Columbine High School: Cassie Bernall, Steve Curnow , Corey

THE DAILY WILDCAT
Printing the news, sounding the alarm, and raising hell since 1899
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28-29, 2015
DAILYWILDCAT.COM
VOLUME 109 • ISSUE 27
Columbine High School: Cassie Bernall, Steve Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matt
Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, Rachel Scott, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Lauren
Townsend, Kyle Velasquez, Dave Sanders • University of Arizona: Robin Rogers, Barbara Monroe,
Cheryl McGaffic • Red Lake Senior High School: Daryl Lussier, Michelle Sigana, Derrick
Brun, Alicia White, Neva Wynkoop-Rogers, Thurlene Stillday, Chanelle Rosebear, Chase Lussier,
Dewayne Lewis • West Nickel Mines Amish School: Naomi Rose Ebersol, Lena Miller, Mary
Liz Miller, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, Marian Fisher • Virginia Tech Blacksburg: Ross A. Alameddine,
Christopher James Bishop, Brian R. Bluhm, Ryan Christopher Clark, Austin Michelle Cloyd,
Jocelyne Couture- Nowak, Kevin P. Granata, Matthew Gregory Gwaltney, Caitlin Millar Hammaren,
Jeremy Michael Herbstritt, Rachael Elizabeth Hill, Emily Jane Hilscher, Jarrett Lee Lane, Matthew
It happened here.
Twice.
T
EDITORIAL
he Tucson community has been
affected by gun violence twice
during the past decade and a half.
In 2002, the UA’s College of Nursing
was horribly devastated when an
armed gunman shot and killed three professors
and subsequently himself. In 2011, our own
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and horribly
wounded alongside 18 others , of whom six
were killed outside of a local grocery store.
Among the six killed was a 9-year-old girl.
Today, Oct. 28, is the 13th anniversary of the
2002 shooting at the UA College of Nursing,
and we as a nation have made seemingly no
progress—perhaps even regressed—on the
issue of gun violence.
Growing up, our generation has seen horrific
violence. In 1999, the unthinkable happened
at Columbine High School in Colorado:
two seniors planned and orchestrated a
sophisticated attack on their high school
ending in the deaths of 12 students, one
teacher and the suicides of the perpetrators
themselves. Eight years after that came the
tragedy at Virginia Tech, where 32 were
slaughtered.
On the front page we have chosen to
display all the names of mass shooting
victims as a testament to their memories
and the importance of remembering victims
in preventing future murders. We have also
chosen to report the names of the shooters
within the pages of this issue because, as
journalists, we must report the facts of these
terrible events.
As a generation, we have become
desensitized to violence and are shockingly
apathetic, even when the violence happens
within our own communities.
We have chosen to focus on mass shootings,
consisting of three or more people effected,
whether or not they happened on a university
campus. These shootings are more than a
campus problem.
The problem, then, is that this trauma
isn’t unique to our community or to any
community; in this country we have had more
mass shootings this year than we have had
days.
As a result we have had a tsunami of
proposed legislation for increasingly tighter
gun regulations. However, nothing comes of it.
After each shooting, whether it is at a school,
a grocery store, a movie theater or a private
residence, we ask ourselves how we can fix this
and generate multiple methods to mitigate
these tragedies. Yet here we are, with no
solutions, just waiting for the next tragedy and
the subsequent sympathetic Facebook post
that will accompany it. We are all [insert school
mascot] or [whatever town] “strong”. We are
complacent. We need to do more.
Sadly, this editorial could have been written
and published at any time. This will always
be a current topic, as gun violence prevails
daily, yet little has been done on a societal or
legislative level to address these shootings. The
president airs an address, the nation mourns
and we forget about it until the next agitated
assailant makes his move on a community,
unsuspecting and shocked by the violent
outburst.
“He was such a good kid,” acquaintances will
say. “We really didn’t see this coming.”
But we do see it coming.
As a nation, we understand the risks of a
wildly underwhelming mental health care
system and a social climate where guns are an
expectation, not a rarity, yet nothing changes.
We sit and we wait and hope that it gets better.
That is why we are doing this special issue,
because we want it to be understood that we,
as college reporters and Millennials, do care
about gun violence and strive to not simply be
apathetic bystanders hoping we’re not the ones
who get shot.
It happened here. History forgotten simply
repeats itself.
Editorials are determined by the Daily
Wildcat editorial board and are written
by its members. They are Nick Havey,
Jessie Webster and Jacquelyn Oesterblad.
Christianna Silva and Meghan Fernandez
recused themselves from this editorial.
Joseph La Porte, Henry J. Lee, Liviu Librescu, G.V. Loganathan, Partahi Mamora Halomoan
Lumbantoruan, Lauren Ashley McCain, Daniel Patrick O’Neil, Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz, Minal
Hiralal Panchal, Daniel Alejandro Perez Cueva, Erin Nicole Peterson, Michael Steven Pohle, Jr.,
Julia Kathleen Pryde, Mary Karen Read, Reema Joseph Samaha,Waleed Mohamed Shaalan, Leslie
Geraldine Sherman,Maxine Shelly Turner, Nicole Regina White •Northern Illinois University:
Gayle Dubowski, Catalina Garcia, Julianna Gehant, Ryanne Mace, Daniel Parmenter • University
of Alabama Huntsville: Maria Ragland Davis, Adriel Johnson, Gopi Podila • Chardon High
School: Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King, Jr., Daniel Parmertor • Oikos University: Katleen Ping,
Lydia Sim, Tshering Rinzing Bhutia, Sonam Chodon, Judith Seymour, Grace Eunhae Kim, Doris
Chibuko • Sandy Hook Elementary School: Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Rachel D’Avino,
Olivia Rose Engel, Josephine Gay, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, Dylan Hockley, Madeleine F. Hsu,
Catherine V. Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Nancy J Lanza, Jesse Lewis, Ana Marquez-Greene, James
Mattioli, Grace Audrey McDonnell, Anne Marie Murphy, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner,
Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria
Soto, Benjamin Wheeler, Allison Wyatt • Hazard Community and Technical College: Taylor
Cornett, Caitlin Cornett, Jackie Cornett • Santa Monica College: Samir Zawahri, Christopher
Zawahri, Carlos Navarro Franco, Marcela Franco, Margarita Gomez • University of Calif. Santa
Barbara: Weihan “David” Wang, Cheng Yuan “James” Hong, George Chen, Veronika Elizabeth
Weiss, Katherine Breann Cooper, Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez • Marysville Pilchuck
High School: Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, Andrew Fryberg, Zoe Galasso, Gia Soriano • Umpqua
Community College: Lucero Alcaraz, Rebecka Ann Carnes, Jason Dale Johnson, Quinn Glenn
Cooper, Treven Taylor Anspach, Lucas Eibel, Lawrence Levine, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, Sarena
Dawn Moore
2 • The Daily Wildcat
October 28-29, 2015 • News
FEATURES
UA remembers 2002 shooting
BY Lauren Renteria
The Daily Wildcat
It was already a restless morning
for University of Arizona Police
Department Officer Filbert Barrera.
Earlier that day, Oct. 28, 2002,
basketball ticket sales had incited a
small riot at the McKale Center, calling
for an unusual need for police activity.
Returning to the UAPD station from
the athletic center, Barrera and his
colleagues received a dispatch call they
would never forget.
“I remember hearing the dispatcher
and, when she came up on the air, I
could already tell by the tone of her
voice that something was wrong,” said
Barrera, now a sergeant and public
information officer for UAPD.
Shots had been fired at the UA
College of Nursing while students took
their midterm exams that Monday
morning. The gunman, Robert Stewart
Flores Jr., a third-semester nursing
student, had shot and killed three of
his professors in the building north of
Speedway Boulevard.
After shooting and killing Professor
Robin Rogers in her second floor
office, Flores moved to a fourth floor
classroom. In front of a classroom full
of students, he killed Barbara Monroe
and Cheryl McGaffic, both nursing
professors.
Flores dismissed the frightened
students from their classroom and then
killed himself at the scene with one of
the five guns he had brought to campus.
From violence to chaos, those inside
frantically ran from the scene.
As one of the first responders
on the chaotic scene, Barrera was
overwhelmed with a flood of students
and faculty fleeing from both the
College of Pharmacy and College of
Nursing buildings. Barrera, who has
served at UAPD since 1998, recalls
the intense fear in the faces of those
pouring out of the buildings.
“What really was just crazy, was how
chaotic it was, and you go through the
building and you see people who are
really, really scared,” he said. “You don’t
see that often. You don’t see people
who think they are going to die. That’s
one thing that has always resonated
with me.”
Not knowing at the time where
the gunman had shot from, or if the
shooter was still active, Barrera and
another officer entered the Pharmacy
building, while four others rushed to
the Nursing building, where the scene
had unfolded.
For Barrera, this was a crime different
from the rest, a crime of a scale UAPD
had never dealt with before and never
has since.
“It’s a unique feeling when you are
going through a building with your
gun out, and people are scared for their
lives, and you can see it in their eyes,”
Barrera said.
The scene spoke for themselves.
Barrera remembers the surreal feeling
of lifelessness in the room holding the
students’ unclaimed belongings amid a
Saul Loeb/The Daily Wildcat
Students and faculty gather near the scene of a shooting at the College of Nursing on Oct. 28, 2002 that left four dead. The gunman, a struggling nursing student, shot and killed three professors before turning the gun on himself.
grisly scene. Bags, lunches, computers.
All left behind in the chaos of the
moment.
“Going through the building after
we had it cleared, it’s just amazing
how a building can have a life based
on the people that are in it and that
one was just void of that afterwards,”
Barrera said. “It’s like the wind had
picked up everyone and just left all their
belongings, it’s just eerie, … you try to
catch your breath for [a] moment, and
it’s completely quiet in a place that’s
supposed to be busy.”
That deadly morning, the College of
Nursing lost three valued members of
the UA family.
The first victim, assistant professor
Robin Rogers, 50, served as a faculty
member for six years and contributed
to the field of pediatrics before the
shooting.
Professor Cheryl McGaffic, served
as a registered nurse for 21 years
and contributed to the UA College of
Nursing through research and charity.
She was 44.
The last to die that day was Barbara
Monroe, 45, a professor who had joined
the UA College of Nursing faculty only a
year prior.
The three women are memorialized
on the UA campus at the Women’s
Plaza of Honor, where a freestanding
bench resides in their honor for their
service at the UA and where annual
candlelight vigils are held by the College
of Nursing.
Through trauma came community
healing.
While three families lost loved
ones on this tragic day, it also marked
a loss for the entire UA community.
Students lost teachers and also a sense
of security in the classroom. This was
not just a tragedy for some, but one that
resonated with all of those connected to
the university.
Melissa Vito, current vice president
for student affairs and enrollment
management, remembers that day and
the need for counseling for the students
who witnessed the tragedy. Vito, the
dean of students at the time, heard the
news while on her way to Phoenix.
With students distraught and without
a place to go, Vito and members of the
Associated Students of the University
of Arizona, utilized the Swede Johnson
Building to house, counsel and help
return abandoned items to the students
who had fled from the violent scene.
Within the day, those from Life and
Work Connections, a UA program that
aids employees and students, and
ASUA helped work toward a sense of
normalcy within a shaken community.
“You know, you had students whose
car was parked in the area that had
been set up as a crime scene,” Vito said.
“We really had to figure out what those
needs were and working with a team,
and to help figure out ways to do it.”
Then-UA President Peter Likins,
recounted the day and the efforts to
help those students who had witnessed
the killings and to foster a sense of
strength for them through the traumatic
event.
Likins also recalled a sense of
extreme worry throughout the campus.
The shooting occurred just a year after
the September 11 attacks. However, he
stressed that this day was not meant for
students and faculty to live in fear, but to
come together as a community.
“In the middle of the confusion, …
I said, ‘It is important to distinguish
between grief and fear,’” Likins
recounted. “‘This is a time for grief, and
we need to focus on grief. We need to
focus on the victims, not on the killer,
not on future dangers. Right now, we
focus on those living.’”
UAPD Chief Brian Seastone recalled
the unwavering support that all
members of the UA community were
able to provide after the shooting.
“There were many things that day,”
Seastone said. “Obviously, the tragedy
is always going to be there, but it was
the amazing outpouring of support that
not only law enforcement, and the first
responders had from people offering
help … that will always stay with me,
just the care and compassion that
everybody showed that day.”
With a tragedy, progression works
towards prevention.
With recent campus shootings
making headlines with seemingly great
frequency, there are many factors to
consider in regard to changes made in
UA security since 2002. Changes that
can answer questions like: How can an
attack like this be prevented? If this kind
of attack were to happen again, is the
UA ready?
Before the shooting, Barrera recalled
reading a report from a concerned
professor regarding the behavior of the
gunman during class.
“Someone
had
called
and
complained about Mr. Flores, I want
to say about a year before this, and I
remember hearing his name and going
‘I think I took that call,’” Barrera said.
“They voiced concerns about how he
was behaving and I was prepared to go
talk to him and I remember she said,
whoever the dean was at the time, ‘We
just want to report this right now and
we are going to talk to him and deal
with this academically,’ and I’m sure for
a while it was … until he just spiraled out
of control.”
Since the shooting 13 years ago,
changes were made in how the UA
prepares for and tries to prevent these
situations.
A report on the shooting led to the
implementation of new policies that
gave instructors an opportunity to speak
out against questionable behavior from
students in the classroom.
The Disruptive and Threatening
Student Behavior Guidelines were put
in place after the 2002 shooting, as well
as the Campus Emergency Response
Team, or CERT, to further enhance the
emergency preparation process.
Even with the advancements that
the UA has made to further prevent
tragedies like that in 2002, one thing
that has not changed is the importance
of community involvement with the
authorities — a point UAPD stresses.
It’s also now easier, with the
progression that technology has made
in the past decade, for the public to
reach authorities in seconds via social
media, Seastone said.
Many people believe that it is not
their place to step in and tell police that
someone or something is stranger than
normal. Too many tragedies could have
been prevented if certain measures
were taken, Barrera said.
He stresses that the only way special
policies can prevent crime is if people
voice their concern to police and speak
up.
“I would tell people to call us, it
doesn’t matter how small or how big,
but I want people to call us,” Barrera
said. “Crimes are solved by people
calling the police, call us … please.”
