Pulsating techno music blaring through the speakers. Hundreds of individuals, all jumping up and down to the beat, glowsticks in hand, are dressed up in costumes from simple wigs, to a Chuck-E-Cheese costume or leather chaps baring it all. It might sound like a strange Swiss nightclub, but on Dead Day, Dec. 9, it was the Arkansas Student Union.
College students are notorious for their pranks and various shenanigans--from soaping the fountain to duct taping friends to a wall, students think of it all. A series of Flash Raves, extensively planned dance parties that bring nearly 1,000 students together for ten minutes then immediately disperse before the police arrive, may exemplify a new age of college tomfoolery--one that involves thousands, rather than tens of students because of new technology and online social networks like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
"Really, I just started a group on Facebook after a friend of mine told me about her friends raving at UT Knoxville, because they've been doing it fore a few years," said Erin Robertson, the student who started the Flash Rave group and created the event on Facebook.
Robertson started the group with seven members on Nov. 29, and watched as the group increased to around 2,000 members by the night of the rave, only a week and a half later.
"I made the group on Facebook to kind of gauge the response to see if people were even willing to try it, and it was overwhelmingly positive with students saying 'Yes, we have to do this!'," Robertson said. "Through that group I got people willing to set-up and clean-up, and the DJ."
Joelle Storet, or DJ Joelle, is a native of Austria who was more than willing to bring her disc jockeying abilities to the service of the student body. DJ Joelle said she staked out the Connections Lounge, the area of the Arkansas Union where the rave was to be held, to see where electrical outlets were for speakers and lights, and where lights could be placed in the days before the rave.
A representative of the Arkansas Union confirmed that the students did not have a reservation before the event, which is key to the event being a "Flash" rave--it is done completely outside of the knowing and control of the school administration.
The night of the rave, which was scheduled to begin as the Old Main bell tower rang 11 p.m., students began to flood the Arkansas Union around 10:30 in anticipation of the Flash Rave.
"It was a really nice break from studying," said Rachel Atterstrom, who came with seven of her sorority sisters. "It's hilarious what people will do when they are at their breaking point from studying."
As the clock chimed 11 p.m., the music began and hundreds of students ran into the center of the Connections Lounge and began to dance. Almost immediately after the room was filled with jumping and cheering students, a person dressed in a Chuck E. Cheese Mouse costume crowd surfed across the students.
"When that mouse came over my head, I saw a guy surfing the crowd on a table from the Union and the lights when out, that's when I really thought, 'This is really happening'," Atterstrom said. "If you stood still instead of jumping, you could literally feel the floor moving beneath your feet with the weight of all those people--it felt like it was going up and down about a foot and a half."
"If that would have collapsed it would have been the worst thing in my life," said Robertson, who had not thought about the structural stability of the Arkansas Union before selecting it as the location of the rave. "I would have taken responsibility if something had happened, but I was so scared someone would cross the line or try to impress other people and hurt other students--I'm just thankful everyone was on their best behavior."
Though no official count was taken because the rave was an unofficial event, most students estimated around 1,000 people filled the Union for the rave.
"I would say there were around 1,000 people there, but I'm really not sure because for a while I was there in the middle of the crowd, squished up against everyone dancing," said Robertson. "Someone turned out the lights and everyone had glowsticks and it was really surreal being there in the middle of it all."
When the rave ended roughly 10 minutes after it began, Robertson was quick to pick up and leave.
"I helped clean up, but after that I got the heck out of Dodge because I didn't want to be stopped or questioned," said Robertson. "That was my biggest worry, because as long as people were safe and took responsibility, it would just be wholesome fun, and I didn't want to deal with the Red Tape of going through the University."
Though Robertson left the scene quickly, DJ Joelle stayed with many students who were not finished raving and moved outside toward the library.
"Eventually cops came," DJ Joelle said. "I was pointed out by staff members because I was the DJ and had to talk to them--We basically violated school policy due to lack of security to watch over us raving children. We just had to ask permission that's it."
Though a number of students were warned, no one was arrested and no injuries occurred at the UA Flash Rave.
Less than an hour after the rave ended, YouTube already had nearly 15 videos of the event, and Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with students raving about the rave.
The UA Flash Rave was not the first of its kind by any means. YouTube is full of Flash Rave videos from other universities across the nation, where groups of students banded together during finals week to break up the monotony of studying with a rave, all organized through Facebook and Twitter.
