During the early days of a senior interior design class project to create two models of suggested memorials to the victims of the Sept. 11 acts of terrorism, one of Professor Krista Atkins Nutter's students at EKU reported that her research on the Internet was interrupted.

"She told me had to stop because she was crying," Nutter said. "That was symbolic of what all the students were going through" as two teams of four students each poured their emotions, knowledge and skills into scaled monuments that would honor those who lost their lives in New York City, Washington, D.C. and rural Pennsylvania.

The models - one 5 feet by 5 feet the other 4 x 4 - likely will stay at EKU, but the project already has served several valuable purposes. For Ashley Rickett, Louisville, the project provided a "chance to show more of our creative side" while making her and fellow students even more aware - painfully at times -- of world events.

For Laura Weddle, Danville, "it was a good release emotionally. It let us better understand how we felt about the events of Sept. 11." A dome is the centerpiece of the model designed and constructed by Rickett and three classmates: Tabatha Mann, Salyersville; Magen Ferrell, Shelbyville; and Amy McDermott, Fort Mitchell. Three granite pathways lead to the main structure, representing the locations were lives were lost. Terrazo tiles made to represent flags of the countries represented among the victims line the entire base of the dome and a pool of water allows for reflection. The names of all the ground victims are engraved on the inside of the dome's wall and the names of those who perished on the flights are engraved on tiles along the pathways.

When inside the dome, visitors also would notice a marble statue of the firemen placing the flag upright on Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. An eternal flame surrounds the statue to further honor the memory of the firemen, policemen and other emergency workers who sacrificed their lives to save others.

The other model, while not as visually elaborate, is elegant in its simplicity. A circle of steps surround the memorial's center, marked by a sculpture of two standing triangles The red and blue quartzite triangles represent the two World Trade Center towers and, according to the model designers: faith, hope and charity; birth, life and death; mind, body and soul; father, mother and child; and past, present and future. Each victim of the terrorist acts is honored by a white granite star with names engraved.

The model is designed to be placed on an island near Lower Manhattan, so that visitors would be soothed by the surrounding water, yet the skyline of where the towers once stood would still be visible. "Everybody has a different range of emotions concerning Sept. 11, so we wanted to design our model so that everyone who visited would come away with a different experience," said Weddle of the latter model, whose design/construction team also included Cara Glenn, Flroence; Andrea Rutledge, Louisville; and Katrina Harris, Corbin.

Nutter acknowledged questions about the project's fitness for an interior design class. "Interior design," she explained, "is everything but interior decoration. Interior design is the art of shaping an individual's spatial experience.

"Even before the project was posed to the students, the design solutions were already happening inside of them. The existence and life-breath of these students have given them the only tools necessary for their contemplations, revelations, expressions and creations."

EKU offers a baccalaureate degree in interior design.