Date: Sep 04, 2006

SURVEY FINDS SPOUSES, CHILDREN OF VICTIMS STILL STRUGGLING WITH 9/11 FIVE YEARS LATER

Results to be released at Hofstra symposium on the legacy of the terrorist attacks

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY - Adults and children who lost relatives in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks continue to struggle with grief, anxiety and concerns over their safety five years later, according to a new survey by the World Trade Center Family Center of South Nassau Communities Hospital.

The survey was done to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Full results of the survey will be released tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 5) at "The Future of September 11," a half-day symposium at Hofstra University that looks at the legacy of that day.

Among the results of the survey of 105 adults who lost loved ones on 9/11:

 ·        60 % said they do not believe the United States is safer today that it was on September 11.

·        60 % of the parents said they worry about the impact of 9/11 on their children's futures.

The World Trade Center Family Center will also release data from two previously unreleased surveys, one on rescue and recovery workers and the other on children and teenagers who lost parents in the attacks.

"The Future of September 11" takes place from 12:30-7 p.m. and brings together elected officials, groups representing the families of victims, scholars, artists, psychologists, journalists, first responders and others to look back on that terrible day and how it has affected our perceptions, our culture and our government, and to begin to explore the legacy that the chaos, loss and then recovery has created for all of us.

The full survey results will be presented following the opening remarks of the conference, which takes place at 1:30 p.m. at the Cranford Adams Playhouse on the South Campus of Hofstra University. Clinical psychologist Dr. Thomas Demaria, director of the World Trade Center Family Center and Assistant Vice President, Behavioral Health Services, South Nassau Communities Hospital, will address the survey data. The surveys will also be the topic of discussion at a symposium panel "Coming of Age After September 11: How Crisis Has Changed Today's Youth." The panel begins at 4:15 p.m. in the Axinn Library, 10th Floor, South Campus.

Presented by Hofstra University and the World Trade Center Family Center and sponsored by Newsday, "The Future of September 11" will feature panels on "The Post 9/11 Presidency;" "Remembering 9/11: Making a Memorial for Everyone;" "The Message and the Media: How 9/11 Has Changed Mass Communication;" and "The Post-9/11 Presidency." Other panels will discuss how September 11 has shaped our foreign policy and our religious institutions.

Other highlights of the symposium:

•   WNBC TV's Greg Cergol will moderate a panel consisting of family members of 9/11 victims who founded advocacy groups to fight for all victims' families.
• New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer, co-author with Kevin Flynn of "102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers" (Times Books, 2004), will be the keynote speaker for the symposium.
• MTV News Anchor Gideon Yago will lead an interactive Student Town Hall that encourages young adults to discuss their views on how September 11 has affected their lives and our society. The panel will be taped by C-Span for airing after Sept. 6.
• The Honorable Carolyn McCarthy   has been added to   the program as a panelist, joining fellow members of Congress Peter King and Steve Israel.

Also at Hofstra, "Voiceless in the Presence of Realities," an artistic and culturally relevant remembrance of the events of September 11, 2001 with a distinctly Long Island view will debut at the Hofstra Museum. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Museum and the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra and includes works by about a dozen prominent Long Island artists and by children who are part of the World Trade Center Family Center.