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Friday, April ao, 2007 I The Red * Black
laurM Morgan | Editor in Chirp
editor@ratulb.com
Colin Dunlop I Managing Editor
me@ratulb.cam
FT Umpires* I Opinions Editor
opintonst&randb.com
Opinion Meter
4- .-1 wrap-up of the week’s ups and downs
VTragedy
Our hearts go out to the entire Virginia
Tech community and to the family and
friends of University alum Jamie
Bishop, a German professor who was
killed during Monday’s shooting. While l
the horrific details of that day are con-
tinuing to unfold, we’re thankful our
University is working on its own
response plan to help prevent a similar
incident from occuring here.
Good (and safe) Samaritans
What started as a Red & Black story
and instutional initiative is now a reali
ty the University has a “Responsible
Action Protocol.” Originally called the
Medical Amnesty Policy, the Protocol
allows for special consideration by the
Office of Judicial Programs for students
who seek medical assistance for them- ry
selves or other students under the /
influence of drugs alcohol being one C
of them. The plan also distinguishes
between possession and consumption
and clarifies the minimum sanctions for
first and second-time drug policy
offenders. We applaud the University’s
administration for passing the policy,
thus stressing the importance of stu
dents properly caring for themselves
and their peers in times of need.
The little parking lot that could
Once upon a time, in a land situated at
the intersection of Lumpkin and Baxter
streets, there lived a little parking lot
with a big deam. This lot Nil as he
was called wanted to be something
more than just another parking lot. All
the other lots made fun of him, but that
didn’t change his dream. “One day I’ll
be a giant student center!” he said. The A
mighty Hull Street deck replied “No /vy
you won’t, little one, you’ll never get the L
funding and your dreams won’t make it
past the design phase. Even if you get
past that, construction costs surely will
rise from a natural disaster.” But little
Nil persevered and Wednesday the
beginning of his dream came true with
the groundbreaking of his student cen
ter which he lovingly named Tate 11.
We support Nil for being the little
parking lot that dared to dream.
Who needs an apartment?
The Student Learning Center now offi
cially is open 24 hours a day, so if
you’re thinking what we’re thinking, /
gather up your laptop, sleeping bag and \
pack a cooler, because it’s possible now
to live at the SLC.
Friend in need is a friend indeed
We tip our hats to Nugi’s Space, which
held its annual Depression and Suicide P)
Week, offering informative events to /
help raise awareness and take away ~
some of the societal stigma placed on
depression and suicide.
Quote of the week: “Basically, we are human
fireworks. Using steel grinders, we produce
showers of sparks in every direction against our
steel outfits that are made by Virgin Iron.”
Dystroy Krucifixiation of The Terror Twins
describing the duo’s live performance.
They will be performing at Repent Bar,
at 10 p.m. this Saturday.
NEWS: 433-3002
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Opinions
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Giant Mailbox
E-mail anti letters from our readers
Students should unite, love each other
I don’t think the best
police officers, metal detec
tors and Kevlar vests could
protect us from the sort of
danger seen at Virginia
Tech Instead, I believe the
love we show our fellow stu
dents can protect us.
Every student and faculty
member knows how stress
ful the so-cailed college
experience can be. I worry
every day about how I am
going to find a career, finish
a project, study for a test,
work a campus job and still
maintain a social life. We all
have been stressed and bro
ken down to tears worrying
about how we are going to
finish everything.
We need to show love to
others. It’s not a religious
thing; it's a Georgia thing.
We are a body united by the
geographic location of our
education You never know
who is going to break and
who they are going to take it
out on. Bea friend.
KEVIN JOSEPH SPARDELLO
Senior, Alpharetta
Housing and Consumer
Economics
Second Amendment
inalienable freedom
Kate McDonald’s April 19
letter neglects one impor
tant concept: Rights are not
given by government; they
either are restricted or guar
anteed.
The Second Amendment
to the United States
Constitution guarantees the
right of an individual to
keep and bear arms Our
rights as expressed in that
Constitution are recognized
to have existed before it was
written, the words being put
on paper merely to recog
nize their existence.
The right to bear arms is
not a benevolent gift from
politicians in Washington, it
is an inalienable freedom no
one can take away legally.
