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Friday, October 5, 2001

The Today Show (NBC)

Teleconference between Oklahoma students and New York students

ANCHORS: KATIE COURIC

BODY: KATIE COURIC, co-host: The tragic link between Oklahoma City and New York City has become a healing connection between teen-agers from two high schools in those cities. In a 90 minute teleconference, students from Southeast High in Oklahoma City hooked up with a group of kids from Stuyvesant High School in New York just blocks from ground zero. And as the discussion ended, one student in Oklahoma closed the 1300 mile gap between them with this final salute.

Mr. TYLER OLDHAM (Oklahoma City): I'd just like to recognize you all as my personal heroes. I have a lot of respect for you and your attitudes, you're a beacon of light and an example of how Americans act. None of us will ever be the same. We will be better and we will be stronger. We will stand beside you and support you as we know you supported us on April 19th, 1995. Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America.

COURIC: Southeast High School senior Tyler Oldham is at school this morning. He's joined by Kevin Hopkins from the Grief Relief Network, who came up with the idea. And here in New York is Stuyvesant senior Jukay Hsu and Chris Plutte from the group Global Nomads who set up the link. Good morning to everybody.

Mr. CHRIS PLUTTE (Founder, Global Nomads): Good morning.

Mr. KEVIN HOPKINS: Good morning.

Mr. OLDHAM: Good morning.

Mr. JUKAY HSU (Stuyvesant High School Senior): Good morning.

COURIC: Kevin, let me start with you. How--why did you come up with this idea?

Mr. KEVIN HOPKINS: I'm a doctor, and actually I train in New York City, I'm from the New York area. And I was in Corpus Christi and I had--when the towers went down I felt I had to do something, so I drove up to New York, wound up at ground zero, and just was overwhelmed by the situation there, that there's--that I felt helpless there was nothing I could do. And I saw on the TODAY show, when I was up there, you had a woman, Diane Leonard, who lost a husband in the Oklahoma incident. And the take-home message for me was that she said that doctors and psychiatrists, everyone is wonderful, but the--the most benefit they got, she and survivors got, was by talking to someone else who'd go through a sim--similar situation. A kind of light went off. I go, boy, maybe we can connect people with video conferencing. That's how this kind of all came about.

COURIC: That's right, and she talked about how...

Mr. HOPKINS: She'd--in the healing process.

COURIC: ...someone who'd been affected by Pan Am Flight 103 had been so helpful to her healing. Jukay before we talk about--(coughs) excuse me--the teleconference, describe what life was like at your high school on September 11th.

Mr. HSU: Well, the incident--the incident happened just on the start of second period. And when--when it happened, I was at the north side of the building in class, and all you could hear was, like, sirens and fire engines in the background. And we weren't really sure what was happening, but you could notice that something was happening. And then the principal went on the loud speaker and told us what had happened. And the next class, you know, I went across--across the building, you could see like the gaping hole in the World Trade Center. And everyone was just, you know, horrified at what had happened.

COURIC: You obviously were evacuated.

Mr. HSU: Yes.

COURIC: And you haven't been back to Stuyvesant since, right?

Mr. HSU: Right.

COURIC: It's going to re-open, I understand, on Tuesday?

Mr. HSU: Hopefully it will be open on Tuesday.

COURIC: Where have you guys been going to school?

Mr. HSU: Right now we've been relocated to Brooklyn Tech High School.

COURIC: So, obviously, you were right there, and experienced the whole thing.

Mr. HSU: Right.

COURIC: Which was--was it traumatic for you?

Mr. HSU: At certain times it was pretty scary, like when--when the building started to fall. And then it was like a cloud of smoke rushing up, and, you know, when we were evacuating, it was kind of hectic. But it was a pretty good procedure and everyone got out safely.

COURIC: Tyler, let me ask you what you were hoping to--to do to help the kids in New York City by participating in this teleconference.