Schools such as Oklahoma State University, Wake Forest, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have had students host flash raves in the student union or library on campus, some drawing over 3,000 students.
Robertson said although the event was fun, the stress it caused her before and after has made her a little apprehensive about sponsoring the Flash Rave for spring finals. She wants to turn that responsibility over to someone else.
"This wasn't done with any devious intent, and if it comes down to it I hope the University will see that and forgive us," said Robertson.
"The damage has been done," DJ Joelle said. "There is no going back."
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Crime on Campus
Most Friday nights, Officer Jennifer Sibley is assigned to the Reid Hall police substation. Many nights her patrols are uneventful—she goes in the residence halls to talk with resident assistants, has a bite to eat at an on-campus restaurant or gives students a ride home in her patrol car. Over the last three semesters, however, Sibley has been responding to an increasing number of calls on campus—calls resulting in an increased number of arrests for public intoxication and drug-related crimes, causing many students to wonder if they are still safe.
Across the University of Arkansas campus, two things are on the rise: number of students attending, and crimes on campus. Many administrators feel that this dangerous correlation, if not stopped now, could cause serious problems for the University in the years ahead, so departments such as University Housing and Greek Life are stepping in to stop what behavior they can now to prevent incidents in the future.
“In Housing we have always seen a significant correlation between the later students enroll and the level of poor behavior they will exhibit,” said Becky Howard, former Director for Leadership within University Housing. “Although they might not like to admit it, there is probably a definite relationship between letting in more students that might not have been as high of performers in high school and more crime on the campus and in the residence halls.”
The enrollment of the University of Arkansas main campus has increased steadily for the last two years, rising to 19,849 students this fall. Models done by the administration have shown the student population would be optimized at 25,000 – a 25 percent increase – for the current amount of space the university has. Chancellor G. David Gearhart has made it a priority to make this increase 2013, leaving administrators, faculty and staff with little time to prepare.
The entering freshman class of 2009 was the largest the University has seen yet, and is raising concern both from administrators and the freshman themselves because of the negative consequences that seem to accompany the larger class.
“I didn’t realize that the crime rate on campus was so high because of the freshman class,” said Daniel Pelton, a freshman engineering major. “ I know I haven’t added to any of the crime statistics, and it doesn’t scare me in the sense that I’m not going to walk around campus at night, but I am worried about the lack of responsibility and integrity among the American youth in general.”
Many freshman seemed to share Pelton’s sentiment, worrying about how the behavior of their classmates will reflect on the graduating class of 2013 as a whole.
“It just makes me wonder what’s going to happen in the years to come,” said Kathryn Blasingame, a freshman childhood education major.
The two largest areas of increased crime are drug and alcohol related offenses. Drug offenses include possession of paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, while alcohol related offenses can range from public intoxication to driving under the influence or minor in possession.
I would guess that most public intoxication and underage drinking reports have been with freshmen,” said Ashley Tull, associate dean of students for Student Affairs. “And we have had numerous medical transports, unfortunately, this year.”
One of these cases of medical transport left a student with a blood alcohol level more than eight times the legal limit in the hospital, and another came after a student was sexually assaulted in her residence hall after a night of drinking.
“Some of the things people are doing are just crazy, and it seems like it is getting harder and harder to avoid it,” said Taylor Hickman, a freshman journalism major. “You used to be able to just stay away from the people that were doing that stuff, but now it is even following you back to your dorm room.”
Because the student transported to the hospital was encouraged to drink at a new member event for his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, the fraternity’s charter has been pulled and everyone in the house was forced to relocate immediately.
“This is my 12th year, and this semester has probably been my worst,” said Parice Bowser, director of UA Greek Life. “I wish I could put my finger on it, but I have no idea why we’re experiencing the issues we are. It’s unfortunate, but that’s where we are.”
All fraternity parties on the UA campus have been suspended until further notice as UA Greek Life responds to the incidents that have occurred this semester.
“I don’t know if it’s just that we’re getting people who are more inclined to drink … (but) I know that other campuses seem to be experiencing the same thing,” Tull said.
According to a study completed in March 2009 by Outside the Classroom, an organization that offers alcohol-prevention programs, and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, first-year college students who used alcohol responded on a survey that they spend more time drinking each week than they do studying.
