Thursday, September 25, 2008
Metrolink crash
According to the LA Times, 25 people died in the Metrolink crash on September 12th, 2008. And although none of those who died were from La Mirada nor Biola University, one professor’s husband was seriously injured. Does this affect the Biola community? Not as much as we’d like to think. We as students understand the devastation of the event, but I believe that it didn’t hit us that close to home to where we actually get off our butts and show that we care. When asked if she had a reaction to the Metrolink crash, junior LaRae Lymath said that “it sucks that it happened” and that she felt bad for the Biola Professor. Honestly, it was just another piece of unfortunate news.
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8 comments:
I think that it is highly common for our generation to find and latch on to tragedies and make them our own. This crash would be a thing I would normally expect to see the younger generation truly upset about and following the news for any ideas concerning the cause. I myself know little to nothing about the event but that is because I feel that I am able to stay disconnected from things that frankly are not my business to know or share about. That is something I see too much of in younger people; they take something they want to feel for and make it their own in a disingenuous manner.
I agree that tragedies have a captivating allure in media. Certainly the younger generation does not want to feel behind or uninformed, and so will latch onto those of their choice, but I do not think this disproves a genuine interest in these things. I would argue that whatever tie to an incident that makes a person genuinely concerned or interested is the same regardless of age. Whether someone feels connected to an incident is dependent upon that person's connections and humane interests. A middle aged adult will have different factors that influence these than a teenager, but the fact is either a person is distracted and absorbed in their daily lives or they feel a connection to something. I think that adults can misuse things they "want to feel for" the same way our generation can, such as a political candidate capitalizing on the emotions in any tragic event in order to advance their campaign. I also remember almost every peer i spent seventh grade in 2001 with being as absolutely devastated at 9/11 as I was.
I agree with you Jenn. I think, despite my views on the Metro crash, that our generation will clasp onto one side of an argument or idea without knowing the details and still be very passionate about it. For instance a girl in my communication class last year is a very big Obama fan, yet her reason for voting for him is because “he seems like a good guy” and that he is from her home state. Naive? I think so. As for the crash, it is extreme to compare it to the 9-11 disaster. Not nearly as many people died, nor was it as big of a deal considering 9-11 dealt with an attack on American soil. Other than comments made by the professor in the Chimes, I have not heard any sincerely remorseful comments.
Ashley, it is interesting that you point out that there is no outcry of remorse over this new tragedy. I agree that it is foolish to include the metro link accident in the same echelon as the 9/11 plane crashes. However, I do not think that the responses in general - for those who reside in southern california at least - can be expected to be far separated from those of 9/11. A resident of near by Yorba Linda, Page Pelzer, said of the accident "I didn't even know there was an accident." This and other such answers from college age adults raises the quesion, what is different about an accident that effects the nation and an accident that effects a select area? And how can the national catastrophe effect the whole country, but the local accident have only a small ripple of an effect on the local population?
I apologize for any confusion, just to be clear I was in no way using the example of 9/11 to compare the two incidents, it was merely one of the first examples that popped into my head that I personally remember experiencing and hearing other reactions to as a member of the younger generation. Of course for the many reasons you both pointed out these two events cannot be viewed equally; this was not my intent.
However, one of the biggest components I feel separates a tragedy that affects the entire nation as opposed to a select area is the breadth of awareness. Obviously with an event of the magnitude of 9/11, the level of awareness skyrockets on national and global levels. Unfortunately, although the metrolink crash was also devastating, the fact that many students in our age bracket who even live near the area have not heard of it proves this difference. The degree of destruction and its cause also have an effect on the accident's scale or ripple of influence. For example, a national tragedy such as 9/11 was powerful enough to affect the entire nation because it was an attack against the entire nation, countless lives lost for the sake of defending our country or as victims of a completely unexpected attack. According to an LA Times blog, the Metrolink crash was said to be the result of a communication error with one of the company's conductors. There is a huge distinction between the effect a national tragedy and a local accident can have on its media, and I feel that who is effected and to what degree can be largely determined by factors such as these.
You bring up a really good question Reyn. Personally, I think we as a society are so numb to bad news, unless it hits close to home like a death in a family. Everyday we hear on the news about a murder, suicide, car accident, and yet we don’t live our lives focused around an event that has become common. We only play close attention and feel sincere remorse if it deals with our family and friends, if it happens in our own backyard, or if it an extreme event that effects our sense of security. Now some gang shooting in Anaheim isn’t going to cause that much trauma to us at Biola. However, if it was a shooting like last week and one was to get killed, we would pay attention.
Ashley I know exactly what you mean, I can't remember the last time I watched a newscast without feeling discouraged. It seems every time we flip the television on we are bombarded with negative images and disheartening stories. I know that the media feels this sells and attracts the attention of its viewers because the public is intrigued and drawn to catastrophe, but I feel it has desensitized us from emotions such as compassion and empathy that are inherent to our being. It is natural that there will be a distance between something that happens to someone else and to you personally, but I believe we were created to feel more and as a whole embody more of the image of Christ to the world. And I personally don't feel I can do a very honorable job of that if I am only concerned with myself!
Gang shootings and school shootings are an interesting topic. Gang shootings are almost always found as a story in the night time local news, and I can feel that since they are so common people watch them with a such a detached manner that some people do not even realize they are hearing about a shooting. However I think that in school shootings the odds of people listening or watching blindly is about as likely as the return of disco. Students are highly aware of the effects of campus shootings and news of anything remotely similar tends to spread like a wild fire among students. This I believe relates highly to the media coverage of the shooting events. Virginia Tech, Columbine, both situations received immediate and prompt news coverage. While the off campus gunfire, though close in proximity, had no media coverage, and so was not widely known to many students.
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