NIU shooting tragedy proves - There is more to life than sports

by ANDREW DREISCHARF The Independent

As a graduate of Northern Illinois University, I never thought the horrible events that took place in DeKalb Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, could ever happen there.
NIU was, in fact, the last place I would ever think of something like that happening. Unfortunately, it just shows us that senseless acts like school shootings can occur anywhere. It left me sad, confused and feeling for those affected by the tragedy.
The NIU tragedy is definitely the saddest event I’ve actually been connected to. There is more to life than sports, and sadly, sometimes it takes an event like this to remind us sports fans of that.
I was at home sitting in a chair getting ready to head off to Vernon Hills for the Marian Central Catholic High School girls basketball regional title game when I received a text message from my friend Rick Mell that said, “I’m ok.”
I thought nothing of it and shrugged it off as “Rick being Rick.” Rick is a senior at NIU.
Two minutes later, my mom came into the room and told me to turn on the TV. When I did, I was shocked, scared and worried as soon as I realized what was going on.
My parents, both NIU graduates as well, and I found ourselves glued to the TV for the next two hours before I had to leave. Though I was affected by the news when it happened, it didn’t really hit me until I was driving home from Vernon Hills and listening to WGN in the car.
Hearing people who witnessed it and their accounts was almost too much for me.
I felt really sad for the victims and current Huskies. No one should have to experience such a tragedy. It hurt me that kids who were just doing what they were supposed to be doing by going to class and learning had lost their lives. It hurt me that a place I had considered safe for 4 1/2 years was not. It also hurts me that someone could do such a thing.
I spent 2000-2004 at NIU and it was such a wonderful experience and a great place to be. Cole Hall is a place pretty much every undergrad has had at least one class in. It’s used for math classes, film classes, Spanish exams and much more. Basically, it’s used for mass lectures.
I had probably eight to 10 classes in Cole Hall, and at least three in the room where the shootings occurred. I was in state of shock and disbelief. How could something like that happen at NIU?
There was no clear answer, and their still isn’t for me. There probably isn’t for anyone. Just like there weren’t answers after Columbine, 9/11 or Virginia Tech. It’s just a tough and sad situation for anyone who went or goes to NIU, or even for people who didn’t.
The outpouring of support and sympathy for the victims and for NIU has been amazing. I am in shock over that as well, but it’s a shock of happiness, gratitude and of how much people do care when horrible things happen. Support has come from all over from everyday people, Woodstock High School, The Independent, presidential hopefuls, sports teams, radio stations and even celebrities.
“Your thoughts and prayers go out to them. It’s a shocker, it’s just devastating,” said New Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi.
His band Bon Jovi was scheduled to rehearse for their U.S. tour at NIU’s Convocation Center the day of the tragedy. They were moved back to Nebraska when the shootings occurred and NIU was locked down.
The Chicago Blackhawks wore NIU ribbon decals on their helmets in their game against the Colorado Avalanche Feb. 17. The Chicago Bulls wore NIU T-shirts instead of warm-ups during their game at New Jersey Feb. 20. The Chicago White Sox announced they would wear NIU ball caps for their first spring training game in Arizona this week. The caps will then be autographed and sent to DeKalb to be auctioned off to benefit a scholarship fund in memory of the five students who lost their lives. White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams and Manager Ozzie Guillen wore NIU hats the first day of camp as well.
“It is our way of showing a little bit of support and understanding,” Williams said. “While it’s a simple gesture on our part, we just want to let the NIU community know that it continues to be in our thoughts and prayers.”
WGN Radio’s Steve King and Johnnie Putman dedicated a whole night of programming just to let NIU alumni, students and DeKalb residents call in and talk. It was like an NIU therapy session for anyone who needed it. It made me cope better knowing I wasn’t alone in my feelings and thoughts.
To me, things like this mean a lot. Yes, I know they don’t really fix anything. But it does make this Husky feel a little better knowing that people care and call attention to the victims and what happened.
This week NIU President John Peters said that Cole Hall would be become a memorial. I think that’s the right thing to do. It would be too hard for people to try and learn in the building. I know it would be hard for me, too.
I applaud my alma mater for responding so quickly to take action and warn those at NIU of what was happening.
I would also like to thank everyone for their kind words, support, prayers and sympathy that I received. It means so much. Thank you.

Connections make shooting difficult to bear

by MIKE NEUMANN The Independent

“Shooting at NIU.”
That’s all it said. There were no explanations and little information available. As I write this today, not much has changed in that regard. Sure, we have the names of the victims and the gunman, but any logical reason this event occurred is not available. In this case, it will never be available, simply because a logical explanation for such a tragedy cannot exist.
When I read that text message sent to me at 3:56 p.m. Feb. 14, less than an hour after gunshots rang out in Cole Hall, I quickly turned to the Internet and flicked on the radio for more information. Over the course of that night, and well into early Friday morning, I clung to my laptop.
Not even three years ago, I was taking a photography class in the basement of Cole Hall. Not once during my time at Northern Illinois University did I fear for my safety, even with increases in school shootings that seem to have occurred ever since Columbine. It wasn’t going to happen at my school, not at NIU.
And yet, less than three years later, I sit here writing this column. It’s strange, really, the different reaction one has to a situation when he has connections to it.
When I heard about the Virginia Tech shootings last April, I was sad for the victims and all those involved. I was no less sad for the NIU victims, but that sadness was mixed with a sense of anger that made this news altogether different for me to absorb.
I’ve thought about my connection to NIU a lot recently. Sure, it is my alma mater, and no graduate wants something like this associated with his or her school. It’s the deeper connections I have, however, that have rattled me the most.
All of the close friends I made in college have since graduated or moved on. For the first year or so after my graduation, I’d take frequent trips back to NIU to visit friends. DeKalb had become a home during the time I spent there, and home is never easy to leave for good, especially when it’s only about an hour away.
But something happened the following year. My friends at NIU, along with weekend trips to DeKalb, became few and far between. Most of those I knew had moved on in their professional careers. Some are engaged or married. Some have bought houses. Because of that, it seemed like my connections to the university had vanished. That changed when I received that text message.
Within minutes I was able to recall at least a half-dozen acquaintances from my days as a student at NIU. Until Feb. 14, I had not thought about the freshmen students during my senior year, who are, for the most part, seniors themselves now.
Watching the news that night, there was an interview with a student I had worked with at The Northern Star, NIU’s student-run newspaper. She had been in Cole Hall during the shootings, but was able to escape without injury.
It wasn’t that long ago, I’ve realized. I’m sure others in my graduating class are feeling the same thing as we remember our former classmates still attending NIU.

