A provoked response EDITORIAL Newspaper, administration call 'cease fire'

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Last week, the newspaper sponsored an accessibility walk to determine the accessibility of certain buildings and the campus as a whole. A meeting was held to discuss the findings this walk. Letters were sent to members of the administration, faculty, SGA and other offices on campus inviting them to attend. On the whole, the staff was impressed that so many people showed up and that they responded in the way that they did. Student reporters were taken seriously, and a potentially volatile situation turned out to be a positive and informative meeting. It also showed that the current administration is moving forward to erase the negative memories of the past.

Mike Caranfa, chief facilities officer, was very helpful and provided reporters with useful information. He also made efforts after the meeting to clarify information and answer reporters' questions openly and honestly. Others in attendance, including Andrea Maneval, Charles Schaffner and David Carpenter, approached the situation in much the same way. This is a step in the right direction for both the students and the administration of this school.

As reporters, the newspaper is responsible to report the facts to the community. It is also our school, and we want to make improvements as well as do our jobs. This administration has finally seen us not as an enemy as previous ones have. Instead, as seen through this meeting, both sides can work together to make improvements. New automatic door openers have been installed, and there is hope that other changes will be made.

While the administration has made positive steps to help, there was a lack of faculty support. This is upsetting to us, not only as students, but also as reporters. Letters were sent out, and those who were expected to not attend, attended. Conversely, those who we build personal relationships with through our education did not show up. Many probably had classes to teach, but it would have been nice to receive a response to the invitation to show that we have been taken seriously. Faculty provide a step between students and administration. They are aware of the opinions and situations of both sides. One of the reasons a student chooses to attend a small school is to have a more personal relationship with professors, and to have them become involved in their lives. However, this lack of ~interest has been surprising to those of us who feel like we have made connections with many professors. To those who did show up, the support was noted and you are thanked for attending

Against my better judgment, I am writing this commentary in response to Michael Butler's commentary in issue 18 regarding the Santana High School shootings. If the author's intention was to provoke a response, well, you win.

First off, I would just like to ask if the incident that Butler wrote about was the same one that the rest of us have read about. The gunman who I read about, Charles Andrew Williams, is just as far from courageous as any other terrorist or murderer that we see on the news. Butler wants to see this killer as "casting his chains." The last I checked, he was cast behind bars, and two innocent people are in a casket. Yeah, real heroic.

High school is a tough time for everybody. Let me repeat, loud and clear- IIlGH SCHOOL IS A TOUGH TIME FOR EVERBODY. Anyone who thinks having broad shoulders and a clear complexion makes life simple obviously has a warped understand- ing of human nature. Nobody gets through unscathed. Every •~ock" or "prep" has had some point where they were the object of ridicule. Acting cruelly toward others is a pathetic but common way for adolescents to deal with their own insecurities.

One of the many things that irritated me the most about Butler's commentary was the reverse prejudice that it implied. In such statements such as "Plus, it really shakes up the jocks" and "the balance of power shifts that far away from them," it becomes starkly obvious that Butler bas no grasp on reality. The result of a shooting spree that leaves two people dead and 13 injured is not to simply even the playing field. It shows that the author has as much, if not more, contempt for "jocks" then they could ever possibly have for him. The hypocrisy is embarrassing.

The most frightening thing about Butler's commentary is that his warped perspective is not as rare as we would like to think. The Columbine killers have a definite following among teens who consider them to be anti-heroes. I wonder if Williams could be included in that group.

As long as there have been peer groups, there have been bullies and the bullied. And vengeance fantasies have always been around. But now the fan- tasies are becoming more of a reality, and some people actually applaud the efforts. This is sick. I can only hope that the reason for this support is because these people can't differentiate between what they see on the news and what they see on entertainment television. The reality of these lost lives obviously bas no impact on these misguided people.

But more than anything about this column, I was offended by Butler's cry for empathy. The author bas empathy for Wtlliams, but talks with thinly-veiled glee about him "netting two kills" and "a couple people on permanent leave from school due to being arrested or killed." For crying out loud, the killer didn't even discriminate about whom be was shooting! If this was really about getting even with the jocks, why did be also shoot a professor and students who were in no way, shape or form ')ocks?" He didn't aim for the people who picked on him; he just shot, with a grin on bis face and innocent bodies lying around him. And you have the gall to call this kid "courageous."

'80s, I know you, dude, and I didn't want to get personal. But judging by this commentary, you are either A) Full of crap and a poor satirist; or B) In need of more help than Cabrini College can provide.

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