Guns are not allowed on
college campuses in most
states They were not
allowed in Virginia. Did
these gun-free zones save
any lives? No. Is it possible a
student with a concealed
weapon could have stopped
this massacre? We’ll never
know, but concealed weapon
holders passing by or on
school grounds with permis
sion have stopped such inci
dents in the past.
Perhaps people should
consider facts and evidence
about firearms and their
uses instead of personal
fears and prejudice about
them.
FRED MAIDMENT
Grad Student, Dacula
Business Administration
Guns debate needs
level, mature heads
In this guns debate, it
would be prudent to realize
a few things.
One, there is nothing
ironic about Mr. Slaughter’s
last name. Irony is when one
expects a certain outcome,
and the opposite happens.
It would be Ironic if Mr.
Slaughter could raise the
dead.
Two, it also is not ironic
but rather interesting to
note that a) Ms. MacDonald
is against the presence of
guns, and yet b) the people
who were called to stop Mr.
E MAILING US
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Seung-Hui were summoned
because they had ... gUns.
She also reveals a deeper
issue within the anti-gun
crowd. It’s not that they
don’t like guns. They don’t
like people who like guns.
Until we stop bringing up
• gunslinger" and "peacenik”
stereotypes, we’re never
going to have a serious dis
cussion about the right to
and responsibilities of bear
ing arms.
TODD ZEIGLER
Alumnus, Louisville, Ky.
Journalism
Where’s the outrage
over deaths in Iraq?
A truly heartbreaking
tragedy has occurred at
Virginia Tech and my sym
pathies and condolences go
out to those directly affect
ed by these events. The
empathy felt by those all
over the nation is obvious,
and on campus it is appar
ent everywhere you go.
Outrage is felt toward the
faculty of Virginia Tech for
not warning students of this
impending danger. Thirty
three people have died.
I feel for these people, I
really do But where is the
daily outpouring of sympa
thy for the 30 people who
die daily in Iraq? Where is
the empathy for those fami
lies and loved ones splashed
across Facebook pages?
Where is the outrage at
the government officials?
Where is the outrage over
the fact this still is going on
after four long years, and
possibily that many more?
Where are the names of the
over 3,000 deceased?
Where is the outrage?
BROOKLYN MUNDY
Sophomore, Lawrenceville
Computer Science
Richards’ cartoon
harsh, necessary
I am grateful to Mr.
Richards for his cartoon on
April 17. While many may
have bad things to say of
the image, I applaud it and
him. The image is a lesson
that applies to many
University students, and it is
a lesson that needs to be
learned quickly.
The lesson is a simple
one: We live in an ivory
tower called "college.” It is
for the most part an ideolog
ical world where fUn is to be
had along with a feeling that
we, as the prtviledged youth
of America, are owed some
thing. That is not the case,
as the unfortunate Virginia
Tech students discovered.
This incident demostrates
the truth about the world
we live in that it is a
nasty, vile and evil place
where things such as this
can and do happen ... to
anyone.
Do you think this lesson
has not been learned
already by college-aged men
and women who dodge bul
lets daily in the quagmired
conflict in Iraq? Asa veter-
Hedtoack
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ESTABLISHED INK). INDEPENDENT I9HO
an I can assure this lesson is
old in the repetoir of service
men and women every
where.
This horrible incident is a
wake up call, and if it needs
ruthless advertising, such as
the kind given it by Mr.
Richards, I am all for it.
Maybe our generation
needs something such as
this to wake us up from our
culture of consumption so
we may give our great pow
ers and abilities to things
that truly deserve our focus.
THOMAS DREW BEUSSE
Sophomore, DanieJtville
Political Science
Backlash to cartoon
reflective of public
It seems no one has any
explanation for just who Bill
Richards is obligated to
respect. I for one am offend
ed by just about every mean
spirited knee-jerk (or just
jerk) response given here,
but I’m not advocating any
one get fired, or shut up
(though I wouldn’t object if
you did).
Someone needs to start
being enraged at the fact we
live in the only culture on
earth where students kill
each other for being stu
dents. The scathing
responses to Richards' car
toon demonstrate how mis
guided and perverse our col
lective response to gun vio
lence has become.