Please tell us, where does it end?

by ANDREW DREISCHARF The Independent

Two recent bits of news caught my eye in the past month and I don’t like either: the Illinois High School Association opposing Illinois House Bill 4582 and the Chicago Cubs deciding to auction off their new seats during the 2008 season instead of selling them.
One word comes to mind: greed. One question comes to mind: where does it end?
Currently there are counter suits between the Illinois Press Association and the IHSA over the IHSA’s partnering with a photography company from Wisconsin which has exclusive rights to photographs from IHSA state level events. In turn, the IHSA is barring any publication from taking its own photos at these events and holding the rights. Photos taken at a public event no longer belong to those that take them. It’s wrong. I find it hard to believe that the IHSA would provide more high quality school coverage than a local publication can.
“I don’t understand how you can place ownership on a photograph,” said Woodstock High School Principal Corey Tafoya.
Any reporter or photographer entering an IHSA state-level event must sign an agreement that any photos taken at the event don’t belong to the person who took the photos, and that they can only be used once. That is a clear violation of the First Amendment, something the bill would address.
But recently, the IHSA sent a memo to high schools in the state telling the schools to uphold this policy.
“This hurts the IHSA more than it helps them. The small town publications really help the schools, and the photos are needed to illustrate the action,” said Tafoya. “It’s really important for the hometown papers to keep doing what they do.”
It’s not fair to the people who read smaller publications and the athletes those publications benefit. Pictures help to tell those stories by capturing both emotion and action. Many people, especially in smaller towns like Woodstock, depend on smaller publications to receive their local sports news. The IHSA is trying to change that.
“In the end, I think it will fall,” said Tafoya. “It doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t know how they can do it.”
The proposed bill doesn’t say that the IHSA or a school can’t partner with a specific company to have official photos; it just says that pictures can’t be owned. The IHSA’s response is that they aren’t restricting publications from reporting the news. However, without photographs, it does affect it greatly. It diminishes the story being told.
Communities appreciate the local coverage residents get. When a team does well, no longer can photos be re-used to commemorate a season or great accomplishment. Instead, a parent, athlete, school or student must contact the IHSA for a photograph. Their options, selections and quality is limited. The IHSA also seems to believe small publications are getting rich off the photos they take. It’s simply not the case.
The other thing that upsets me about the whole thing is that the company the IHSA has partnered with is from Wisconsin. I have nothing against Wisconsin. It’s a fine state. What I do have against it, though, is hiring an out-of- state company to do something that could easily be done at home.
What’s next? Broadcasting rights, schools selling their own team logo apparel to raise money for the school? Where does it end?
The IHSA is trying to own sports. This is not professional sports or even college athletics. This is high school sports, which are still pure and not about making money. That’s exactly what the IHSA is trying to do: make money.
The other thing on my mind is the recent renovation that took place to fix the field at Wrigley Field in Chicago. I have nothing against the renovation, and I welcome it. Anything that improves the ballpark is wonderful. I don’t have a problem with 70 new seats that were added for this coming season either.
What I do have a problem with is how those seats will be obtained. These 70 new seats will be up for auction on a game-to-game basis. No season ticket sales and no individual game sales will be offered.
Sure, some of the money made might go back into the team, but it all won’t. If the money being made off these auctions were for charity, this would be a moot point. Simply put, the Cubs have found a way to make more money off their fan base, which includes me.
My question to this practice is also: where does it end?
What’s stopping the Cubs or any team that has success at auctioning off 70 seats at 81 home games from expanding the practice? What’s stopping them from now auctioning off the first three rows of the bleachers or the first two rows of every section? It’s greedy and not needed.
As if professional sports already hadn’t become enough of a cash cow, between the escalating cost of a ticket, and everything else at a stadium that is marked up, it’s becoming nearly impossible for fans of the game to enjoy it in person.
The old day trip with the family to the ballpark is now reaching the cost of a small vacation. It all seems about making money in the current sports world. No one cares about the people who care about the game. They just care about making more money.
We see it over and over again. Owners will cut corners to save a buck. They don’t care if the team is bad. The fans will keep coming. It’s wrong and sets a bad precedent.
If this practice continues, what’s to stop a college or even a high school from auctioning off the first five rows of stands for a football game? The cost of going to any event is high enough as it is. Why must the bottom line for ownership keep increasing when the product given isn’t? Enough is enough.
Where does it end?