The Marcolian Online

Apr. 19 , 2007

Marietta’s perspectives
Jon Moffett
jrm001@marietta.edu

When I was a child, the one thing I wanted more than anything else was to be invisible. It was by far the coolest of things in my mind. I would watch cartoons and movies about superheros and think that having the power to be invisible would be the greatest thing in the world. Then I went to school.

As early as middle school, I learned that invisibility wasn’t as cracked up as I had thought. Although everyone might not want to be popular, everyone at least wants to be accepted by somebody. You may be asking what my point is. Well, it is this; there are ghosts on this campus. There are students who walk around and nobody seems to notice, or worse, care.

I spoke with a student of Marietta who said, “It’s weird. You go to a school thinking that those types of things won’t happen, they only happen somewhere else. Then you realize, hey, maybe these things could happen here.”

On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, two students, who were considered outcasts or “freaks” by their peers, carried out the bloodiest massacre at a school to date.

Meanwhile, in Blacksburg, Virginia, students who heard about it probably thought “That’s sad, but that wouldn’t happen here.” Almost eight years to the date, another student, this time at Virginia Tech, snapped. Killing 33 students, including himself, Cho Seung-hui sent another bloody message to us all.

The sad truth is that these things do happen. As we’ve seen, they can happen. As a student of Marietta College, I admit that I feel safe in this environment. Well, there were 33 students who felt safe at Virginia Tech, and now they’re dead. Much like Columbine, these events were incredibly tragic, but at the same time serve as deadly warnings to us all.

Now I can’t say whether or not the Virginia Tech shooter was considered an outcast or not, but I can say that his actions should make us take a better look at our own “outcasts”. Forming cliques and social groups is natural.

We instinctively gravitate to people who are similar to us in attitudes and common likings. But at the same time, who are we to ostracize those who are different than us? The sad truth is that we all do it. I myself am guilty of doing this as well. But we all have to try harder to accept these students who are different than us, for the good of us all.

I don’t want the student body to consider this a warning, because, God willing, a terrible tragedy like this won’t happen here; just know that it could. Consider this a call to change, for us all, myself included.

Sometimes being invisible seems like the coolest thing in the world. Other times, however, it can be the cruelest thing in the world.

Deanna Harra
dch001@marietta.edu

Everybody has his or her perspective of the events that changed the history of Virginia Tech. Here are three of them.

Manda Scheub

“I feel like what happened will change a lot of things. I mean parents will look a lot deeper at the security of schools. Students will be constantly on guard. Here at Marietta College we all feel safe but you never know. Parents should be able to send their children off to college knowing that they will be safe on campus.

Shootings inside dorm and classroom buildings should never be an issue. It will be now. Marietta College coming together like this shows us all that what happened at Virginia Tech didn’t just happen to them.

It happened to all parents who have sent children off to college, and it happened to every college student. It’s a national issue that I don’t think will soon be forgotten.”

Mayor Michael Mullen

“A gathering like a this one is a great outreach to the bigger interfaith community that brings us closer together. It gives us some comfort. The amount of suffering of very family involved and every community involved is immeasurable.”

Jane Spilatro

“For the college this was a time to get together and talk about our feelings and emotions. It was a great outlet for the college community to show that we were all affected by what happened. I have kids away at college.

So I could sympathize with what the victim’s parents are going through. It’s just a tragedy that so many young lives were lost.”

It’s safe to say that Marietta College and the city of Marietta will hold in their hands the hearts of all those affected by Monday’s shootings.

Many Marietta College students know people who were involved with the shootings and many of us do not. But one thing is for sure; Marietta College is united through our continued prayers and thoughts for all of those who were impacted.


• Campus News • Viewpoints • Sports • Arts & Living • Greek wrap-up • Ask Marc • Spotlight • New faces at MC • Meet our staff • Staff profiles • Letters to the editor policy • History of the newspaper • Benefits of advertising • Ad rates		Apr. 19 , 2007 Marietta’s perspectives Jon Moffett jrm001@marietta.edu When I was a child, the one thing I wanted more than anything else was to be invisible. It was by far the coolest of things in my mind. I would watch cartoons and movies about superheros and think that having the power to be invisible would be the greatest thing in the world. Then I went to school. As early as middle school, I learned that invisibility wasn’t as cracked up as I had thought. Although everyone might not want to be popular, everyone at least wants to be accepted by somebody. You may be asking what my point is. Well, it is this; there are ghosts on this campus. There are students who walk around and nobody seems to notice, or worse, care. I spoke with a student of Marietta who said, “It’s weird. You go to a school thinking that those types of things won’t happen, they only happen somewhere else. Then you realize, hey, maybe these things could happen here.” On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, two students, who were considered outcasts or “freaks” by their peers, carried out the bloodiest massacre at a school to date. Meanwhile, in Blacksburg, Virginia, students who heard about it probably thought “That’s sad, but that wouldn’t happen here.” Almost eight years to the date, another student, this time at Virginia Tech, snapped. Killing 33 students, including himself, Cho Seung-hui sent another bloody message to us all. The sad truth is that these things do happen. As we’ve seen, they can happen. As a student of Marietta College, I admit that I feel safe in this environment. Well, there were 33 students who felt safe at Virginia Tech, and now they’re dead. Much like Columbine, these events were incredibly tragic, but at the same time serve as deadly warnings to us all. Now I can’t say whether or not the Virginia Tech shooter was considered an outcast or not, but I can say that his actions should make us take a better look at our own “outcasts”. Forming cliques and social groups is natural. We instinctively gravitate to people who are similar to us in attitudes and common likings. But at the same time, who are we to ostracize those who are different than us? The sad truth is that we all do it. I myself am guilty of doing this as well. But we all have to try harder to accept these students who are different than us, for the good of us all. I don’t want the student body to consider this a warning, because, God willing, a terrible tragedy like this won’t happen here; just know that it could. Consider this a call to change, for us all, myself included. Sometimes being invisible seems like the coolest thing in the world. Other times, however, it can be the cruelest thing in the world. Deanna Harra dch001@marietta.edu Everybody has his or her perspective of the events that changed the history of Virginia Tech. Here are three of them. Manda Scheub “I feel like what happened will change a lot of things. I mean parents will look a lot deeper at the security of schools. Students will be constantly on guard. Here at Marietta College we all feel safe but you never know. Parents should be able to send their children off to college knowing that they will be safe on campus. Shootings inside dorm and classroom buildings should never be an issue. It will be now. Marietta College coming together like this shows us all that what happened at Virginia Tech didn’t just happen to them. It happened to all parents who have sent children off to college, and it happened to every college student. It’s a national issue that I don’t think will soon be forgotten.” Mayor Michael Mullen “A gathering like a this one is a great outreach to the bigger interfaith community that brings us closer together. It gives us some comfort. The amount of suffering of very family involved and every community involved is immeasurable.” Jane Spilatro “For the college this was a time to get together and talk about our feelings and emotions. It was a great outlet for the college community to show that we were all affected by what happened. I have kids away at college. So I could sympathize with what the victim’s parents are going through. It’s just a tragedy that so many young lives were lost.” It’s safe to say that Marietta College and the city of Marietta will hold in their hands the hearts of all those affected by Monday’s shootings. Many Marietta College students know people who were involved with the shootings and many of us do not. But one thing is for sure; Marietta College is united through our continued prayers and thoughts for all of those who were impacted.
Mailing address: Marietta College Box A-20, Marietta, Ohio 45750-4000 Physical address: McKinney Media Center, 508 Putnam St, Marietta, Ohio Phone: (740) 376-4555 E-mail: marc@marietta.edu