DUNCAN MEISEL
Junior, Austin, Texas
Speech Communication
Toledo the new PC
police in Athens
Holy Toledo! It’s the PC
police, Batman! Certainly,
Ms. Toledo (in her April 17
letter) is entitled to her
opinion that there is no
place for sarcasm or
extreme viewpoints in the
newspaper, but I disagree.
Insistence upon political
ly correct language and
rejection of a “laissez-faire
attitude” (or any other form
of dissent) are the primary
source of cultural and, more
importantly, intellectual
decadence in America.
The only means by which
correct thought and opin
ions may be formulated is by
the consideration of all view
points on an issue.
Side-stepping valid view
points in order to be politi
cally correct or to avoid
being labeled as having an
“abhorrent” view is the
quickest way to a group
think dilemma.
Sometimes, a viewpoint
with which one disagrees is
not pretty. The solution to
this is for the individual to
consider the validity of the
view in relation to their own
ideas. Intolerance of free
speech in defense of any
other form of tolerance Is
hypocrisy and nothing more.
Tha* reality of the world is
free speech carries the cost
of conflict, be it ideological
or personal. The only abhor
rent journalism is that
which avoids controversy for
the sake of preventing
offense. If you don’t like the
opinions in the paper, don’t
read them.
TODD GARCIA
Freshman, Augusta
PoMlcial Science, Economics
Zajd Jilani
▲
Come rally
for peace at
noon in Tate
Today, various stu
dent organizations,
including the
Campus Greens, will be
rallying in Tate Plaza at
noon to call for an end to
the occupation of Iraq —a
call the vast majority of
Americans and Iraqis
endorse —and to speak
against attacking Iran.
Only 25 percent of
Americans in a recent rep
utable poll say military
action against Iran is
acceptable; 8 percent of
Britons share the same
opinion.
In the spirit of Dr.
King, let's end this
madness...
I realize marching on a
date often associated with
marijuana and the hippie
movement has its draw
backs, but the task at
hand here goes way
beyond jokes about 1960s
culture.
The other morning, I
read an article from The
Village Voice about a
young American soldier
who came home from the
war with brain damage.
His mother has to feed
him and change his diaper
while he cries out in pain
from his wounds.
His suffering —and
hers joins that of the
tens of thousands of
Coalition soldiers wound
ed and crippled in this
illegal war started on bla
tant lies (Google
“Downing Street Memos”
if you have any doubt that
Bush and Blair intention
ally lied to us all).
We now know at least
half a million Iraqis have
died as a result of our
invasion. Their burned
and mangled bodies lay
strewn over the wrecked
infrastructure of modem
Mesopotamia.
Four million Iraqis have
become refugees, and the
amount of money we have
spent destroying this
weak Arab country
could’ve inoculated every
child on earth against
deadly diseases dis
eases that kill tens of
thousands a day for the
next 80 years.
Even the most shrill
apologists for this inva
sion cannot look into the
eyes of a dying Congolese
child and tell her, “We’d
like to save your life, but
decimating neighborhoods
in Fallujah with bombs is
more important.”
All of this makes me
reflect seriously on the
state of my country. What
in God’s name have we
become?
We are the number one
arms exporter on earth
while tens of millions of
our citizens live in horrific
poverty and without
healthcare.
We are the birthplace of
modem representative
democracy, and yet our
elections now are sold to
the highest bidders.
The distress I’m feeling
is not new. In his land
mark Beyond Vietnam
speech, given exactly one
year before he was assas
sinated, Dr. King
addressed the problems
plaguing our society then
and today.
King's poetic voice
boomed, “I knew that I
could never again raise my
voice against the violence
of the oppressed in the
ghettos without having
first spoken clearly to the
greatest purveyor of vio
lence in the world today
my own government...
For the sake of hundreds
of thousands trembling
under our violence, I can
not be silent.”
In the spirit of Dr. King,
let's end this madness and
go “Beyond Iraq” in creat
ing a society where peace
and justice take prece
dence.
Zaid Jilani is a
freshman from
Kennesaw majoring in
international affairs