“I haven’t actually witnessed a crime on campus this semester, but I’ve heard about a lot of stuff,” said Savannah Spagnola, a freshman business major. “It makes me realize that just because you’re on campus, that doesn’t mean nothing can happen and you’re perfectly safe.”
Because of these growing concerns, the University Police have created a number of programs to help prevent crime on campus. Although they frequently present on alcohol awareness, the department still lacks a program on drug education.
UAPD Crime Prevention Officer Jerry Weiner said he believes the increase in drug use on campus is tied to an increase in drugs in the Northwest Arkansas area in general.
“In Northwest Arkansas there are more drugs than ever before,” Weiner said. “Because of this, the UAPD had an officer trained as a drug recognition expert so our force can stay on top of things.”
Officer Weiner said the reason the UAPD does not have a program addressing drug use is that alcohol is their main concern.
“If you’ve got alcohol, it’s a drug,” Weiner said. “They’re related, and when we present on alcohol we always at least touch on drugs, especially when we present to the fraternities.”
So while officials from University Housing, Student Affairs and the University Police are left scratching their heads for the cause, crimes on campus continue to occur—in greater numbers and at a greater severity.
“I don’t know what’s causing it except that new students probably aren’t being educated enough about it before they get here,” Weiner said. “It’s hard to pinpoint a cause, because if we knew the cause we could hopefully be fixing it.”
Across the University of Arkansas campus, two things are on the rise: number of students attending, and crimes on campus. Many administrators feel that this dangerous correlation, if not stopped now, could cause serious problems for the University in the years ahead, so departments such as University Housing and Greek Life are stepping in to stop what behavior they can now to prevent incidents in the future.
“In Housing we have always seen a significant correlation between the later students enroll and the level of poor behavior they will exhibit,” said Becky Howard, former Director for Leadership within University Housing. “Although they might not like to admit it, there is probably a definite relationship between letting in more students that might not have been as high of performers in high school and more crime on the campus and in the residence halls.”
The enrollment of the University of Arkansas main campus has increased steadily for the last two years, rising to 19,849 students this fall. Models done by the administration have shown the student population would be optimized at 25,000 – a 25 percent increase – for the current amount of space the university has. Chancellor G. David Gearhart has made it a priority to make this increase 2013, leaving administrators, faculty and staff with little time to prepare.
The entering freshman class of 2009 was the largest the University has seen yet, and is raising concern both from administrators and the freshman themselves because of the negative consequences that seem to accompany the larger class.
“I didn’t realize that the crime rate on campus was so high because of the freshman class,” said Daniel Pelton, a freshman engineering major. “ I know I haven’t added to any of the crime statistics, and it doesn’t scare me in the sense that I’m not going to walk around campus at night, but I am worried about the lack of responsibility and integrity among the American youth in general.”
Many freshman seemed to share Pelton’s sentiment, worrying about how the behavior of their classmates will reflect on the graduating class of 2013 as a whole.
“It just makes me wonder what’s going to happen in the years to come,” said Kathryn Blasingame, a freshman childhood education major.
The two largest areas of increased crime are drug and alcohol related offenses. Drug offenses include possession of paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, while alcohol related offenses can range from public intoxication to driving under the influence or minor in possession.
I would guess that most public intoxication and underage drinking reports have been with freshmen,” said Ashley Tull, associate dean of students for Student Affairs. “And we have had numerous medical transports, unfortunately, this year.”
One of these cases of medical transport left a student with a blood alcohol level more than eight times the legal limit in the hospital, and another came after a student was sexually assaulted in her residence hall after a night of drinking.
“Some of the things people are doing are just crazy, and it seems like it is getting harder and harder to avoid it,” said Taylor Hickman, a freshman journalism major. “You used to be able to just stay away from the people that were doing that stuff, but now it is even following you back to your dorm room.”
Because the student transported to the hospital was encouraged to drink at a new member event for his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, the fraternity’s charter has been pulled and everyone in the house was forced to relocate immediately.
“This is my 12th year, and this semester has probably been my worst,” said Parice Bowser, director of UA Greek Life. “I wish I could put my finger on it, but I have no idea why we’re experiencing the issues we are. It’s unfortunate, but that’s where we are.”
All fraternity parties on the UA campus have been suspended until further notice as UA Greek Life responds to the incidents that have occurred this semester.
“I don’t know if it’s just that we’re getting people who are more inclined to drink … (but) I know that other campuses seem to be experiencing the same thing,” Tull said.