Mr. OLDHAM: I just wanted the students in New York to realize that Americans, as well as the rest of the world, care about them, and that we're more than just an e-mail address or donations. We're people. We're here to listen and to support them. And that's all we wanted to convey. We just wanted to convey our support and love.

COURIC: Tyler, I know you were in--you were in elementary school when the Murrah Federal Building blew up. Do you remember that time in your life very well?

Mr. OLDHAM: Yes, I do. I remember the class I was in. I was in second hour science class. And we just heard the--the explosion, and then a few minutes later, they came over the intercom and the TV and told us what had happened, much the same that they did in New York.

COURIC: So what was your response when you heard about what had happened at the World Trade Center? Did you feel a sense of deja vu?

Mr. OLDHAM: Yes, I did. I--I felt a lot--a lot of a--it was almost like I--I didn't believe it, you know, that it could happen again. And then as the story came in, you--you feel shock and pain, but there--it was much the same feelings, only I'm older now, and I can accept things better. I can work with things better, you know, sort them out in my head. So I understood this--this event more. And I think it actually affected me more.

COURIC: Jukay, tell me if this was helpful to you, and if so, why, to talk to kids from Oklahoma City. And then you can tell me about the cultural differences you sort of noticed, as well.

Mr. HSU: Right. I mean, I think it was very helpful, like, all the students on our side. There were, I think, 21 students from Stuyvesant High School that participated in this and they all enjoyed it. Because I mean, you know, you got a chance to talk with people across the country and share like your experience and their experiences and just to see how--what they're going through, and, you know, it's just a good exchange.

COURIC: And you were mentioning that, to me earlier, that you thought while New Yorkers sort of turned to volunteerism, that more kids in Oklahoma City turned toward their religion.

Mr. HSU: Right. That was just something that struck many of us during the video conference, that there was like, sort of cultural differences, obviously, across the country. And in Oklahoma City, they seemed to use religion. I mean, it seemed to play a larger role in their lives as compared to here in New York City. And that was just something that we realized.

COURIC: Although you conceded that probably...

Mr. HSU: Yeah, the nature...

COURIC: ...a lot of kids even in your high school probably are turning to their faith, as well.

Mr. HSU. Right.

COURIC: But maybe they're a little less vocal about it.

Mr. HSU: Right.

COURIC: Chris Plutte, I know your organization is called Glomal--Global Nomads. What struck you about the--the conversation these kids were having?

Mr. PLUTTE: I think that--just how they related with each other, you know, to--to--I think that the students in New York, they kind of felt that maybe they didn't have--that they were kind of isolated. And to know that there were people in Oklahoma that really identified with them, I think really helped them. And I think that it was good for the Oklahoma kids as well, to be able to--be able to help the kids here in New York.

COURIC: And I know that, Jukay, you've said you'd be interested in participating in more teleconferences perhaps with kids from the Mideast.

Mr. HSU: Yeah. We think that this is a good experience, is a good educational experience that, you know, we can exchange ideas from people all over the country and people, you know, in these Middle Eastern countries where people from, you know, the Muslim culture and like, you know, in Palestine or, you know, Afghanistan or whatever and just to see what they're thinking because they obviously have a different perspective on the incidents that occurred and why they occurred. And the more education we have, the better we can prevent things like this from happening in the future.

COURIC: I know it was an interesting, wide-ranging discussion of the US response and how to balance civil liberties with rooting out terrorists. And you all got a lot of things off your chest. And--and it was--gave each other a lot of things to think about. Well, Jukay Hsu, Chris Plutte, in Oklahoma City, Tyler Oldham and Dr. Kevin Hopkins, thank you all so much for talking with us this morning. We appreciate it.

Mr. PLUTTE: Thank you.

Mr. HOPKINS: Thank you.

Mr. OLDHAM: Thank you.

COURIC: Next up, will there be a baby boom in our future? But first, these messages.

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