I was watching President George W. Bush’s press conference Monday feeling somewhat helpless just as I have for the past month. At the end of the conference, he said the American Red Cross is putting together a relief fund for the children of Afghanistan, and he urged the children of the United States to give a dollar to the fund. What bothered me most was that one in three children in Afghanistan are orphans. My parents were the first people I called Sept. 11. I cannot imagine not having parents I could call.

The children of Afghanistan must be even more scared now than I was then, and they have no one to turn to, no one to answer their questions. I was really moved by this effort by the United States to take a stand in saying that we are trying to fight terrorism and not the country of Afghanistan, not the Afghan people. I think it would be wonderful if GW could put something together to contribute to this effort. If everyone at GW gave a dollar, we could raise thousands for this fund.

I hope GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg will lend his support to this initiative. I hope we can collectively send a check to the White House to contribute to the relief fund. Everyone here at GW is able to understand how scary it must be to be away from family and loved ones in a stressful time. We were in the same position only a month ago.

-Kate Wiley,
sophomore