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Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Changing our ways
Adequate mental health care, gun control key to prevention
A
IMRAN SYED
EDITOR IN CHIEF
GARY GRACA
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Unsignededitorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other
signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
A perfect ending
Clinton inspiring; future grads deserve same
Jf words are the measure of a man, then former Pres-
ident Bill Clinton can only be described as just right.
Giving the commencement address on Saturday at
the Big House, Clinton tapped into his uncanny ability
to reach in and pull out exactly what is needed, leaving
graduates, parents and guests thoroughly satisfied even
with his rather generic message.
As the shock of the Virgin-
ia Tech tragedy begins
to wear off, it's time to
return to makingsure that a trag-
edy of this proportion is never
repeated. Instead of creating a
culture of fear, the Virginia Tech
shootingcan serve as an opportu-
nity to eliminate the root causes
of these tragedies. To keep this
from happening in Ann Arbor,
the University must recommit
itself to mental health issues and
the state and federal govern-
ments need to better enforce cur-
rent gun control laws.
Among the many news stories
about the shooter Cho Seung-
Hui, the common conclusion
was that Cho was a disturbed
and mentally ill individual.
While some prefer to leave it
there, we must ask why Cho
did not receive the treatment
he obviously needed. Although
the answer to that is compli-
cated, it's fairly apparent that,
although Cho was flagged as
potentially dangerous, long-
term emotional resources were
unavailable to treat him.
But the problems of mental
health care at Virginia Tech
are indicative of problems
throughout the country. At the
University, the Counseling and
CHRIS KOSLOWSKI |
Psychological Services office is
underfunded and overbooked.
Students often have to wait if
their situation is not deemed an
emergency. Even when they do
receive treatment, CAPS is based
on a short-term strategy that
avoids the long-term support
that is sometimes necessary.
The problem doesn't stop
at campus resources. Even if
the facilities are available, the
inherent stigmatization of men-
tal illness is a barrier for those
who are willing to seek out help
on their own. Like most colleg-
es, the University is able to expel
students who are labeled as a
"danger," so seeking help can
mean giving up an education.
By eliminatingthese counter-
productive rules and opening
dialogue about the importance
of mental health support, the
University can make it easier
for people to come forward and
avoid the anxiety that is often
coupled with counseling.
But proper treatment can only
go so far when the gun control
laws in America are not properly
enforced. In Cho's case, he was
able to obtain a weapon, despite
being flagged as a threat by Vir-
ginia Tech, because his condition
was never relayed to the state.
This sort of communication
breakdown is common at both
the state and federal levels and
is partly to blame for many of the
gun-related deaths each year.
However, all of these
improvements cannot guaran-
tee that tragedy doesn't strike.
In these situations, students
want to know what they should
be doing and it's the adminis-
tration's job to communicate
with students during crises.
Already, other universities
have announced the creation
of emergency text-messag-
ing alerts to inform students
of threats and how to proceed
in the event of an emergency.
Knowing that the University
will properly handle a similar
situation is an important part
of making students feel safe.
Recognizing that the reasons
for this tragedy go beyond the
individual shooter and are cer-
tainlyindependentofthe shooter's
race, we can then move on to an
understanding of how to prevent
these tragedies. By working with
the psychiatric facilities and gun
control laws already in place, we
can dually remove the motivation
and means for these shootings.
Doingthatis thebestwayto honor
the virginia Techvictims.
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But that is precisely what
made Clinton the perfect com-
mencement speaker - he's
someone we all know, but more
importantly, he's someone who
can effortlessly awe and inspire,
even at the culmination of a col-
lege career when graduates are
convinced they have seen and
heard everything. Reminding
us that "it is not enough to vote
and pay taxes," that "we cannot
kill, jail or occupy everyone" and
sprinkling in astute comments
on previous speakers, Clinton's
address was topical and largely
well received.
Perfection is hard to dupli-
cate, but for the University, the
only option is to try. As great a
choice as Clinton was for this
year's graduating class, it does
nothing for subsequent classes,
who all deserve the same satis-
faction that this year's class felt
on Saturday afternoon.
After a string of adequate but
obscure commencement speak-
ers, the University finally got on
base last year with CNN interna-
tional correspondent Christiane
Amanpour. Now, after thisyear's
homerun, the University cannot
take an at-bat off, the graduates
deserve better.
Consistency can be difficult
in the fickle pursuit of an effec-
tive but also recognizable com-
mencement speaker. The process
is long, as is the list of viable
competitors, but the University
has proven in the past couple of
years that it can get the job done.
While anyone who follows Clin-
ton is likely to be seen as a dis-
appointment, there are plenty of
attractive candidates out there.
Whether the University goes
after the likes of Jimmy Carter
or JK Rowling, Oprah or the
ghost of Lincoln himself, it is
important to remember that
the field of commendable can-
didates is large and the Univer-
sity's resources are more than
sufficient. University President
Mary Sue Coleman said herself
that she found this year's class
worthy enough to "show off to a
president."
The rest of us are no less wor-
thy, President Coleman.
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Editorial Board Members: Mike Eber, Brian Flaherty,
Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner