OPINION & EDITORIAL
From the desk of the editor: A different perspective
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Also by Taylor Hughes:
- Work makes UW worth it (May 10, 2007)
- Cultivating leadership (May 9, 2007)
- Getting by without the books (May 8, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Herald turns page (September 4, 2006)
- Newspapers must take extreme care in dealing with victim identity (February 2, 2006)
- Readers combat printed word (April 27, 2007)
- From the desk of the editor (December 6, 2006)
- From the desk of the editor (August 31, 2007)
by Taylor Hughes
Monday, April 23, 2007
Our decision to print today's column about Virginia Tech without providing an author violates The Badger Herald's policy against printing anonymous content. There is a difference, however, in that the author has expressed a point of view that most who share such feelings would not be quick to publicize, and for that very reason I find it particularly valuable in the grand marketplace of ideas. It is also important to note that the author is a University of Wisconsin student and a trusted employee of The Badger Herald.
The ability to identify with some of the horror manifested last Monday morning in Blacksburg seems more than foreign at first; most students at UW couldn't begin to imagine how someone could do such a thing. It's important to realize, however, that that feeling is not foreign to everyone. What's more, the violent, counter-societal sentiment can be amplified by our reluctance to identify Mr. Seung-Hui as a human being who grew up alongside us, further ostracizing the people very most at risk.
It's also important to realize that, as a university community, we have the opportunity — and, in fact, the obligation — to help those in need. We're all Badgers, after all, and after the events of last week, every college student nationwide is a Hokie at heart.
For those who may share some of the emotion expressed by our columnist, but not quite know what to do, you should first know you're not alone. Additionally, the university has an elaborate support network if you're looking to reach out.
University Health Services offers counseling services by appointment at 265-5600, and the Student Advocacy & Judicial Affairs unit of the Offices of the Dean of Students offers support for those who need it at 263-5700 during normal business hours.
Please direct any feedback on the column to oped@badgerherald.com.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 1:45am):
It was an insightful read. Thanks for having the courage to print it, and relay props to the author for opening up about something so diffucult during these trying times.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 3:56am):
Bravo, Herald. Now THAT took guts to print (and even more to write). Sad that it becomes novel to treat killers as human beings, but in the end, Cho Seung-Hui was a human being, with all the flaws and troubles that comes with it. I'm glad that article finally tore away the myth of the monster.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 7:21am):
I don't have a problem with the BH publishing it, but there should be a "Feedback" forum.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 8:36am):
Excellent decision. The anonymous columnist wrote a truly magnificent piece.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 9:38am):
As tragic as the event that occurred at VTech is, we as US citizens need to realize that horrifying event like this happen on a DAILY bases in Iraq and will continue for the foreseeable future. Because these event in Iraq take place thousands of miles away we don't see the reality of it. It's that absence of reality that permits us to complain of the injustice from our couch and not the streets in front of the President & Congress. More then anything I think that reinstating the draft will bring the reality of the violence in Iraq back home and will do more to end the war then anything happening now.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 10:43am):
Anonymous @ 9:38 AM:
Some student writes a piece trying to offer what must be excruciating personal insight into a difficult world of depression, attempting to bring light to what happened in Blacksburg last week, and all you can do is try to pivot the conversation to why we should reinstate the draft?
Go hawk Jack, Jim and Johnnie outside of an AA meeting if you are so hell-bent on being a scumbag, but please don't waste our time with your non-topical political rants of convenience.
-Victor Blake Marx
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 10:49am):
Seung-Hui Cho was a victim of the "cool people" who look down their damn noses at others. Every campus, every high school has them. They think they're so above everyone else. And then one day one of the kids they leaned too hard on decided to put them in their place.
Disagree that he did the right thing if you want, but scenarios like this will play out again and again until the "cool people"-I hate these bastards-finally take notice and leave the rest of us alone. People like Seung-Hui Cho don't care about innocent victims once they cross that line and you can bitch all you want about how they didn't deserve to die, but that's not the point. The point is that if you persecute someone long enough eventually they'll snap and the last thing on their minds is that you were innocent of any wrong-doing. They're too pissed off at the moment to care about that.
So the next time you bad-asses get a wild hair and dump on some "geek-boy" because of the way he's dressed or because he's not into the same stupid B.S. things you're into, just accept the fact that the whole world isn't like you and doesn't want to be. We are all here to get an education and it's getting pretty expensive every year. Worry about how you're gonna pay off those student loans before you worry about that "loner" who's not even bothering you.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 10:49am):
reinstating the draft = reinstating slavery
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 11:39am):
I agree with 9:38. It's about you hippys came to your senses and did something positive for your country. Bring back the draft and teach these slackers some dissipline. If liberals weren't such sissies we'd have a stronger nation and those whack-o terrorizers would not even think about harming us. What will it take to teach libs that freedom is not free? Will we wait until those nut jobs come over and start raping our women and children? What about when they have you down on your knees and force you to convert to their religion? Muslims have tried to take over the world and force Christians to bow down and worship their demon god Bhudda. Well they don't worship the same god I do. I worship the Christian that believes in love and peace. Don't try to convert me to your religion or I will kill you.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 11:42am):
One step in treating Mr. Cho as a human being is to get his name straightened out. His given name was Seung-Hui and his family name was Cho.