“Our job is to try and get into stuff, to
try and go find things, but sometimes it
finds you,” he said.
— Follow Lauren Renteria
@lauren_renteria
NEWS
Barber readdresses gun violence
BY Christianna Silva
The Daily Wildcat
Former Rep. Ron Barber noticed blood
from his leg and face pooling by the side of
his body. He noticed his friends fighting for
life on the ground beside him.
They waited 20 long minutes before EMTs
were allowed to help them.
A Pima Community College student,
who, according to the Los Angeles Times,
withdrew from the school in October
2010,wounded 14 people that day and killed
six, including 9-year-old Christina-Taylor
Green and John M. Roll, the chief judge of
the U.S. District Court for Arizona.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and
her staff began the day expecting to serve
Giffords’ district at its first Congress on Your
Corner event, but within 10 minutes of the
beginning of the event, Jared Lee Loughner
took over and changed the memory of Jan.
8, 2011 forever.
Loughner targeted Giffords and fired
twice, shooting her in the head. He then
turned his gun on Barber and the crowd of
20-30 people, ultimately shooting 12 more.
“We have irresponsible gun ownership
and gun safety,” Barber said, focusing on the
idea that changes must be made in order to
see a positive effect on society.
In 2010, a year before the shooting
and in the wake of school shootings such
as Virginia Tech, PCC had updated its
Rebecca Noble/The Daily Wildcat
The Downtown Pima Community College campus Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Shooter Jared Laughner attended PCC;
since the 2011 shooting, the college has implemented programs aiming to decrease gun violence.
policies for dealing with mentally ill and
disturbedstudents.
Loughner was suspended from PCC in
September of 2010 and, according to The
New York Times, the school told him “not
to return without a psychologist’s letter
certifying that he posed no danger.”
There is no evidence that Loughner
accessed care.
The same month of his suspension, PCC
created a task force to identify students
who, like Loughner, might pose a threat to
themselves or others.
PCC has continued to make strides toward
decreasing the threat of gun violence.
According to reporting done by KGUN9
in 2011, PCC’s board of governors set up a
scholarship program to honor the lives of the
victims of the Jan. 8 shooting.
However, PCC’s efforts have not produced
any decrease in gun violence across the state.
According to the Center for American
Progress, Arizona is the 11th worst state for
gun deaths. The state is 40 percent higher
than the national average for gun deaths for
every 100,000 people.
There is no data to support that any one
contribution is at fault.
“I don’t think one thing contributes
most, other than the fact that we have a
proliferation of guns in our society,” Barber
said.
Barber said that in order to decrease gun
violence across the state and nationwide,
legislation needs to be discussed and laws
need to be passed. He said that people
prescribe to the idea that their communities
won’t be at the mercy of gun violence until
they are.
“We were so deeply affected because we
couldn’t believe it could happen,” Barber
said. “We came together and it was really
indicative of who we were. We will not allow
Tucson to be defined by what happened on
Jan. 8.”
In 2015, there have been more mass
shootings than days in the year, according to
the Mass Shooting Tracker database.
To move forward, Barber said he believes
something must change. Barber said
that Tucsonans must rally together as a
community and demand that their elected
officials have the courage to stand up to the
gun lobby.
“The way the Tucson community
responded really was about defining
ourselves as compassionate and caring
people,” Barber said. “If we had our way,
Tucsonans would take the right steps.”
— Follow Christianna Silva
@Christianna_j
THE DAILY WILDCAT
VOLUME 109 • ISSUE 28
Editor-in-Chief
Jessie Webster
Digital Managing
Editor
Alicia Vega
Production
Managing Editor
Meghan
Fernandez
Print News
Editor
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Online News
Editor
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Print Sports
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Editor
Matt Wall
Print Arts & Life
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Online Arts &
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NEWS
State races heat up, see profiles – PAGE 6
Pulitzer prize-winning
journalist and UA alumnus
Ryan Gabrielson revisits the
day of reporting on the 2002
UA College of Nursing shooting
DAILY WILDCAT
ARIZONA
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
NEWS
BY MEGHAN FERNANDEZ
The Daily Wildcat
Daily Wildcat: What was it like reporting on the
shooting in 2011? What were your thoughts
and feelings at the time? How did you set aside
your feelings while reporting?
Barnes: It was very intense. I remember when
we found out; I was an assistant news editor at
the time and we were having our first meeting of
the semester. … Someone got a text message on
their phone, and it was [just] me, the other assistant news editor and the editor. … We were locked
out of the newsroom and we eventually got inside. It
was incredibly emotional because, if you remember, right when the news broke the reports actually
[said] that she was dead. I remember we were sitting there having this debate on if she was dead,
what do we go with, who do we attribute to and
then figuring out where to go to [from there] … As
a student, you’re not dealing with things on that
emotional level when you’re reporting. You’re just
not covering anything remotely that tragic. You
might cover things where people are angry, but
you’re not covering things that are life or death or
people in any sort of great suffering at all. It was the
first time [that] many of us had experienced covering something like that … I remember just sitting in
the newsroom and staring at the headline [saying]
that she died and thinking about what that meant
and what was going to happen, and then the moment we found out that wasn’t true … It was kind
of just an emotional roller coaster that first hour.
BY RYAN GABRIELSON
Timeline
of Events
Nowadays images of the shooter pop up all over social media.
Some people think that publishing the shooter’s name and their
photos glamorizes them and what they’ve done. What do you
think about that?
I think our job is to tell people what happened, who did what to
whom and how. Does it give a certain amount of notoriety? I mean,
I guess, yeah, I can’t say that it doesn’t. But these people are almost
always already dead, and we can’t abdicate our responsibility to
bear witness in full detail of what occurred.
We can’t just start like saying, “Oh, we’re going to not tell the full
truth that we know what happened.” When there was the murder of
a former TV reporter who went during a live broadcast and killed his
former colleagues—you know, that went on loop. What do you do?
How do you convince people in the midst of something like that to
not just keep airing something that’s so horrible and newsworthy?
… I’m trying not to sound so, you know, kind of curmudgeony
about it, but when you talk about glamorizing, what you’re talking
about really is putting someone’s face and name on repeat on cable
news, and that has really nothing to do with fully reporting out what
happened.
It’s a different thing. Putting something on just repeat, yeah, that
elevates somebody’s persona. But just reporting what happened, …
we have a commitment to tell the full story.
What are your thoughts about news outlets publishing
manifestos, like what the Star did with the UA student’s
manifesto?
I mean, it’s news. Understanding what these people think that
they’re doing gives us insight. … We haven’t gotten any better at
spotting the threats and neutralizing them. We’re barely beyond the
point of doing mental illness as, you know, some sort of character
flaw. I don’t see how you can choose not to cover something that
sheds the light into what line of thought lead to such horror. We can’t
pretend that these things don’t exist. … I actually thought the Star
handled it, you know? They covered it really exhaustively and with
as much sensitivity as humanly possible.
At the end of the day, though, our responsibility is to the public,
to the audience, to the readers, to the viewers, to whoever’s going to
consume our stories, to give them everything that’s relevant to what
happened, and I just don’t see how you can not cover [it]. … Now,
if you’re trying to piece together a bunch of desperate social media
postings. … Now we have the mindset that we always have to find
the record of what in their head led them to do this and whether the
record online is sufficient to actually achieve that is on a case-bycase basis.
How has being a family man affected the way you would report
on a mass school shooting today?
I always had mentors who showed me how to be a human
being while being a reporter, and so being a father—I mean, you’re
raising kids in this world—it certainly helps to fuel passion to expose
wrongs, because I want to do everything I can to help improve the
world that they’re coming up into. But in terms of this type of thing,
you know, you don’t have to have a family to try to make sure you’re
a human being. Now this doesn’t mean not doing the interviews. It
means, the way you approach people. … Always be a human being
8:35 a.m. Flores
arrives at a fourthfloor classroom and
kills Barbara
Monroe and Cheryl
McGaffic, both assistant professors of
nursing. He releases
the students and
commits suicide
shortly thereafter.
What are your thoughts on media coverage of
these mass shootings?
I think it’s interesting because there’s a real debate about how do we cover these incidents, especially because they’re happening all the time
now. So you have … sometimes really incredible
coverage on a local level of who the victims were
and how the community is affected and how these
things came to happen, too. But then there’s the
huge debate right now, too, about how much attention do you give to the shooter. … People are
really torn. We want to know the details of how
this happened and who these people are, but you
don’t want to glorify them. Especially because
there’s this feeling that a lot of people do this because they want their face in the paper. They want
to be infamous. ... [News outlets] think about playing into exactly what somebody wanted [when
that person] did something despicable. … I think
that’s something that newspapers are still wrestling with. There was a lot of really interesting debate about the shootings recently, of the broadcast
journalist, because there were just horrifying indications that [the shooter] wanted that to be known.
He was tweeting about it. … I don’t think people
How did reporting on that shooting shape you have figured out the balance yet, and I think that’s
something we have to grapple with.
as a journalist?
Right when the shooting had happened, I had
just been thinking about applying to the master’s What are your thoughts about news outlets
program at the [UA] because I had been working publishing manifestos like what the [Arizona
at the student paper, and it was something I did Daily] Star did with the [2002 UA shooter’s]
just as a hobby. I was in the creative writing pro- manifesto?
I think it’s a really tough question on what to
gram and I kept saying to my boyfriend at the time,
“Oh you know, I’m just gonna be a little bit more do with that type of information. Particularly beinvolved, but it’s not ever going to be a thing.” Right cause if someone’s leaving a manifesto, they’re
around then, I started feeling like, “I have to be a leaving it because they want you to publish it. They
journalist. I don’t ever want to stop doing this.” I want that to be out there, which puts news media
had just kind of made the decision. I wasn’t 100 in this very weird situation of being kind of compercent certain of it, and then this happened and plicit in somebody’s elaborate plot … At the same
we just jumped right into the story because it was time, our job is to relay information, and I think
so important. There was such a desperate need for our instinct is to not censor things and to give evinformation … I was just overwhelmingly aware erybody that information. … It’s weird for journalof how important the job is because when you’re ists to be put in a position where you’re limiting
reporting on a tragedy … people just really want information. … People turn to journalists to help
information … not just to feel less scared, but as them distill and synthesize information and what
See SHOOTING, Page 8
SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat
8:37 a.m. A student in an adjacent
classroom calls 911.
8:40 a.m. UA
police officers
arrive at the
College of Nursing.
8:46 a.m. 33 TPD
officers training at
Himmel Park
respond.
8:54 a.m. Flores is
confirmed dead on
the fourth floor.
— Compiled by
Ryan Gabrielson
Students and faculty gather near the scene of a shooting that left four people dead yesterday morning in the College of
Nursing. The gunman, a struggling nursing student, shot and killed three professors before turning the gun on himself.
Speedway divides
university reaction
BY RACHEL WILLIAMSON
Staff Writers
When gunshots rang out in Jerrica Wesley’s ears,
she took off running from the CatTran shuttle stop
near the Arizona Health Sciences Center.
She ran to class rather than waiting for the shuttle.
“I was hella scared,” said Wesley, a biology freshman. “I have never been so close to gunfire before.”
Wesley, a resident of Babcock Inn Residence Hall,
1717 E. Speedway Blvd., said she was too scared to
return to her room later yesterday morning.
Wesley and others who live, work and attend class
UMC
Parking
Garage
East
AHSC
College of
Pharmacy
College of
Nursing
Mabel St.
north of East Speedway Boulevard spent much of the
day mourning the loss of three professors who
were killed by a suicidal gunman yesterday
Helen St.
morning. But on the main campus south of
Speedway, the mood was more subdued
as the news slowly permeated the UA.
At the “Swede” Johnson building
and other areas north of East Speedway
Parking
Boulevard, students and workers spent
much of the day pooling together as
Zone 1
Parking
Visitor
Parking
Babcock
Dorms
Palm Shadows Apts.
Speedway Blvd.
See REACTIONS, Page 9
B-ball ticket sales incite mob
BY RYAN JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Basketball ticket sales were
delayed yesterday after a riot team of
16 police officers broke up an uncontrolled crowd of over 2,000 people
who were pushing and shoving from
all directions to get to the ticket booth.
The ticket office had been giving
out vouchers informing people when
they could return to buy tickets for
over an hour before police finally
intervened. Originally, the ticket
office planned to start giving out line
vouchers at 7 a.m., but after crowds
broke police tape, security guards
entered the ticket office to hand out
vouchers, leaving no crowd control.
“People were screaming. Your
pelvis was against the wall. If you
took your feet off the ground you
were still standing. I wanted to call
911,” said Kate Denevi, an undeclared
sophomore.
At 5 a.m., security guards began
setting up temporary barriers. By 5:20
a.m., the crowd had crossed the police
tape, and the ensuing rush toppled
the barriers. The line had no apparent
order and each side of the crowd was
pushing.
At 5:30 a.m., the ticket office opened
up one-third of the booths, and the
crowd mashed inward to get vouchers.
Steam emanated from the crowd as
people clamored for position.
Once people received their tickets,
they had difficulty getting out of the
crowd. Most resorted to crowd-surfing their way out of the mob, and as
each person left, people rushed to fill
the hole.
Women shrieked in pain and others pleaded for everyone to get back.
“Someone’s under there. Move
back,” one person yelled out.
Though paramedics reported no
serious injuries, several people
CHRIS CODUTO/Special to the Arizona Daily Wildcat
A student crowd-surfs over a swarm of 2,000 outside the McKale Center ticket
office yesterday. A riot team of 16 officers was called in to disperse the crowd.
See MOB, Page 10
at the same time you’re a reporter. In covering the UA shooting, it
helped that we were all students. I mean, I’m not saying that other
reporters who were [from] The Arizona Republic and the Daily Star
and stuff didn’t do great work that day—they did. But I think we were
able to get a lot of important details about exactly step-by-step how
the thing unfolded because we were students talking to students.
What is the media’s responsibility to the public in reporting on
mass shootings?
