Opinion
Page 10
Ihc Blue Banner — Semng the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
Thursday, April 19,2007
Virginia Tech tragedy stuns world
Taking time to reflect on massacre at nearby university, sort out feelings of anger and confusion
Lack of affection in society leads
people to violent acts
Lax Virginia gun laws in need of
revision, strengthening
Politicians only worsening
the effects of massacre
Unity and forgiveness will bring
us through times of sorrow
By AlUe Haake
Staff Wwteji
By Ben Smith
Sk)«ts Eorron
By Ashley Horne
Copy Editor
By Paul Petrequin
Guest Writer
Blaming the school will not solve our problems. Cho
Seung-Hui’s classmates are not at the source of the
problem. Changing the current gun laws and regula
tions will only temporarily address the situation.
The basic foundation of our society is at the root of
this week’s brutal massacre
leaving at least 30 Virginia
Tech students dead. We jus
tifiably hold the gunman
personally responsible for
his actions, but must also
consider his upbringing and
other societal factors that
could have led him to act in
such an inhumane way.
The way we are used to
living and relating to each
other in modem American
Allic I laake
Editor-in-(Jhicf
Bob Smith
Sports liditor
society has created a fast-paced, de,sensitized world
ideal for breeding people with violent inclinations.
A typical person’s definition of success centers
around long workdays and making his or her mark on
the world, leaving little room to ensure the formation
of a healthy family.
Our basic values and the way in which we bring up
our children and youth is at the root of the problem,
according to James W. Prescott, developmental psy
chologist and former health scientist administrator at
the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development.
Highly globalized societies have replaced tight-knit
communities of our past, leaving video games, nannies
and isolation to shape the minds of our children.
People are interacting with others on a global scale
now more than ever, but this has only decreased the
number of quality personal relationships.
The youth of our country are not receiving adequate
amounts of attention, specifically physical affection,
from parents. This change in our early life experiences
is the principle root cause of violence, according to
Prescott.
Without proper guidance and close contact from par
ents, children become adults without ever understand
ing the basics of human relationships and emotional
expression.
Backtracking the progress of our society is not pos
sible and also unbeneficial. Instead, we must assess
our current situation and create a plan of change for a
peaceful future.
It’s easy to put blame on school policies or govern
ment legislation, and those areas of the issue deserve
serious attention. However, by tightening our security
and creating more distance between individuals, we are
only continuing this trend toward complete personal
isolation.
The truth of the massacre at Virginia Tech hurts us
and leaves us in a state of utter devastation. We all
must find a way to come to terms with our heart-
wrenching loss. And, after some time, the only way we
can truly address this issue is to look at the core struc
ture of our modem society that leads someone to com
mit random acts of violence.
The inadequacies of Virginia’s gun control
laws put murder weapons in the hands of a doc
umented mentally unstable individual, Cho
Seung-Hi.
Virginia law requires that adult purchasers of
firearms pass a National
Instant Criminal
Background Check
System (NICS), but
requires no waiting period
and no police involvement
before purchase.
Approval takes only
minutes for legal citizens
or alien residents with
out criminal records.
This brief and flawed
search failed to flag that
Montgomery County, Va. detained and declared
Cho mentally ill by Montgomery County, Va in
December, 2005, according to the Associated
Press.
Since no waiting period exists beyond these
instant checks, and purchasers are not required
to obtain a license or permit or receive formal
ized gun training before purchase in Virginia,
Cho was able to purchase both guns used in the
rampage legally and easily.
Even North Carolina gun laws, considered rel
atively loose by national standards, require indi
viduals to obtain a gun permit through law
enforcement prior to purchasing a gun, which
may take up to thirty days.
In New York, applicants wait for a six-month
period before law enforcement issues a permit,
allowing purchasing, according to the Brady
Campaign, a political lobbying group for
increased gun laws.
Such police involvement in this case would
have likely revealed the temporary mental ill
ness declaration as well as two instances of
police questioning after two females, whom Cho
allegedly stalked, contacted authorities on sepa
rate occasions, according to the Associated
Press.
In addition, Virginia law fails to require NICS
background checks for gun shows and for pri
vate individuals and gun collectors, according to
the Brady Campaign.
The Virginia General Assembly, and states
nationwide, must pass stricter measures on gun
control to prevent this from happening in the
future.
Currently 35 states have no required waiting
period before obtaining firearms.
No longer should gun control be viewed as a
partisan, political mater to divide voters.
Instead lawmakers and citizens alike must
respect the government’s ability to prevent such
occurrences from happening, even if it incon
veniences citizens who purchase firearms with
legal intentions.
Monday’s tragedy at Virginia Tech left so many
across the nation absolutely speechless, glued to
their TV with hopes of hearing straightforward
reporting. Instead, the nation heard politicians and
lobbyists immediately taking sides on the issue of
gun control.
