J

ust this week, a horrific 
mass 
shooting 
at 
Michigan State University 
shocked the nation and rocked 
our campus, as many have 
friends and relatives attending 
the nearby university. Its close 
proximity 
and 
the 
hours-
long “shelter-in-place” order 
had 
many 
feeling 
anxious, 
confused and angry. But most 
significantly, the feeling of loss 
was overwhelming: the lives 
of Brian Fraser, Alexandria 
Verner and Arielle Anderson 
were taken in the shooting and 
will forever be memorialized 
by the community of East 
Lansing and our own. Such 
events also remind us of the 
constant threat of gun violence, 
and should be considered yet 
another instance of why we 
must overcome the mental, 
ideological 
and 
political 
barriers preventing this nation 
from 
working 
towards 
a 
solution.
In 2022, there were 648 mass 
shootings. Just a month and 
a half into 2023, there have 
been 66 mass shootings. This 
constitutes an unfathomable 
rate of more than one and a 
half mass shootings per day on 
average. At this rate, the U.S. 
is on pace for a catastrophic 
577 mass shootings by the end 
of the year. The Gun Violence 
Archive defines a mass shooting 
as an event in which a shooter 
kills or injures a minimum of 
four people, not including any 
shooter who may have also been 
killed or injured in the event. 
Even more worrying than this 

data, however, is the fact that 
it seems we, both the general 
public and its lawmakers, are 
growing numb to the ever-
rising tide of gun violence 
deaths in the United States.
Columbine, 
Sandy 
Hook, 
Orlando, 
Las 
Vegas, 
Texas 
First Baptist Church, Robb 
Elementary in Uvalde and, 
most recently, Monterey Park. 
These are names ingrained in 
the American consciousness 
for their brutality and tragedy, 
and are among the 25 mass 
shootings since 1982 with 10 
or more fatalities. But of all of 
these events, who –– besides 
those directly affected by the 
tragedy –– can name a single 
victim? As we are constantly 
confronted with news of yet 
more shootings, it becomes 
increasingly 
difficult 
to 
separate the raw numbers from 
the humanity of the victims. 
It wasn’t until Nov. 30, 
2021 that the horror of such 
an event became tangible to 
me, something beyond simply 
national news. I was in school 
40 minutes away from Oxford 
High School on the day that a 
student murdered four of his 
fellow students and injured 
seven others. The fact that 
something had occurred so 
close to my home sent the 
entire school, including myself, 
into a state of shock. For those 
less close — both physically and 
emotionally — to the event, it 
was yet another tragic mass 
shooting, but to the high school 
students just a county away, it 
felt infinitely more visceral and 
horrifying. Yet, many months 
later, the event faded into 
memory, just like all of the rest. 
Indeed, how could it not, 

in a nation which has seen 
hundreds of mass shootings on 
a yearly basis since 2010? With 
gun violence inflicting so much 
trauma and pain on the public 
on practically a weekly basis, it 
has been difficult to avoid the 
risk of desensitization coupled 
with such repeated events. In a 
24-hour news cycle that thrives 
on constantly churning out 
stories and generating clicks, it 
is difficult to consume so much 
content without blurring out 
individual events and instead 
subscribing to less personal 
overarching 
narratives 
or 
statistics. We cannot allow such 
a vicious cycle to continue. We 
must begin to remind ourselves, 
and Congress, that this level of 
tragedy cannot be the norm. 
We must oppose a reality in 
which we dehumanize victims 
of tragedy as simply a statistic, 
and instead seek to remember 
the victims as human beings. 
Last year, Congress passed 
its first significant gun reform 
law after 30 years of continuous 
gun violence. Having received 
bipartisan support, the bill 
seeks 
to 
impose 
tougher 
restrictions on buyers younger 
than 21, allocate $15 billion 
in funding for mental health 
programs and school security 
upgrades, funding to implement 
red flag laws and denying gun 
ownership to those convicted 
of violent acts such as domestic 
violence. 
Even 
still, 
two-
thirds of the Republican party 
opposed the bill, with Sen. 
Ted Cruz, R-Texas stating it 
wouldn’t curb gun violence, 
but instead disarm law-abiding 
citizens. 
Across 
the 
aisle, 
Democrats believed much more 
needed to be done, and they 

