OPINION
Kiss Cam Chaos Mets fans in uproar about homophobic kiss cam prank. BY LUCY STOFER REPORTER
Dave and Robin Griffith, from Portland, Oregon, visit the makeshift memorial to pay their respects to the Umpqua Community College shooting victims, in Roseburg, Oregon, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. (Photo by MCT campus)
Oregon Shooting Raises Topic of Reform Shooting in Roseburg sparks much-needed gun control debate across country. BY AUBREY MAKAR A&E COLUMNIST
Currently in the United States it feels like no days pass without a gun-related incident. This year alone, there have been over 41,000 shootings and 10,000 deaths in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Ironically, the National Rifle Association continues to push the idea that the media needs to honor the victims and families with time to grieve before discussing the problems associated with gun control. But shootings seem to happen every day, and as a result, there is no time left to discuss these issues. On Oct. 2 in Roseburg, Oregon, Chris Harper-Mercer entered Umpqua Community College and proceeded to shoot and kill 10 victims, leaving at least seven others injured in his wake. He had six guns that he brought to his college and seven at home. All 13 of his guns were seized after the ordeal. In an interview with CNN, Ian Mercer, the father of the shooter said that the fact that Mercer was able to get so many guns is horrific. If he hadn’t been able to get 13 guns, it might not have happened. He then highlighted that this doesn’t happen in other countries as consistently as in the United States. Mere talk about reform will not bring the
victims back to their families; only the act of making new gun regulations will help ease the irpain so it won’t happen to anyone else. Shootings are incredibly common in today’s news. Because people feel the need to honor the victims before discussing the issue, nothing substantial passes to stop it. It has been a major issue for a long time, and after the Oregon Shooting, President Barack Obama made a statement to the press about gun control and the need to be stricter for the safety of the country. Recently there was nearly a shooting because a student was allowed to carry a concealed weapon on campus. Far from a defensive reaction, he pulled his gun because the cafeteria ran out of macaroni and cheese that he wanted for lunch. After he pulled out his gun because of the lack of macaroni on his plate, it should have been apparent that things needed to change. Every time that a shooting takes place in the U.S., politicians and the public rally behind the cry for justice of the victims but fail to realize the real problem. There is a clear correlation between the lack of gun control in the U.S. and the number of gun related crimes. In other countries where there are strict gun regulations, there are far fewer shootings, according to the Huffington Post. How many times will people have to be killed because of the loosely structured gun laws? When will the American people realize that something needs to change? When the second amendment says that you can have a gun, it doesn’t mean that you should have an assault rifle on you in the cafeteria.
This year in the United States over 41,433 shootings have occurred taking 10,448 lives. (Illustration by Aubrey Makar)
One outraged Mets fan’s persistent tweets to the team went unheard for months, but are now finally eliciting an outcome. According to CNN. com, lifelong Mets fan Etan Bednarsh continually noticed players from the opposing team jokingly being put into the heart-shaped frame for the kiss cam on the jumbotron. This “joke” was for the sole purpose of evoking laughter from the crowd. Bednarsh consistently tweeted the official Mets account every time he witnessed this with no response for months. “Putting two men together on the kiss cam isn’t a punchline. I want to keep coming to games. Please stop doing this,” Bednarsh tweeted. The Mets recently released a statement discussing the issue and their wrong doing. “We have, on occasion, included players from opposing teams in our popular in-game kiss cam feature,” the organization said in a statement to HuffPost Live. “While intended to be lighthearted, we unintentionally offended some. We apologize for doing so and no longer will include players in the feature. Our organization is wholly supportive of fostering an inclusive and respectful environment at games.” Since the Kiss Cam is meant to be a fun tradition when attending a sporting event, the significant effect that this fun pastime is able to create isn’t often thought about or discussed. Los Angeles natives Steven Simone-Friedland and his husband, Rick Simone-Friedland attended a Dodger’s game earlier this year and got much more from the game than just a souvenir ball. According to Simone-Friedland, they were approached by the camera crew sometime in the 3rd inning asking if they wanted to be a part of the kiss cam segment. “They came up to us and asked if it was something that we would want to do and we said yes before thinking about the ramifications of it,” Simone-Friedland said. Almost a full inning went by from the time that they agreed to the time that the kiss actually happened, giving them time to think about what could happen afterwards. Simone-Friedland said that when they saw their faces appear on the screen they decided to have fun with it. The crowd roared with claps and cheers when they kissed, and they had the loudest fans by far. “It was such a non-issue. The normalcy of it is what struck me the most,” Simone-Friedland said. According to Simone-Friedland, the fact that no one said anything afterwards said more than if everyone came up and made comments to them. Everyone went on with the game like normal and didn’t dwell on the kiss. “The ball park should be a fun place. It shouldn’t be somewhere that makes you feel uncomfortable or that people are making fun of you,” Simone-Friedland said. LE JOURNAL October 2015
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