After tragic events,
the nation seems to
come together despite
all of our differences.
This tragedy, called
“the worst school
shooting in United
States History,” does
not just affect the
Virginia Tech com
munity but us all, as
this was unexpected.
When tragedies befall us, it calls into question the
nature of both the world and the people who inhabit
it.
We find ourselves searching for answers, reasons
and sanctuary, all of which are difficult to see in a
future that is so much
Ashley Home
Copy Editor
darker than it was just
four days ago. It calls
into focus the small
things, details so
minute we don’t
notice them until they
are all we have to
remember 32 innocent
Americans gunned
down on a university
campus.
In an era of count-
Paul Petrequin
Guest Writer
This togetherness and uniform thought seems
appropriate after such an event. What does not seem
appropriate is the need for many politicians to make
the tragedy into their own political agenda. We have
all heard the Second Amendment arguments for “the
right of the people to keep and bear arms,” which
pro-gun supporters and lobbyists are so quick to
spout off. We have all also heard the gun-control
lobbyists shouting for laws to prohibit many
Americans from purchasing semi-automatics and
other lethal weapons.
No matter what your opinion on the issue is
directly after tragic deaths, it seems completely
inappropriate for either side to advocate their opin
ions. At least wait a few days, not less than 24
hours, before directing the public’s attention to your
agenda.
Sen. John McCain said at a Presidential rally in
Texas Monday afternoon that he was saddened by
the day’s earlier tragedy, but the events reaffirmed
his pro-gun belief.
“I do believe in the constitutional right that every
one has, in the Second Amendment to the
Constitution, to carry a weapon. Obviously we have
to keep guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens,”
McCain said, according to a BBC news report.
Why did Senator McCain feel it was necessary to
talk about his beliefs the same day one gunman
killed 32 people and wounded around 15 others?
The Republican senator was not the only pro-gun
lobbyist to come forward within 24 hours. Their
action to defend gun-rights diminishes the magni
tude of the event and transforms attention and out
rage away from the suffering Virginia Tech campus.
This kind of inunediate lobbying is not abnormal
to see after school shootings. Gun lobbyists, includ
ing the National Rifle Association, appeared in the
media within a couple days of the Columbine High
School shooting in 1999. The same occurred last
fall after the Amish school shooting.
It is understandable for lobbyists to use such
events as backing for their arguments, but people
deserve at least a week to mourn before politicians
divert the main issue.
less technological abominations meant to conven-
ience life, when a young man finds a handgun as hi
best resort, it dumfounds us. It shatters senses of sect,
rity the world over. It leaves us unsure of whereto
begin a rebuilding process, if it can even be callai
that.
We can all find solace in the fact that the entiit
nation is shedding tears for people they will nevei
know and families they have never met. That, it
itself, is humanity.
The ripple effect of the event on the Virginia Tech
campus has been felt by all of us, and the counteract
ing tidal wave of love and support from this great
nation is the first stone in a foundation of security that
we all witnessed topple in a matter of hours.
I don’t know Cho Seung-Hui, whom police have
identified as the 23-year-old shooter. I don’t know the
type of man he was, what music he listened to, what
his favorite movie was, or what sports he played as a
child.
And contrary to what many talking heads will lead
you to believe, all any of us can do is speculate as to
what drove him to such an atrocity.
I know nothing about him, nor do I know anythiiif'
about the 32 others who died yesterday, and yet 1
grieve. I mourn for these people and their familioi
like I would my own kin, and from this 1 hope aid
pray for change.
No one can make sense of what has just happead
At best we confide in each other, come closer to «
another, and pray that a soft hug or simple handshali
can alter the future of a distressed individual who to
lost touch with his or herself.
For it is people who make the difference, it is
pie who promote change within each other, and it i
people who define one another through the same lov
ing and caring support we show to complete stranger'
as we do our best friends.
Please e-mail any comments,
thoughts or concerns to:
banner@unca.edu
camp
dorm
The Blue Banner
Editorial Board
Spring 2007
Karpen Hall 019
828.251.6586
banner@unca.edu
Allie Haake
Editor-in-Chief
Kristen Marshall
News Editor
LisaV. GiUe^ie
Managing Editor
Ben Smith
Sports Editor
Melissa Deckert
Features Editor
Adam Hillberry
Entertainment Editor
Pennie Leas
Photo Editor
Emily Sigmon
Business Editor
Suzanne Edwards
Business Manager
Wally Hosn
Advertising Director
Sara Chan^>agne
Online Editor
Michad Gouge
Faculty Adviser
Copy Editors: Christa ChappcUe, Ashley Home, Maddie Hayes,
Mary Ball and Brenda Weigel
Mentally disabled people susceptible to abuse
By Lisa Gillespie
Managing Editor
9?
The Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each
Thursday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks.
Our office is located in Karpen Hall, 017.
The Banner is a designated public forum and welcomes letters to the edi
tor and articles, considering them on a basis of interest, space and timeli
ness. Letters and articles should be e-mailed to banner@unca.edu and lim
ited to 300 words. They should be signed with the writer’s name, followed
by the year in school, major or other relationship to UNC Asheville. Include
a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles submitted are subject
to editing.
Words hurt.
Don Imus found that out. But
there are other words, words peo
ple use every day, that are just as
hateful and just as unjustified.
They call my Aunt Betsy
“retarded.”
My aunt has Down Syndrome. I
did not realize this until I was
about twelve, when I played cards
with her and realized that I was
continually wining. My father
explained to me that she is men
tally disabled and, mentally,
would remain a child for her
entire life.
When people use the word
“retarded” to mean “stupid,” I
think of my Aunt Betsy. She is
not stupid. She holds down a job,
is artistically talented and is a
kind person.
She is not “retarded.” She is
developmentally disabled.
To some, “retarded” means stu
pid. “Mentally retarded” is no
longer a mental-health term, and
when one connects this word to
“stupid,” it is linked to actual
mentally handicapped persons. It
is hard to give entitlement and a
sense of rights to able-minded
persons, even harder for persons
with mental disabilities.
Eighty-three percent of women
with disabilities will become sex
ual abuse victims in their lifetime,
according to the Alberta
Committee of Citizens with
Disabilities.
Some see children with disabili
ties as inhuman or less important
than their “healthy” counterparts
and therefore are not taught their
rights and are more susceptible to
‘Mentally retarded’ is no
longer a mental-health term,
but people use it to mean
stupid.
U
- V
Taking ‘retarded’ out oj
our vocabulary is not onlj
politically correct, but more
importantly, it is consider
ate.
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abuse.
A study of 120 children, made
up of 60 abused, 30 neglected and
30 nonabused children, reported
that 25 percent of the abused
group was diagnosed as mentally
retarded as compared to 20 per
cent of the neglected group and
three percent of the nonabused
group, according to the AJMD.
In American society, where the
assault and rape of an individual
is often blamed on the individual,
it is important not to see mentally
handicapped individuals as retard
ed, or stupid, because this justifies
the action of abuse. The individ
ual was either not listening, was
acting out or could not tell the per
son to stop. They were stupid.
They were retarded.
Sexual assault implies a lack of
consent, which can arise from an
inability to say yes or no. A per
son is considered incapable of
consent when they are mentally
handicapped or less than 16 years
old, according to the West
Virginia Foundation for Rape
Information and Services.
Iraqi government officials said
A1 Qaeda uses mentally handi
capped children as suicide
bombers and spies in Iraq, Iraqi
families consider mental handi
caps to be a burden and sell them
to A1 Qaeda or they are kid-
Lisa Gillespie
Managing Editor
a
99
Whe
len there are no major
penalties for abuse upon men
tally handicapped persons, the
actions perpetuate.
napped.
Similarily, the majority of
American society views mental
handicaps as a burden. Though
we have no reports of mentally
handicapped clfildren being sold
off to insurgents, mentally handi
capped children are the most like
ly to be sexually and physically
abused.
A more recent study of 40,000
children in Omaha schools from
1995 to 1996 found that children
with disabilities suffered a rate of
abuse 3.44 times greater than chil
dren without disabilities. The rel
ative rates for sexual assault was
5.5 times greater, for neglect 6.7
times higher and for emotional
abuse seven times higher.
Caregivers are more likely to
abuse children with difficult tem
peraments, behavioral disorders
and mental handicaps, according
to the American Journal of Mental
Deficiency.
Usually, caregivers do not gi*
children and youth with disabj>
ties the power to make choices 8
themselves. Their dependence^
caregivers also puts them at w
for becoming sexual abuse vt
tims. They are taught to obey
caregivers, and compliance
reinforced.
Second degree sexual abuse
West Virginia, which has the hiffl
est amount of mentally ban
capped persons in the U®’*
States, is sexual contact whM
victim is mentally handicapped
mentally incapacitated. The
petrator faces only up to one f
in jail or a $500 fine, accordmj^
the 2000 U.S. Census and
WVFRIS.
/
When there are no major pet^
ties for abuse upon mental
handicapped persons, the
perpetuate, and using the *
“retarded” to describe so®
stupid, only makes the actioa^
the perpetrator justified.
Taking “retarded” out ot
vocabulary is not only j
correct, but, more importan , ]
is considerate. m
A1 Queda blows up ®en^J
handicapped children. A®
does not do this, but they
them just as well.