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The Auburn Plainsman
Opinions
Thursday, June 14, 2012
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Thursday, June 14, 2012
Campus
Our View
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“
It is a tough period of time. There are not a lot of answers right now, but we are going to continue day-by-day.” —Gene Chizik AUBURN FOOTBALL COACH
Letter to the Editor
AU ALERT inactive during shooting
age to learn and grow from this awful tragedy. We reach out to comfort the families and friends of all the men who were taken from us before their time. An Irish proverb says, “The tree remains, but not the hand that planted it.” With these words in mind, let us not forget the memory of these men, but honor their lives with a dedicated focus to the continuance of their legacy and to nurture the seeds they have planted here on The Plains. God Bless and War Eagle,
Tragedy is an apt word to describe the event that occurred late Saturday evening. Three men lost their lives, and three others were injured as the result of the actions of an “armed and extremely dangerous man.” Certainly no one is denying that, but surprisingly the University did not feel the need to alert the campus community of his potential presence in the area. Any one browsing their Twitter and Facebook feeds late Saturday night knew that something bad had happened. We did not know the severity or all of the details, but we did know something despicable and dangerous occurred in a student community within close proximity to campus. Bottom line, AU ALERT should have been activated. Let me be clear in saying that I am not asking for AU ALERT to provide me with minute-by-minute updates of the ongoing situation. That’s why I follow news organizations and own a television. However, I do expect to be notified that there might be an “armed and extremely dangerous” individual in the vicinity of campus and the surrounding community. What if I was not awake late at night log onto Facebook or Twitter? Should the University’s argument be that they had no confirmed details and information was not official? My response to that is, “So what?” The system has had no problem alerting us hours after the fact that severe weather that has passed through. So, why should a potential clear and present danger of an “armed and extremely dangerous man” be any different? Granted, it probably isn’t the best move for the University’s public relations department to openly broadcast the events of Saturday night. Camp War Eagle is in full swing, new students and their parents are being introduced to the town and Auburn’s campus, many for the first time, and I am sure there are plenty of other reasons the University would rather not talk about such things. This is the loveliest village on The Plains, and things like this just don’t happen in Auburn. Well, tragedy did happen, and by failing to alert those who signed up for the service, the University failed those who rely on its service. It is time to reevaluate this system. Is AU ALERT only here to let its subscribers know when there is going to be bad weather? Or is the system supposed to alert us of danger, like one would think?
Owen Parrish Senior SGA President
Torey Palmer Higher Education Administration
Auburn family mourns loss, seeks answers We are stunned by the events of this past weekend. Right now, we can't truly process what's going on. We have been constantly surrounded by information since Saturday night, and that information has been heartbreaking. When members of the Auburn family, football players or not, are taken away in such a pointless manner, the entire community feels it. Ladarious Phillips, Edward Christian and Demario Pitts were all 20 years old when their lives abrubtly and tragically ended. They were still very young, just barely out of their teen years, which is one of the most disheartening aspects of this incident. Their families are undoubtedly caught up in whirlwind of inconsolable grief, confusion, anger and depression. We owe it to the victims' families to show as much respect as possible. We also owe a great deal of respect to the family of John Robertson, who is fighting for his life at the hospital at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. However, we also need to show respect to the family of the alleged shooter, Desmonte Leonard.
The unfortunate truth is we don't know exactly what led to the shooting. The supposed eyewitness from the party has no real credibility. Police agencies said there is a high possibility Leonard committed the crime. That is all we have to go on because they will not release the motive or the specific details from the night of the party. What we don't need is all of the hyped-up hatred virally flooding the Internet in personal blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook accounts, message boards, and unreliable websites. This has only become a catalyst for negativity supported by the democratic right to free speech. The comment sections on sites like al.com are cluttered with racist hate speech calling for the immediate street execution of Leonard. This kind of speech is counterproductive and distracting. Whoever started the false Leonard Twitter account should be ashamed of his or her deplorable actions. You are not funny, and your attempts to seek attention serve only as a display of your ignorance and lack of empathy. The “Free Woosie” trend is equally
repugnant. This situation has nothing to do with race or a police conspiracy. Anyone, black or white, who thinks so is in dire need of psychiatric care. The shooting is not about you. It’s not about your insane logic, and it’s not about your stupidity. All you should be focusing on is respect and humility. When people like you start crying for attention, you make us all look bad. We need some perspective. We are all saddened by this senseless loss of life. However, we do not condone the propagation of violence, and we certainly don't believe in the degradation of the justice system, as flawed as it may be. This is not a time for personal agendas, especially collegiate alliances, and racist ignorance. Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said during Sunday’s press conference, “This is not about Auburn University football players. These young men are all victims of a brutal shooting.” Whenever violence like this happens, people are quick to take sides. Some choose the side of street justice, others choose to use the oppor-
tunity to make their personal beliefs known. Debate over gun laws are being thrown around; the struggles of young black men in America takes a spotlight; and issues of personal safety are drawn up. These arguments all have valid points, but it is not appropriate or respectful to the families of those involved to turn their sorrow into a sounding board. Situations like Saturday night’s shooting remind us of these issues, and it is not our place to tell you what to think. What we ask for is a show of respect and thoughtful support for the families of the victims and fairness to the families of the suspects. Our sincerest hope is that if Leonard is indeed guilty, due justice will be served. After the fruitless standoff in Montgomery, we are thankful he is finally in custody. The Auburn community is in mourning. We are weeping for three young men who deserved better, and we are shocked at the violent disruption of the peacefulness of our community. Chief Dawson said, “We need to learn the value of human life again,” and we couldn't agree more.
Letter to the Editor
SGA president calls for unity, respect in dark time Fellow students, It is with a very heavy heart that I write this note today. As we all know, the Auburn family suffered a tragedy this past weekend, and our student body lost two of our beloved classmates. During the few past days, we have all witnessed the Auburn family respond in an incredible way to these events. We have seen outrage as a result of a senseless tragedy, despair over the loss of great potential and unity as we comfort suffering friends and family members. There are two things that weigh heavily on my mind in regards to our
The Editorial Board Robert E. Lee
John Holtrop
EDITOR
SPORTS EDITOR
Melody Kitchens
Rachel Suhs
MANAGING EDITOR
DESIGN EDITOR
Andrew Yawn
Danielle Lowe
NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO EDITOR
TJ Harlin
Anna Claire Conrad
CAMPUS EDITOR
response. Firstly, I know that in order to properly commemorate and celebrate the lives of our classmates, we must fully unite as the Auburn community. We do not only mourn the loss of two football players, or two student-athletes, but of two members of our family and two of our friends. This situation forces us to transcend any barriers, jointly remembering Edward Christian, Ladarious Phillips, the lives they led and the legacy they leave behind. It is my hope that as Auburn students we remember not the chase of the killer, but remember the men who were killed. With Facebook,
COPY EDITOR
Nathan Simone ONLINE EDITOR
Ben Croomes ONLINE EDITOR
Twitter and televised breaking news footage, it is too easy to be entertained by the pursuit of justice and forget why justice is needed. Three of our family members were hatefully shot, taking two of them away from us. I ask that we respect the victims, the families, those who were involved, and our university by focusing on who is lost and the hearts that are broken instead of a manhunt. In closing, I pray for the unity of the Auburn family; for a sense of understanding after this horrible event, if one can be attained; for comfort for all of us who mourn; strength for all of us who struggle; and for the cour-
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