This is an editorial I wrote for my English 101 class that I'm submitting into The Montage again. It will be published shortly and I can't wait!
On March fourth of this year, an ESOL student from Kenya, Joram Shijenje, was shot and killed outside of his apartment. He was a caring student at this campus who wanted to give something back to his native country in the future but never had the opportunity. The police who followed up on this crime have found no suspects for the killer or a reason for the crime. It is so scary and disheartening hearing about another murder that it makes people turn away and ignore it for a moment. Yet, there have been many homicides in the past year and the government has been doing very little. In addition to that, students have disregarded the issue of gun violence in our community, thinking that Essex is well protected already. Nevertheless, the reality of gun related crimes in Baltimore County, as well as other cities in the nation, should be a concern to all Essex students, staff, and Public Safety. As a result, students would be aware and able to take action. Most college students are registered voters, so they can act and participate in how the state government handles gun laws and may also persuade the government to enforce more gun legislation. Also, there needs to be actions taken for improving security and education on campus.
At an SGA meeting in the beginning of February, a senator gave a report on how there was a huge discussion on emergency numbers, which can be an option for preventing such incidents. In fact, all three campuses now have an emergency system to alert students and staff through text messaging, phone numbers, and email in the event of an emergency. There was a test on that system only a few days ago. Also, there was a dinner meeting with President Kurtinitis on April 14th where she announced that call boxes have been replaced and eight more officers have been hired for the college’s Public Safety. Perhaps there should also be some programs to keep young adults off the streets and in school, or maybe weapon detectors on campus should be installed.
Crime around the US is beginning to creep up on our community and our school. Students normally carry on with their day-to-day schedules- jobs, class work, studying, relationships, and anything else- without thinking about these problems. Although those priorities have to come first, students need to keep in mind their security across the nation. Last year, shootings at Virginia Tech topped off all the school killings in America with thirty-two deaths (Wikipedia). Just weeks ago, there was another homicide at Northern Illinois University where five students were shot and killed before the murderer killed himself (CNN.com). And then, there was a shooting in Dundalk where a teenage boy by the name of Josh Gibson, who was about to visit a friend, was attacked by three young men and then shot three times until dead. The three men charged with first degree murder intended to kill someone else that night but found the wrong man to attack (McMenamin 1). Dundalk is not far from Essex; it is only several miles away.
Furthermore, there is a possibility that anyone can forge or steal a gun ownership license or permit, or even pick up a gun and using it at school. There could be someone with an unconcealed or protected weapon in the home or somewhere that doesn't have an alarm system. In Essex’s Code of Conduct, it says that any student found with a weapon or is convicted of a crime would have disciplinary action carried out on them. On the other hand, the campuses have no knowledge of someone in possession of a weapon before the violent action is carried out. At Virginia Tech, no one saw someone coming in that had a gun; there was no proof until it was too late. Recently, there was a murder of an Essex student who was a permanent resident from Kenya, where he was shot and killed outside of his apartment just a few miles from campus. According to the Office of International Students, the local police could not locate the killer. With that issue at hand, those who are concerned would ask whether or not the state and/or federal government are doing anything about it. However, due to some numbers collected on gun violence from different issues, the government thinks that nothing should be done about it.
Both the state and federal government have not done enough. City police stated that since the crime rate has dropped 9.6 percent in the Annapolis area due to actions carried out before were working (Fenton 1). Governor O’Malley is additionally funding $1 million for CCBC’s budget formula, but it may not be enough to improve security. Additionally, the federal government is not giving enough support when there was a gun violence increase in cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, and Baltimore. Why is this? According to Katel, crime rates have dropped by 23 percent in the US over the two decades (121). Only a few areas of the country have high crime rates, which are mostly cities. Also, the government is more concerned with the country’s security than supporting our own law enforcement. Just after the attacks on September eleventh almost seven years ago, the federal government placed the Homeland Security acts into effect and more funding has been going into that than anything else. As a result, crime rates have steadily increased and nothing much has been done about it. More gun related deaths are on the rise, particularly on high school and college students.
Moreover, violent crime is steadily increasing due to the poor communities in those cities. "'Where the problem is, is among black underclass youth in cities,' says James A. Fox, a professor at Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice... 'This has been a problem since 2002. If we don't respond appropriately, the problem in poor, black communities could further spiral out of control'" (Katel 122). Most of Baltimore City is an African American community where the homicide rate is high and students' grades are slipping. Not only that, but there are less African American students graduating from college than others. Thus, there needs to be not only better protection from violent crime, but there needs to be more money funded for education and programs to help African Americans in those communities. The government is disregarding the issue, which led to this increase in gun violence recently. Katel placed a graph in his article that showed crimes in America have increased slightly in the last two years (121) and it might continue to get worse if we are not careful.
In conclusion, there is no safety net. Sure, schools are taking measures about how to prevent these things from happening, but students are placing those thoughts on the back burner. Killings are getting closer to the county than ever and gun related crime is becoming more common among cities that would soon poison Baltimore County. So Essex students and faculty should take these issues into consideration. With that in mind, faculty and staff should cooperate with Public Safety in order to take measures that would secure this college from any of these events happening nationwide. Although some students and staff may feel intimidated by some high security actions, it might ensure protection on campus. This may be the only way to prevent more of this from happening. Otherwise, something unexpected could happen while a normal day is carrying on, like the piercing sound of a bullet cutting into someone who brings life to this campus.
Works Cited
“6 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University.” CNN.com 14 Feb.
2008. 23 Feb. 2008. .
Fenton, Justin. "Officials draft crime plan for Annapolis." The Baltimore Sun. 17 Feb.
2008. 22 Feb. 2008. .
Katel, Peter. “Fighting Crime.” CQ Researcher 18.6 (2008): 121-144. CQ Researcher
Online. CQ Press. CCBC Essex library, Baltimore, MD. 13 Feb. 2008 .
McMenamin, Jennifer. “4 Arrested in Dundalk killing.” The Baltimore Sun. 15 Feb.
2008. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from
.
Wikipedia- “Virginia Tech massacre.” .
