— STAFF EDITORIAL —
Missing media
Judging from the news coverage of the last seven days, it seems that the collective “big media” outlets have no experience with 4 year-olds: excessive attention to a terrible tot’s tantrums only encourages them. And yet, the executives at the NBC Nightly News devoted entire broadcasts to coverage of the Virginia Tech shooter and his crimes.
Last Wednesday, NBC received a package containing what it cleverly dubbed later as the gunman’s “multimedia manifesto.” After alerting the FBI, NBC kept the package a secret until shortly before its Nightly News broadcast.
Under the guise of searching for answers in the killings—there aren’t any—NBC, and later other news outlets, played right into the gunman’s hands.
His horrific, murderous, childish tantrum was rewarded with days of news coverage, and a legitimate discussion about how a grown-up baby could possibly buy a gun in this country was dismissed.
NBC and the other television networks were busy giving face time to a desperate egomaniac, and CNN was occupied with an angry voicemail Alec Baldwin left for his daughter.
Meanwhile, another 180 people were blown up in Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday (six times the Virginia Tech total), the Pentagon abandoned its strategic cornerstone of training Iraqi troops, a presidential candidate and supposed champion of the poor received a $400 haircut and the country’s top law enforcer told a Senate committee 50-some times that he couldn’t remember the details of one of the most important meetings of his tenure, despite the fact that the meeting occurred just five months ago.
Last week’s media coverage, or lack thereof, unfortunately highlighted two of the mainstream media’s loathsome faults: a double-standard for human life and an unwillingness to speak truth to power.
The New York Times website featured a giant grid of the Virginia Tech victims last week, identifying each as a real human being, not a death statistic. Images of the tragically bereaved were broadcast on television for days as the nation appropriately mourned.
But what about the dead Iraqis? Is it not more tragic when a man as maniacal as the Virginia Tech shooter drives his explosive-packed car into a Baghdad bus stop more crowded than a Blacksburg classroom and blows up 140 people? Where are the dead Iraqis’ pictures on the Internet? Where are their candlelight vigils?
In a country, and at a university that talks so much about the sanctity of human life, it seems hypocritical to effectively ignore so many human lives that have been lost in our name. The public’s media coverage is reflective of their values, as well as the emphasis placed on human lives.
Likewise, it is up to the media to report the truth as they have understood it, and not merely serve as a mouthpiece for the powers that be.
The media are unwilling, or, more bluntly, afraid, to speak truth to power. Honest, principled members of the media must resist the temptation to take the bait; they must yield the celebrity that comes with a hot, exclusive story for their own integrity and the integrity of people to whom they report.
Wondering out loud
Andrew Chestnut
Editorial Columnist
I have a few questions on my mind while pondering how Alberto Gonzales made it through law school with that memory...
Was there anything better than the Burger King commercials where the King would creep up behind people and give them food? Those were to commercials what Hitchcock was to movies.
Shouldn’t we change the phrase “Best thing since sliced bread” to “Best thing since YouTube?” I think that site is personally responsible for at least .2 GPA points I don’t have.
Do you think one second ever passes in which Diddy isn’t thinking about his appearance?
Is there anything that can make you feel good about yourself faster than “My Super Sweet 16” on MTV?
Should somebody tell Carlos Mencia that he isn’t funny? Should somebody tell Santiago in the caf to hurry up? Yes and yes.
Speaking of the caf, why isn’t chicken tortilla soup available every day? That would be like Chevrolet saying, “So, we’re going to stop making the Corvette, but we are going to play the ‘This Is Our Country’ commercial twice as much.”
You want to hear something shocking? Thad Matta is 39.
How is the National Vocabulary Championship on TV and not my reality show idea “Beerfest: The Series?” I mean, we have the Fox Network for these things.
Can I just say this? I can’t wait for the last Harry Potter book.
Did you know that when Kurt Vonnegut died, the number of cool people from Indianapolis dropped to zero?
Why did everyone get so troubled by what Don Imus said about Rutgers women’s basketball? Don’t people understand that old people saying mean, racist, sexist things is just part of the aging process? It’s as inevitable as setting the thermostat at 80 and spending afternoons at Golden Corral.
Am I the only person who noticed the resemblance between Don Imus and Skeletor?
Is anyone else concerned that we live in the same city as the Bengals? We are safe, right?
Could any more damage be done to the name “Howard Stern?”
Wait a minute... men are charged MORE than women for car insurance?
You want to know the last person I want taking a final for me? Alberto Gonzales. He studied for months for that Senate hearing and still couldn’t remember anything.
