Hey readers!
 
I know I haven’t written in a while– you can blame that on grad school. I’m guessing my posts here will continue to be sporadic at best.
 
Anyway, I’m writing because this past Sunday, journalism student Ishma Stewart, 20, was killed in a driveby shooting on the South Side. Stewart attended Loyola University Chicago, and aspired to work for a magazine.
 
When I read this story, and the many that followed it that called Stewart an “aspiring journalist,” I couldn’t help but think, “She’s kind of like me.”
 
Especially after reading what her brother had to say about her ambitions, “She felt that journalism was a platform for her to go in and do her part to change the world a little bit—and at least expose some of the truth that may be neglected by mainstream society,” he said.
 
So far it seems that the mainstream media is out for the truth in Stewart’s case. Let’s hope they find it.
 
Also, I searched the Internet to find Stewart’s writing and came up cold. Anyone know where I could read her work?

Today, DeVonte Smyth was charged with first degree murder of Ruben Ivy. Ivy, 18, who died Friday, was the eighteenth student to die this year in Chicago.
 
Police are saying that the shooting of Ivy and the beating of another student arose from gang activity.
 
Gangs. It seems like they’ve always had a handle on Chi-town, sucking kids in with a terrifying force that they seemingly can’t resist. I’ve had one gang member tell me, “It’s hard to get out of the hood. So I might as well be the hood.”
 
Well, if this is the mindset we’re dealing with, what can we possibly do? I know I’ve boosted CeaseFire in the past, but seriously, it seems like a pretty good solution to me.
 
Charlie Ransford, one of CeaseFire’s crime analysts, says that shootings in Chicago have increased dramatically since August, when the program lost funding. In September 2007, there were around 225 shootings, up from nearly 170 last year, he said. In October, there were approximately 200 shootings, up from roughly 150 in 2006.
 
People keep dying, adults and children alike. So, as the Senate deliberates whether or not to reinstate CeaseFire I’d like to turn their attention to stories like this. Could we have prevented Ivy’s death?
 
Some factions of the state are not too pysched about giving CeaseFire the money that it needs to survive. A few months ago, I talked to Gov. Blagojevich’s press secretary, Gerardo Cardenas. He said that the state government has made it “very clear” that CeaseFire must find other funding.
 
Well, I hope the Senate feels differently. Because this is our priority in Chicago, to make sure that kids don’t kill each other anymore.
 
So, before Emil Jones axes the funding proposal that the House unanimously passed, I’d like to turn his attention to Ruben Ivy. Eighteen deaths in less than three months is unacceptable. Let’s fix that.

One of my favorite (said sarcastically) features of NU homepage is the robbery alert. Every time I log on and see some warning about theft and assault in blazing red I feel something flutter in my heart. That would be fear.
 
This is what I found this morning:
 
A robbery occurred Friday night at the 7-Eleven store near campus in Evanston. At approximately 9:35 p.m. March 7, 2008, a man entered the store at 817 Emerson St. and implied he had a weapon. He then took money from the cash register and fled.
 
No members of the Northwestern community were injured or involved in the incident.
 
The man was described as black, approximately 30 years old, stocky build, 6 feet tall, weighing approximately 200 pounds and wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and black gym shoes.
 
The Northwestern University Police Department advises all community members to be alert when traveling on or off campus, especially at night. The Northwestern shuttle bus service provides transportation to areas both on and off campus every night until 3 a.m. In addition, the campus escort service provides free rides at night.
 
Report suspicious activity immediately to University Police at 847-491-3254 or the Evanston Police at 847-866-5000. In emergencies, dial 911.
 
This is why I need a plastic bubble in which to roll around– gerbilstyle. Barring that solution, what else can we do to protect ourselves? Granted, the event described above is not the worst crime to happen on a college campus (just read and the news and you’ll see), but it’s another reminder that no place is sacred, and no place is safe.
 
That’s a weird thought for me, the girl who grew up in a small town in CT where the wannabe anarchist kids are the biggest problem. Still, they don’t even do much of anything, except stand around the idyllic downtown, marring the scenery with their mohawks and oddly tight pants. (Everything comes late to Mystic, even love for the Sex Pistols).
 
When I came to Chicago, I had to develop my zombie face. You know the one– no expression, dead eyes, slightly furrowed brow. You stop trusting people. You start ignoring things. Is this the best solution? Do we have to be dead to the world in order to survive it? What do you think?

I appreciate all the comments that I received on yesterday’s post, which is why I think the discussion should continue. Yesterday, Alice Lloyd commented:
 
WELL MY THING IS I THINK WE LOST TWO PEOPLE IN THIS TRAGEDY TENNILLE WASN’T THE TYPE OF PERSON TO JUST SHOOT SOMEONE THERE WAS BAD BLOOD FROM MAYBE A YEAR AGO WE ALWAYS LISTEN TO A ONE SIDED STORY SHE HAS ONE TO TELL ALSO AND IT SHOULD BE HEARD. IT WASN’ T RIGHT SHE SHOULD HAVE REALLY TOOK TWO SECONDS TO THINK .BUT WE ALSO LOST HER TO THE SYSTEM.
 
