Many glued to news broadcasts of attacks

Kristy Burgess can't seem to tear herself away from the coverage of the terrorist attacks on America.

"It's all the same images over and over again," Burgess said. "But each time it is just more terrifying than the last. I've tried to stop watching it as much, but it is everywhere."

Even the school cafeteria.

Usually when students at Southeast Missouri State University go to the cafeteria they chat about classes or weekend plans, ignoring the wall-mounted televisions.

That changed Tuesday. The televisions that once played only music and a little news from other college campuses around the country were tuned to CNN for information about the jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Burgess followed events unfolding in New York and Washington, D.C., through Friday, when she decided to try to cut down on how much she watched.

Roommates Ben Ferguson and Kyle Clark originally set up two televisions in their dorm room, one for watching and one for playing video games. But Tuesday they tuned both to coverage of the attacks.

Clark said at first he and Ferguson watched the coverage non-stop but then turned off the televisions when nothing new was happening and the broadcasters seemed to be repeating themselves.

"The last couple of days I've almost wanted to get away from it," Ferguson said.

Televisions in stores

With televisions all over town tuned into the coverage and radio stations giving updates, the attacks are hard to get away from.

Galen Sanders, who works in the electronics department at Sears, said that since Tuesday at least some of the big-screen televisions have been tuned into news coverage throughout the day, drawing customers and department employees.

Sanders said that associates pass by and watch for five or six minutes when they have a few free minutes, and televisions in the store's break room have been set on the news.

"At times it is hard to pull yourself away from watching," Sanders said. "When they repeat a lot of the same information, it is easier. But when there is something late-breaking, it is hard to pull away."

Joey Dale, an associate in the electronics department at Wal-Mart, said that most of the display televisions have been put back on non-news stations, but throughout the store a few televisions have been set up so that customers can stop and watch the latest news.

He said every once in a while people will stop and watch for 10 or 15 minutes before moving on.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128