Is there anything about which Pat Robertson won’t give advice to people? Seriously, from credit cards to eating healthy, he knows exactly what God wants you to do.
You want to know why terrorists hate us? If you watched Fox News or CNN within a week after Anna Nicole died, you’d understand. They were all over it. Too bad that kind of effort and energy wasn’t applied to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Which is creepier: “Salad Fingers” or the baby-face sun from the Teletubbies?
By the way, someday, someone will harmlessly ask if you want to watch something called “Salad Fingers.” When this day comes, be sure to scream “No!” and run. Avoid seeing it at all costs. Trust me.
Is it inevitable that in 10 years, Jay Leno or whoever will go up to dumb people in the streets and ask “Who won the war in Iraq?” and the person will say, “America! Wait, were we even in that war?”
Is it bad that Peyton Manning is getting to be a better actor than Ben Affleck? Wait, Ben Affleck is still alive, isn’t he?
Am I the only person who misses Donovan McNabb’s mom from the Chunky soup commercials? I thought so. But seriously, the quality of those commercials after she left dropped off like the lesbian pop-duo Tatu did in about one week from the face of the earth.
Am I the only person who is wondering what happened to Tatu? Probably.
And speaking of commercials, could E-Surance commercials be any worse? No. But I think it would be awesome if this exchange happened in of the commercials:
E-Surance Guy: “So, do you, uh, want to go to dinner sometime?”
E-Surance Girl: “Sure. And you’ll be able to afford it with all the money you would save with E-Surance...”
Guy: “Yeah, okay. When are you free this week?”
Girl: “With all time I saved by using E-Surance, I should have plenty...”
Guy: “Come on, do you ever talk about anything besides E-Surance? I’m trying to ask you out on a date here.”
Girl: “With E-Surance, you can...”
Guy: “You know what, just forget it.”
Shaking RA-ness
Brian Bowsher
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
www.rhymeshrine.com
The actions of a few RAs cause people to label the entire group as anti-fun and elitist.
Once an RA, always an RA.
Like an actor perpetually cast as a villain, few students can shake the label of “Resident Assistant.” It’s a stigma that can stick with them long after their time on duty, as classmates can continue to associate former RAs with the position they once held.
And while not all students would select a young Dennis Hopper or Anthony Hopkins to play the role of their RA, there is a significant number of students who view their RA as the villain in their life: someone who is elitist, lacks much of a life and, sometimes, is just plain out to get you.
As a student who has ventured into RA-ness and back, I have seen the good and the bad of the RA world from the inside and out. There are always those RAs who spend several hours a day decorating their wing, planning fun programs and pacing up and down the hall looking for nothing more than a conversation with a shy resident.
But there are also a handful of RAs who have few non-RA friends, take pleasure in writing kids up, or use the responsibility and power that comes with the position to boost their delicate self-image. It’s this second group of RAs that gives life to the stigma that affects all RAs.
“It’s very easy to see how people’s visions [of the RA position] could be skewed,” said junior Paul Moeller, an RA in Brockman last year. “People make a judgment of the position before they know who you are.”
Moeller said he enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many new people, but the stigma of being tagged as an RA in all social settings was one of the reasons he chose not to return to the position.
One day last year he was walking back to Brockman when a group of students spotted him and whispered, “Oh, that’s an RA. Quiet down,” as if he was eyeing them the entire time, waiting for the chance to write them up and slap them with a fine.
The truth of the matter is: Most RAs view confrontation as their least favorite aspect of the job. I was involved in five incident documentations and never felt comfortable. Moeller said he “hated writing people up, plain and simple.”
And yet the stigma remains, mainly due to a small number of RAs and the residents who proliferate anecdotes about their actions.
“I think all RAs have good intentions, but some certainly come off more aggressively than others,” said senior Tony Spagnolo, currently in his third year as an RA. “It is an extremely difficult job, especially the confrontational aspect.”
Spagnolo said that a lot of students become friends with their RAs, but an RA’s authority can sometimes give students an initial negative perception of the position. “In my experience, there have been very, very few residents who have been unwilling to get to know me,” he said.
Senior Nick Madine briefly considered applying to be an RA after his freshman year, but said the inability to attend off-campus parties and the potential strains on his social life kept him from pursuing the job.
“The RA position has negative connotations,” he said. “I didn’t want people judging me.”
The biggest issue Madine had with RAs wasn’t that he perceived them to have an aggressive zeal to write people up, but rather that many RAs did not invite students to hang out with them socially.
