Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
— STAFF EDITORIAL —
In the span of six weeks, from Aug. 24 to Oct. 2 of this year, there were four incidents of gun related violence in American schools, all resulting in at least one casualty. In only one of the incidents, the perpetrator was a student (he shot and killed his high school principal). In the other three incidents, the attacker was an older man who was not tied directly to the school.
Most people probably thought that most schools were much safer after Columbine, but violence is still a clear and present danger.
Now that the dust has settled from all these incidents, people are getting angry and doing what all humans do when they are emotionally enraged: find someone to blame.
After Columbine happened, people blamed the media. They claimed that movies such as the Matrix, music by Marilyn Manson and video games promoted the violence in those two boys. Other people blamed the government for their laws about gun control. “Bowling for Columbine” was made for that reason.
Between 1996 and today there have been 69 deaths in school shootings. This includes suicides.
Some people figure that they might as well take the steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Schools enforce rules about weapons, install security cameras and monitor all visitors at the school.
While taking precautionary steps makes the most sense, they will not solve the problem entirely. Truth be told, schools can take a lot of drastic measures and angry people can blame whoever they want, but they will not get rid of the problem.
School shootings will never disapear and will never be a complete thing of the past. It’s a horrible thing that a place where children go to get an education and grow as human beings is sometimes infiltrated with crime and hate.
The fact is that there are some horrible people out there in the world. Men who capture young high school girls, sexually abuse them and then murder them are sick and horrible people.
That is exactly what happened in Bailey, CO. Duane Morrison, who killed a girl at Platte Canyon H.S. and Charles Carl Roberts, who killed five Amish school girls in Pennsylvania are, for lack of a better word, twisted. It is sad and disheartening to see people who feel like their life needs to include taking that of another.
So perhaps the way to solve the problem is not to ban video games or blame society or watch a Michael Moore film (that probably isn’t the solution to anything).
Rape, child abuse and homicide all happen no matter how many times we learn about partying safely, no matter how many patrol cars are out on the streets. The world is not perfect.
But perhaps the one thing that each person can do is to live a life and make decisions that do not let us become the type of person who feels like the only thing they can do is kill another person. It’s up to us, as individuals, to change the problem of school violence.
Matt Finger
Op-Ed Editor
There are some moments that people will be able to recollect their entire lives. Where they were when Kennedy was shot, when they heard about Pearl Harbor, the moment their first (and second, third, fourth, etc.) child was born and of course what was going on when they got the news about September 11, 2001.
But where were you on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006 at roughly 9 a.m.? Not sure? Maybe you were asleep, warm and comfy in your bed. Perhaps asleep with your head plopped down on the desk, drooling on your notebook in philosophy. If you’re an overachiever you might actually have been awake. But do you know what happened?
Population statistics for the United States have predicted that the 300 millionth person in our country was born on Tuesday. Supposedly it was a female born to a Mexican mother in Los Angeles at 9:01 and 48 seconds, a.m.
This shows the importance of diversity in our country. Census information from 2000 shows that roughly 30 percent of the United States population is a minority; be it black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American or others.
Statistics also show that in the not so far off future, at the current rate of Hispanic immigration, Spanish will become the most widely used language in the United States, and white people will become the minority.
But how does this affect us now? Well, I think it punctuates the growing unrest over immigration issues, particularly immigrants from Mexico and other Central and South American countries.
Many people feel disdain towards these immigrants, arguing that they are cheating our country out of tax money and other resources. Well, perhaps they are. But at the same time the illegal aliens in our country do the dirty work.
They do all the work that white middle class America won’t, and they do it well. In fact, these newfound Americans make up nearly five percent the country’s workforce. Most of the employment for illegal immigrants is concentrated in unskilled labor: farming, construction, cleaning services, etc. Within these areas are specialty sectors, for example, roofing and meat processing, for which illegal immigrants account for nearly a quarter of the national workforce.
Though many do not wish to admit it, the nation’s economy depends on these immigrants. They are an under-the-table solution to cheap overseas labor. But many people want the influx to stop because of taxing, healthcare, and population issues.
Something should be figured out in regards to illegal immigration but I don’t think that condemning immigrants and harboring hateful attitudes is the way to do it.
I think we should embrace everyone that comes into our country, because in reality all they are doing is chasing a dream we created.
Plus where do you think we would be today if the Indians had just built a 1,400 mile long fence down the east coast when Europe showed up?
As selected by the Newswire staff
1. A.B. Cohen Center- it is a nice enough place, but it is completely isolated from the rest of campus. Unless you happen to have an affinity for parking lots, the scenery around Cohen leaves a lot to be desired.
2. Elet Hall- remember your grandparents’ stories about how they had to walk uphill both ways to school? They must have been talking about Elet, which requires a lot of stair climbing both to and from campus.
3. The Armory- when professors have to warn students that class may be interrupted by gunshot noises, one has to question the logic of the classroom location. Unless of course the class is “Contemporary Iraqi Politics.”