As I was saying earlier ... we’re trying to fill the void up with actual
hard information, which we fail at all the time. Sometimes for very
understandable reasons—when you’re rushing to try to figure
something out, ... we assume that because law enforcement has told
us something that they actually know it, but they’re human beings,
too. And they’re responding to the same sort of circumstances as
the reporters are. So they get a lot of stuff wrong. And then we’re
reporting things that come from all sorts of places. … We’re so
desperate to just fill the void that we forget that our job is to not just fill
the void, but fill it with something that people can actually hold onto,
that we have checked that we’re not just getting from one good law
enforcement source inside, who may be operating on good faith but
is just wrong. Because in the fog of war, so to speak, when things are
playing out in real time … there’s no such thing as instant analysis.
… We have to check what is actual fact and what is assumption
or misunderstanding. … Oftentimes our initial sources on these
types of stories are not the actual witnesses. … Our responsibility
is to actually give people something real, something true we have
checked. … We need to come to terms that it’s okay to say we don’t
know. … It’s our job to pause and test that information before we put
it out. We embarrass ourselves time and time again on these stories
because we’re trying to fill the void without remembering that that’s
not the actual job.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
reporter and UA alumna
Bethany Barnes opened up on
her experience covering the
2011 Congress on Your Corner
shooting
a form of catharsis to really feel and add meaning
to the moment, and journalists provide that. To be
a part of that is important, and I felt like that was
something I wanted to be able to do, especially because I felt like I had the ability to go and seek out
what people wanted to know, even if it was gruesome, or scary, or painful because people need
that information.
Staff Writer
A nursing student, allegedly distraught
over failing grades, methodically killed
three of his professors and then himself
yesterday morning, marking one of the
bloodiest days in UA history.
At about 8:30 a.m., while most students
in the College of Nursing were taking
midterms, Robert Stewart Flores Jr., a thirdsemester nursing student, entered the second-floor office of Robin Rogers, an assistant professor of nursing, and shot her multiple times, killing her, Tucson Police
Assistant Chief Robert Lehner said. She
was 50.
Flores, 41, then moved up to the fourth
floor, where a class was 40 minutes into an
exam. Gena Johnson, a fourth-semester
nursing student, said that he looked calm
and “clean-shaven,” with his backpack
slung over his shoulder and the gun in his
hand aimed at the second victim, Cheryl
McGaffic, another assistant professor of
nursing.
Some of the professors and students in
the College of Nursing were wearing
Halloween costumes. “When I saw him at
first I thought it was some kind of joke. But
About 8:30 a.m.
Robert Stewart
Flores Jr. enters the
College of Nursing
with five guns, proceeds to the secondfloor office of
Assistant Nursing
Professor Robin
Rogers and kills her.
he had convinced himself that had wronged him no matter how
completely baseless that is. … It wasn’t racking up a body count.
A lot of the more recent [shootings], … they’re just senseless. The
UA murders were senseless, but now they’ve really kind of spiraled
and some of them are taking cues from the UA shooter, where he
sent out his manifesto to the Arizona Daily Star and a day or so
after the murders, we got to see the inside of his brain. And now
that’s kind of more routine, either through actual intentional sort of
delivery of those types of manifestos, or we just compile it together
from people’s social media accounts.
Q&
A
University of Arizona, Tucson
Campbell Ave
This was 13 years ago. How has media coverage of mass school
shootings changed since then
It’s very dramatic in one regard because newspapers used to
dominate Not only the breaking news part of it, but providing the
full package of what happened and how people felt about it ... Really
exhaustive coverage that newspapers used to have the resources to
do where … a huge share of a newsroom would be committed to
figuring out how an atrocity could happen.
That doesn’t happen the same way anymore because newspapers
just don’t have the body. They don’t have nearly as many people with
experience covering things in this way. And they still do good stuff …
but in terms of the depth of the coverage that comes in the hours and
the days after the event, my observation is that it’s nowhere near as
good as it used to be. Television dictates a lot more of our general
understanding of what’s transpired, and they don’t have newspaper
reporters to lean on for context. … I would just say it’s been more
shallow.
That doesn’t mean journalism is going to be doomed, but it does
mean that right now we are in a place where we’re hurting; … the
coverage is a lot more reactionary. It goes so quickly to just the same
old, pre-conceived narrative, which kind of always happened to
some extent, but really happens now where … there’s a shooting, …
let’s just discuss gun control legislation. You know? Which is not that
that shouldn’t happen, but it’s like we don’t take the time to figure
out really what happened to these people and how and dive in the
way we all used to.
I remember after the UAshooting, The Chronicle of Higher
[Education] a few months later went in and just did a gorgeous, I
mean heart-breaking piece just going step-by-step in amazing detail
on what happened that day, and so few outlets, especially a national
outlet like that, come in to the UA and commit the resources to do
that.
This has also become a lot more common. … They’ve become
much more vicious. … The shooter at the UA—I forget his name—I
mean he [was] a murderer. He was sort of more of an older model,
where it was very personal, very directed at three professors who
Vol. 96 Issue 46
Student kills 3 profs, self
The Daily Wildcat
How did reporting on that shooting shape you as a journalist?
It was definitely traumatic. I don’t plan too far ahead in terms
of what I want to cover because news will dictate for you, the real
world will dictate you what needs to be covered most of the time. I
do investigative reporting, which gives me the luxury of spending
months and months, occasionally more than a year, to really dig into
something. … My priorities are so often driven by like something
has happened in the world, and it doesn’t appear that anyone’s
explaining it or anyone’s getting to it. … It was a learning experience
pretty early, obviously, in my career that major events will drive your
priorities. And never get too comfortable, never plan too far ahead,
because the real world will come in and shatter everything.
wildcat.arizona.edu
Neighbors call killer ‘nice guy’; students, Emergency diverts UMC patients, delays
faculty label him ‘strange’ — PAGE 8
traffic, overloads servers — PAGE 9
BY MEGHAN FERNANDEZ
Daily Wildcat: What was it like reporting on the UA shooting in
2002? What were your feelings and thoughts at the time? How
did you set aside your feelings while reporting?
Gabrielson: Well, I think what’s true of all reporting on breaking
news of that nature is the scramble to get a sense of what is happening
or what has happened. [It] is so overwhelming that you’re not
thinking about your reaction to it because you’re trying to figure out
what in the world just happened and to synthesize that information
as quickly as possible to tell whatever community you serve,
whatever readership you serve. This was forever ago—it was 2002—
but you know, we were still trying to post stories immediately online.
That makes it a lot easier in the sense of how you’re responding to
the fact that something has just happened to your community. You
can’t really think about it until the end of the day, because you’re
too busy to consider how you feel about whatever’s going on. You’re
just trying to figure out what happened and get as much detail as
possible and find the people who were very directly affected by it.
The Daily Wildcat • 3
1_8_9 10/29/02 1:18 AM Page 1
Warren Ave
Q&
A
News • October 28-29, 2015
— Follow Meghan Fernandez
@MeghanFernandez
It’s not all political
Arizona’s mental-health
system failures lost amidst
violent rhetoric.
PERSPECTIVES, 4
UA receives good news
Star wideout decides to forego the NFL
Draft for senior season.
SPORTS, 17
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
wednesday, january , 
tucson, arizona
dailywildcat.com
Obama to mourn with UA
Campus prepares
for presidential
address
By Alexander Vega
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
UA
students
attending
President
Barack
Obama’s
speech
tonight
can
expect stringent security at
the
McKale
Center,
said
Secret
Service
spokesman
Christina Veloud.
Attendees can expect to
“undergo screening as if
they were boarding a plane,”
Veloud said.
Every site Obama attends has
similar screenings.
“Use common sense in
the screening process,” said
Veloud. “Don’t bring anything
that could be construed as a
weapon.”
Students interested in attending can help themselves
by bringing less to get through
screening quicker.
“People who bring only keys,
ID, and any medication they’re taking will get through much quicker
we’re telling people; we’re naturally drawing attention to it. So, I think I tend to lean toward [that]
you report on the manifesto—[they’re] documents that you can use to inform your reporting
Giffords’ condition heartening Families
cope after
as you cover it. Putting it on a website or putting
shooting
it out there just makes me kind of uncomfortable. I think you have to handle it case by case. …
To what extent, then, does it become giving him
a platform? I think that’s the question—that it’s
kind of a dangerous line there. Journalists should
certainly have access to that information as they
piece together what happened and why it hapClasses delayed; year-end date unaffected
pened because it’s certainly a useful reporting
tool. … I think it’s a tough call … I mean, that’s the
thing that’s getting more and more debated now:
Today
… What do we do with these things that people
Get ‘Wicked’
leave behind, and what are we drawing attention to? But also what are we giving public access
to—because journalists always want the public
off where peoworld now
to have access. But then it’s uncomfortable when are changed. We live in a20%
with student ID
their
bags checked.
you have people knowing journalists always want ple go to the movies and have
only at 1400 N Stone Ave
[The Colorado movie theater shooting] was just
people to have access and using that.
stunning in the sense that I don’t think people
What is the media’s responsibility to the public ever really thought about [a shooting] happening in a movie theater. I mean, it’s changed the
in reporting on these mass shootings?
I think journalists have several roles in reporting physical spaces we’ve lived in. I remember when
on mass shootings, but it’s sort of a layered process. Columbine happened, I was in elementary school
There’s the immediate role, especially for the local and then I was terrified of the idea of going to high
reporters that are there when it happens, to get the school. Mass shooting coverage is incredibly iminformation out to people as quickly as possible. portant right now because these things keep hapYou want to know that there’s a responsibility to pening and we’re having to adapt daily parts of our
figure out who is affected to tell those stories, but lives, normal things that we do, because they’re
the big thing I think that everyone’s grappling with happening in these regular spaces. If you look
now is digging into why these [shootings] happen at the Giffords shooting, it [was] a political event
and looking at the factors there. Looking at gun ac- outside of a Safeway. There was a lot of debate afcessibility, what lawmakers are debating on and ter that [about] how much interaction can politiwhat they feel are contributing factors, looking at cians have with the public. But they’re elected ofif mental health is a factor. Journalists have a job ficials. They want to be out there shaking people’s
in the immediate moment to provide coverage hands and getting to know their community. They
so that people can know what’s going on … But don’t want to be scared of their community. What
also, the interesting thing, looking at journalists’ do you do with that? And that’s where journalists
jobs with mass shootings, [is] now is we’re see- come in. They go in and they ask those questions
ing a trend, we’re seeing more and more of them. and they can make these connections that other
There’s a lot of really great reporters now digging people in their roles can’t. A journalist can come in
into America’s relationship with guns and they’re and they can interview law enforcement, they can
doing a lot of great work looking at, “where are interview policymakers, they can interview the
these happening, what are the patterns and what victims and they can [file Freedom of Information
are people doing about it?” Because there’s more Act] requests that get data so we can actually start
shootings now. It’s journalists’ job to dig into the to connect some dots, and I think that’s what repolicies and factors that affect our lives, in many porters need to be doing and that’s what a lot of reways, and mass shootings are certainly something porters are doing.
that affect our lives on a very catastrophic level.
These things happen and an entire community
— Follow Meghan Fernandez
grieves—multiple people are affected and things
@MeghanFernandez
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Wildcat
SECURITY, page 2
A candlelight vigil was held outside the offices of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head during a political event at a grocery store in Tucson on Saturday. Giffords remains in critical condition, and six others, including federal Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl, died after 22-year-old Jared Loughner opened fire at a “Congress on
Your Corner” event.
By Bethany Barnes
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Six patients remain at
University Medical Center,
with three in serious condition,
two in fair condition and Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords in critical
condition.
“I’m happy to say she’s holding her own,” said Dr. Michael
Lemole, chief of neurosurgery
at University Medical Center.
“Her status is the same as it was
yesterday; she’s still following
those simple commands. We’ve
been able to back off on some of
that sedation. In fact, she is able
to generate her own breaths.”
The only reason she is being
kept on the ventilator is to protect her from complications, according to Lemole.
“We have to play this, really,
according to her timeline, not
ours,” Lemole said. “She’s going
to take her recovery at her own
pace, and I’m very encouraged
by the fact that she has done so
well.”
The rates of survival and recovery for Giffords’ type of injury are “abysmal,” Lemole said.
“She has no right to look as
she does,” he said.
Dr. Peter Rhee, medical
director of UMC’s trauma and
critical care and professor of
surgery at UA’s College of
Medicine’s
Department
of
Surgery, said the “resources
of the entire military have
been made available to us,”
because of Giffords’ husband’s
connections as an astronaut and
as active duty Navy personnel.
Rhee asked for assistance from
neurointensivist Col. Geoffrey
Ling, interim chair of neurology at Uniformed Services
University of Health Sciences,
and James Ecklund, retired
Army colonel and medical director of neurosciences for Inova
Health System and chairman of
By Jazmine Woodberry
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
In light of the weekend’s events and President
Barack Obama’s visit to the UA campus, all
classes have been cancelled for today.
The change will not push Wednesday
classes to Thursday, nor will it add a day to
the semester.
UA President Robert Shelton said that changes
INSIDE
Opinions:
Police Beat:
Odds & Ends:
Classifieds:
Comics, Puzzles:
Sports:
By Bethany Barnes
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Valentina Martinelli/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tucson residents gather in front of University Medical Center to place candles and
signs on Monday for the victims of the shooting spree during Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’
community-outreach event.
the department of neurosciences
at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
“Everything we’ve seen reflects the highest quality of
care,” Ecklund said.
Ecklund also mentioned
in classes will be handled on a case-by-case basis,
with each professor and instructor working with
his or her lesson plans to compensate for the loss
of Wednesday’s class time.
Cancelling classes will limit the “to-ing and
fro-ing” around campus to allow for less foot
traffic not involved with Wednesday night’s
event, according to Shelton.
For classes with Monday-Wednesday or
Wednesday-only meeting times, this means
CHECK ONLINE
4-5
6
13
14-15
16
20
Susan Hileman had been looking for an event to share with
9-year-old family friend Christina
Green. What was supposed to
be a meet and greet with Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords seemed like
the perfect choice, husband Bill
Hileman said.
The two were holding hands in
line when the shooting took place,
according to Bill Hileman.
Both Susan Hileman and
Green were shot at the event
on Saturday and transported
to University Medical Center.
Green was pronounced dead on
arrival, and Susan Hileman is
still a patient at UMC.
Bill Hileman received a call
from an anonymous woman on
the scene informing him the two
had been “in an accident.”
The very first thing Susan
Hileman asked her husband was,
“What happened to Christina?”
He decided the best thing to do
was to tell her the truth.