I agree with Lloyd, especially after the update in the Tribune today. Apparently, Tennille Tyson was refused bail today, after which she started to cry. The Trib also fleshed out the story a bit more. According to the paper, Tyson’s boyfriend used to date one of the Marsh sisters (Tyson shot Kadeidrah Marsh on March 15). Tyson was mad because her boyfriend stayed friends with his ex, and one of the Marsh sisters told the boy to dump Tyson because she was “bad news.” Right before the shooting, Tyson supposedly told her beau, “I had to shoot her.”
 
Really? She had to shoot her? Why? Was it self defense? What’s going on here? I have yet to hear Tyson’s voice in this matter, and frankly I’d like to. This is a case filled with contradictions. Here is a girl who shot another girl because she “had to,” yet sought the help of a religious man and cried in the courtroom. Who is Tennille Tyson, and why did she do what she did?

Today, my classmate pointed out that the alleged killer of one of the kids murdered last weekend has turned herself in. Apparently, Tennille Tyson, 20, was persuaded by her pastor to come clean to police about killing 15-year-old Kadeidrah Marsh.
 
This story brings up a lot of very interesting issues. Tyson is seemingly a religious person; she went to her church seeking sanctuary and advice. However, she is also allegedly the kind of person who could approach another girl in the street and shoot her over some (most likely) petty argument. This situation begs the question: Why couldn’t she have talked to her pastor before taking someone’s life rather than after?

Today, this headline in the Chicago Tribune stopped me cold, “3 kids die, 5 hurt in rash of shootings: City schools chief cites ‘heartbreaking’ weekend.”
 
Kadeidrah Marsh, 15: Shot Sunday night. A victim of a vendetta.
 
Paris Bassett, 16: Shot Sunday night. His death may have been gang-related.
 
Jose Garcia, 18: Shot Saturday night. Killed in a parked car.
 
These kids bring the death toll of Chicago schoolchildren up to 17 this year. Last year there were 18 kids killed in the same period.
 
What is going on here? More importantly, what are we doing to stop what is going on here?
 
A couple of months ago, I saw this picture spray-painted on the sidewalk in Logan Square, by the California stop on the Blue Line.

Photo by Brenna Ehrlich
 
I wondered who put it there. I’m not a religious person, but at times like these I remember this painting and wonder and wonder: Where is this person? Who is he? And is anyone listening?

Ok, I know that this is my third post about message board commenters this week, but I find them to be a fascinating phenomenon. They remind me of those people who gather around an accident scene or a crime scene. There they stand, in morbid appreciation, like the characters from Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd.”
 
For my purposes, I’m going to give them a name– Murkers (short for morbid lurkers). This week, the Murkers were in fine form on the message boards. Read on for some real gems.
 
From the Chicago Tribune
 
Under the story “Man charged in fatal stabbing of girlfriend” one Murker wrote:
“I wants to know if she pervoked this.”
 
“Villa Park man indicted in DuPage drug-related homicide” provoked another Murker to say, “If he didn’t learn anything from his 18 months inside maybe this judge will give him the whole 30 years and stipulate that he does it all. Otherwise someone needs to just kill him out here on the streets so our kids are safe from him.”
 
After reading “Police warn of 2 armed robbers in Beverly neighborhood,” one Murker joked, “Just a couple of Obamamaniacs starting early with the redistribution of wealth in this country!”
 
So what exactly provokes the Murkers to speak with such reckless abandon? Is it the anonymity? Most likely. I’ve also noticed that Murkers are serial crime story commenters. I guess, in that respect, I’m a Murker too– digging around the dark side of Chi-Town. But I like to think I do so with a little finesse. Maybe it’s because I sign my name after all of my Murker-like comments.

A young man died Wednesday after he was shot at a South Side convenience store. Martece Glass, 18, was robbed by a group of approximately seven men and subsequently shot. Apparently, family members do not believe that Glass was targeted for any specific reason. The Chicago Tribune quoted Glass’ aunt as saying, “It’s just, you know, kids just marking their territory.”
 
After reading the scant paragraphs about Glass’ plight, I read the comments below the story to see what people were saying about the case. What I found was troubling.
 
“buety,” from Blairsville, Ga., says “this brings me great joy– if that’s all the ‘aunt’ can say.”
 
Cryptic, I know.
 
“Think-About-It,” from Washington, DC, answers: “Just curious on what that is supposed to mean?” He/she asks. “You have joy because a kid who wasn’t robbing the place died?”
 