were right. Yet another mass 
shooting made headlines on 
July 4, 2022, just a week and a 
half after the decades-overdue 
bill was passed into law. 
The 
United 
States 
has 
remained a worldwide anomaly 
regarding gun culture, with 
firearm ownership entrenched 
in our Bill of Rights and 
embedded in American society. 
For many conservatives, the 
right to own a firearm is as 
inalienable as your right to free 
speech, and in the framework 
of the Constitution, it is. Any 
proposed 
restrictions, 
even 
for the sake of protecting the 
general public from those who 
intend to misuse their right to 
bear arms, is deemed a direct 
attack on personal liberties 
by conservatives. Therefore, 
for many Americans, there 
is no way to address the 
causes of mass shootings and 
simultaneously retain the same 
rights and freedoms guaranteed 
by the Bill of Rights. 
In a nation with more guns 
than people, it is unsurprising 
that the United States also has 
the unenviable title of most 
mass shootings in the world. 
When considering the advent 
of horrific mass shootings in 
other countries, the immediacy 
and ruthlessness of legislative 
action immediately following 
such 
events 
is 
something 
sorely lacking in our legislative 
bodies. On March 15, 2019, a 
radical gunman opened fire 
on 
worshippers 
at 
prayer 
in two separate mosques in 
Christchurch, New Zealand, 
killing 50 people and injuring 
dozens more. Three days later, 
the nation’s Cabinet developed 
a massive overhaul of their 

existing gun laws, which had 
been unchanged for more than 
two decades — just like the 
laws of the United States at the 
time. The legislation included 
a complete ban on “military-
style” weapons and was met 
with 
nationwide 
support, 
sentiments echoed even by gun 
retailers. 
In my once native Germany, 
there 
have 
been 
27 
mass 
shootings over the past 110 
years. This is due to far stricter 
gun laws than the United States. 
These laws aren’t perfect, and 
mass shootings have happened 
— the worst of which at a high 
school in 2002 in the city of 
Erfurt, resulting in the death 
of 17 people and the suicide of 
the 19-year-old shooter. Even 
with strict gun laws already 
in place, the local and federal 
government sought reform to 
hopefully prevent such an event 
from happening again. The age 
at which one may legally obtain 
large-caliber firearms for sport 
shooting, such as a shotgun, 
was raised to 21. In addition, 
all prospective gun owners 
below the age of 25 would 
be subject to a psychological 
evaluation. Police reform was 
also enacted, so that they may 
more effectively respond to 
such events in the future. 
Following 
just 
one 
catastrophic 
mass 
shooting, 
the governments of Germany 
and New Zealand acted swiftly 
and decisively to curb the 
possibility of such an event 
happening again, by reviewing 
and greatly strengthening their 
gun control legislation. The 
United States is far beyond 
the point of one catastrophic 
shooting. 
With 
dozens 
of 

such shootings in its history, 
it is clear that lawmakers 
and the public are becoming 
dangerously apathetic to the 
tragedy of such events, and 
are 
unwilling 
to 
exercise 
their power as a lawmaking 
body to readily craft decisive 
solutions which may curb the 
swelling tide of gun violence 
in our country. The fact that 
thousands of people died over a 
20 year period without Congress 
passing any significant gun 
reform legislation is absolutely 
shameful. 
It 
represents 
a 
phenomenon of inaction and 
apathy towards gun violence 
which 
rightfully 
has 
no 
representation in any other 
legislature in the world, and 
should cease to have a place in 
the United States. 
What these stories of New 
Zealand and Germany tell us is 
that reform is not only possible, 
but 
that 
shootings 
should 
never be considered part of our 
reality. Simply put, there is no 
other country on earth which 
has suffered so greatly from gun 
violence while doing so little to 
combat its prevalence than the 
United States. As a society, we 
must look inward and evaluate 
the fact that initial shock 
followed by inaction can only 
lead to acceptance and apathy. 
Reform can only begin when 
we refuse to accept our reality 
of mass shootings. Without 
such a reckoning, the victims 
of 
ceaseless 
gun 
violence 
are forgotten — replaced by 
a statistic, and their deaths 
become 
meaningless. 
In 
a 
nation fraught with epidemics, 
we cannot allow gun violence to 
persist as yet another systemic 
illness which ails the public.