4. Gallagher Student Center- expecting education to occur in a facility with a functional pinball machine is simply unreasonable. We feel that this needs to be explained no further.
5. 10th Floor of Schott Hall- several weeks ago in this space, we stated that the 10th floor of Schott was one of the “hidden gems of Xavier.” Alas, the 10th floor is a lot less “gem”-like when one has to be there every other morning at 8:30 to practice speaking substandard French.
Brian Bowsher
Editor-in-Chief
So much for fun family entertainment.
For better or worse, attending an NFL game in the year 2006 is like being on stage for a live episode of the Jerry Springer Show: it’s loud, there’s lots of swearing, there are drunk chicks covered in tattoos and you have the ever-present possibility that the guy next to you might either try to kiss you or hit you with a chair. It’s pretty unsettling all around.
Sunday’s Bengals-Buccaneers game at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium had all these trademarks of the new NFL crowd.
There was the guy being forcibly escorted out of the stadium by four uniformed security guards, despite the man’s emphatic pleas to “Just look at it!”
There was the group of women walked the half mile from the parking lot to the stadium entrance, past several on-duty police offers, while carrying half-empty bottles of Corona.
There was the guy who dressed up in an orange prison jumpsuit yelling “Who-Dey” over and over. At first glance, it seemed like the outfit was a humorous jab at the Bengals’ legal problems, but upon closer review, it seemed as though this fan just wanted to wear something orange to match the team’s colors, and that the prison garb was the sole item in the wardrobe. Pardon the stereotype, but the abundance of tattoos, unkempt hair,and overall disheveled, Charles Manson-like appearance led to that impression.
And best yet, there were the pirates in the airport TGI Friday’s handing out beads to cheer up the downtrodden Bengals fans awaiting their flight home.
If there’s one thing a Cincinnati fan hates more after a gut-wrenching loss than a pirate lady with an eye-patch and hooded sash handing out beads with her puffy shirt-wearing pirate husband (do pirates believe in marriage?), it’s a pirate couple who say they grew up in Dayton. With that nugget of information, their abnormal appearance made a lot more sense.
So in short, just be aware, sports fans. The added culture one receives at an NFL stadium is neither good nor bad. It just forces us to remember that this is not your grandfather’s NFL…unless, of course, your grandfather was a lawless, toothless inebriate.
Sunday, Oct. 1 was a very sad day at the Bottom Line Bar in Washington, DC. After moving to DC from Cincinnati a few months ago, I learned that the Bottom Line was also known as “the Bengals bar.”
Every Sunday, dozens of DC folks originally from the Cincinnati area, and many Xavier grads, descend upon the Bottom Line decked out in their Chad Johnson jerseys singing at the top of their lungs, “Hear that Bengal growling…”
The bar has made space on its menu for Cincinnati chili, which is improving every week, and, with every touchdown scored, orange shots are distributed throughout the celebratory crowd. But on October 1, there was very little celebrating as the New England Patriots handed us our first loss of the season.
When I arrived, with my hopes so high, I walked up to the bar to order a Miller Lite, and I struck up a conversation with a young professional who worked for Jean Schmidt’s office.
I asked, “How is your office feeling about Victoria Wulsin?” He looked right at me and said, “We’re not that worried about Wulsin, she is really liberal.”
I love the Bengals; and it was very hard for me to watch them lose. But the saddest part of that day was how nonchalantly Jean Schmidt’s staff member dismissed Victoria Wulsin and the values she holds.
The issues we are facing as a nation, the very issues Jean Schmidt refused to debate with Victoria Wulsin, cannot be divided into neat little boxes labeled “liberal” and “conservative,” allowing us to take one box out with the trash.
Let’s face it, the world is turning against the United States. After attacking our highest towers, terrorists now flock to Iraq to get their shot at taking another American life. Leaders of Iran and North Korea are boldly standing up to the world’s greatest power, threatening to develop and test nuclear weapons.
And the popularly elected leader of Venezuela stood up at the United Nations and called our president the devil.
This isn’t the country in which I was raised. The country in which I was raised was a beacon of hope, a bearer of good news, a respected democracy for the people and of the people. Something we are doing is not working.
Like Jean Schmidt said in a recent email, “We need to change our tactics, our policies and procedures and our thinking.” It is a tall order to make all those changes at once, but thankfully we live in a democracy where once a year we have the opportunity to bring about a revolution by simply casting a vote.
I thought of Jean Schmidt and the Republican Party as I watched the Bengals’ ranking drop. The week before the Patriots game the Bengals were ranked the number two team in the NFL by ESPN, but the caption on ESPN’s website read, “Marvin Lewis said Odell Thurman’s DUI arrest ‘is not going to affect our football team.’ That might be true, but at some point all the off-field issues are going to bite the Bengals.”
Following their loss, ESPN dropped the Bengals to number seven, but the caption read, “Huge props to Marvin Lewis for sitting Chris Henry even though the Bengals definitely could have used him against the Pats. No one ever said doing the right thing is easy.”