One of the first people Bill
Hileman met upon arriving at
the emergency room was a minister who had wandered in off the
street to help comfort people.
“That’s my Tucson,” Bill
See a slideshow of the crime
scene and candlelight vigil for
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and
the other shooting victims at
DailyWildcat.com
that the care from UMC saved
Giffords’ life.
Ling stressed the severity of
Giffords’ injury but said it is
promising that she is “thriving”
under the care at UMC.
that the first week of the school year will be lost
for student-instructor interaction.
Beth Acree, university registrar, had no
recollection as to whether a full day of classes
has ever been cancelled before at the UA or
under these circumstances.
With confirmation from the UA Provost’s
Office, Acree said “this delay of the start of
classes will not change any of our published
dates or deadlines.”
VICTIMS, page 2
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4 • The Daily Wildcat
OPINIONS
People
with guns
kill people
BY APOORVA
BHASKARA
T
The Daily Wildcat
here’s a popular saying: “Guns
don’t kill people, people kill
people.” That may be so, but if
a person wants to kill other people,
giving them a gun sure makes it a
hell of a lot easier. Mass shooting
incidents in the past few years have
skyrocketed. Recent studies show
that the number of gun-related
deaths in the U.S. in the last 26 years
exceeds the number of U.S. military
deaths since 1776.
Let me rephrase that. More
Americans have died from guns
since after Ronald Reagan was
president in 1989 than all of the
American soldiers in all wars since
we became a country. There have
been almost 300 mass shootings
just this year. We have become
numb to this. We seem to accept
the shootings as just a tragedy
that occurs—like illness or natural
disasters. Wake up America, there is
nothing natural about gun deaths.
Some Americans are so held up
on the idea that owning a gun is
one of their most unalienable rights
that they are blatantly ignoring the
hundreds of mass shootings each
year, the victims of which have lost
their rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness when someone
decided to take their second
amendment rights too far.
A few weeks ago at our fellow
Arizona school, a Northern Arizona
University student shot four other
students after an argument, killing
one and injuring the other three.
While guns are not allowed on
campus, they are allowed to be kept
in cars parked on campus. Why is
this necessary? Why do students and
teachers and non-law enforcement
need their guns so close to them—at
a school? This tragedy may not have
even occurred if the policy had been
different.
Just a week before the NAU
shooting, a shooter in Oregon killed
nine and injured nine at Umpqua
Community College before turning
the gun on himself. President
Obama made a speech addressing
the shooting shortly thereafter,
stating, “What’s become routine,
of course, is the response of those
who oppose any kind of commonsense gun legislation. Right now, I
can imagine the press releases being
cranked out: We need more guns,
they’ll argue. Fewer gun safety laws.”
How is it that after a shooter at
Sandy Hook Elementary School
killed 20 young children, so many
still fought against change? How
is it that after the shootings in
Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson,
Aurora, Charleston, Newton, and
the list goes on for pages, people still
oppose stricter gun laws? How many
more have to die before they realize
that we can, in fact, do something
about it?
“When Americans are killed in
mine disasters, we work to make
mines safer,” President Obama
argued in his speech, “When
Americans are killed in floods and
hurricanes, we make communities
safer. When roads are unsafe, we fix
them to reduce auto fatalities. We
have seatbelt laws because we know
it saves lives. So the notion that gun
violence is somehow different, that
our freedom and our Constitution
prohibits any modest regulation of
how we use a deadly weapon, when
there are law-abiding gun owners
all across the country who could
hunt and protect their families and
do everything they do under such
regulations, doesn’t make sense.”
I am not pushing for the complete
eradication of privately owned
firearms, but the regulations need
to be stronger. It has been shown
that states that have stricter gun
policies have fewer deaths. Isn’t that
amazing? Somehow they have been
able to let people own guns and
have reduced the fatalities that could
follow.
Measures such as universal
background checks, banning assault
weapons, regulating sales by gun
dealers, keeping people from buying
guns in bulk and limiting known
criminals and public offenders from
obtaining firearms really goes a
long way into ensuring those with
guns are responsible. In addition,
having laws that prohibit concealed
weapons without a permit and limit
the public areas in which guns can
be carried can protect us from this
violence.
Many mass shootings and gunrelated homicides are committed
with legally acquired firearms.
So, yes, guns do not kill people,
people kill people, but we’re giving
those people the guns and the
opportunities to do it.
— Follow Apoorva Bhaskara
@apoorvabhaskara
October 28-29, 2015 • News
16 years and counting
This country has been heavily impacted by gun violence
since the Columbine shooting in 1999,
impacting more students each year
Columbine High
School in Littleton,
Colorado
April 20, 1999
(13 deaths)
University of
Arizona
Oct. 29, 2002
Tucson, Arizona
(3 deaths excluding
shooter)
1999
2002
Red Lake Senior
High School
Red Lake,
Minnesota
March 21, 2005
(9 deaths)
Virginia Tech
Oikos University
Blacksburg, Virginia Oakland, California
April 16, 2007
April 2, 2012
(32 deaths)
(7 deaths)
2005
2007
2012
Sandy Hook
Elementary School
Newtown,
Connecticut
Dec. 14, 2012
(27 deaths)
University of Calif.
Santa Barbara
Isla Vista, California
May 23, 2014
(3 students dead,
plus 6 others killed
off campus)
2012
2014
Umpqua
Community
College
Roseburg, Oregon
Oct. 1 2015
(9 deaths)
2015
Others:
West Nickel Mines Amish School
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Oct. 3, 2006 (5
deaths)
Northern Illinois University DeKalb,
Illinois. Feb. 14, 2008 (5 deaths)
University of Alabama Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama. Feb. 12, 2010 (3
deaths)
Chardon High School Chardon, Ohio.
Feb. 27, 2012 (3 deaths)
Hazard Community and Technical
College Hazard, Kentucky. Jan. 15, 2013
(3 deaths)
Santa Monica College Santa Monica,
California. June 7, 2013 (5 deaths)
NEWS
Shooters: parents’ perspective
BY GABRIELLA VUKELIC
The Daily Wildcat
In light of the everincreasing frequency of
school shootings, parents
of UA students share their
opinions on university
procedure, past school
shootings
and
their
reactions to the possibility of
a shooter on the UA campus.
Nell McDonald, the
aunt of journalism junior
Michael Evan, lived close
to Columbine during the
1999 school shootings.
McDonald discussed her
opinion on safety for college
students and her personal
experience with school
shootings.
At the time, McDonald’s
two children, who she
declined to name, were in
a middle school and high
school near the Columbine
campus.
She said the middle
school went on lockdown
once word spread about
the shooting. Once on
lockdown, the school would
not release children until
administration was sure that
the area was safe—causing
parents to panic.
“I was calling a thousand
times because I just wanted
to hear my child’s voice,”
McDonald said. “I was so
scared, and I wasn’t able to
pick up my kid.”
McDonald said her
eldest child in high school
was released and able to
come home because the
school was farther away
from the crime scene. To
her, Columbine was an eye
opener and has taught her
to not live in fear, but rather
in trust.
She said a situation like
this can happen anywhere
and at any time. She views
it as a learning experience,
but added that people
cannot be afraid to live their
lives. After the Columbine
SYDNEY RICHARDSON/THE DAILY WILDCAT
JERIE SCHULZ, mother of two university students, right, embraces her son, Tim, after his day at school on the UA campus Wednesday, Oct. 21. The
thought of her sons falling victim to a school shooting is a frightening thought for Schulz and other parents alike.
massacre, McDonald said
she educated her children
on what to do if the situation
were to ever happen in their
school. She said she wanted
them to know what to do
and who to call.
“Communication is first.
Parents are going to call
you just to hear your voice
and make sure you’re OK,”
McDonald said. “My first
response would be to get a
hold of Michael, and once I
know he’s OK, I would hope
the school closed down for a
day or two and maybe seek
counseling for students who
need extra help recovering
from that scary situation.”
According
to
UA
Safety Information and
Procedures, the university’s
response to an active
shooter on campus is to
quickly determine the most
reasonable way to protect
a person’s life. Students,
employees and visitors
should follow the directions
of instructors, supervisors
and administrators during
an active shooter situation.
Students and faculty are
told to evacuate, hide or take
action. The University of
Arizona Police Department
suggests calling 911 only
after it is safe to do so, and
to state the location of the
active shooter, the number
of shooters, a physical
description of the shooter,
the number or type of
weapons possessed by the
shooter and the number
of potential victims at the
incident scene.
Talia Stone, a public
health sophomore, is the
youngest and the first of
her siblings to go away for
college. Her father, Scott
Stone, said it was a different
experience for him and
his wife. He thought it was
challenging when she left
for school, but the family got
used to the change. Stone
explained what his reaction
would be if there were to
ever be a school shooting at
the UA.
Upon word of a shooting
at the UA, Stone said his
immediate reaction would
be to jump in his car and
pick up his daughter. He said
he also believes that after
such an event, the university
should close down for a day
or two to give students and
faculty time to calm down
and be less distracted on the
matter.
“It
should
be
a
requirement for students
on a larger scale to seek
counseling if a shooting
were to ever happen at the
university,” Stone said. “It
could give them a place to
talk and be less frightened.
It definitely makes me
frustrated and scared at
times that something like
this could happen.”
According to Stone, if
his daughter requested to
come home for a few days,
he would allow her to.
However, he said he would
not be the one to suggest it,
as he is worried that it may
lead to an increased fear of
returning to school. Stone
suggested an increase in
security could not hurt the
situation and would only
make students, staff and
parents feel safer.
Stone
added
that
education around the event
of a school shooting would
benefit students.
“I don’t think the
campus should become
gated if something like this
were to happen—it’s not
necessary if there was an
increase in security,” Stone
said. “However, students
should absolutely be more
educated on how to react
with an active shooter on
campus.”
— Follow Gabriella Vukelic
@gabalicious_24
OPINIONS
NAU tragic, school shooting or not
BY HAILEY DICKSON
The Daily Wildcat
T
he gun violence debate
was driven home Oct. 9
for Arizona natives. At
1:20 a.m. outside Mountain
View Hall on Northern Arizona
University campus, Steven Jones,
an 18-year-old freshman, shot
four of his classmates, severely
injuring three and killing the
fourth.
At the time of the shooting,
U.S. media was already abuzz
with debates about gun violence
in the aftermath of the Umpqua
Community College shooting.
Just a week before the NAU
tragedy, a gunman murdered
eight students and a professor on
the Oregon campus.
Sadly, the sequence of these
two shootings occurring so
closely to one another was no
surprise. In a country where
nearly 300 public shootings have
occurred just this year—that’s
more than one every day
involving four or more people—it
seemed like only a matter of time
until tragedy would knock on
Arizona’s door.
The UA and other Arizona
colleges quickly and rightfully
showed their solidarity with
the shooting victims and the
saddened NAU student body
in light of the news. Amid the
empathy, however, conversations
began to arise about the details of
the shooting itself.
Most notably, critics on social
media and later on larger media
outlets questioned the tragedy’s
status as a school shooting,
pointing out features of the event
that don’t align with the normal
conditions of a school shooting.
They noted that the students
were killed on the outskirts of
campus, that the shooting was
not random or premeditated and
that the shooter was provoked by
an altercation with the victims.
Isn’t it sad Americans
have even established these
stipulations? Isn’t it sad
that school shootings are so
common that we now get to
determine what is and is not a
deadly combination of young
school tragedy based on a set of
men, alcohol, 1 a.m. arguments
arbitrary standards?
It doesn’t matter if the shooting and a gun. When the three
former factors are fundamentally
happened in a classroom or
woven into college
outside a party,
culture, we must do
during a lecture
What
everything we can
or after a fight.
matters is
to keep the fourth
What matters is
that an 18-yearthat an 18-year- variable out of our
campus’s equation.
old had a gun
old had a gun
According to
in his car on a
in his car on a
Nicholas Kristof of
college campus
the New York Times,
and used it to kill college campus
someone.
and used it to kill “Since 1970, more
Americans have
We don’t
someone.”
died from guns than
need to make
died in all U.S. wars
a distinction
going back to the
between
American Revolution.” With so
everyday gun violence and
many preventable deaths on
campus shootings. Sure, some
the table, dividing our debates
details of the NAU shooting
into campus violence against
may be more reminiscent of
suicides against accidents against
an argument gone horribly
lethal arguments against mass
awry than other mass campus
shootings is a waste of time and
shootings. However, the public
resources. Let’s focus less on the
needn’t divide its focus: the NAU
semantics of gun violence and
shooting certainly must be a part
more on finding unified solutions
of the campus gun debate, and
the campus gun debate must be a to combat all the heads of the
same monster.
vital component of discourse on
U.S. gun violence as a whole.
Unfortunately, a huge amount
— Follow Hailey Dickson
of public shootings involve the
@hailelujah
“
The Daily Wildcat • 5
News • October 28-29, 2015
NEWS
Suggestions for survival
UAPD’s Sergeant Fil Barrera explains what students, faculty and persons can do
when there is an active shooter on campus.
BY ELISABETH MORALES
The Daily Wildcat
As shootings around the U.S.
become more and more frequent,
students
find
themselves
wondering what exactly they
would do if put in a situation
involving an active shooter.
According to data compiled by
the anti-firearm organization ,
Everytown for Gun Safety , there
have been more than 50 school
shootings in 2015 alone. With
these high numbers, it is no
wonder students have to be
as prepared as possible for an
emergency.
Sgt. Fil Barrera, University of
Arizona Police Department’s
Public
Information
Officer
and Crime Prevention unit
officer , said throughout the
year, his department puts on
presentations at least two to three
times a month. Specifically, the
presentations prepare students
and faculty for situations
involving an active shooter. The
department has even been out to
the College of Medicine–Phoenix
twice for these presentations.
Anyone can request the free
presentation by simply calling
Barrera’s office and requesting
one. Only a computer, a large
screen
and
speakers
are
necessary.
“Unfortunately in these times
we’re in, we have to think about
these things. But we want to
make sure people are prepared,
because if we prepare for these
situations we have a better
chance for the best outcome we
can hope for,” Barrera said.
The presentations cover a
range of strategies. First, if found
in a situation where there is an
active shooter, the first priority
is to get everyone in the building
out and as far away as possible.