I 

like to think of my phone 
as one of the many organs 
that make up my body. I 
realize that this sounds pretty 
pathetic, but I swear I’ve tried 
to establish boundaries with 
my phone. No matter how hard 
I try, it just doesn’t listen. Or, 
maybe, I’m the one who doesn’t 
listen. Whatever the case is, my 
phone has me in a chokehold 
I can’t seem to break free of, 
no matter how hard I try. In 
fact, as I was watching cyborg 
anthropologist Amber Case’s 
TED Talk, I picked up my 
phone a total of five times, even 
though the talk is only seven 
minutes and 37 seconds long. 
Case opens her TED Talk by 
telling the audience, “you are 
all actually cyborgs.” She goes 
on to explain that every time 
we look at a computer screen or 
use our cellular devices, we’re 
acting like cyborgs. According 
to Case, cyborgs themselves are 
“a new form of homo sapiens” 
— a new species of human that 
clicks on things and stares at 
screens. She insists that, as 
cyborgs, we have developed 
a second self that we are now 
responsible for. 

Despite her insistence on 
the 
human 
transformation 
into 
cyborgs, 
Case 
makes 
sure to end her talk on a 
positive 
note, 
explaining 
that, although technology is 
unconsciously forcing us to 
develop this second self, “the 
most 
successful 
technology 
… lets us live our lives.” She 
commends 
technology 
for 
allowing humans to collaborate 
and 
transcend 
geographical 
limitations 
to 
communicate 
with each other. 
While 
I 
do 
agree 
that 
technology contributes to the 
development of more accessible 
and 
easier 
communication, 
I 
sometimes 
become 
so 
overwhelmed by it that I feel 
like the cons outweigh the 
pros. Sure, it provides for great 
and effective communication 
platforms, but there are multiple 
issues that it brings, like the 
fact that for every 10 minutes 
of studying I get through, I feel 
the need to reward myself with 
half an hour of screen time. 
Or, that every time my phone 
vibrates, signaling the arrival 
of a notification, I glitch. These 
issues and more point to a 
more pressing problem. They 
signal to the increasingly pre-
programmed nature that is 
negatively affecting our mental 

health and intelligence, and 
how it has become curiously 
challenging to detach from 
these 
habits 
due 
to 
our 
destructive 
dependence 
on 
technology. 
Although I do think that 
the 
modern 
reliance 
on 
technology arrived with the 
digital revolution in the 1980s, 
the COVID-19 pandemic has 
unarguably 
heightened 
that 
reliance to the point where 
it 
has 
become 
a 
negative 
dependence. It isn’t to say that 
before the pandemic we didn’t 
use smartphones to text and 
call people, nor that we didn’t 
use social media. It is to say, 
however, that the pandemic 
brought a global shutdown, 
which resulted in a mind-
numbing 
perpetuation 
of 
technology. Everything, from 
work to social events and live 
entertainment, 
relocated 
to 
the digital realm indefinitely, 
making 
our 
reliance 
on 
technology even more acute. 
The 
pandemic 
also 
had 

severe effects on the global 
population’s 
mental 
health. 
According 
to 
the 
National 
Institutes of Health, a 2021 
study demonstrated that “nearly 
half of Americans surveyed 
reported recent symptoms of an 
anxiety or depressive disorder.” 

To worsen the issue, 10% of 
respondents mentioned feeling 
like their mental health needs 
were not being met.
This decline in mental health 
was paired with an increase in 
technology use in children, as 
documented in another 2021 
study by Pierpaolo Limone and 
Giusi Antonia Toto. The study 
mentions that child technology 
use increased by 15% during 
the pandemic. Not only did 
this pose a threat to mental 
health, but it puts physical 
health at risk as well, with 
the radiofrequency radiations 
emitted by smartphones posing 
possible brain tumor risks for 
children. 
Outside of the pandemic, 
technology in and of itself is 
known for having immense 
negative 
effects 
on 
mental 
health. It can aggravate a 
person’s mood, and spending 
too much time online has been 
tied to developing depression, 
anxiety 
and 
feelings 
of 
loneliness. Particularly, a 2017 
study found that adults who 
engaged with online media for 
more than six hours a day faced 
a higher risk of falling into 
depression. Even if technology 
allows us to communicate with 
people, the main mechanism 
to avoid loneliness is to foster 