According to a study completed in March 2009 by Outside the Classroom, an organization that offers alcohol-prevention programs, and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, first-year college students who used alcohol responded on a survey that they spend more time drinking each week than they do studying.
“I haven’t actually witnessed a crime on campus this semester, but I’ve heard about a lot of stuff,” said Savannah Spagnola, a freshman business major. “It makes me realize that just because you’re on campus, that doesn’t mean nothing can happen and you’re perfectly safe.”
Because of these growing concerns, the University Police have created a number of programs to help prevent crime on campus. Although they frequently present on alcohol awareness, the department still lacks a program on drug education.
UAPD Crime Prevention Officer Jerry Weiner said he believes the increase in drug use on campus is tied to an increase in drugs in the Northwest Arkansas area in general.
“In Northwest Arkansas there are more drugs than ever before,” Weiner said. “Because of this, the UAPD had an officer trained as a drug recognition expert so our force can stay on top of things.”
Officer Weiner said the reason the UAPD does not have a program addressing drug use is that alcohol is their main concern.
“If you’ve got alcohol, it’s a drug,” Weiner said. “They’re related, and when we present on alcohol we always at least touch on drugs, especially when we present to the fraternities.”
So while officials from University Housing, Student Affairs and the University Police are left scratching their heads for the cause, crimes on campus continue to occur—in greater numbers and at a greater severity.
“I don’t know what’s causing it except that new students probably aren’t being educated enough about it before they get here,” Weiner said. “It’s hard to pinpoint a cause, because if we knew the cause we could hopefully be fixing it.”
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Where his treasure is
The nurses cautiously moved Aaron’s body over in the hospital bed, careful to avoid the tubes that wound in and out of his body. The brace around his neck still had grass sticking out of it from when EMTs had secured it at the site of the car accident off Bellview Road in Rogers, Ark.
Gently, Heather Buttram climbed into bed and laid her head onto Aaron’s chest. Everything was still and quiet except for the heart monitor gently beeping in the background. As she lay there, she tried to wrap her mind around the reality of it all—this was really it, her last chance to say goodbye. When she and Aaron got engaged exactly a month before, she had no idea that the life they had committed to spending together would only last one month.
On Sept. 5, 2009, Heather got a call she never thought she would receive. Her boyfriend, 20-year-old UA student Aaron Webster, had flipped his Jeep off the road around 1 a.m. on Labor Day. After 36 hours, Aaron died from severe head trauma at Washington Regional hospital surrounded by his family, friends and fiancée.
Aaron’s parents and fiancée are still grieving the loss of a person who Heather said, “lived more in his 20 years than most people live in their entire lives.” Instead of focusing their efforts on their sadness, however, the Websters and Heather they are taking a different approach — they are trying to celebrate his life by continuing the good works he will now never be able to finish.
Heather and Aaron met in high school, but didn’t really become friends until their senior year. The two spent their afternoons playing tennis and casually getting to know each other.
“I liked him because he was just such a good guy,” Heather said. “He always knew how to make me laugh.”
“He was just like a light coming into a room,” said Heather’s mother. “We couldn’t wait for him to come over.”
They started dating near the end of their freshman year in college, when Heather was attending the University of Arkansas and Aaron was at Baylor. After his freshman year, Aaron moved back to Rogers to be closer to his family and closer to Heather.
“He didn’t really want to ever go to college in the first place, he wanted to go out and start helping people,” said Teena, his mother. “In hindsight, I was really pushing him to get that piece of paper.”
While at Baylor, Aaron had allowed a homeless man he met to live with him in his small apartment off campus until he could get back on his feet. When his apartment was robbed and police blamed the man, Aaron refused to believe them, and simply took the loss of his possessions.
According to his mother, Aaron had always been a person who couldn’t stand to watch someone else get hurt. Once afternoon while Heather and Aaron were driving home, they saw two men fighting on the sidewalk next to them. Aaron stopped the car much to Heather’s chagrin, and got out to reason with the men because their children were standing on the sidewalk watching. With Aaron’s help, the men resolved the conflict, and went their separate ways with no hard feelings.
After returning to Northwest Arkansas, Aaron got two jobs—one working as a counselor at the Rogers Activity Center, and another nannying three young boys. The same compassion he had shown for the homeless man in Texas he showed to these youth, buying a boy a skateboard last summer when his parents couldn’t afford to buy one for him, and helping the kids in any way he could.