They emphasize the importance
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JESUS BARRERA/THE DAILY WILDCAT
JORDAN SMITH, a pre-business sophomore, reads over the “What do if there’s an active shooter” section on the UA website Friday, Oct. 23. UAPD and the university have outlined a plan for what
students should do when there is an active shooter on campus.
of escape routes and knowing the
building and surroundings well.
Another important piece of
information they want students
and faculty to be aware of is the
difference between calling UAPD
on a cell phone versus a campus
landline.
“Every single phone that
is a landline on campus goes
directly to UAPD, and that’s very
important—just for the fact that
if you call from your cell phone it
will go straight to Tucson Police
Department’s dispatch and then
they transfer you to UAPD,”
Barrera said.
He also urges the importance
of being as detailed as possible
when calling 911 . The more
UAPD knows regarding the
shooter, location and any other
details, the more prepared they
can be when responding.
Lastly,
the
presentations
address the possibility of having
to barricade oneself in a room
and how to do so, as well as
the possibility of confronting
the shooter. UAPD explains
the presentations are meant to
make people think about this in
NEWS
Dilligence is not
just for the police
BY MICHELLE JAQUETTE
The Daily Wildcat
UA officials have set up protocol
for reporting threats, which faculty
members and sometimes police have
the task of investigating and evaluating.
Evaluating the level of a threat can be
complex, but the task set forth to the
UA student is simple: report threats and
the behavior of those who may pose a
threat to themselves or others.
If there is a real sense of danger and
a student shows signs that they plan to
harm themselves or others in the near
future, call 911 immediately.
“The police are happy to intervene,
even if it’s a false alarm. They would
much rather be alerted and prevent
a disaster,” Dr. Marian Binder, staff
psychologist and director of Counseling
and Psych Services, said .
However, if a student is not an
imminent threat but acts or speaks in a
way that gives rise to concern, like being
in an unhealthy mental state that could
potentially put the safety of themselves
or others at risk, report this to the Dean
of Students Office . Students can fill out
the Online Referral Form on the Dean
of Students Office’s website or call their
office directly.
“If it’s a situation where you’re kind
of worried about somebody—you don’t
really know for sure, you don’t know if
it’s an issue or what it means—then the
Dean of Students [Office] would be the
first line of reporting,” Binder said.
When talking to a student or friend
who seems troubled, recommending
that they visit the campus Counseling
and Psych Services could be a good
idea, Binder said. At CAPS, students
can receive free counseling and brief
therapy.
Students looking to help a friend are
also welcome to call CAPS to receive
consultation on how to handle the
situation.
Counseling is not a punitive measure
and is never forced on a student.
However, “the dean has the option to do
what’s called a mandated administrative
referral, which is a one-time mandated
visit to CAPS so that we can access your
safety and try to determine—do you
pose a risk to yourself or not?” Binder
said.
Binder stated that those referrals are
only given when a person’s safety is at
risk.
When
concerning
behavior
is
brought to the attention of the Dean
of Students Office, different teams
may be called to assess the situation
and develop intervention plans. One
such team, the Behavior Intervention
Team , consists of trained professionals
from CAPS, the University of Arizona
Police Department, Residence Life and
an everyday setting so they can
always be prepared.
“What can we use inside
our office? What can we use
inside our drawers of our desk?
What can we use inside of our
buildings?” Barrera said.
He adds that there are programs
on campus and with UAPD
that are there to help students
who may be having issues, in
hopes that they may be able to
take steps toward preventing a
situation before it even happens.
“That’s really what UAPD
is about, not only providing a
safe and secure atmosphere
on campus, but we really want
people to see us as people who
will get you the resources you
need,” Barrera said. “Be it if you
need to go to [Counseling and
Psych Services], Oasis or Life and
Work Connections or if you just
need to know where the library
is or how to do a good research
paper.”
— Follow Elisabeth Morales
@DailyWildcat
HOW TO RESPOND
WHEN AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IS IN YOUR VICINITY
Quickly determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life. Students,
employees and visitors are likely to follow the directions of Instructors, Supervisors and
Administrators during an active shooter situation.
1. EVACUATE
 Have an escape route and plan in mind
 Leave your belongings behind (take keys and phones only if it doesn’t delay your escape)
 Keep your hands visible
2. HIDE
 Hide in an area out of the active shooter’s view
 Block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors if possible
3. TAKE ACTION
 As a last resort and only when your life is in danger
 Attempt to incapacitate the active shooter
 Act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter
CALL 9-1-1 WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO
HOW TO RESPOND WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT
ARRIVES ON THE SCENE






REBECCA NOBLE/THE DAILY WILDCAT
STUDENTS feeling overwhelmed or suffering from
other sorts of mental stressors can seek counseling at
Counseling and Psych Services on the third floor of the
Campus Health Center. The university and UAPD have
laid out a protocol for what happens if there is an active
shooter on campus.
Student Accountability.
“Most of the individual cases that rise
to the BIT level involve mental health,
self-harm, [and] suicide ideation,”
Christina Lieberman , associate dean
of students and BIT chair , wrote in an
email.
Another team, the Threat Assessment
and Management Team , is tasked with
determining whether an individual
could potentially harm themselves,
others or the UA community. Members
of the TAM team come from a number
of interdisciplinary groups on campus
including CAPS, UAPD, Life and Work
Connections, Human Resources and the
Office of the General Counsel.
Binder, who is a member of both
teams, said the cases presented to the
TAM team are difficult due to the large
range of behaviors individuals may
display. Some threats are overt and can
be dealt with under the Threatening
Behavior by Students policy, but other
threats are vague. If a target is not
named, the teams must discuss what
potential the individual has of hurting
someone.
“You can’t exactly predict violence,”
Binder said, who also emphasized
how important it is not to stereotype
students and believe them to be violent
on the basis of, for example, the place
they come from or the situation they
were raised in.
— Follow Michele Jaquette
@MichelleJaquet
Remain calm, and follow officer’s instructions
Immediately raise hands and spread fingers when instructed by officer’s
Keep hands visible at all times
Avoid making quick movements toward officers such as attempting to go to them for safety
Avoid pointing, screaming or yelling
Don’t stop to ask officers for help or direction when evacuating, proceed in the direction from
which officers are entering the building/area or towards the location instructed by 9-1-1
/officers
INFORMATION YOU SHOULD PROVIDE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT & 9-1-1





Location of the active shooter/s
Number of shooters, if more than one
Physical description of the shooter/s
Number and type of weapons possessed by the shooter/s
Number of potential victims and their locations at the incident scene
RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF POTENTIAL WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
An active shooter may be a current or former employee or student. If you believe an
employee/student is an immediate threat or exhibits potentially violent behavior contact:
9-1-1 immediately.
If the individual is not an immediate threat or not exhibiting potentially violent behavior,
call UA Human Resources at 520.621.3662 if the individual in an employee. Call the
Dean of Students Office at 520.621.7057 if the individual is a student. If the individual is
not affiliated with the University call 9-1-1.
Indications of potentially violent behavior may include one or more of the following:






Increased use of alcohol and/or drugs
Unexplained increase in absenteeism, and /or vague physical complaints
Depression/Withdrawal
Increased severe mood swings, and noticeably unstable or emotional responses
Increasingly talks of problems at home, school or work
Increase in unsolicited comments about violence, firearms, and other dangerous weapons
and violent crimes
6 • The Daily Wildcat
October 28-29, 2015 • News
SCIENCE
Social media helps, harms
OPINIONS
Mental
health
more than
violence
BY cooper Temple
The Daily Wildcat
T
Alex McIntyre/The Daily Wildcat
The Facebook login page on Tuesday, Oct. 27. UA researchers are creating algorithms that determine how emotionally charged social media posts are in order to flag them for human
review.
Social media can help dissipate feelings of rage and anguish, but it
can easily facilitate a slip into violent acts
BY Alexandria farrar
The Daily Wildcat
Liking, down-voting, up-voting,
sharing, deleting, requesting.
You’re counting your likes, and
then you’re counting their likes.
It’s an abacus of worthiness as
much as it is a portable peek into
connection. A day with multiple
chat boxes open is a good one; a
day spent inside looking at other
people’s fun outings is a bad one.
Social media is this generation’s
creation, and it’s time to start
examining the extent of its effects.
Social media has played a
starring role in some of the darkest
tragedies in recent news. The Oct.
1 shooting at Umpqua Community
College was directly linked to
an anonymous imageboard on
4chan.org, when a message was
anonymously posted stating,
“Some of you guys are alright.
Don’t go to school tomorrow if you
are in the northwest.”
On Aug. 26, Vester Lee Flannigan
II, a former news reporter from
Virginia, shot his former colleagues
Alison Parker and Adam Ward
and then posted a video of his act
on Facebook and Twitter. Media
outlets have reported that both
shooters struggled with mental
illness, but social media may have
been the sounding board that
encouraged their atrocities and
where others may be able to look
to stop future violence.
“So many times, when they
look back on these people’s social
media accounts after the crime
has been committed, it’s shocking
NEWS
to see the amount of posts that
should send up red flags to all the
people reading them, … yet no
one says a word,” wrote Cassandra
Rodriguez, a graduate student at
the UA School of Information.
Rodriguez’s
work
is
on
conducting sentiment analysis on
social media posts to measure the
author’s emotions. This means
running posts through various
algorithms to measure their
emotional value. Higher emotional
content would be rechecked, most
likely by a human, for danger
signs. This could include the biting
word choice of rage or perhaps the
unrealistic whirlwind of mania.
In contrast, Dr. Joel Dvoskin, a
clinical and forensic psychologist
and
assistant
professor
of
psychiatry at the UA, suggests
having algorithms identify social
media users in this way may be
misleading because, in some
instances, this behavior may be
healthy.
“For some people, the ability to
communicate may in some ways
be to mitigate a threat,” Dvoskin
said. “People can in some ways be
satisfied by communicating their
rage through [social media].”
Though some posts share
certain aspects, researchers can’t
immediately assume that they
suggest an immediate danger to
themselves or others.
“There
are
common
characteristics—anger,
social
disconnectedness, feelings of
insignificance,” Dvoskin said.
“Those are so common. [But] the
vast majority of people who have
these characteristics are never
going to hurt anybody.”
On the other hand, the power of
community in the hands of people
in similarly psychologically fragile
states has the ability to turn a
nonstandard belief into a war cry.
A prime example is now defunct
forum PUAhate.com, or Pickup
Artist Hate, which Santa Barbara
shooter Elliot Rodger is known to
have frequented. What began as
dating frustration escalated into
full-blown misogyny and hate
speech against women and other
men, those deemed to be “pick up
artists.”
Overall, voicing mental distress
on social media seems to be in
some ways therapeutic until a
desire to share stories over the
same struggles becomes a call to
arms backed by hate speech. It
is when what seems to be mere
text and venting starts hitting this
area of rage and utter frustration
that most people agree something
must be done.
Mass shootings are statistically
isolated
events,
though
disproportionate media attention
seems to make viewers think
otherwise. As much as they are
linked to mental illness, mental
illness is not something to be
feared as much as it something to
be treated.
“Forty-four percent of adults
and about 20 percent of children
and adolescents don’t receive
treatment for [their mental
disorders],” said Dr. Christina
Cutshaw, an assistant professor of
public health at the UA’s Mel and
Enid Zuckerman College of Public
Health.
Social media can help those
demonstrating signs to get the
help they need if they are properly
identified.
“Some of [Facebook] posts can
serve as confessions in themselves,”
said anthropology junior Michael
Chikos on Facebook in response
to a discussion on mental health
and social media. “Illustrations
like ‘How depression feels’ or links
[such as] ‘Things only people with
social anxiety disorder understand’
send the implicit message that one
goes through mental distress.”
How can we help those suffering
online?
Changedirection.org,
a website dedicated to helping
people identify mental suffering
online or in person, cites five
specific behaviors as very
important warning signs: poor
self-care, agitation, personality
change,
withdrawal
and
hopelessness. The site suggests
that observers should take
initiative and talk to someone
who they are worried about, as
they may not feel like they can
reach out for help.
“Some people who are looking
for help may not be willing to tell
people in person,” said Martin
Ruiz, a junior studying accounting
and finance. “[However] there is
something about [being] behind
a keyboard that makes it easier
for people to express their true
feelings.”
— Follow Alexandria Farrar
@alexcat09
COMMUNITY CHATTER
Compiled BY Chastity Laskey
The Daily Wildcat
“What would you do if there was a shooter on campus?”
“I probably would first go for safety and
then [call] my loved ones and say lastminute things if the shooter was near me.”
— Emily McGrane, a physiology
freshman
“I would try to run away and inform
the police. If someone came into my
classroom with a gun, there’s not a
whole lot I can do. I suppose I would try
and talk the guy down.”
— Stewart Cohen, a UA philosophy
professor
“I would just try and get away. I don’t
think we could really do anything at that
point; it’d be a little too late.”
— Grace Maddox, a psychology
junior
“Depending on where they’re at I would
first seek cover and stay out of the way
and not add to the problem. I used to do
a lot of bodyguarding and security, so if
they were in my immediate area I would
probably be more [the type] who goes
towards them. But if I don’t have to add to
the problem, I probably wouldn’t. I guess
it’s all situational based.”
— Chris Bernhardt, a senior studying
public management and policy
“If I was not in a classroom I would
try and leave campus as fast as possible
and get really far away from it. If I was in
a classroom I honestly don’t know what
I would do, because I feel like I would
feel really helpless. I feel like we haven’t
really been taught what to actually do in
that situation, except to maybe tackle
a shooter. Obviously I’m not strong
enough to do that, so probably just try
and hide somewhere.”
— Maya Kraft, a junior studying
French and global studies
he election season is again
upon us, which means we
will continue to be subjected
to the rhetoric from both parties
on the typical issues—gun control,
immigration, the economy and
foreign affairs, to name a few.
Shockingly, candidates continue
to ignore a problem facing more
than 45 million Americans: mental
illness.
During the 2012 election mental
health was hardly mentioned
during debates. When it was
touched on, it was only during
discussions of gun violence and
crime. Based on the few debates
that have occurred so far this
cycle, it seems as though this will
continue to be the case.
Instead of focusing on the topic
itself, politicians continue to use it
as a scapegoat for gun violence in
order to avoid placing blame on the
relaxed gun laws in our country.
