Sunday, March 05, 2006

chapel hill makes national news!!!

it always gives you a little thrill when your town makes the national news... like when the unc men's basketball team won the championship last year. they show local landmarks and all, and you somehow feel famous by association. or maybe i'm the only one.

in any case, unc was in the national news for this story on friday. seems a unc graduate who happened to be a muslim decided that to avenge muslim deaths throughout the world it might be a good idea to chase down innocent people in a crowded area of campus with his suv. wow! what a great way to make this statement! such a productive and provocative way to draw attention to the plight of muslims worldwide!

after the attack, in which no one was killed, thank goodness, they had to evacuate his entire apartment building in carrboro because of statements he made to the police that indicated there may be something dangerous lurking in it.

the whole thing makes me sigh. this is such a wonderful place to live, but the only press we get is negative. maybe the only press ANY small town gets is negative-- when something REALLY bad and noteworthy happens. and why didn't the guy even BELONG to the muslim student union that works hard to create understanding with the university population? you got me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The news, in general, is always bad. I guess it gets better ratings than a holf-hour of "this good stuff happened today.."

Anonymous said...

and, no, I don't know what unit of time a "holf" is...d'oh!!

Lotus Reads said...

I've always envied people who live in University towns - somehow the vibes are always so great there - sad that something like this had to happen.

The press today aims for sensationalism because it is what sells; no longer are they interested in creating warm and fuzzy feelings in their readers, but rage and outrage or whatever prompts a huge reaction in us.