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DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
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‘If I want something, I really go for it’ D.C. gunman SGA Speaker Barrett
is busy, but excited
This article is part two in a series on top SGA officials.
By JaSon kotoch Collegian Correspondent O r i g i n a l ly f ro m California, Sïonan Barrett has always wanted to attend an east coast university. The University of Massachusetts, she said, has turned out to be a perfect fit. Redondo Beach native Sïonan (pronounced Shannon) Barrett was elected speaker of the Student Government Association last spring after serving a short term as a senator. A sophomore journalism student, Barrett is a big personality with equally big aspirations. As SGA speaker, Barrett is the mediating voice between the student body
and the administration. With this responsibility comes a great deal of satisfaction. “I like to know that I can make a difference,” she said. “The SGA is really the bridge between the student voice and the administrators.” Barrett is motivated; dedicating herself to the SGA without hesitation, she is looking forward to making the SGA much more visible on campus this year. “Students can expect to see SGA members around campus tabling, talking and participating in the lives of UMass students,” she said. Though only in her second year, Barrett has a full plate. Not only does she juggle class and SGA responsibilities, but she also runs a news segment with UVCTV, plays intermural tennis, is a resident assistant and works as a Eucharistic minister at the Newman Center. As if this were not enough,
had past with mental illness
Purchased gun in VA on Saturday CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN
Sïonan Barrett, senate speaker, is also a tennis player, a resident assistant, a Eucharistic minister and runs a UVC-TV news segment. Barrett is in the process of creating her own TV show, “The Show with Sïonan.” The drive to work hard and participate fully in all aspects of campus life is part of who Barrett is: “If I’m stagnant, I’m bored. I always have to be learning something,” she said. After graduating, Barrett
wants to work in broadcast journalism as a political news correspondent and she strives to one day become a news anchor. She is considering working in Boston or perhaps heading back west to Los Angeles if the opportunity arises. see
SPEAKER on page 3
Hoops!... I dId It agaIn
SHAINA MISHKIN/COLLEGIAN
Freshman Caitlin Knauss enjoys the beginning of fall weather by using hoops next to the Durfee Conservatory on Tuesday.
By RichaRd a. SeRRano, david S. cloud and Molly henneSSy-FiSke Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – Six weeks ago, Aaron Alexis told people someone had threatened him at an airport in Virginia. A few days later, in Rhode Island, he heard voices. He thought people were speaking to him through “the walls, floor and ceiling” of the Navy base there, where he was working. In his hotel room, the voices used “some sort of microwave machine” to send vibrations through the ceiling and into his body, a police report shows him saying. He could not sleep. Alexis frequently moved as part of his contract work at military installations from New England to North Carolina; he arrived in Washington on Aug. 25. He switched hotels several times until Sept. 7, when he finally settled into the Residence Inn - a mile from his new workplace at the historic Navy Yard on the capital’s waterfront. On Saturday he visited a gun shop in the Virginia suburbs. He practiced firing a rifle, then purchased a Remington 870 shotgun and 24 shells. The shortbarrel weapon, known popularly as a “riot gun,” is commonly used by police and the military. On Monday he reported to work with that shotgun. The FBI says he had a valid pass to enter the base. At 8:15 a.m., in Building 197, the most crowded structure there, he opened fire, grabbed a pistol along the way, and killed 12 people, shooting at police until they killed him in a gun
battle that lasted about half an hour. A day later, Alexis’ history of mental problems, his extensive disciplinary record from his time in the Navy, and his three arrests over the last decade - two of them for gun-related incidents - have generated numerous questions, many of them familiar from past mass shootings: How had police, the military and the company he worked for missed the accumulating signs of trouble? Why was the 34-year-old loner and drifter given an ID card that would allow him to easily come and go from military bases around the country without a security check? How could he so readily pass a background check to buy a shotgun? Amid those questions, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to order a review of security procedures at all Defense Department installations in the U.S., a Pentagon official said Tuesday. At the company Alexis worked for, the Experts, an information technology company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Chief Executive Thomas E. Hoshko said that despite having paid another company to conduct a background check on Alexis before hiring him in 2012, to Hoshko’s knowledge they “were never made aware of any criminal or health issues.” “I have more questions than you, and I am working to find out what can be done to improve security on bases, as well as the security process,” he wrote in an e-mail. Alexis’ secret-level security clearance, which he originally received in 2008 after joining the Navy, made him a valuable hire see
SHOOTING on page 3
UMass earns top ranking Knowing signs of suicide can potentially save lives for LGBT quality of life One of 53 schools to receive perfect score By cecilia PRado Collegian Correspondent The University of Massachusetts has again been named one of the top 25 colleges in the nation for the quality of life of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. The University has also received a five-star rating from Campus Pride’s Campus
Climate Index, one of only 53 colleges and universities to do so. “UMass has a very supportive staff that always takes into consideration our recommendations to improve the LGBT campus life,” said Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center, the administrative office and campus resource for LGBT individuals. Beemyn recalled an instance when the Stonewall Center suggested a policy change to both the registrar and UCard offices that would
allow transgender students to change their name to the one that represents their preferred gender identity on their UCard. “They immediately took it into account,” Beemyn said of the administration. “The fact that the officials at such a big institution took the time to discuss a modification of their policies to benefit only a very small group of students per class says a lot about the level of support we receive.” see
LGBT on page 2
Resources available to those in need By Jaclyn BRySon Collegian Staff
According to the National Center for Prevention of Youth Suicide, suicide is one of the leading causes of death for college students in the United States. But Dr. Harry RocklandMiller, director of the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health
at the University of Massachusetts, wants you to know that there are ways to prevent this. “Help is available. You’re not in this alone,” he said. “Talk it out and if you are starting to have thoughts of suicide, get some professional help.” Following National Suicide Prevention Week, which ran from Sept. 8- 14, Rockland-Miller said that he wants students to be more aware of the signs and the resources that can save lives.
“Historically, talking about suicide was something that was associated potentially with stigma or shame,” he said. “We want to normalize and give people information and educate and make it easier for people to reach out for help.” According to RocklandMiller, over 15,000 visits were made to the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health last year.“At UMass, we have a community of care,” he see
PREVENTION on page 2