On August 28, 2023, a graduate student by the name of Tailei Qi shot his faculty advisor, Zije Yan, inside a science building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. On the 29th, police arrested and charged the student with first-degree murder. Law enforcement is still currently searching for a motive and a weapon. Tailei Qi appeared in an Orange County Superiority Court with his court date scheduled for September 18, 2023. Until further information is revealed about the case, it is extremely vague what Qi's motive for committing such a horrific act to Zije Yan, a respected professor, and scientist whose personality was described to be laidback and reserved. Multiple students and colleagues of Yan mourned his death, with many in panic and fear of the incident that had happened on their campus. The shooting paralyzed the campus with fear, with students and faculty reacting in shock, horror, and anger to the incident of violence.
Students who attended the university spoke about how frightening the experience was and that they didn't feel safe on their campus. McMichaels, a student at UNC, said that "You're always in that position where you're like it couldn't be me and then when it is, you're kind of shocked. It's horrifying" (WUNC). Furthermore, another student, Hoos, who was only a quarter mile away from the shooting, shared her experience as well: "Everybody talking about being nervous the entire time, the nervousness of somebody coming in and banging in the door" (WUNC). Other students took the opportunity to organize rallies and protests in light of the shooting, advocating for pro-gun-control legislation to prevent incidents like these from happening more in the future. "Students chanted Yan's name Wednesday and raised signs that read 'learning not lockdowns,' 'this is my reality,' and '1 death by guns is 1 too many" (Washington Post).
Politicians also used the shooting to push for their own agendas about the issue of guns in America, with many on both sides of the aisle shedding light on their perspectives. North Carolina Representative Renee Price's perspective on the matter is one that is pro-gun-control legislation: "Another shooting, another killing... Because we have too many guns, weapons out in the open" (Daily Tar Heel). Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from the same state, says that "we must continue to work together to protect our schools, confront the nation's mental health crisis, and keep firearms out of the wrong hands" (Daily Tar Heel). As seen before, the two perspectives of the opposing parties essentially, in rather simplistic terms, that guns are the problem vs. people are the problem. Democrats in the US generally believe that limiting access to these weapons would prevent such violent and destructive incidents from happening, whereas Republicans generally believe that it is not the availability of guns that is the issue, but it is the situations in which people commit these violent acts like their mental health that should be dealt with. Personally, I believe that there should be more gun-control legislation because while prioritizing mental health is important, people who have mental health issues commit such awful acts because of how easy it is to acquire a firearm in the US. By making it harder to get access to these tools that would inflict harm easier, these people in need of mental help wouldn't be so willing to use a gun to exact their emotional instability and instead resort to other sources of letting out their feelings.
Nolan S.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/08/30/university-shooting-north-carolina-chapel-hill/de58249a-4782-11ee-b76b-0b6e5e92090d_story.html
https://www.wunc.org/news/2023-08-28/its-horrifying-unc-chapel-hill-students-and-faculty-react-to-campus-shooting
https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2023/08/city-political-response-to-shooting-republicans-democrats
https://apnews.com/article/university-north-carolina-chapel-hill-shooting-a5eb7268934f7f416b7cfa2e2e3e24db
12 comments:
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Not only did UNC go on lockdown, some of the neighboring K-12 school districts did as well, at least one of which was on its first day of school. Imagine your first day of Kindergarten spoiled - and how ticked off those parents are about the whole situaiton.
I thought your post was really informative and clearly written, and I agree that stricter gun control is necessary along with increased access to high quality mental health care in order to prevent events like these from happening. I also think your quotes from students at the time highlight the mental health impact of experiencing an active shooter on your own school’s campus, not just the loss of life. As the number of publicized school shootings increases, it becomes more and more difficult for people to remember that everybody that went through it was a person, not a statistic. Sometimes I wonder if we are becoming desensitized to these events over time because of how often they appear in the media. Would there be more action to prevent school shootings without widespread access to news?
School shootings have been a prominent issue in America. Yet, a majority seem to be at K-12 schools, at a large university like UNC... wow. I am quite interested to see the university's response to the shooting. The campus definitely has been very outspoken about the topic, but what about administration? Will UNC implement new rules? I am unsurprised the event is being used by politicians to push their personal agendas, I liked how that was highlighted by the post. But yes, something needs to be done about such a recurring event and personally I agree that stricter gun-control laws are necessary.
I like how you pointed out the different ways politicians are spinning the same story to support their agenda. While both politicians are able to appeal to Americans sympathizing with those affected by the tragedy, they tie it to different issues (gun control and mental health) so they can control the narrative. This is a pretty common tactic used by politicians, including of course, the infamous example of the Weimar Republic struggling under hyperinflation and Hitler blaming the Jewish population in Germany. I am curious if this shooting will inspire any attempts to pass gun control legislation or mental health legislation from either of these politicians, or whether they are simply trying to show support after the tragedy.
