The discussion about school shootings is hard but neccessary

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it up again; I didn’t want to be a downer on everyone’s excited mood. The thought of the summit scratched the back of my head in a way unfinished ideas only can. It bugged me that everyone was hyperfixated on Valentine’s Day when something so tragic happened to a campus just like ours.

I woke up early on Wednesday morning and drove to campus. I found somewhere to park after a few minutes of searching and walked over to the University Club. Quietly slipping into a seat, I found one of my fellow writers next to me, along with a lot of doctors and lawyers. Although it made sense given which schools were hosting it, I was unnerved to see almost

By Ava Dela Pena

William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s famous painting, “Dante and Virgil,” sits in Paris’ Musée d’Orsay. Made in 1850, the painting illustrates Dante and Virgil of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” in a gruesome fight. It is difficult to look at it. It is upsetting. It is, undeniably, art.

Two hundred years later, Schiaparelli opened Paris Fashion Week 2023 (PFW23) with three gowns that were equally hard to look at for some distressed onlookers. The designer caused controversy after representing “the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf” of the “Divine Comedy” in hyperrealistic garments. Three gowns portrayed the heads and bodies of the animals. Although the designer assured audiences that the garments were painstakingly made from faux fur and no animals were harmed, many observers still voiced that they were “uncomfortable” with what they were afraid would “normalize” taxidermy and no undergraduates there. One came in a few minutes later and asked if I was also here for extra credit. I didn’t have a chance to reply, as the next set of speakers began. The students’ question bounced on the back of my head; in a sense of indignation, I suppose. All thoughts quieted when the summit began.

The gun violence summit lasted from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sessions I sat in for focused on the gun industry’s marketing (discussed by the law school) and violence risk screening (discussed by the school of medicine). The material was enlightening yet disheartening at the same time; doctors and lawyers went over both misconceptions and how we approach gun violence. The Washington Post reported that gun violence research funding only kicked off in 2019, split between the National Institute of Health and the CDC. Each institution receives $12.5 million for gun violence research, even though the NIH receives over $45 billion in taxpayer dollars for research. That’s 0.027% of their funding. The issue seems to be, in part, how we discuss gun violence.

Doctors pointed out that a better approach would be focusing on viewing gun violence as a public health crisis and referenced the U.S.’s immediate response to COVID-19, which the NIH received over $4.9 billion over for research. Part of gun violence is how we approach the conversation.

Wanting to also be part of my conversation, I raised my hand, full of righteousness, wanting to ask how I could bring this discussion to our undergraduate portion of campus. My train of thought started clearly, but my hands started wavering and I lost my train of thought halfway through. I got through my question and listened to the responses, focusing on having the conversation even through simple ways like fundraisers for families to create a sense of community.

I walked out during the next panel switch a little dumbfounded that my body had lost its composure – something it never had done before. I went on to grab some lunch with friends after, yet I could not find the energy to participate at all. I didn’t realize how draining the conversation was and decided to just go home with my body