Madine said he thought a lot of RAs were often “acting elite and only doing things with each other exclusively.”
Spagnolo said that it is only natural for fellow RAs to establish friendships and to want to spend time together apart from being on the job, but that does not mean RAs leave old friendships behind.
“The idea that they only hang out with each other, which is a notion that I know exists, simply isn’t true,” he said. “I think I’d go crazy without friends outside the position.”
While I agree with Spagnolo to an extent, I personally have seen a large group of RAs who seem to isolate themselves from other students and choose to spend the vast majority of their social time together.
When a group of RAs are typically seen hanging out together, whether it’s sitting at the café, playing RSA bingo or going to sporting events, the lack of a non-RA among them makes it easy to view them as a clique.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this act of social isolation, it does help create the negative perception of elitism that many students hold against RAs, and it explains how students like Madine would be hesitant to apply for fear of being judged.
Not all RAs are created equal, obviously, as most RAs maintain a healthy equilibrium of time spent with friends and staff members. Furthermore, virtually everyone puts a great amount of effort into their job and genuinely cares about their residents’ well-being.
“Being an RA is a difficult task because we have to live two separate lives,” said junior Anish Kapil, an RA in Brockman. “The key is balance; having fun outside of our job to keep us energized while still being a role model.”
It’s just that a small group can lose their balance and give others a bad rap.
Although no comparisons should be drawn between RAs and Dr. Hannibal Lector, the actions of a small set of RAs can typecast everyone like the cannibal has for Hopkins.
Brian Bowsher was an RA in Husman Hall during the 2005-2006 academic year.
Republican retaliation
In the April 18 edition of The Newswire, an article was published in the editorial section entitled “The global warming hoax?” This article attacked the Xavier University College Republicans for airing a controversial film called, “The Great Global Warming Swindle” on April 12. We are writing this letter in response to the attacks made towards our club, and to explain the purpose of showing this film.
First off, the article claimed the club was trying to “(mis)inform students about “the Truth Behind Global Warming.”” That is far from the case. The club’s purpose for screening this film was to allow the Xavier students to see the other side of the global warming issue.
We have all seen in the press over the last several months and years a more one-sided approach to global warming. We believe there are always two sides to each issue, and that citizens need to be informed of both sides before making rational decisions.
We do not dispute the idea that global warming exists, but we do dispute, however, the causes of global warming. This video gives scientific evidence to explain how global warming is occurring due to increased levels of solar activity, and that these are directly linked to warmer temperatures.
We might point out to readers that from 800-1300 A.D., known as the Medieval Warm Period, the average global temperature was one degree Celsius warmer than temperatures are today. This time period also saw a peak in solar activity.
Secondly, we would like to ask the writer of last week’s article a question: You attacked our position with a “certain knowledge,” but did you happen to show up and actually watch the film? Is such an attack warranted if you cannot even provide us the courtesy to hear our viewpoint?
We have all heard and read the views of the people who believe global warming is man-made. It is fed to us by the mainstream media everyday. Liberal Congressmen use the bully pulpit to beat the same line into us over and over again: Man, not Mother Nature, is the cause of global warming.
Your article continued the tradition of the current global warming movement which is to vehemently reject, defame and destroy all those that attempt discussion which counters your views.
Part of Xavier’s mission statement reads, “Xavier is an educational community dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, to the orderly discussion of issues confronting society…” The article printed last week certainly did not fit within the idea of an “orderly discussion,” and we, as a club, are appalled by the Newswire for allowing the article to be printed.
The Xavier University College Republicans have been leaders in this discussion on campus and we look forward to future debates, should you be interested.
Xavier University
College Republicans
Monk-eying Around
I have to admit I’m somewhat puzzled by Xavier’s fascination with the sand mandalas of the visiting Buddhist monks. I wonder where Western Civilization would be had the Catholic monks of the Middle Ages indulged in such exercises, rather than devoting themselves to copying manuscripts.
And wouldn’t it be exceptionally novel if the Jesuits actually paid such close and admiring attention to Catholic tradition, rather than scouring the world in search of obscurity?
John Ingram
Class of '07
Mfreke's Funhouse
Mfreke Akpaninyie
Click to enlarge.
Darren LaCour
Op-Ed Editor
Submit a Letter to the Editor
The Xavier Newswire 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-2129 On-campus location: The Publications House, 3739 Ledgewood Dr. Telephone: 513.745.3607 Advertising: 513.745.3561 Fax: 513.745.2898 Email: John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief Ellie Jaqueth
Advertising Manager Full list of staff contacts www.xu.edu/newswire