“He always joked that it was going to make him a really good dad,” Heather said.
Aug. 5, Aaron proposed to Heather on the dock out behind his house in Rogers where they had spent so much time in their early relationship getting to know each other. Most of his family was in town and over at the Webster’s home when Aaron decided it was time.
“He called me and said, ‘Jade, I’m gonna do it,’” said Heather’s mother, who rushed over to celebrate the good news.
“He had another more complex plan to propose, but he was too excited to wait,” Heather said. “Once he asked me and I said yes, he said, ‘Okay hurry up and take [the ring] before I drop it.’”
The next month was filled with the excitement of their new commitment to one another.
"I know lots of people wonder, you know, did they know this or that after someone dies," Heather said. "I didn't--I didn't ever feel like I left anything out. He knew how much I loved him and I know he really loved me."
Then, on September 5, all of their lives changed.
That night, Aaron hadn't been answering Heather's calls, so when she saw his home number appear on her phone, she was relieved.
"I thought ‘oh good, it's finally him,’ but it was Teena telling me we had to get to the hospital," Heather said.
Aaron had been driving home along Bellview Road in Rogers, which has no centerline. When he saw another car coming, he moved over on the road to allow them to pass. He over-adjusted, sending his Jeep somersaulting down the side of the road, landing upside down. When firefighters in the station across the street got the call to respond to the incident, they saw Aaron’s headlights in the ditch from across the road. He was immediately transported to the nearest hospital in Rogers.
When Teena and Heather arrived at the hospital, neither knew what to expect.
"It was a whole bunch of maybes," said Teena. "Since she sounded so serious on the phone, maybe this is really bad. At the same time, since they called me, maybe Aaron gave them the number--we just had no idea."
What really took minutes seemed to drag on for hours.
“I think nobody ever wants to have to tell you the worst possible news,” said Teena. “It was the longest night of our lives, and nobody would talk to us or tell us what was going on.”
At 5 a.m., the neurosurgeon at Washington Regional told the family that Aaron was brain dead. They immediately called for organ teams to come and retrieve Aaron’s organs.
While they waited, Heather had her final chance to say goodbye. Nurses moved Aaron’s body over in his hospital bed, and she laid with him until the doctors were ready to remove his organs for donation.
“He looked perfect lying there, “Heather said.
In a matter of hours, the Websters went from planning Aaron’s wedding to planning his funeral. Friends and family filled the Church at Pinnacle Hills on Sept. 14 to honor Aaron’s life and legacy.
Even after Aaron’s funeral, the reality of his death had in many ways not set in yet.
"It's that phone call you never want to get in the night," said Teena. "I’m still at Stage 1, I still play that phone call over and over in my head—I’m just waiting on him to walk in the door at night.”
The week after Aaron’s death, Heather and Teena came back to the University of Arkansas campus to sell back Aaron’s books. It was then that the two realized how tough it would be for Heather to return to school.
"I just saw all these happy 20-year-olds crossing the road, and I knew I couldn't do it if I was her," said Teena. "There was Aaron on every street corner."
Heather decided to leave school through the spring semester, but will not sit idly at home. That’s not what Aaron would have wanted. She will travel to India this January to work in an orphanage in New Delhi for six months in an effort to honor Aaron’s life and dedication to serving others.
“By helping other people, I’ll receive some healing, too,” Heather said. "In a way, it’s my last thing for Aaron, you know, until I die.”
Heather and the Webster family have also tried to allow Aaron's good nature toward others to live on through a fund they created in his name at the Rogers Activity Center. Already, donations to the fund have exceeded $20,000. This money will be used to benefit the kids that Aaron cared for so much and would do anything for.
Aaron’s heart went to a 32-year-old man in Texas, his liver to a 55-year-old man in Arkansas. The lungs that almost didn’t make it went to a 61-year-old man in Wisconsin and a 70-year-old man in Illinois. The kidneys saved a 15-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy in Little Rock. His intestines and pancreas flew across the country to a 56-year-old man in Pennsylvania. Every usable part of Aaron’s physical body went to help another person live longer.
“When you die, all you have left is what you did and who you helped, all the material stuff goes away,” Heather said. “You leave everything behind, and you just hope that it’s all good.”
“In many ways, his death really did sum up his life,” said Teena. “He left so many treasures in so many people’s lives—it’s just hard to feel like this was all for nothing.”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Obama and the Media
One of the most important issues that arises after a president takes office is the relationship that he has with the media.