Mental illness is a severe issue—1
in 4 Americans suffer from a
mental health problem each year,
60 percent don’t receive treatment
and serious mental illnesses
cost the U.S. $193 billion in lost
earnings annually, according to the
Huffington Post. Yet, it was only
discussed in the GOP debates as
a subset of gun violence and only
mentioned once—by Sen. Bernie
Sanders—during the most recent
democratic debate. There is no
other issue affecting 25 percent
of the country’s population—
Republicans, Democrats and
Independents alike—that receives
so little attention.
The connection that has been
forged between mental illness
and gun violence isn’t as accurate
as it seems to be. Although those
who commit mass shootings are
invariably suffering from mental
illness, addressing the problem
of mental health should not be
the sole response to gun crimes.
According to the Arizona Republic,
“people with psychiatric disabilities
are far more likely to be victims
than perpetrators of a violent
crime, … people with severe mental
illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder or psychosis are twoand-a-half times more likely to be
attacked, raped or mugged than the
general population.”
Furthermore, a study from the
American Journal of Public Health
shows that only 4 percent of violent
crimes in the U.S. are committed
by those diagnosed with mental
illness.
Yet, America is only exposed to
the stories worthy of headlines,
which involve violent crimes
committed by those with severe
mental disorders. The vast majority
of people affected by psychological
illness, though, continue to suffer
quietly and internally.
The continued promotion of
the connection between disorders
and gun violence by the media
and political candidates serves not
to help this majority, but rather
stigmatizes their disorders and
discourages them from seeking
help. Conservative pundit Ann
Coulter on her website goes so far
as to claim that “guns don’t kill
people—the mentally ill do.”
If the politicians who are
supposed to represent us and
the media that is supposed to
inform us cannot acknowledge
that mental illness does not
automatically connote violent
crime, psychological disorders will
continue to plague the country.
Instead of discussing the issue
only when mass shootings occur,
comprehensive reform needs
to be adopted that will seek to
destigmatize mental disorders
and provide greater options for
treatment.
Thousands of Americans are
homeless, imprisoned or dead
because they could not receive the
help they needed to combat their
illnesses.
Suicide remains steady as the
10th leading cause of death in the
U.S., accounting for a death every 13
minutes. This is unacceptable.
The reality is that we have a
serious mental health problem
in the U.S. that needs to be
addressed. Even those who tie it
only to gun violence more than
likely have friends and family who
suffer the effects of a disorder.
Until our representatives are held
accountable and made to realize
the seriousness of the issue, though,
treatable illnesses will continue to
harm millions unnecessarily.
— Follow Cooper Temple
@DailyWildcat
The Daily Wildcat • 7
News • October 28-29, 2015
NEWS
ASU club pushes for campus carry
BY Ava Garcia
The Daily Wildcat
With the ultimate goal of giving
students a chance to better protect
themselves, an Arizona State
University student group is in the
process of petitioning to repeal the
university’s policy barring students
from carrying and storing weapons
on campus.
“Whether that be changing school
policy or changing minds so we can
get some legislation enacted, our
goal is the immediate restoration
of that right on campus,” said Jacob
Pritchett, the director of outreach for
ASU’s Students for Self-Defense club.
“We’re also trying to encourage the
university to use some of the student
safety budget on teaching situational
awareness and gun safety.”
The club has started a petition
to reverse ASU’s ban on weapons
on campus so that it would be legal
for students to carry weapons on
campus. The petition has garnered
around 350 signatures online and
some more via paper petitions,
according to Pritchett.
“We’ll try to get as many [signatures]
as possible. The original goal was 100,
but now we’d like to get a thousand,”
Pritchett said. “Every time we get a
bunch of signatures on this, it gets
sent to the president [of ASU]’s office,
supposedly.”
The Students for Self-Defense
club has already met with school
officials to discuss their petition, and
while there are guidelines set by the
Arizona Board of Regents that do not
allow firearm possession on college
campuses, Pritchett is confident in
the progress the petition could make
on campus.
“We think it’s getting people to
listen,” Pritchett said. “We’ve already
Victoria Pereira/The Daily Wildcat
Eric Huelsman, a German studies senior and a member of the UA Shotgun Team, practicing skeet at the Tucson Trap & Skeet Club on
Thursday, Oct. 22. Huelsman has been shooting for over six years and has participated in a number of competitions with the Shotgun Team.
had a meeting with some school
officials, and they’re definitely
knowledgeable about what we’re
doing. And they’ve acknowledged the
flaw in their policy concerning self
defense, where they basically indicate
that they’d like you to carry pepper
spray but don’t say it in so many
words. But then they say the pepper
spray is banned—we think we could
create some change.”
The UA and ASU both have
laws against weapons on campus,
including a ban on Tasers, pepper
spray and firearms.
At the UA, the campus has been
declared a weapons-free zone by
the board of regents. That means no
firearms, knives longer than 5 inches,
Tasers or even nunchucks can be
on campus. If someone is found in
possession of any of these weapons,
the University of Arizona Police
Department will ask them to store the
weapon off campus.
“People can store a weapon in
their car, but it’s not something that
we want to have people do,” said Sgt.
Filbert Barrera, public information
officer for UAPD. “We would prefer
[people] keep their weapons off
campus.”
Barrera said that these incidents
of finding people in possession of
weapons do happen, but they are
not too common. Those who do
not remove their weapons from
campus when asked to do so could
face charges of misconduct involving
weapons.
At ASU, the “use, possession,
display or storage of any weapon”
anywhere that is under the control of
the university is prohibited, according
to the ASU Police Department
Manual.
Efforts like Students for SelfDefense’s to make change at ASU
haven’t been repeated directly at the
UA. Currently, there is no equivalent
group at the UA, and Barrera said
that he doesn’t know how successful
they would be on the UA campus. He
said he is sure, however, that allowing
students to carry guns on campus
could lead to confusion for him when
carrying out a call to the scene of a
gun incident.
He outlined his point with a
hypothetical situation, in which he
responds to a call about a woman in
a red shirt and jeans with a gun in the
Student Union Memorial Center, but
there is another woman in a red shirt
there with a gun who is not a threat.
“How are we going to differentiate
right away? So the whole thing is that,
unless you’re in uniform—unless
you are a known law enforcement
entity on this campus—and we have
to respond to something, well then if
someone [there] is similarly dressed,
they just became [another armed
person],” Barrera said. “It creates
confusion, it creates a situation
where it’s actually more unsafe, and
it makes our job much harder.”
Barrera also said that police
officers practice shooting once every
quarter and undergo active shooter
training every year.
“We can’t control how many times
a private citizen goes out and shoots.
We can’t control how familiar they
are with the weapon, and so it’s
something that it just creates more
problems than it would solve,” he
said.
When it comes to skeptics, though,
Pritchett asks them to think over why
they are against firearms on campus.
“The question we should be asking
ourselves isn’t, ‘Do you like firearms?’
The question you should be asking
yourself is, ‘Will this contribute to
student safety, and also are these
policies keeping other people from
bringing firearms on campus?’ I think
that the clear evidence here is that
they’re not,” Pritchett said. “These
rules aren’t magical force fields. It
would be better to level the playing
field and allow law-abiding citizens
to carry.”
— Follow Ava Garcia
@ava_garcia_
NEWS
NEWS
Presidential stances
Campus poli
groups face off
on gun control
BY Meghan Fernandez
The Daily Wildcat
With gun violence so prevalent in the U.S., gun control
is a recurring issue debated among the presidential
candidates. The Republican and Democratic frontrunners each have contrasting stances on gun control.
Dr. Ben Carson
Carson takes a staunch stance against any sort of gun
regulation that would diminish the Second Amendment.
In early October, Carson suggested that the Holocaust
may have not happened if citizens at the time had been
armed with guns, according to a BBC News article.
As stated on his campaign website, “The Second
Amendment is a central pillar of our Constitution. …
It provides our citizens the right to protect themselves
from threats foreign or domestic.”
Carline Jean/Sun Sentinel/TNS
Donald Trump
Sharing a similar stance with Carson, Trump, too, is
opposed to any gun regulation that would affect lawabiding citizens’ right to bear arms.
Trump does, however, differ from Carson in a few
aspects regarding the issue.
According to his campaign website, Trump
emphasized the need to repair the mental health system
in this nation, noting that poor mental health has been a
factor in these mass shootings.
More recently, Trump announced that if elected
president, he would veto any new regulations restricting
access to firearms.
“The Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental
right that belongs to all law-abiding citizens. The
Constitution doesn’t create that right—it ensures that the
government can’t take it away,” reads a statement on his
campaign website.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS
Hillary Clinton
Clinton strongly believes that legislative measures
need to be taken now to reduce gun violence in the U.S.
During Clinton’s political career, she has supported
action against gun violence, such as voting for legislation
that would enforce the implementation of background
checks before gun sales at all events where firearms are
sold, according to her campaign website.
Another key component of Clinton’s stance for
gun regulation is her desire to hold the gun industry
responsible if its guns were used to commit crimes.
Clinton’s campaign website states, “While gun
ownership is part of the fabric of many law-abiding
communities, too many families in America have
suffered from gun violence. About 33,000 Americans
are killed by guns each year. That is unacceptable. It is a
rebuke to this nation we love.”
Brian Cahn/Zuma Press/TNS
Bernie Sanders
Though also in favor of gun regulation and reform
like Clinton, Sanders differs from her in that he would
not hold the gun industry accountable for acts of gun
violence unless they are knowingly aiding criminals,
which he emphasized during the first Democratic debate
in early October.
Sanders’ campaign website does not include his
stance on gun control. However, he has spoken about
the matter, voting for a bill to implement universal
instant background checks with gun purchases and also
advocating the need to fix the nation’s mental health
system.
In contrast to what are seen as his more liberal stances,
Sanders has expressed how guns and hunting are a
significant aspect in rural communities, especially in his
home state of Vermont.
Sydney Richardson/The Daily Wildcat
BY Chastity Laskey
The Daily Wildcat
In light of the recent increase
in shootings nationwide, the
presidents of the University of
Arizona Young Democrats and
College Republicans gave their
opinions on gun laws.
Joseline Mata, the president
of UA Young Democrats and a
political science sophomore,
said that the main thing to
take away from the Democrats’
policy on gun control, and what
she believes in, is increasing
background checks for those
acquiring guns.
“Oftentimes, when people
think of Democrats’ opinion on
gun control, they think we want
to take everyone’s guns, and
that’s not really the case,” Mata
said.
Mata said she thinks she
can say that everyone in the
Democratic
Party
agrees
that if someone wants a gun,
they should be able to gain
possession of one. She said she
also believes, however, that all
those in possession of a firearm
need to be competent and must
fully understand what it means
to have a gun.
Ashlee Bierworth, a junior
studying law and political science
with an emphasis on American
politics, is the president of UA
College Republicans.
“I agree with having some
restrictions on who can buy a
gun when it comes to mental
health and other issues like that,”
Bierworth said. “I disagree with
preventing law-abiding citizens
from obtaining guns.”
Bierworth said that the U.S.
has seen a lot of mass shootings
lately, and she doesn’t think
the problem is that guns are
accessible; she said the issues
lies within gun-free zones.
“Ninety-two percent of our
shootings happen on gun-free
zones,” Bierworth said. “For
example, the Aurora shooting­—
the shooter was in the vicinity of
five different movie theaters, and
he chose the one that the farthest
from his house because it was
the only one that was a gun-free
zone.”
The Arizona Board of Regents
prohibits guns, along with
many other weapons, on the UA
campus, as well as in all buildings
and land owned or under the
control of the UA.
“Not having to worry about
whether someone near me is
armed is great. I think that’s the
right thing to do,” Mata said.
Bierworth said she personally
thinks those who are over 21
Young Democrats President Joseline Mata
College Republicans President Ashlee
Bierworth
and can legally carry should be
able to carry a gun on campus,
or at least to store their guns in
gun lockers when they come to
campus.
“I believe that if you give lawabiding citizens the opportunity
to carry a gun, there’s more of
a chance they will be able to
protect themselves,” Bierworth
said.
Bierworth said that mass
shootings end when armed
police eventually arrive on the
scene.
“If we can make that possible
sooner, it might save lives,” she
said.
Mata said that, after seeing
how often shootings happen,
they are bringing this issue to the
forefront.
“We need to stop talking about
it and start actually creating
legislations to change the
policies that are allowing certain
individuals to gain access to
guns,” Mata said.
Bierworth said that the mass
shootings have made her views
even stronger.
— Follow Chastity Laskey
@ChastityLaskey
8 • The Daily Wildcat
October 28-29, 2015 • News
NEWS
NEWS
Industry
controls
full of
holes
BY BRANDI WALKER
The Daily Wildcat
NEWS
Gun laws need interpretation
SYDNEY RICHARDSON/THE DAILY WILDCAT
A VARIETY OF GUNS on display at Second Amendment Sports on Pima Street in Tucson. Employees at Second Amendment Sports are passionate about the Second Amendment and their customers.
The Second Amendment protects the right for U.S. citizens to bear arms.
However, some say this constitutional right needs to be reinterperited
BY ANDY ALVARADO
The Daily Wildcat
Recent gun violence in the
U.S. has called into question,
more than ever, the language of
the Second Amendment and its
relevance in today’s society.
The Second Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution reads: “A
well-regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of the
State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.”
Times have changed since
the Constitution’s ratification
in 1789 , and many think that
the response to these changes
is to take another look at the
amendment. According to the
Washington Free Beacon , last
month, former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton once again
criticized the Supreme Court’s
controversial 2008 ruling in
the District of Colombia v.
Heller case, which found strict
regulation of gun ownership to
be unconstitutional.
“And here again, the Supreme
Court is wrong on the Second
Amendment, and I am going to
make that case every chance I
get,” Clinton said.
It is not just politicians that
think the Second Amendment
may be in need of reinterperitation. Danya Michael ,
a second-year law student at the
James E. Rogers College of Law ,
said she also thinks it should be
interpreted with the times.
“I think that the law is fluid and
that, as far as our constitution
goes, it’s interpreted to adjust
to our times,” Michael said. “I
believe that our amendments
don’t necessarily need to change,
it’s the interpretations maybe
that could use some tweaking.”
Despite her criticism of those
interpretations,
Michael
is
against stricter gun control laws.