genuine, intimate connections 
that make us feel close to others. 
These connections, as Dr. Gail 
Saltz, a professor of psychiatry 
at the New York Presbyterian 
Hospital, explains, are only 
possible to a certain degree 
when done through a screen.
In 
addition 
to 
having 
negative 
effects 
on 
mental 
health, the question of whether 
technology is making society 
dumb is prevalent in modern-
day discourse. Our reliance 
on digital technology has led 
us to become more and more 
automated, 
implementing 
restrictions on our ability to 
think critically and pushing 
us 
into 
echo 
chambers 
— 
that 
is, 
environments 
that 
expose 
us 
to 
information 
biased to our own opinions 
while shielding data that may 
challenge 
our 
preconceived 
notions. The introduction of 
Artificial Intelligence has only 
exacerbated our progressively 
automated nature, given that its 
increased capabilities worsen 
our reliance on technology, 
weakening our ability to think 
and act in the absence of it.
Echo 
chambers 
have 
specifically 
led 
to 
the 
development of a “chronically 
online” culture that proves that 
technology is, in some ways, 

tarnishing our ability to truly 
educate ourselves on pertinent 
topics and issues. Surfing the 
web through a “chronically 
online” 
lens 
has 
impacted 
the way we communicate our 
opinions to others. Many have 
begun to employ buzzwords 
to sound smarter, not knowing 
what they truly mean, which 
has taken a toll on clear 
communication 
driven 
by 
knowledge and accuracy.
All 
the 
aforementioned 
information 
sounds 
very 
scary, and that’s because it is. 
Nevertheless, it still doesn’t 
convince me to limit the time 
I spend online. I definitely 
don’t 
want 
technology 
to 
negatively impact the way I 
educate myself, but it makes 
me anxious to lose connections 
I can only maintain digitally, 
and it frightens many others as 
well. I constantly wonder why 
I feel like every day becomes 
more monotonous, and most of 
the conversations I have seem 
repetitive. The answer lies in 
the increasingly programmed 
nature 
of 
our 
modern-day 
routines. And as much as I, and 
many others, need a detox from 
our digital routines, it feels 
impossible to do so without 
resorting to our newly bionic 
nature.

I

’m scared of Tinder. I’m 
scared of dating apps in 
general, actually. My body 
count is more than one but I’ve 
never hooked up with someone 
random, I already knew them 
and had some sort of base 
relationship with them. I also just 
got out of a sort of situationship 
(but unfortunately my feelings 
aren’t gone) and my friends keep 
saying I just need to hook up 
with someone else to get over it. 
What do I do?? (For context, I’m 
a bisexual woman)-L
Dear L, 
It’s totally chill to be scared 
of dating apps, and you really 
shouldn’t worry about meeting 
someone new to get over a 
previous relationship (I’m not 
sure that’s how feelings work). 
If your friends are suggesting it 
and you’re interested in the idea 
enough to ask about it here, I 
think you should consider how 
relieved you may feel about my 

advice. This is sort of like when 
you ask your roommate if you 
should get the cherry or green 
apple flavor of something, and 
when she recommends the cherry 
you instinctively think “NO!!!!”
I 
don’t 
think 
it’s 
worth 
finding out if you like hooking 
up with people you don’t have 
a relationship with until you 
actually feel you want to — not 
when your friends think it would 
be good for you. Don’t force 
yourself into something you don’t 
actually want to do, especially 
if you already have feelings for 
someone else. Write some poetry 
and cry a little. Go on long walks 
in the Arb. Only get on Tinder 
or hook up with someone if 
you — and only you — want to. 
Otherwise, you will only ever 
be comparing the new person to 
your old situationship. 
Your recommended reading is: 
“Modern romance is dead, and 
Tinder killed it” by Tate Moyer. 
Hi, it’s J again. I found a new 
roommate to replace the one who 
ran off with the circus, but now 
my new roommate thinks he’s 

