2008 Woodie Awards
Overracting to "threat" a problem
Maggie Willis
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Opinion
The recent "threatening student" on campus brought out many complaints around campus. Students complained about the inefficiency of the warning e-mails, parents complained students were put in danger when classes weren't canceled, professors complained about the disorganization of the situation - did anyone think to complain about how the student involved was treated?
His name was essentially attached to a description of crazy gunman and e-mailed to 14,000 students. His name has been plastered all over the news, tossed all around campus and for what?
Because he was "a danger to himself"… and that obviously means he was going to go psycho and murder a bunch of students.
I don't know the whole circumstance surrounding what happened with this student, and guess what? No one needs to. It's none of our business.
And it's definitely not the business of the students who received e-mails telling them to avoid him because he might blow their brains out.
C'mon, people. Almost everyone is a danger to themselves at some point during their lives, and they don't go around shooting people over it.
Not every person with a backpack is carrying bombs. Not every person with an accent is a terrorist. Not every person with a gun is going to go on a murdering rampage.
Please don't misunderstand me - this is not advising a complete lack of caution or safety precautions. People just need to quit jumping at their shadows and start thinking things through.
Things are touchy lately, but only because people are letting their fear push them into overreacting. Ever heard the saying, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?" Well, good ol' FDR hit it right on the nail.
My plea to everyone who reads this is two-part.
First, give this guy a clean slate.
Quit talking about him and move on. This column doesn't mention his name for a reason; we need to stop making this situation worse for this guy.
Second, learn from this.
Twice now we've had a scare at SIUE, and twice they were false alarms. The third time may be the real deal, but it could also be another adrenaline-ridden overreaction.
We need to find a balance between blind fear and utter apathy.
His name was essentially attached to a description of crazy gunman and e-mailed to 14,000 students. His name has been plastered all over the news, tossed all around campus and for what?
Because he was "a danger to himself"… and that obviously means he was going to go psycho and murder a bunch of students.
I don't know the whole circumstance surrounding what happened with this student, and guess what? No one needs to. It's none of our business.
And it's definitely not the business of the students who received e-mails telling them to avoid him because he might blow their brains out.
C'mon, people. Almost everyone is a danger to themselves at some point during their lives, and they don't go around shooting people over it.
Not every person with a backpack is carrying bombs. Not every person with an accent is a terrorist. Not every person with a gun is going to go on a murdering rampage.
Please don't misunderstand me - this is not advising a complete lack of caution or safety precautions. People just need to quit jumping at their shadows and start thinking things through.
Things are touchy lately, but only because people are letting their fear push them into overreacting. Ever heard the saying, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?" Well, good ol' FDR hit it right on the nail.
My plea to everyone who reads this is two-part.
First, give this guy a clean slate.
Quit talking about him and move on. This column doesn't mention his name for a reason; we need to stop making this situation worse for this guy.
Second, learn from this.
Twice now we've had a scare at SIUE, and twice they were false alarms. The third time may be the real deal, but it could also be another adrenaline-ridden overreaction.
We need to find a balance between blind fear and utter apathy.
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