The poster goes on to say: “It is a sad fact of our society that there are some neighborhoods that don’t react to violence any more because they see it every single day. On the flip side - don’t judge people by what is quoted in the paper. Sometimes they only take a few words out and you don’t get the full context of what she was saying.”
 
What exactly did “buety” mean? Is he saying that he’s happy that Glass wasn’t involved in the robbery? Or is he being cruel, as “Think-About-It” suggests?
 
Regardless, I agree with the statement that “Think-About-It” makes next. People no longer seem to react to violence. This message board proves that. As the posts progress, the discussion turns to insults. The posters seem oblivious to the fact that family members and friends are reading this story, that—to them—the printed words act as almost a memorial to Glass.
 
Does a story announcing a young man’s death really have to end with “buety” telling “T Dog” to “buy some deoterant and get a job you fatherless piece of crap”?
 
I think not.

It seems like there’s a shooting listed on the police blotter every day. Today, in the Chicago Sun-Times, there was the story of Corderro Douglas, who was slain yesterday in front of a Lawndale shop. He allegedly sold drugs on the street in front of the store. The Harrison District police told the Sun-Times that Douglas was “full of holes” when they found him.
 
Who was this man who ended his life “full of holes”? It’s unlikely that we’ll hear much more about him, or that the police with catch his killer. He’s had his fifteen minutes–or seconds for that matter.
 
Commenters on the Chicago Tribune Web site had their own ideas about Douglas.
 
“yes he was a gangbanger” from Chicago, IL says: “Let the savages kill each other they chose this life…why do people seem concerned when a west side savage dies but wants him to do 30 years when he strong arm robs them????to many liberals…”
 
“Done” from Roselle, IL says: “See no evil Hear no evil Speak no evil, Let them kill each other, why change anything now.”
 
Well, I won’t mention the poor grammar (Opps, too late!), or the rather biting Heart of Darkness reference, but I do think these comments warrant discussion.
 
Why do people seem concerned, “yes he was”? Well, death is usually grounds for concern. In this city, people are quick to dismiss death when the victim is identified as a “gang banger,” as if that somehow makes a life less worthy. I am not defending gang members—by any means—I am merely saying that a life taken is a life taken.
 
Furthermore, who exactly is “concerned”? I Googled Douglas’ name and came up with a grand total of three paragraph-long articles giving the bare facts—that’s all. In fact, the Sun-Times was the only publication to throw in any extra details—the line about being “full of holes.” So, I assure you “yes he was,” the average newspaper reader probably does not care about Douglas, and will skim this death notice and forget about it tomorrow.
 
As for “Done,” “Why change anything now?” you ask. Because, without change, we rot and decay. Do you suggest we throw up our hands and turn away? Or cover our eyes like the monkey in the statue that you’re referencing? Nothing is gained by avoidance or Ostrich-like tendencies. We may think it will never happen to us, but so—I’m sure—did the kids at NIU.
 
As for your other suggestion, we cannot, in fact, “let them kill each other,” because 1.) Whoever “they” are will never die out, and 2.) Sometimes innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Remember Schanna Gayden? Logan Square does.
 
And I’m sure someone out there will remember Corderro Douglas.

The other day I got a text message during class. That’s not an unusual ocurrence– my friends are big on texting– what was weird was the message. “NU EMERGENCY,” it read, “You are now confirmed to receive alerts from us.”
 
I know that most schools have this system by now. The University of Chicago used it when grad student Amadou Cisse was killed. The texting system is nothing new.
 
That doesn’t make it any less weird. Texting is for friends–and sometimes random advertisers who somehow get your number– not life-threatening emergencies.
 
But that’s where we are now. We’re scared and grasping for options. Meanwhile, we’ve got the NIU gunman becoming a regular man of mystery. According to the Chicago Tribune, Steven Kazmierczak took great pains to conceal why he did what he did, and why he did what he did when he did (Valentine’s Day), etc. It won’t make life better to know, but we all want to know–desperately. It’s a mystery of In Cold Blood proportions.
 
What kinds of weapons do we have to fight people like this? Not guns; that would be chaos. But some, like this commenter on political site PoliBlog, aren’t so sure:
 
Is it mere coincidence that so many of these attacks occur in gun-free zones, and so few happen where guns are allowed?
 
But I think the point is not so much that allowing guns would serve as a deterrent (possibly, but that point is debatable), but that once these attacks start, they usually only stop when one of two conditions is met: a) they run out of victims (or ammunition), or 2) they’re met with force (someone with a gun, either a police officer or a civilian (Jeanne Assam in Colorado, for example)).
 
Well, that’s obviously an inane idea. A whole classroom of stressed-out college kids packing heat? Please.
 
So, what are we left with? Our cell phones? The reliability of our Verizon plans?
 
Somehow, I’m not that comforted.