“I think right now the Second
Amendment is accurate where
it’s at,” Michael said. “If anything
we need to allow more good guys
to have guns.”
Still, Michael does not see a
clear solution to preventing gunrelated violence.
“There is a whole slew of
reasons why people choose
to do what they do,” she said.
“Whether it’s mental health, or
impoverishment, I don’t know.”
Andrew Rhoades, a first-year
English grad student , who is
active in the discussion about
gun control, disagrees with his
fellow liberals about the passing
of more restrictive gun laws.
“Well, let’s look at the
language,” Rhoades said. “[The
founding fathers] wrote the right
‘to keep and bear arms,’ which is a
sort of vague language. There are
large freedoms that exist within
that language—it’s been up to the
Supreme Court to decide which
ones should be upheld.”
Rhoades explained that critics
of the Second Amendment
typically fall into two camps.
The first are those who defend
the founding fathers and say that
the Constitution should stay the
same.
“But sometimes people try to
put words in the mouths of the
founding fathers,” Rhoades said,
explaining that what the founders
wanted was not a Constitution
that remained static, but one
that could be revised to fit the
changing times. This revisionist
group makes up the second
group of critics.
One
argument
cited
by
politicians pushing for new
gun control laws is that of the
effectiveness of Australia’s 1996
Prohibited Weapons Act , which
banned guns and launched
a buy-back program, where
governments exchange money
for citizens’ firearms. Last
week, Clinton said that similar
measures were “worth looking
into.”
Rhoades said that the rhetoric
of such arguments is wholly
unrealistic.
“The culture is entrenched in
the love of guns. The [National
Rifle Association] is too powerful,
and there are already too many
guns,” Rhoades said, explaining
why passing restrictive gun laws
would be unfeasible. “Maybe if
the country were smaller, had a
different history, had a different
culture—then maybe the laws
would work.”
There is an indirect solution to
reducing gun violence, Rhoades
explained, that doesn’t involve
fiddling with the constitution or
focusing legislation toward guns.
He feels that mental illness and
poverty are overarching issues
that need to be addressed.
“Where there is poverty, there’s
going to be violence,” Rhoades
said. “I think that if we focus on
the human issues, then naturally
there will be a reduction of
violent crimes.”
— Follow Andy Alvarado
@DailyWildcat
There are provisions
in place that require
Americans to undergo a
background check before
they purchase a firearm ,
but there are loopholes
in the system that allow
school
shootings
to
take place as a result of
someone in possession of a
gun who did not undergo a
background check.
“Since the enactment of
the Brady Law on March
1, 1994, through Dec.
31,
2012,
background
checks
blocked
more
than
2.4
million
prohibited
purchasers
like
domestic
abusers,
convicted felons, mentally
ill persons and other
dangerous
individuals
from purchasing a firearm
or receiving a permit
to purchase or carry a
firearm,” according to the
Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence .
The
Brady
Handgun
Violence
Prevention
Act is legislation that
requires a five-day waiting
period when purchasing
a
handgun
and
the
establishment a national
criminal
background
system in the U.S.
Jim Shera , owner of
Frontier Gun Shop located
on
East
Grant
Road ,
said he cannot order a
background check unless
a person is purchasing a
gun. Shera said he does not
know what the background
check
process
entails
because it is handled by
the government.
In Arizona, there is no
permit required to carry
a firearm and there are
provisions in place for the
right to carry a firearm in
confidentiality , according
to the National Rifle
Association’s Institute for
Legislative Action .
“It is unlawful to sell or
give to a minor, without
written consent of the
minor’s parent or legal
guardian, a firearm or
ammunition,”
according
to the NRA Institute for
Legislative Action. “No
state permit is required to
purchase a shotgun, rifle,
or handgun.”
According to the NRA
Institute for Legislative
Action, a gun purchaser
will be exempt from the
National Institute Criminal
Background Check System
if they have a concealed
handgun permit.
Federal
background
check requirements do
not require unlicensed,
private gun sellers to
conduct
background
checks, according to the
Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence.
“As a result, convicted
felons and other ineligible
people are able to easily
buy guns in most states
nationwide,” the center’s
website states.
There are other loopholes
for getting around the
background check step of
buying a firearm. .
Each year, Tucson hosts
a number of gun shows
where gun enthusiasts can
come see and purchase
firearms. The Tucson Expo
Gun Show takes place Oct.
31 and Nov. 1 at the Tucson
Expo Center. According to
the gun show promoter’s
website,
all
federal,
state and local firearm
ordinances and laws must
be
obeyed.
However,
outside
of
the
city’s
limits, those interested in
purchasing a gun without
undergoing a background
check can do so at many
gun shows.
Guns can also be legally
grandfathered, or passed
down
from
generation
to generation, without a
mandatory
background
check .
— Follow Brandi Walker
@brandimwalker
The Daily Wildcat • 9
News • October 28-29, 2015
OPINIONS
Ditch your
guns to
prevent
suicides
BY Martin Forstrom
The Daily Wildcat
T
he U.S. has a rate of gun
violence
and
homicide
overall that is startlingly high
for a developed country, and many
point to its relatively lax restrictions
of gun ownership and record-high
level thereof. Whether they are on
the side of more gun control or
less, people are very concerned
about gun-related deaths, and
with good reason considering the
mass shootings that we have been
experiencing nearly every other
week lately.
What we do know is that gun
suicides kill 60 percent more often
than gun homicides in this country,
and decreasing gun ownership
definitely lowers suicide rates. You
might be thinking that it must lower
only gun suicide rates. Anyone
who really wants to kill themselves
will just find another way, right?
Wrong. This line of thinking reveals
an astounding degree of ignorance
about the top killer of young people.
The bottom line is reduced gun
ownership leads to a reduced rate
of suicides and a subsequently
lower number of gun-related
deaths each year.
Living in a house with a gun
increases your odds of death by
suicide 17-fold and, according to
the Times, “the firearm-suicide rate
for U.S. children is 10 times higher
than the firearm-suicide rate of
the children of all other nations in
the world combined, according to
the National Institutes of Health.”
The odds of gun ownership saving
you from a violent criminal is
profoundly lower than the odds of
you shooting yourself or someone
else.. Even if you’re the happiest
person in the world and have never
had a suicidal thought in your life,
having a gun simply provides the
option. You could live in a violent
neighborhood and be constantly
at risk of being a victim of gun
violence but, the one factor we’re
too scared to discuss—suicide—
is the thing more likely to kill you.
If you don’t have a gun, this risk is
profoundly decreased.
In fact, gun suicides are more
effective than most other methods
and subsequently much more
preventable. While unavailability
of guns may be correlated with
an increase in other methods of
suicide, the result is still a profound
drop in the overall number of
suicides. When the number of
lives lost by gun-related suicide
significantly dwarves the number
by other gun deaths, why is this
dark side of the gun culture not
discussed?
Suicide makes us uncomfortable.
There are no good guys and bad
guys and exciting shootouts. But
we’re talking about so many lives,
mostly young, promising ones
whose losses not only devastates
families and friends but are a
serious drain on our economy and
society.
Only a few states even have death
with dignity acts. We clearly are not
comfortable with death at all. It’s
easy to focus on the murders and
the deaths by disease, but that’s
not helpful. Of course, we’d rather
focus on the much smaller amount
of deaths about which the evidence
is less conclusive because, for
most people, it’s really not about
saving lives. It’s about sticking it to
the ammosexuals or the bleeding
hearts or whomever. It’s about
feeling vindicated and avoiding
hard conversations.
Research suggests that, for
every 1 percent decrease in gun
ownership, there is a .5 to .9 percent
decrease in suicides, or 345 lives
saved to provide some context
about how much people should
care. When it’s a group of murders,
the number matters and they have
names, when it’s a suicide it’s over
and done.
There is much we can do.
Preventing IDF conscripts from
bringing their guns home on the
weekend reduced Israel’s conscript
suicide problem by 40 percent.
“[Ninety] percent of Americans
support universal background
checks, which would surely help.
[Eighty-two] percent of teenage
suicides involve guns poorly
secured or foolishly unprotected by
members of their family,” according
to The New York Times, so we have
to do something about that. There
are practical, simple steps we can
take as a country to avoid both gun
suicides and homicides, regardless
of our willingness to dwell in dark
corners. Maybe we can start there.
— Follow Martin Forstrom
@martinforstrom
Jesus Barrera/The Daily Wildcat
Yusif Dashti, a first-year Center for English as a Second Language student, speaks about the American gun culture and his thoughts about shootings around campuses in the U.S. on
Wednesday, Oct. 21. The U.S. has some of the most relaxed gun laws of any country in the world.
NEWS
International take on gun laws
BY Meghan Fernandez
The Daily Wildcat
International students at
the UA weighed in with their
perspectives on gun violence
in the U.S., an issue that has
become more and more
prevalent in recent years.
The UA has a large
international
student
presence
on
campus.
According to the UA 2014-2015
Fact Book, 3,696 international
students attended the UA in
2014—about 8.7 percent of
the student population.
Max Reid, an international
exchange
student
from
Australia at the UA for the fall
semester, said U.S. gun laws
are strikingly different from
Australian gun laws.
Australia enacted stricter
gun laws after a mass
shooting in 1996 that resulted
in the deaths of 35 and left
23 injured, according to
a New York Times article.
One of the more prominent
aspects of Australia’s stricter
gun regulation was the
government buying back
guns from citizens after the
ban was passed.
Weapons have to be kept in
a safe at all times, and people
who want to purchase a gun
have to apply for a license and
then apply for a background
check, Reid said. Those
interested in purchasing
guns also have to state their
intention for using the gun; for
example, Reid said, his friend
lives on a farm in Australia
and so he was able to acquire
a rifle, but not a hand gun.
“I think Australia generally
is very scornful of the
U.S.,” Reid said. “I think it’s
ingrained in the U.S. culture,
it seems … that to protect
yourself from the government
you need weapons, and it’s in
your Constitution.”
Reid said he feels that the
chance of him getting shot is
higher in the U.S. than back
home in Australia, but added
that he isn’t concerned living
here.
Regarding the most recent
mass shooting at Umpqua
Community College, Reid
said he feels the same way as
every other shooting and that
he has become desensitized
to the matter.
“I always just get the same
thought, like, ‘Is this gonna
change? Are they gonna do
something about it?’ ” Reid
said.
Yuan Tian, a psychology
sophomore from China,
said that regarding guns, the
culture in the U.S. is different
than in China.
Gun violence isn’t because
of the Second Amendment,
Tian said, but because of the
culture surrounding mental
and social disorders.
China’s outlook on U.S. gun
laws, Tian said, is that the U.S.
is crazy.
“I’m not nervous because
I know normal people with
guns don’t shoot at each
other,” Tian said.
Private gun ownership is
banned in China under the
Firearms-Control Legislation
and Policy with only two
exceptions, according to the
Library of Congress.
The exceptions: official use
and permitted civilian use.
“Firearms for civilian use
are permitted for specified
‘work units’ in three areas:
sports, hunting, and wildlife
protection, breeding, and
research,” the website states.
For other international
students, it’s the right to
carry guns that leads to mass
shootings in the U.S.
Yusif Dashti, who is not
yet a UA student but enrolled
in an English class through
the Center for English as a
Second Language, is from
Kuwait and said the Second with fake bullets for hunting,
Amendment is the reason for but cannot be armed with real
guns, and only certain people
mass shootings in the U.S.
According
to
Dashti, can apply for licenses, he said.
In his home country, Albori
civilians cannot own guns in
Kuwait—except for hunting heard that there was a lot of
in which fake bullets are used. crime in the U.S. and that it
Some civilians still own guns wasn’t safe, but upon being
for self-defense from during here, he said he feels safe and
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, really enjoys being here.
Ching Yu, who came to
Dashti said.
Dashti recalled when he Tucson from Taiwan two
went to purchase a car in the weeks ago and is in the same
U.S. and saw a man carrying ESL class as Dashti, plans
a gun in his pocket. Initially to apply to the UA for her
scared, Dashti said he wanted master’s degree in marketing.
Yu said that in Taiwan,
to know why the man had a
gun and decided to go talk to civilians cannot own guns
and that only the police can
him.
Dashti said the man told carry guns.
“I think it’s quite dangerous
him that he was in the Army
years ago, has knowledge here because I saw on the
about guns and that’s why he news that someone ran into
a school, used a gun and shot
was carrying it.
Mohammed
Albori, everywhere,” Yu said.
Regarding the gun culture
another student from the
same ESL class who moved in the U.S., Yu said that guns
from Saudi Arabia to Tucson are a way for people to defend
five months ago, shared the themselves.
“I think it’s a way to keep
same viewpoint as Dashti.
“Because of the right to yourself safe because if
[bear arms], it’s more likely to someone [is] using a gun
cause them to shoot people. [and] points it at you, you may
… Basically it’s about having take a gun and point at him,”
Yu said.
the gun or not,” Albori said.
In Saudi Arabia, Albori said
guns are prohibited without a — Follow Meghan Fernandez
@MeghanFernandez
license. Civilians can use rifles
NEWS
TPD: Looking for instability
BY Amanda Oien
The Daily Wildcat
The Tucson Police Department’s Mental
Health Investigative Support Team works to
make a positive impact in the community
by helping the mentally ill through a
preventative approach.
“The mission of our unit is to prevent
crime and decrease the amount of
incarceration for mental health clients
by helping facilitate treatment,” said TPD
Officer Dustin Dial. The MHIST unit was
established after the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting,
when a gunman opened fire on a Congress
on Your Corner event at a Tucson Safeway.
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others
were shot. Six people were killed that day.
After the shooting, “The general public
and a lot of media outlets began asking
the question, ‘Why didn’t the police know
anything before the shooting?’ ” Dial said.
Local law enforcement then began asking
themselves if they could have done anything
to prevent the shooting.
According to Dial, the answer would
have been no because law enforcement has
historically been responsive by nature.
“However, I think times are changing and
the overall aspect of crime prevention, and
the mentality behind it as well, is changing
more towards a proactive approach more
than ever before,” he added.
In a Gallup poll conducted in Sept. 2013,
48 percent of Americans believed that the
failure of the mental health system to identify
individuals who are a danger to others was to
blame for mass shootings in the U.S.
Within the MHIST unit, checks and
balances occur, such as doctor approvals
and mental health court orders, before law
enforcement gets involved.