I'm surprised that the BH was confused by this naming format. The ([family name][given name]) format is used by most Asian countries. For example, Mao (family name) Tse-tung (last name)...
Some people confuse this convention with the Arabic convention, for example:
Saddam Hussein al-Majid al-Tikriti
([given name][father's given name][Grandfather's give name][locality])
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 1:12pm):
"demon god Bhudda"
Um, wow. Thats about 10 gallons of crazy shoved in a five gallow drum. Muslims, Chistians, and Jews all have the same god (Allah, Yahwe, God, etc). However, I should have expected as much crazy from someone who claims to support a god of peace in one sentence, and then talks of murder in another. People like you scare me dude.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 2:34pm):
Actually, 1:12, Allah is a moon god and not really related to the god of the jews and christians. The crescent symbol is from the moon.
Many Christian fundamentalists such as Jack Chick use this symbolism to make a claim that Allah was in fact Hubal who was, in turn, a moon-god worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs. This argument is sometimes used to argue that the god of Islam is different from that of the Jews or Christians.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 4:08pm):
Why not just learn to love each other whatever our gender, differences, colour, etc.? We were told and taught to love one another and be of service to one another, where has that teaching gone????? Why can't we sow such seeds in our toddlers from day one.
All the newspapers, media, politicians, etc. thrive on sensationalizing these issues, wasting time in debates, tax dollars, listening and reading to the same old crap till another person takes away innocent lives.
Why not use the time effectively to replace hatred with love, indifference to warmth and compassion when you have the power in your hands. The next generation will surely benefit from these positive outcomes.
Life was so simple, only one rule was supposed to have been followed "love one another as I have loved you", yet we have made the world so complicated by not reaching out to others, staying locked up in our castles, and not making any effort in the name of 'privacy'.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families. I feel consoled that they are in God's tender loving care.
If only the ones who knew about Cho could have followed up his case knowing that he was still blindly walking within the corridors of VATech,we would have had 32 young and promising, energetic and enthusiastic young lives brightening out future. May be they still will, but from afar. MAY GOD BLESS THEM AND GRANT THEM PEACE IN HIS KINGDOM.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 5:42pm):
10:49 is a total wuss who probably wrote at 10:10 last week saying he felt no remorse for the victims.
will someone check out this individual and send them away to 'loser school' where he can wake the heck up and realize he's not in elementary school anymore?
grow one bud.
it's not that bad out there.
and even if it is,
quit playing the victim and go say hello to someone new.
Anonymous (April 24, 2007 @ 12:27am):
5:42, if anybody here is a wuss it's you. 10:49 is right. College campuses are no different than high schools. Everybody is trying to compete for the respect and admiration of others. More often than not, those who covet such attention end up harassing anyone who refuses to bow down and kiss their feet. The student at Virginia Tech was obviously one such person. He got tired of being shit on so he bought a couple of guns, made a video and shot a bunch of people. I don't condone what he did and I'm sure 10:49 wouldn't either. But as long as self-righteous jerks like you and whoever persecuted him keep on gratifying yourselves, as if you don't have anything better to do, people like Seung-Hui Cho will always be around.
What will it take to get the point across? Another incident like that one? Somebody cooler than you putting down so you can see how it feels? Another Revenge Of The Nerds sequel? Laugh your butts of while you can get away with it, but someday it might happen here at UW Madison. I'd say there must be about a couple dozen people around town who are contemplating the same act of violence. Not that I know of anyone personally, but hey, you never know.
Anonymous (April 25, 2007 @ 10:45am):
I just want to point out that 4:08 came barely shy of asking "why can't we all just get along?"
And to that, I have only one answer: Mark Davide Chapman.
Or, to quote the Cranberries (perhaps the single most under-appreciated rock act of the past 20 years):
"With a Smith & Wesson 38, /
John Lennon's life was no longer a debate. /
He should have stayed at home, /
He should have never cared..."
-Victor Blake Marx
Anonymous (April 26, 2007 @ 11:36am):
10:49 is an idiot who thinks Cho Seung-Hui was a victim and not a perpetrator. How many victims were there in the VaTech shootings? THIRTY-TWO, NOT THIRTY-THREE. End of story.
Anonymous (April 27, 2007 @ 12:13pm):
11:39:
Back up some of your shit with evidence and you might have an argument.
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