With the Republican Party reeling from the Jack Abramoff dealings and now facing the Foley scandal, it is becoming apparent that somebody needs to take a seat on the bench. Our very own Jean Schmidt owns the disgraceful legacy of calling Jack Murtha a coward on the congressional floor.This is not how I would choose to describe a decorated war veteran and a 15 term congressman. Schmidt has done nothing to change “our tactics or thinking.”
While Schmidt has wasted her time in Washington, Wulsin, a physician, has been busy bringing together unions and business leaders to improve worker safety; she has been directing multi-million dollar projects to improve women’s health worldwide; and in her free time, she has started an organization to support AIDS orphans in Kenya.
There is no question of whether Victoria Wulsin will present to the world the good news that is America, for that is what she has been doing for a lifetime.
It is our responsibility to hold our leaders accountable; and it is our opportunity to cast a vote that will not only bring integrity, fresh leadership and new ideas to the halls of Congress, but will also start repairing the international respect that seems so central to our true security.
On November 7, we can vote for Jean Schmidt and rubber-stamp the status quo, or we can vote for Victoria Wulsin who will ensure that the next two years will be much better than the last two.
Adam Gerhardstein
Class of ‘04
I must say that I am thoroughly frustrated with a portion of Xavier’s student body. Living close to campus, and on the way from campus to Dana’s and the Woods, I get bombarded by drunk students acting like idiots on a regular basis.
On occasion, I have been that person, so I understand. On the weekends, I let it go. But at 2:30 in the morning during the week, I prefer not to look out my window and see a girl lying in my grass while her two friends take pictures of her with their phones and scream “Toy- effing- OTA” over and over.
I work every day and must wake up at 6:30 a.m. I especially enjoyed the fact that people moved my trash cans on “Academic Day Eve” and that when I went out to go to work the next morning I got to see people making out on the street at 7:15. Norwood as a city has a large population of laborers, many of whom must wake up early and work different hours than the standard 8-5 day.
As students of a Catholic university, I think we need to show our neighbors more respect. Teaching in a Norwood school at the moment, my students make comments almost daily about the parties that college kids have next door to them or across the street. The students in Norwood need better role models. I think it’s time that ,as a school, Xavier showed a little more respect for the community in which it resides.
S. F.
Norwood resident
A weekly rundown of the Assistant Op-Ed Editor’s opinions on the world
Dear Xavier,
‘Tis the season for upperclassmen wanting to live off-campus next year to sign leases in order to lock up the housing of their choice. Also, this is when those who want to live in university housing start crossing their fingers and hope they don’t get screwed by Residence Life’s archaic lottery system. There are several problems with the lottery system that can be easily fixed, the first of which is the timing of when the lottery occurs. The housing lottery doesn’t take place until the spring, roughly four months after most prime off-campus housing has been snapped up. The housing lottery should occur in October or November, so that people who get horrible lottery numbers can plan accordingly, instead of having to live wherever Residence Life has left over. Also, how is it fair that juniors and seniors are in the same lottery? Seniors who choose to live on-campus should have a separate lottery from juniors, in order to reward seniors for, well, their seniority.
“The Departed” is an absolutely tremendous film. For my money, Jack Nicholson plays villainous characters better than any actor who has ever lived, and he doesn’t do anything in this movie to disprove my theory. Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent, and Matt Damon does a good job of staying out of everyone’s way. Plus, Mark Wahlberg has a supporting role, and seriously, who doesn’t love Marky Mark? I think that “The Departed” will finally get Martin Scorsese his long overdue Academy Award.
I do not usually follow Ohio politics very closely, as I am registered to vote in Pennsylvania, but the Ohio senatorial race between incumbent Republican Mike DeWine and Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown has captured my interest. Recent polls are showing the two in a virtual dead heat, which is significant because DeWine won in a Reagan-esque landslide in 2000, defeating the Democratic challenger by 25 points. The fact that DeWine is in serious danger of losing his seat can be attributed to the backlash against Ohio Republicans stemming from the *ahem* poorly-received performance of Governor Bob Taft. I don’t necessarily support DeWine, but voting against a candidate solely because of the actions of other members of their party is an increasingly dangerous trend that is symptomatic of the extreme partisan nature of contemporary American politics. It seems that voters are supporting candidates based only on their party affiliation, and they are completely ignoring contenders’ individual merits, which is irresponsible.
I recently attended a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game and reaffirmed my belief that the NHL is the best professional sport to view in person. It is tough to quantify the precise reasons why the NHL is exponentially more enjoyable to watch live rather than on television, but it probably has a lot to do with how close to the playing surface hockey fans get to sit. Of the professional sports I regularly attend, I think the list of the best in-person viewing experiences, in order from best to worst, is: the NHL, Major League Baseball and the NFL.
Respectfully Yours,
Patrick Stevenson
Assistant Op-Ed Editor
Matthew Finger 
Op-Ed Editor
Pat Stevenson
Asst. Op-Ed Editor
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