The MHIST unit has also been involved
in several high-profile cases that have
prevented a possible church shooting and a
kidnapping.
“We did that in a way where we combined
both investigative law enforcement and
mental health treatment,” Dial said.
In one instance, he said an individual
was charged with felony stalking of multiple
victims. The MHIST unit was able to get a
mental health court order for the individual,
who is currently in jail, and remove the
individual’s guns from his possession.
“We were able to prevent what, based on
the evidence, appeared to be a large-scale
shooting at a church,” Dial said.
the TPD MHIST unit would also work with
the University of Arizona Police Department
in the event that a student could be a danger
Rebecca Noble/The Daily Wildcat
A large­scale Tucson Police Department shield hangs in the lobby of the TPD Main Station, located at 270 S. Stone
Ave., on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Eight TPD officers have died protecting the community of Tucson since 1892.
the community “takes away that bad-guy
mentality,” said Officer Darrell Hussman.
“Now, calling the cops doesn’t mean
somebody is getting in trouble, but that we’re
here to help.”
MHIST is comprised of a captain, a
sergeant, a detective and two field officers,
all of whom go through special training.
“Crisis intervention training is so valuable,”
Dial said. In addition to crisis intervention
training, members of the unit are also
required to become certified in Mental
Health First Aid, which is a certification put
on by the National Council for Behavioral
Health, according to Dial.
“We get to be the side of law enforcement
their uniforms to help individuals stay calm.
that
is helping people,” Hussman said. “That
“We’re surprised every day how willing
is
the
most rewarding.”
people are to talk to us when we say, ‘No
one is in any kind of trouble, we’re with the
If you or someone you know needs help,
mental health unit,’ ” Dial said.
call
the 24/7, community-wide crisis line at
The MHIST unit also uses unmarked
vehicles. When an individual is transported, 520-622-6000.
“[MHIST tells] them, ‘There are no lights
on it, and there’s no marking on the side
because this is nobody’s business but yours,’
— Follow Amanda Oien
” Dial said.
@amanda_oien
Helping individuals with the support of
to his or herself or others. UAPD Sgt. Filbert
Barrera said the department looks for certain
signs that show students are “failing to thrive,
such as not eating, sleeping, not engaging or
not taking care of themself.” UAPD takes every
situation case by case and makes decisions
based on the facts and circumstances that
are gathered and will call on the TPD for
assistance if needed, according to Barrera.
The majority of individuals transported
to hospitals for mental health treatment are
transferred without the use of handcuffs,
according to Dial. TPD has also taken risks
with the MHIST unit, such as allowing MHIST
officers to wear plain clothing rather than
10 • The Daily Wildcat
October 28-29, 2015 • News
Where do we go from here?
BY Sam Gross
The Daily Wildcat
T
he Daily Wildcat approached a number of policymakers and public figures from the UA
and the surrounding community and asked them the following question regarding a
solution to gun violence and mass shootings: In light of increasing instances of mass and
school shootings, what is the next move? How would you recommend we address and counteract
a trend that only seems to be gaining steam?
Tom Price/The Daily Wildcat
Courtesy of Steve Kozachik
Tom Price/The Daily Wildcat
Brian Seastone, chief of police, University of Arizona
Police Department
Crime and violence don’t respect the boundaries of an
educational institution. In 2002, this campus experienced
the horror of a mass shooting, with the death of three of our
UA College of Nursing professors. The suspect, a distraught
student, held a class hostage before killing two of the
professors in front of the class and then killing himself.
The UA has taken great measures to ensure the safety and
security of our community, through education, awareness
and the use of technology. We have instituted the UAlert
emergency text message system to inform the community;
implemented new policies to address threatening and
disruptive behavior; and, most recently, introduced the
LiveSafe app to help individuals report criminal activity via
text message.
Although we can never stop someone committed to
doing harm, everyone plays an important part in keeping
our campus safe by immediately reporting suspicious or
threatening behavior to UAPD.
Steve Kozachik, Tucson city councilman, Sixth Ward
The issue of gun violence has reached a saturation point.
We are no longer surprised to see reports of mass shootings
on a college campus, in a movie theater, an execution-style
shooting of law enforcement officers or the murder of 20
children in an elementary school.
Making any progress in taking back the moral ethic of
our country must include expansion of services for those
suffering mental illness. Ignoring that component of the issue
is a fundamental mistake.
It is equally mistaken to ignore the need for legislation
addressing the ease with which people obtain weapons. It is
legal to sell a gun to a stranger on a street corner, cash and
carry, no questions asked.
As long as we continue to elect politicians who are cravenly
beholden to the [National Rifle Association], we should
expect nothing to change. A part of the solution must begin
at the ballot box.
Christopher Grimes, junior studying political science
and economics and Model United Nations member
With just over one mass shooting occurring each day so far
in the U.S., it’s definitely time to take action.
Ideally, Americans would be safer if guns were not allowed
in society, but unfortunately that’s unrealistic.
In addition, Congress has consistently renewed bans on
[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research on
the relationship between gun ownership and gun violence,
so we have little insight on how much harm owning a gun
may cause. I believe that the first step is to remove this ban
on research, as it is important to have data and hard facts that
relate to a topic that is taking thousands of lives every year.
For a short-term solution, I also believe that the U.S. should
require background checks on all purchases of guns.
Finally, I believe that additional funding should go toward
mental health programs throughout the country.
Courtesy of Ann Weaver Hart
Courtesy of Eileen Klein
Tom Price/The Daily Wildcat
Ann Weaver Hart, UA president
Gun violence is the dread and horror of every university
administrator because none of us can say with any certainty,
“It won’t happen here.” Tragically, it happened at the UA 13
years ago this month.
But we can learn from past incidents and reduce the
likelihood of their reoccurrence.
The UA has a trained, nationally accredited police force
charged with campus safety and a campus-wide alert system
that can warn over 54,000 people in less than 2 minutes.
The most proactive response is to make sure people
tell campus officials if they think someone plans to do
anyone harm. The UA threat assessment team is trained
to confidentially investigate reports, to expertly assess a
person’s state of mind and to intervene as needed through
well-being checks and counseling referrals or, if warranted,
intervention by law enforcement officers.
If you see something, if you feel threatened, if you hear
someone talk about plans that menace the UA or anyone
here, you need to speak up. It’s up to each of us to look out
for all of us.
Eileen I. Klein, Arizona Board of Regents president
Shootings at our nation’s schools are appalling acts of
violence and cowardice. While we cannot control or always
anticipate the acts or decisions of an individual, we will hold
anyone who commits these senseless acts to full account.
We all have a role to promote the safety of our students
whether on campus or off. I am especially grateful to the
countless students who have worked with the regents and
campus leaders as part of our Student Safety Task Force to
create safe and healthy learning environments and for their
ongoing commitment to look out for one another as part of
their collegiate experience.
We also have a duty to make sure our students have access
to the resources they need when they are struggling. Each
of our Arizona universities provides resources for students,
from educational resources regarding alcohol to professional
services for those who may be dealing with mental health
or substance or alcohol abuse problems. Students can take
advantage of counseling, crisis hotlines and wellness services
at our universities, and we ask everyone in our campus
communities to encourage those who are struggling to take
advantage of campus and other resources.
Allison Childress, junior studying political science and
economics and Model United Nations member
Mass shootings are regrettably so commonplace in America
today, and yet not much has been done about them. It’s
unfortunately very easy for those wishing to harm themselves or
others to access guns.
I believe we need to work toward restricting assault weapons
and high-capacity magazines, which serve only the purpose of
making it easier to kill more people in a shorter amount of time.
Perhaps restricting all guns is not the answer, but politicians
and leaders need to be open to conversations about gun control.
To ignore or dismiss this problem is downright irresponsible.
I also believe media should devote less time to covering the
shooters themselves—giving them the attention they crave—
and instead focus on the victims. We, as a society, need to stop
sensationalizing the shooters, which only leads to infamy that in
turn spurs other mentally ill persons toward this type of violence.
SCIENCE
Q&A with trauma guru Dr. Peter Rhee
BY Pearl Lam
The Daily Wildcat
Dr. Peter Rhee has spent his career saving victims
of violence. He served 24 years as a Navy surgeon,
patching up battlefield injuries, and is currently
the chief of Trauma, Critical Care, Burn and
Emergency Surgery at Banner–University Medical
Center, as well as a professor of surgery at the UA.
We sat down with Rhee to discuss his life on the
other side of these tragedies and his experience as
the attending physician during the 2011 Tucson
shooting.
The Daily Wildcat: What makes gun violence a
personal issue to you?
Rhee: I deal with it every single day. It’s amazing
to me that I go into this isolated world and I am
kept a secret. I’m kept a secret because the public
doesn’t want to hear about it. They just tell me to
take care of all these ridiculous bloody shots. You
know, why don’t you come into the hospital for
about a month and look at all the people that are
shot, and look at why they’re shot. And look at
the stories behind each human being that is shot.
Some of them are mad people, most of them are
not.
What are your thoughts about the Tucson
shooting in 2011?
Senseless. It had no purpose, but we do love
our guns, and we can get guns. I think this is a
political issue. I don’t think the people are actually
for the banning of guns—of course that will never
happen. In this country, guns are ubiquitous.
There is no way to do that. To be … absolutely on
one extreme and say anybody can get it without
any regulation seems a little silly, but I cannot get
onto a little airplane to fly anywhere without going
through all that security. … There’s got to be a
fine line in there somewhere, right? People force
you to wear seatbelts, people force you to buy car
insurance and people force you to stop at a red
light.
What other parts of the world do you see
gun violence becoming a serious issue in the
future?
Well, I haven’t seen the world. But when you go
to other countries, most of them have no interest in
that because they just don’t see gunshot wounds.
Back in Korea, for example, I think they saw one in
five years. And that wasn’t even a person shot in
Korea, it was a Navy captain that was shot when his
ship was hijacked in the Middle East. And it made
national news and [was a] sensation because
one of the key trauma surgeons in that country
was trained in the U.S., and cared for him after
his initial gunshot wound. If you go to Japan, it’s
also unheard of. … When you go to Europe, most
countries have really never had a gunshot wound.
… In comparison to other parts of the civilized
world, basically Europe and Asia, unless you’re at
war you don’t see gunshots.
Will Seberger/MCT
Medical director Dr. Peter Rhee updates the media on then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and other patients presently receiving care at University Medical Center in Tucson on Jan.
11, 2011. Jared Loughner was convicted for the attempted assassination of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 14.
who shot herself in the brain, and we’re going to
try to take her organ for donation today. But every
time a person tries to kill themselves, in the U.S.—
and these are young people—most of the time they
are associated with situational depression, at least
with females. And, sadly, most of them involve
men or some sort of a romantic encircle. But when
you take a bunch of pills or try to kill yourself one
way or another—you can find ways to overcome
that. You can have a return to a bountiful life, but
when you put a gun to your head, most of the time
that is irreversible for you.
What are the most frequent gun violence cases
hospitals receive in the U.S. or globally?
Be aware of [the] commonality and frequency
of these injuries, and the stories and healing
stories behind one of these gunshot wounds.
In this city, unusually more than any other city,
they hide this information. They say the patient
was taken to a local hospital, they don’t say much
more about it. The lay public has become numb
to the gunshot wound, and they just discount it.
… You know, when we talk about breast cancer,
breast cancer, breast cancer, all the time—we do
something about it. When we talk about red light
running and texting and driving, we do something
about it. We don’t talk about the gunshot wounds.
It is politically intense. It is difficult for us to talk
about it. We don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes
they are seemingly similar stories, but a lot of times
they’re not.
How does the health care system today respond
Why do you think gun violence has become an to gun violence?
increasingly serious issue in the U.S.?
Well, we treat anybody that comes into our floor.
Yesterday, I was on call and I took care of a gal What I wanted to do is have people who carry guns
and who have bullets understand that, while it’s
right that it’s expensive in terms of lives and friends
and family, it’s also expensive to health care. I
want a public system somehow to pay for this,
because the care we provide—whether you go to a
tombstone because of a shot to your head or you’re
the girl who put the gun to the head, or a victim of
violence, … you will need trauma surgeons. And
when you come to the trauma center, we’re ready
for you. But the lay public, everybody who pays
taxes one way or the other pays for that care.
their bullets. And that penny tax should go toward
three systems: the police system, the court system
and the health care system. This will take care of
people who are shot. I’ll be happy to take care of
you if you shoot yourself or shoot somebody.
Can you describe some issues or perspectives
about gun violence our media could give more
attention?
Yeah, that gun violence is not what is portrayed.
The gun violence is the availability of guns, and
they will be used. If you pick up a rock, that rock will
How much responsibility do our mental health be used. If you pick up a knife, someone’s going to
get stabbed. If you pick up a gun, someone’s going
care institutions carry over to gun violence?
They have a part to do with it, but most of to get shot.
the people who inflict gunshot wounds are not
mentally ill. … The people who go into a theater How do you think we as a society can improve
or a grocery store, sure they’re mentally ill. But our response to gun violence?
Well, I don’t know if there’s a way to improve. I
we get … shootings every single day. Every day.
There aren’t enough mentally ill people. These just think that the people need to be aware. I think
are for people treating their guns and shooting that’s where we start. You start with data. You start
themselves and people shooting other people— with information. You try to make the best choices
people who think that they’re protecting their you can. In this society, in this city, it’s fine with the
home—but you end up getting shot because they volume of people being shot every day, and that’s
pulled out a gun. We have people shot every day the price you want to pay. I don’t have an issue
for one reason or another, and that’s the story with them. You know, that’s not my decision. And
the public needs to hear over and over again. As I’m not a politician—I’m a doctor, I’m a public
long as the public makes an informed decision. servant. I will take care of whatever you want me
… I live in a society where I don’t make the rules. to take care of. But as long as people know what’s
I follow the rules. Whatever my society tells me going on. When the public decides what they want
are the rules, I will follow. If they say they want to to do, when the politicians decide what they want
have guns, then that’s fine. But do they know the to regulate.
consequences? I mean, to this day, people go to
the store to buy bullets because people are still
so paranoid about losing their ability to protect
themselves, so they stockpile their guns and
— Follow Pearl Lam
bullets. Now I would like to see a penny tax on
@nineteenpearls