C
ontent
warning:
This
story contains references
to gun violence.
The typical news cycle lasts
one week.
After seven days, old stories
are filtered out and replaced
with the new ones. As that fresh
content takes hold of headlines,
fills pages and occupies our news
feed, we start to forget. The
information from last week fades
in order to make room for this
week’s information. Seven days
later, it happens all over again.
But Monday marked a week
since the tragic shooting on
Michigan
State’s
campus.
A
week since a shooter stole the
lives of Arielle Anderson, Brian
Fraser and Alexandria Verner.
A week since five other victims
had their lives changed forever.
A week since every Spartan lost
any sense of security in the place
they call home.
How, then, could we turn the
page and forget?
It would be disrespectful,
irresponsible and heartless. It
should be impossible.
Unfortunately,
though,
we
quickly turn that page far too
often. In a world — in a country —
that simply replaces one tragedy
with the next, we manage to
regularly
sweep
inhumane
horrors under the rug in a matter
of seven days.
In just the first six weeks of
2023, there’s been over 70 mass
shootings in the United States
— an average of nearly two a
day. The numbers aren’t just
staggering, they’re unbelievable.
This amount of gun violence and
death can’t be accepted.
Yet here we are, going about
our lives like it’s normal.
Meanwhile, in the wake of
tragedy, we emphasize a return
to “normalcy.”
I do not want to go back to
a normal where people have
to fear going to class — where
deciding to go study could be a
life or death decision. I do not
want to go back to a normal that
involves texting my friends on
a Monday night praying that
they’re alive. I do not want to
go back to a normal where a girl
I shared halls and classrooms
with in high school is now dead.
I do not want to go back to our
current normal.
Last week was a moving
display of unity. Every day, it was
markedly obvious how little the
rivalry between Michigan and
Michigan State mattered. We all
had our friends, our family and
every student in East Lansing
in our thoughts. Spartan gear
adorned the Wolverine campus,
images of support were shared
on social media and it was clear
that people mattered, not their
affiliation.
Everybody in the state of
Michigan was on the side of
healing.
And for some, sports was part
of that healing journey.
On
Wednesday,
Michigan
State coach Tom Izzo spoke at a
vigil to honor the victims.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Izzo
said. “Our loss has been great.
Our lives have been permanently
changed.
With
a
shared
commitment to help each other
and a promise to remember
those we have lost, we will find
joy again.”
To many, his words meant
a lot. Sports is their place of
comfort, of escape, and Izzo is
a living legend. And to all the
parents of Spartans, Izzo offered
empathy.
“(My son) Steven was at one
of the buildings two nights ago
about 10 minutes after things
happened,”
Izzo
said.
“So
sometimes we don’t understand
because we haven’t been through
it. That little moment brought me
a little closer to understanding.”
Then, the week built toward
a fatefully scheduled moment of
togetherness. The Michigan and
Michigan State men’s basketball
teams were set to play Saturday.
After everything, it’s what
many people needed.
“We can’t do anything about
what’s happened,” Izzo told
reporters
Thursday.
“Except
hopefully do a better job of
making sure it doesn’t happen
again. But we can do something
about moving forward. Because
there’s probably a brother or
sister of one of those three that
has to live. There’s a mom, and
a dad, and hopefully a smile
on your face — whether it’s a
Michigan fan being mad at me,
or a Michigan State fan being
happy, hopefully — it just brings
everybody together.”
The game succeeded in that.
It offered a moment of silence,
‘Michigan Basketball stands with
MSU’ shirts, ‘Spartan Strong’
banners in the Maize Rage, green
lights and LED wristbands and a
general outpouring of support.
The
game
between
the
two in-state rivals was the
culmination
of
a
week
of
promoted togetherness. From
Monday
to
Saturday,
news
showed
communities
coming
together
and
condemning
the horrid act of violence. We
offered support, gave our prayers
and said that this should never
happen again.
But then it was Monday. And a
new cycle began.
Michigan
State
students
returned to class. Headlines
returned to normal. And we
returned to our lives.
But there are kids who couldn’t
do that Monday morning. Arielle
Anderson, Brian Fraser and
Alexandria Verner could not do
that Monday. Think about that
and read their names again.
Arielle Anderson.
Brian Fraser.
Alexandria Verner.
They are not just names. They
are people. People who lost their
lives, people with family, people
with friends and people who had
a future stolen from them.
They are people that we cannot
forget, and people we cannot let
the never-ending churn of the
news cycle forget. We must say
these people’s names louder.
Really hear them.
Remind everyone again this
week that you stand ‘Spartan
Strong.’
Remind
them
that
the tragedy that occurred is
unacceptable. Remind them that
we need a change.
Columbine.
Virginia
Tech.
Sandy Hook. Parkland. Uvalde.
Oxford. Michigan State.
Each time, we watch children
die. Then we move on until the
next child is killed. Then we
move on again, until the cycle
restarts.
It cannot continue.
If you need this time to heal,
heal. But if you can bear it,
now is the time for rage. Speak
their names, condemn violence,
stand up against the weapons
that can do this. Do not let new
stories take the place of the
people whose lives were forever
changed due to inaction.
Do not let the ferocious tide of
“normalcy” convince you that we
can go back to normal.
This is not normal.
We can’t let it be.
Don’t let the world move on from Michigan State
NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer
Design by Lys Goldman
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
Remind everyone again this week
that you stand ‘Spartan Strong.’
Remind them that the tragedy that
occurred is unacceptable.
Remind them that we need a change.
Photo: ANNA FUDER/Daily
February 22, 2023 — 12
The Michigan Daily