Throughout the history of the nation, most presidents have fallen into one of two camps—either they develop a good relationship with the media, both being open with them to build trust and using them to their advantages or they alienate the media, keeping to themselves and fighting against them every step of the way.
In his first ten months in office, President Obama has walked a fine line between these two camps. In many ways, he has embraced the international media with open arms, setting up great photo and shot backgrounds and has pushed himself into the national spotlight to help to educate the American people on what he is doing and what is going on in the U.S. government.
At the same time, the Obama administration has openly excluded Fox News. This is situation that is spouting from both ends—Fox News refused to air Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress while every other major news network aired it. But can the White House truly just decide they think Fox News is an arm of the Republican party and exclude them?
This is really a two-part answer. Can they do this? Yes. They already have, and if we look at historic precedent both on the national and state level, governors, mayors and presidents have excluded news organizations they do not agree with.
But does that mean it is the right thing to do? No.
The First Amendment guarantees us the right to free speech and freedom of the press. The White House should have just let them be and let them say what they want. That doesn’t mean they condone it. It just means they are allowing Americans to make use of the rights that are guaranteed to us through the Constitution.
Throughout the history of the nation, most presidents have fallen into one of two camps—either they develop a good relationship with the media, both being open with them to build trust and using them to their advantages or they alienate the media, keeping to themselves and fighting against them every step of the way.
In his first ten months in office, President Obama has walked a fine line between these two camps. In many ways, he has embraced the international media with open arms, setting up great photo and shot backgrounds and has pushed himself into the national spotlight to help to educate the American people on what he is doing and what is going on in the U.S. government.
At the same time, the Obama administration has openly excluded Fox News. This is situation that is spouting from both ends—Fox News refused to air Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress while every other major news network aired it. But can the White House truly just decide they think Fox News is an arm of the Republican party and exclude them?
This is really a two-part answer. Can they do this? Yes. They already have, and if we look at historic precedent both on the national and state level, governors, mayors and presidents have excluded news organizations they do not agree with.
But does that mean it is the right thing to do? No.
The First Amendment guarantees us the right to free speech and freedom of the press. The White House should have just let them be and let them say what they want. That doesn’t mean they condone it. It just means they are allowing Americans to make use of the rights that are guaranteed to us through the Constitution.
"For God and the Gays"
Imagine meeting the person you know you are meant to spend the rest of your life with. What starts out as casual dating turns more serious. You become exclusive. You meet the parents—it doesn’t go well. You move in together.
What is the next step after that? For millions of Americans, it would be to get married, to commit in front of God and the rest of the nation that they are committed to one another, and committed to spending the rest of the lives together for better or for worse, through sickness and through health.
For millions of Americans, however, this is not an option. For millions of Americans, the commitment they have made to their spouse is not recognized by the rest of society. They can’t even get in to see their spouse in the hospital, much less live a regular married life.
When my parents were in high school, Civil Rights was the issue of the day. My mom marched in the streets to fight for equality for her friends, the people she went to school with every day, to get the same rights for them that everyone else enjoyed.
Now, most educated people look back shamefully on that past. We regret the fact that we ever thought that people could be different and less than us based solely on the fact that their skin is a different color.
I firmly believe that gay rights will in many ways be the civil rights of our age. I realize that the right to marriage and the right to not be discriminated against is not encompassing of the same number of rights that African Americans had to fight for, but it is a similar struggle.
The way many Americans treat gay and lesbian individuals is absolutely disgusting. I don’t know how you can look at two people that are in love, and say that there is anything wrong with it. Who are we to say?
The decision by voters in Maine to overturn the right for gays to marry is upsetting, and disappointing in any ways. It is tyranny of the majority, and I only hope that it stops soon. It is unjust for Americans to impose their own morality on everyone else, especially on social issues such as this.
This is the same reason I don’t think it is fair for us to ever completely outlaw abortion. I would never have an abortion, and as a Catholic I find it morally unacceptable. But does that mean I have the right to regulate someone else’s body? I would say no.
In the same way, we don’t have the right as the vox populi to say that an entire group of Americans does not have the right to a benefit that everyone else can enjoy. We especially do not have the right to say that a certain group of people does not have the right to the same privileges under the law, the tax breaks, etc.
