we will lose the moral clarity that is so essential for victory.
This clarity is what enabled America and Britain to root out piracy in the nineteenth century. This is how the Allies rooted out Nazism in the twentieth century.
They did not look for the "root cause" of piracy or the "root cause" of Nazism - because they knew that some acts are evil in and of themselves, and do not deserve any consideration or "understanding". They did not ask if Hitler was right about the alleged wrong done to Germany at Versailles. That they left to the historians. The leaders of the Western Alliance said something else: Nothing justifies Nazism.
Nothing!
We must be equally clear cut today: Nothing justifies terrorism,
Nothing!
Terrorism is defined not by the identity of its perpetrators nor by the cause they espouse. Rather, it is defined by the nature of the act. Terrorism is the deliberate attack on innocent civilians. In this it must be distinguished from legitimate acts of war that target combatants and may unintentionally harm civilians.
When the British bombed a Gestapo headquarters in 1944, and one of their bombs unintentionally struck a children's hospital that was a tragedy, but it was not terrorism.
When Israel fired a missile that killed two Hamas arch-terrorists, and two Palestinians children who were playing nearby were tragically struck down, that is not terrorism.
But terrorists do not unintentionally harm civilians. They deliberately murder, maim, and menace civilians - as many as possible. No cause, no grievance, no apology can ever justify terrorism. Terrorism against Americans, Israelis, Spaniards, Britons, Russians, or anyone else, is all part of the same evil and must be treated as such.It is time to establish a fixed principle for the international community: any cause that uses terrorism to advance its aims will not be rewarded. On the contrary, it will be punished and placed beyond the pale.
Armed with this moral clarity in defining terrorism, we must possess an equal moral clarity in fighting it.
If we include Iran, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority in the coalition to fight terror -- even though they currently harbor, sponsor and dispatch terrorists --- then the alliance against terror will be defeated from within.
Perhaps we might achieve a short-term objective of destroying one terrorist fiefdom, but it will preclude the possibility of overall
victory. Such a coalition will melt down because of its own internal contradictions.
We might win a battle. We will certainly lose the war.
These regimes, like all terrorist states, must be given a forthright demand: Stop terrorism, permanently, or you will face the wrath of the free world - through harsh and sustained political, economic and military sanctions.
Obviously, some of these regimes will scramble in fear and issue platitudes about their opposition to terror, just as Arafat, Iran and Syria did, while they keep their terror apparatus intact. We should not be fooled. These regimes are already on the US lists of states supporting terrorism - and if they're not, they should be. The price of admission for any state into the coalition against terror must be to first completely dismantle the terrorist infrastructures within their realm.
Iran will have to dismantle a worldwide network of terrorism and incitement based in Teheran.
Syria will have to shut down Hizballah and the dozen terrorist organizations that operate freely in Damascus and in Lebanon. Arafat will have to crush Hamas and Islamic Jihad, close down their suicide factories and training grounds, rein in his own Fatah and Tanzim terrorists and cease the endless incitement to violence.
To win this war, we must fight on many fronts. The most obvious one is direct military action against the terrorists themselves. Israel's policy of preemptively striking at those who seek to murder its people is, I believe, better understood today and requires no further elaboration.
But there is no substitute for the key action that we must take:
Imposing the most punishing diplomatic, economic and military sanction on all terrorist states;
To this must be added these measures: Freeze financial assets in the West of terrorist regimes and organizations;
Revise legislation, subject to periodic renewal, to enable better surveillance against organizations inciting violence;
Keep convicted terrorist behind bars. Do not negotiate with terrorists; Train special forces to fight terror.
And Not least important, impose sanctions on suppliers of nuclear technology to terrorist states.
I've had some experience in pursuing all these courses of action in Israel's battle against terrorism, and I will be glad to elaborate on any one of them if you wish, including the sensitive questions surrounding intelligence.
But I have to be clear: Victory over terrorism is not, at its most fundamental level, a matter of law enforcement or intelligence. However important these functions may be, they can only reduce the dangers, not eliminate them.
The immediate objective is to end all state support for, and complicity with, terror. If vigorously and continuously challenged, most of these regimes can be deterred from sponsoring terrorism.
But there is a real possibility that some will not be deterred - and those may be ones that possess weapons of mass destruction. Again, we cannot dismiss the possibility that a militant terrorist state will use its proxies to threaten or launch a nuclear attack with apparent impunity.
Nor can we completely dismiss the possibility that a militant regime, like its terrorist proxies, will commit collective suicide for the sake of its fanatical ideology.
In this case, we might face not thousands of dead, but hundreds of thousands and possibly millions. This is why the US must do everything in its power to prevent regimes like Iran and Iraq from developing nuclear weapons, and disarm them of their weapons of mass destruction. This is the great mission that now stands before the free world. That mission must not be watered down to allow certain states to participate in the coalition that is now being organized. Rather, the coalition must be built around this mission.
It may be that some will shy away from adopting such an uncompromising stance against terrorism. If some free states choose to remain on the sidelines, America must be prepared to march forward without them -- for there is no substitute for moral and strategic clarity.
I believe that if the United States stands on principle, all the democracies will eventually join the war on terrorism. The easy route may be tempting, but it will not win the day.
On September eleventh, I, like everyone else, was glued to a television set watching the savagery that struck America. Yet amid the smoking ruins of the Twin Towers one could make out the Statue of Liberty holding high the torch of freedom.
It is freedom's flame that the terrorists sought to extinguish. But it is that same torch, so proudly held by the United States, that can lead the free world to crush the forces of terror and secure our tomorrow.
It is within our power. Let us now make sure that it is within our will. --
[END]
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A Final Thought
http://www.msnbc.com/news/632335.asp
“But while Ashcroft’s testimony was open to television cameras, the committee’s Republican staff ordered camera crews to leave, including those of C-SPAN, the public interest network available on cable television systems nationwide, NBC News’ Mike Viqueira reported.”
I use this citation to prove that I am not a fan of either party or big government. Government uses its power to abridge our rights and conceal its actions. Americans should realize that the government is not our “friend”, can’t always protect us, and should definitely not be trusted.
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