And Another Thing About Virginia Tech

Posted by: Matt O'Connell

In my last post I mentioned that no one would be talking about the continuing tragedy that is Iraq in the context of mourning the students of Virginia Tech. I'm about to.

The other night, an impromptu candlelight vigil was held, while it was still daylight, outside of the Central Campus Apartments. Near-constant intercom barrages urged those of us who live there to attend, informing us that there were 'THREE MINUTES' or some such ridiculous number until it would begin. A more official, well-planned vigil is being scheduled for Monday, April 23 (see the front page of Red Skies) but I have to say that it, like other such public demonstrations of grief, is largely a meaningless gesture.

Christianity, a religious tendency to which I no longer belong but I imagine many of the people who will attend the vigil consider themselves at least nominally members of, does well to teach us (in its Biblical form) that the sort of display that will take place on Monday is empty, an exercise by each individual there to sublimate themselves to the mass of supposed mourning rather than reflecting privately within their own conscience and consciousness. Quoth Jesus: 'And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men....But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.' (Matthew 6:5-6, NIV). Excellent commentary on some aspects of human nature, there. Most go to a vigil, one for people they didn't know, in order to show others that they are a good person because they care. While all college students feel a particular pain at what took place, the supposed need to halt our daily lives for such a ceremony is exploitative and amnesiac— indeed, it is almost sociopathic, revealing a massive blind spot in the eye of the public.

A great many Americans, whether they know it or not, are subconsciously counting their figures in a terrible calculus, continuing to labour under the delusion that 'the troops' are dying for their country, or nobly, or for some good reason, and that the students at Virginia Tech were gunned down senselessly— in short, that a loss of innocence has occurred. In truth, the students whose lives were ended by a mad gunman are a domestic echo of the plight of young soldiers (you know, the ones who didn't go to college) dying under similar circumstances at the same stage of life in the Middle East, either losing their lives or becoming mad gunmen themselves; they slaughter and are slaughtered, transacting the sinister business of war. On April 16th, the victims died needlessly, but people need to wake up and realise that many more have been dying for absolutely no reason on many many days. We don't stop for them, we just get magnets for our cars and talk about war funding, mouthing empty slogans of support, or else try not to think about it at all (which is what we do in regard to the Iraqis themselves). If we kept stopping for all of those deaths, we wouldn't be able to move at all, and part of us knows it. We mourn for what happens in closer proximity to us because the consideration of it is harder to avoid, but that doesn't make us right.

'The girl who led to massacre'

Posted by: Matt O'Connell

Andrew Kehoe, the man responsible for the Bath School massacre in 1927, left a final cryptic message in reference to what was apparently the motive for his crime, that is, a property tax that he blamed for the foreclosure of his farm: "CRIMINALS ARE MADE, NOT BORN." This wasn't the beginning of victim-blaming by any means, but an article that came to my attention today in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings brought it to mind. Entitled 'The girl who led to massacre,' it is a piece that appears in Metro, a free daily newspaper in the UK. It begins with the following line: 'This is the face of the teenage student who may have sparked the biggest gun massacre in US history.' The picture is that of one Emily Jane Hilscher, the first victim. It is speculated that she may have been an ex-girlfriend of the gunman. And apparently the whole thing is her fault.

Apparently, everything has to be a woman's fault. It is notable that the sensationalistic article was apparently written before the killer's name even became known; it is based purely on early speculation as to motive. As of this writing I gather that she was apparently not ever in a relationship with the killer and may have been stalked by him beforehand. Either way, it doesn't matter: we're talking about a victim here. She was shot and killed. I didn't think anything could be more straightforward until I saw that write-up, which renders the phrase 'the worst possible light' an obsolete description in its sheer darkness and insanity. There's so much faith in humanity to be lost these days — it continues to surprise me that we ever had so much to lose in the first place — every angle of this situation is outrage upon outrage, horror upon horror. Responses range from silent prayer to shows of solidarity to rage against immigrants to calls for more stringent gun control laws to affirmations of the right to bear arms to the futile search for some connection to international terrorism in order to spice up the whole business.

Violence is the worst in humanity and the response, in some ways, almost matches it. It's one thing to be interested in the motive, but this sort of fetishistic fixation on the victim is sick in a way I can't quite describe. Not much is even actually said about her in the article, just some pictures (in one she is 'pouting and looking relaxed') and the nudge-nudge insinuation that she 'sparked' something. This is not the sort of memorial piece that will inevitably appear for the students lost in the tragedy; instead, it is a ghoulish, voyeuristic, and hurried slice of victim-blaming that represents the kneejerk reaction of the worst in society, those who would perhaps consider such violence a touch below justified because a woman is involved. The speculative, misogynistic undercurrent — just look at her. Anything to make sure some uppity bitch gets at least part of the blame, right? The girl's fault. If we can pin it on some Muslims as well it's all the better. I'm waiting for the fact that the guy was from South Korea to catch on somewhere and for people to start saying that there may be a connection to the DPRK. Bush was right about the Axis of Evil! Something like that still wouldn't touch what appeared in Metro, though, and no one will mention the thousands of deaths in Iraq as we mourn the deaths of these students here at home. The pinnacle of disgusting always seems to be just out of reach for the media, so they are ever reaching higher in order to come a little closer with each tragic new day.

Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say.

~Jake Hudson (editor-in-chief)

Don Imus has been fired from his nationally syndicated radio show. This is old news at this point... but why was he fired? Was he fired because he made a comment that was both racist and degrading to women? Was it because it was in poor taste? Was it because our nation is finally fed up with this kind of "comedy"? I would like to say that was the case, but really when it comes right down to it... he was fired because of money. All his big time sponsors pulled the plug, thus MSNBC and CBS fired him. The companies that carried Imus' show could care less about his remarks, as he has been making these kinds of comments for years without being fired... MSNBC and CBS care about their bottom line, and that's the bottom line here.
Should Imus have been fired? No, of course not... in America we have this crazy little thing called freedom of speech. This protects not only Imus, but also Howard Stern, Carlos Mencia and Chris Rock. Anyone can say anything, and if you don't like it, then don't listen, or fight back by exercising YOUR freedom of speech.
There are still racists in America, of every nationality and color, it's a simple fact of human nature. We humans have an amazing capacity for hate, and we show it more often than not. It might not be right, but it's the reality we live in.
If we are going to have free speech it should apply to everything... everything. Love, hate, ignorance, and amazingly intelligent ideas, all are allowed, or none.

Take your pick, freedom or oppression.

Global Warming: Is it hot in here?

~Jake Hudson (editor-in-cheif)

So, we've all heard the news stories, seen Al Gore's movie, and heard all the scientists doomsday theories. The world is going to be consumed by a ridiculous heatwave and everyone and everything is going to melt. Have I got it right? It's hard to imagine that while walking around the past few days in the below zero weather. I know, it's a gradual thing, the polar ice caps will melt and flood the world. But, it's not going to happen in my lifetime, so why do I care? I know I should care about the future generations of the world, I should do my part to recycle, save energy, and not add to the immense amount of greenhouse gases that are collecting in our atmosphere. If I don't then someone I don't know a million years from now will have to live in a bubble underwater. Sure, I can do my part, but what about the people that run the world? They are the one's who have the real power to do things, but I don't see much, just a lot of hot air (pun intended)...as usual.
I know it makes me sound like a horrible person, but I don't care about global warming, nor do I care about recycling. I know that if everyone who shared my view did their part then the inevitable flooding of the planet would be postponed by a year or two, but I honestly think it's too little, far too late. So let me drive my car and throw away my glass bottle in the trash, and I'll let you recycle and drive a hybrid.

"We Would Appreciate Your Feedback": A Short, Uncalled-For Rant on Residence Life

Posted by: Matt O'Connell

I'm not sure if this is as big a problem to other people living on campus as it is to me, but I really, really hate the Quality of Life survey. Here's what happens: you get an ominous-looking letter saying that you've been selected to fill out a survey and providing the date and time you will be expected to participate. Then the lure: free pizza.

Last year, living in Bowditch Hall, I was selected and forgot about it until an hour or so before the time came. I took another look at the letter, having a horrible day in the first place and unwilling to leave the room, and discovered that the word "mandatory" did not appear anywhere within. So I didn't go. Later, during the block I was scheduled to arrive, there was a knock on my door and a couple of RA's basically threatened me in various ways until I left with them and filled out the form, refusing the offer of free pizza as I left. I didn't feel like fighting even though I knew their threats were baseless.

This year, I was determined not to participate even though I had again been selected. The night came and they came by my room again, except this time a roommate answered the door before me (I would have freaked out, I was uncharacteristically quick to anger that day) and said we'd all be down shortly. None of us went-- a victory.

But it wasn't that simple. This very evening, almost a week later, another knock came. You guessed it! Quality of Life surveys! A roommate and I were the only ones around so an innocent-looking young woman handed us each a form and said she had to wait in the hallway until we had filled them out. I wasn't going to do it, but I knew that would only be making her life difficult, so I checked "no opinion" on every query and left a bitter message in the blank space at the end of the form. You'd be amazed at how much "quality of life" suffers when Residence Life is so insistent about something so vacuous. I feel the methods currently in use should be re-evaluated if the powers that be expect honest answers, because they aren't going to get them with this sort of coercion going on.