I only hope that when I look back when I am my mom’s age, I can know in my heart the same way she knows in hers that I did the right thing.
What is the next step after that? For millions of Americans, it would be to get married, to commit in front of God and the rest of the nation that they are committed to one another, and committed to spending the rest of the lives together for better or for worse, through sickness and through health.
For millions of Americans, however, this is not an option. For millions of Americans, the commitment they have made to their spouse is not recognized by the rest of society. They can’t even get in to see their spouse in the hospital, much less live a regular married life.
When my parents were in high school, Civil Rights was the issue of the day. My mom marched in the streets to fight for equality for her friends, the people she went to school with every day, to get the same rights for them that everyone else enjoyed.
Now, most educated people look back shamefully on that past. We regret the fact that we ever thought that people could be different and less than us based solely on the fact that their skin is a different color.
I firmly believe that gay rights will in many ways be the civil rights of our age. I realize that the right to marriage and the right to not be discriminated against is not encompassing of the same number of rights that African Americans had to fight for, but it is a similar struggle.
The way many Americans treat gay and lesbian individuals is absolutely disgusting. I don’t know how you can look at two people that are in love, and say that there is anything wrong with it. Who are we to say?
The decision by voters in Maine to overturn the right for gays to marry is upsetting, and disappointing in any ways. It is tyranny of the majority, and I only hope that it stops soon. It is unjust for Americans to impose their own morality on everyone else, especially on social issues such as this.
This is the same reason I don’t think it is fair for us to ever completely outlaw abortion. I would never have an abortion, and as a Catholic I find it morally unacceptable. But does that mean I have the right to regulate someone else’s body? I would say no.
In the same way, we don’t have the right as the vox populi to say that an entire group of Americans does not have the right to a benefit that everyone else can enjoy. We especially do not have the right to say that a certain group of people does not have the right to the same privileges under the law, the tax breaks, etc.
I only hope that when I look back when I am my mom’s age, I can know in my heart the same way she knows in hers that I did the right thing.
What exactly is the right to bear arms?
It has been a dispute since the genesis of our nation, but it only gets worse as the years go on—do Americans really have the right to bear arms, all forms of arms, whenever and however they want?
To examine this question, we have to really look at the actual precedent that is set in the Second Amendment, which reads:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
What context was this portion of the Bill of Rights written in? Think about what bearing arms actually meant in our nation at that time… it meant the right to have a musket in your home in order to defend your home and town from invaders.
Honestly, if that was still how people interpreted this Amendment, I would see no problem with it. If you want a gun? Great. You get a musket.
But that’s not what happens. People use this amendment as an excuse to harm others. As an excuse to build up ridiculous numbers of weapons and to say things like that the government will have to pry them from their “cold dead fingers.”
This is not what the Founding Fathers intended. They wanted the nation protected, not vigilante justice. Not muggings and murders and forced entries.
What would the Founding Fathers have thought about that?
To examine this question, we have to really look at the actual precedent that is set in the Second Amendment, which reads:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
What context was this portion of the Bill of Rights written in? Think about what bearing arms actually meant in our nation at that time… it meant the right to have a musket in your home in order to defend your home and town from invaders.
Honestly, if that was still how people interpreted this Amendment, I would see no problem with it. If you want a gun? Great. You get a musket.
But that’s not what happens. People use this amendment as an excuse to harm others. As an excuse to build up ridiculous numbers of weapons and to say things like that the government will have to pry them from their “cold dead fingers.”
This is not what the Founding Fathers intended. They wanted the nation protected, not vigilante justice. Not muggings and murders and forced entries.
What would the Founding Fathers have thought about that?
Balloon Boy: How can a child so small cause a controversy so large?
This obnoxious 6-year-old and his family took the national and international media by storm last week when word got out that the child had floated some 8,000 feet in the air in a hot air balloon/flying saucer/weather contraption thing and had no means to get down.
It was later discovered he had been hiding in the family attic the entire time. National tragedy averted.
Good thing too, because it’s not like the rape, murder and domestic abuse that occurred during that six hour period of time people were watching a balloon float across the Denver sky mattered. The 500 children that the U.N. estimates die every hour in Africa? So what!
Maybe if children in Darfur were dying via balloon, we might care a little more.
The Heene family appeared on Larry King Live last Thursday, dragging out the eight hours of coverage they had already taken up on CNN.
Among other discussions facilitated by King, parents Richard and Mayumi asked their son why he had not come out from hiding when they called his name.
