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Re: Structural failure of NY's WTC



My students wanted to analyze the physics of this on 9/11 but I was like no no and no. I was like have some respect for these people.

I was like give it a rest. They were like we talk about the Tacoma narrows bridge and other stuff like that and I was like big difference, no one died on that bridge.

As a new teacher I don't even want to go into something like this.

Tina

Be *very* careful about introducing this into any class. A few years
back I used an example of a recent air crash as a lesson in physics...the
students were horrified and disgusted that I could even analyze such an
event. They were equally horrified to think that the NTSB uses the same
techniques. Most people cannot separate themselves from such events. And
as this was probably the worst such attack in US history, I think bringing
this up in any physics context can only do severe damage to the profession
in the eyes of the students. Discussing among ourselves is fine, I
caution against any use of this event in a class.

Michael Monce
Connecticut College

Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429