better than me. He walks around 
the house like he owns the place! 
I hate him. What do I do now?-J
Dear J, 
It’s great to hear from you 
again! Have you ever considered 
that your attitude is the problem? 
You 
are 
the 
only 
common 
denominator of two supposedly 
“bad” roommates. Try some self-
reflection before anything else. 
If you come to the realization 
that 
you 
are 
still 
perfectly 
tolerable (but really are just 
boring and have no future in the 
circus), I think now’s the time to 
introduce your new roommate to 
a new career. Does he have any 
special talents? Show him a video 
on juggling — maybe he’ll run off 
to the circus too. Considering 
the speed at which you got a new 
roommate, I doubt you’ll have 
any trouble getting another! 
On the other hand, you could 
just tough it out. You are closer to 
the end of the semester than you 
know. Start sleeping in the living 
room or kitchen and claim your 
territory. Or maybe you should 
get out of the house and make 

some new friends so you aren’t 
wasting your time worrying 
about your roommates.
Your song recommendation is: 
Tired of Being Alone by Al Green. 
Dear Gilly,
I have a very early class twice 
a week with required (*sigh*) 
attendance. I haven’t gone to the 
class yet, and I really don’t want 
to go to it, especially since it’s 
going to be really awkward when 
I arrive for the first time and the 
professor asks who I am. 
To be frank, I am running 
out of viable excuses. I started 
with personal emergency, then 
graduated to a pet emergency 
(I do not have a pet). I tried 
technical difficulties and I said I 
overslept once, but I fear that the 
professor is beginning to catch 
on to my little game.
Can you recommend some 
convincing excuses for missing 
an early morning class? I don’t 
want to hurt my attendance 
record, but at the same time, I just 
can’t bring myself to go to this 
class. I would really appreciate 
any advice you have to offer.

Thanks,Sleepless Student-F
Dear F, 
Considering all of the effort 
you have put into lying to 
your professor, have you ever 
considered just dropping the 
class? If attendance is required 
you may be destroying your grade 
anyway. While I have no clue if 
you have done any of the work 
for the course, I think it would be 
best that you commit to an Irish 
goodbye. This way you will never 
have to worry about the morning 
class again.
It’s unfortunate, I know, but 
there don’t seem to be any other 
options. Drop it and move on. 
Your song recommendation 
is: 
Disappointment 
by 
The 
Cranberries. 
I AM HAVING SIGNIFICANT 
TROUBLE IN MY STUDIES DUE 
TO INTERPERSONAL ISSUES. 
TO 
BE 
SPECIFIC, 
PEOPLE 
SEEM TO THINK THAT I AM 
BEING AGGRESSIVE IN MY 
INTERACTIONS WITH THEM 
WHEN WE ARE WORKING 
ON 
DOCS 
TOGETHER 
OR 
EXCHANGING 
EMAIL. 
DO 

YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR 
ME?
ALSO, UNRELATED, HOW 
DO I TURN OFF CAPS LOCK?-N
Hey N, 
I’m not surprised that your 
classmates are off-put — I am 
receiving some truly weird vibes 
from you right now. I don’t think 
that I am the one to help with 
your caps lock problem, but that 
may fix a lot of your perceived 
aggressiveness. If it’s more than 
that (and I assume it is) then 
remember that it’s not like you 
have to sugarcoat everything. 
Just try to be friendly: crack 
a joke, leave a smiley face, say 
something positive in a Google 
Doc comment. It will make a 
huge difference and you might 
even make some class friends! 
Maybe try drinking some tea and 
doing yoga, too — it seems like 
you need it. 
Your song recommendation 
is: Green Noise For A Quiet 
Mind (1 Hour) by Green Noise 
Therapeutics. 

Opinion

Stirring the Pot: Interpersonal issues

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
10 — Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Even in the age of mass media, we can’t get the message straight on gun violence

‘We are all cyborgs now’ — A look at our inescapable technology dependance

GISELLE MILLS
Advice Columnist

MAXIMILIAN SCHENKE
Opinion Columnist

GRACIELA BATLLE CESTERO
Opinion Columnist

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