Falcon responded with, “You guys said we did this for the show.”
Really? It was that easy? Now the family has all the media attention they had hoped for, but maybe not in the way they initially expected.
Richard and Mayumi Heene met at acting school in Hollywood, and were almost successful in tricking the entire nation into believing their child was flying high in the sky—even though the helium balloon he supposedly took off in could probably not carry more than 25 pounds.
This balloon incident, hoax, whatever it may have been, is just a prime illustration of many of the problems we face across the country—we are more interested in watching a balloon float across the sky hoping to see a kid fall out than we are with all the things that are really wrong with the world around us.
In my sophomore semester of H2P, Dr. Goodstein-Murphree, the associate dean of the school of architecture, said something in a lecture to the effect that illuminated manuscripts mean nothing to us because we’re all a bunch of modern-media whores.
Though that might be a little blunt, in many ways it’s accurate. It is hard, in a society that values Balloon Boys and Octomoms, to appreciate the things that once took people’s breath away.
The media can’t just focus on the news anymore—not that illuminated manuscripts were ever really headline news in this country anyway—they have to focus on what will draw readers in, and more often than not that means highlighting pop-culture freaks.
When we really think about it, the troubles of Jon and Kate, Michael Jackson’s family and Taylor Swift aren’t really of national importance.
There are so many more things that I would implore people to put their energy and attention toward—the health care reform that is going through Congress, the hundreds of people losing their homes to foreclosures daily and the people who can’t afford to feed their children a meal every day—that when we consider Balloon Boy in context, this incident seems so small.
What is the moral of this story? Maybe we should take the time to appreciate the little things around us, not just the things the media shove in our faces. Maybe we should care about the news that will affect us, and our children, and our neighbors—not what family is getting arrested for their crackpot plans in Colorado.
And finally, if you’re trying to pull a con job on the entire nation, don’t make your partner in crime a 6-year-old.
It was later discovered he had been hiding in the family attic the entire time. National tragedy averted.
Good thing too, because it’s not like the rape, murder and domestic abuse that occurred during that six hour period of time people were watching a balloon float across the Denver sky mattered. The 500 children that the U.N. estimates die every hour in Africa? So what!
Maybe if children in Darfur were dying via balloon, we might care a little more.
The Heene family appeared on Larry King Live last Thursday, dragging out the eight hours of coverage they had already taken up on CNN.
Among other discussions facilitated by King, parents Richard and Mayumi asked their son why he had not come out from hiding when they called his name.
Falcon responded with, “You guys said we did this for the show.”
Really? It was that easy? Now the family has all the media attention they had hoped for, but maybe not in the way they initially expected.
Richard and Mayumi Heene met at acting school in Hollywood, and were almost successful in tricking the entire nation into believing their child was flying high in the sky—even though the helium balloon he supposedly took off in could probably not carry more than 25 pounds.
This balloon incident, hoax, whatever it may have been, is just a prime illustration of many of the problems we face across the country—we are more interested in watching a balloon float across the sky hoping to see a kid fall out than we are with all the things that are really wrong with the world around us.
In my sophomore semester of H2P, Dr. Goodstein-Murphree, the associate dean of the school of architecture, said something in a lecture to the effect that illuminated manuscripts mean nothing to us because we’re all a bunch of modern-media whores.
Though that might be a little blunt, in many ways it’s accurate. It is hard, in a society that values Balloon Boys and Octomoms, to appreciate the things that once took people’s breath away.
The media can’t just focus on the news anymore—not that illuminated manuscripts were ever really headline news in this country anyway—they have to focus on what will draw readers in, and more often than not that means highlighting pop-culture freaks.
When we really think about it, the troubles of Jon and Kate, Michael Jackson’s family and Taylor Swift aren’t really of national importance.
There are so many more things that I would implore people to put their energy and attention toward—the health care reform that is going through Congress, the hundreds of people losing their homes to foreclosures daily and the people who can’t afford to feed their children a meal every day—that when we consider Balloon Boy in context, this incident seems so small.
What is the moral of this story? Maybe we should take the time to appreciate the little things around us, not just the things the media shove in our faces. Maybe we should care about the news that will affect us, and our children, and our neighbors—not what family is getting arrested for their crackpot plans in Colorado.
And finally, if you’re trying to pull a con job on the entire nation, don’t make your partner in crime a 6-year-old.
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