Across the country, official buildings and airports have increased security measures after the attacks of Sept. 11 In Baltimore, the World Trade Center building in the Inner Harbor has been blocked off by cement blockades, police heavily patrol the area, and pedestrians must show proper identification to walk by it.
The World Trade Center is close to many area attractions and now blocks a direct route between Barnes and Noble and the Cheesecake Factory. The heightened security is drawing mixed reactions from students and area residents. As politicians, journalists, and others raise the question of the limitation of personal liberties, on a local level, Baltimore residents are faced with a question: How much security is too much?
A common sentiment in reaction to the new security measures is the concern that fear of terrorist threats will hurt personal freedom in the United States and that heightened security in buildings across the country is only the beginning. Some believe that the increased security measures are uncalled for and are unlikely to provide greater protection.
Freshman Jed Borod says, "I think increased security is bad when it doesn't serve a direct purpose."
Others, though they consider the increased security to be somewhat of an inconvenience, understand the motivations behind it.
"Just because it's called the World Trade Center, it shouldn't be blocked," said freshman Jeff Katzenstein. "Everyone's on high alert now. It's not ridiculous, though - everyone's very affected and scared about what happened, and if that means blocking off a building, fine."
Sophomore Craig Larson agrees.
"It's a necessary precaution, I guess," said Larson. "It seems justified to me. A lot of things we can't control are happening, and so I guess we have to control what we can."
Many echo this sentiment, saying that though the blocking of the World Trade Center is an inconvenience, it is understandable and appropriate for the time and place.
The issue of increased security at the World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor reminds some of the fact that Baltimore is closer to the tragedy of Sept.11 than they had previously considered. Due to Batimore's proximity to Washington, D.C. and the fact that the city was cited as a potential target, many area residents are willing to accept the inconvenience for the purpose of greater security. Sophomore Jonathan Wallach said, "I was there Friday before last with my friends, and you think you're so far away from everything, being in Baltimore, but then we saw the World Trade Center and it was just surrounded by guards. I don't consider it an inconvenience - there's a lot of merit behind what they're doing at this point."
Others hope that the fear of attack will redirect security concerns to where they are necessary. Throughout the country, many institutions are reorganizing their security to cover for any potential threats of attack, and many agree that this is appropriate on both a local and national level.
Sophomore Nat Duca said, "I think that it's a natural human reaction to fix everything we've been slacking off on. So have we been slacking off on security then? It's not entirely clear whether the building was under threat in the first place, but in my opinion, since we have a president for whom a national defense shield was a primary goal, it's good that we're finally heightening security where we need it."
Largely, the overwhelming sense of tragedy after Sept. 11 and the subsequent fear of attack overshadow most annoyance at the inconvenience of the blocking of the World Trade Center at the Inner Harbor. To many, the new security measures act as a reminder of the bombings in New York City and Washington, D.C.
"When I first came down to Baltimore in early September, I walked around the World Trade Center with my family and I didn't really notice anything unusual about it," said freshman Suzy Schweigert. "But when I went down last weekend there were these large cement blockades around it and you had to walk around those to get back to the sidewalk. It was a little bit inconvenient, but it was mostly just weird - it was mostly a reminder of everything that had happened.
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