In addition to the horrors of gun culture in the United States, this unfortunate event may also illustrate the shortcomings of academic culture in the United States. Quick reminder that this shooting was perpetrated by a graduate student on his faculty advisor. This shooting is a microcosm (albeit an extreme one) of the abuse endemic to American academic culture. This abuse obviously perpetuates extreme stress (which is often the cause of junior researchers faking or fabricating data on their research with senior researchers). There were a number of research fraud scandals a month or so ago (that led to the resignation and discipline of numerous high profile scientists). The abuse in academia, in addition to generally reducing the quality of life of scientists, damages the reputation of the scientific community and may influence the wrong public policy decisions. As we saw previously in Mr. Silton's class scientists have lots of informal power in writing the policy agenda.
Honestly, what disgusts me the most of this news is how quickly our politicians jumped on it to push their agenda. The trouble is that none of them have shown the will (so far) to actually implement the policies they argue for. There doesn't seem to be any end to these incidents right now. Whenever someone even tries to broach the subject of restricting the distribution and possession of firearms in here, they'll immediately get people yelling about how the constitution mandates their right to have guns (even though that arguably wasn't even the point of the Second Amendment), and it devolves into a screaming match. The more I look at it, the more it seems that this will end up as fodder in our so called "culture wars", just another topic for people to fight over and make noise about, and most importantly, exploit to gain a platform. Meanwhile kids are dying in schools, where they're supposed to be safe, simply because people don't want to let go of their guns, while politicians, who actually have the power to do something about it, can only give "thoughts and prayers" and vague platitudes. Hopefully, this could actually inspire real action by the lawmakers in North Carolina, but knowing American politicians' track record, I highly doubt it.
I agree that a nation with tighter gun control policies would see an enormous drop in shootings, and that less guns available to the public in the first place would be an effective solution to mass killings, like the one at UNC. That being said, I don’t think the problem here is the ease of going out and buying a gun, but rather the immense difficulty in passing stricter gun control laws in the US. While I might not agree with the overall conservative perspective on this matter (that guns should be easily available and accessible to the public), I believe that the chances are incredibly small that gun control laws will change enough for a visible drop in mass shootings, thanks to the increasing polarization of our country. Therefore, we as a nation should focus more on what the government has a greater power to do: putting more money and effort into mental health therapy and rehabilitation. It’s unlikely that a lot of people would be against rehabilitation and/or mental health therapy simply because it doesn’t have a direct effect on their own lives. Would passing legislation that creates a more of an emphasis on bettering human beings themselves be more effective than gun control legislation—something that half of the US opposes? Almost definitely.
I really agree that stricker gun control laws should be implemented not only to make the process of obtaining a gun harder but also to protect school in the United States. I also like how you gave two different perspectives on how two opposing political parties viewed this shooting. it reallly showed the very different views and goals to this problem that those two parties have, which shows how there really isn't any progress for this major issue to be solved anytime soon. If there isnt any movemnt to prevent such tragic moments then things will only worsen.About a year ago another school shoothing occured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. This shooting left 21 people dead, 19 of them were students, and almost all of them were left unrecognizable. Many of them were identified by their DNA and Maite Rodriguez, a student that died that day, was so unrecognizable that the only way they confirmed it was her was through her green conserve that she was wearing that day. SInce that school shooting the laws in Texas regarding guns have become less stricker and only months after the attack texas lowered the age requiered to carry a gun from 21 to 18. So this just emphasis how little to no action has been taken to prevent these shootings, no political party has taken major action to put in place sticker laws for guns.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/us/uvalde-shooting-fallout.html
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103577387/matthew-mcconaughey-green-converse-shoes-sneakers-uvalde-maite-rodriguez#:~:text=green%20Converse%20sneakers.-,Uvalde%2C%20Texas%2C%20school%20shooting%20victim%20Maite%20Rodriguez%2C%20who%20died,Converse%20shoes%20when%20she%20died.&text=A%20pair%20of%20green%20Converse,Uvalde%2C%20Texas%2C%20school%20shooting.
I think this piece is very clearly written and organized nicely! It is always horrible to hear the news of another shooting, and it is even scarier to hear this about such a large university. Obviously, the impact of this shooting spread across campus, and beyond. Not only those who knew this faculty advisor are hurt, angry, and affected but everyone who hears of the news, as it is just another situation where the current laws on guns are questioned again. Students coming together to both protest and advocate for pro-gun control is very impactful and can help remind the public that it can happen to anyone and anywhere. The students are helping bring it up in the media and humanize the situation, reminding the public that they are not just another statistic or just another shooting. Someone's life was lost, and the students who are able to advocate for that are striving to make bigger changes with gun laws. I am interested in keeping up with Qi's case, and seeing his court case on September 18th and his motives, as this wasn't a mass shooting but rather seems directed. Overall, this debate of gun control will continue in the media but it is important to hear these stories so we can all do our best to work towards new gun control laws and restrictions.
I think it is crucial to address gun violence. Despite existing laws serving to stop the tragedies, complete control over how individuals use firearms remains unstable. In fact, stricter gun regulations can sometimes severe the use of guns. To eliminate this issue, it is important to consider providing individuals with a comprehensive mental health education. This approach aims to teach the understanding of the immense value of human life and also the severe consequences that follow violations of gun-related rules. Rather than restricting access to firearms, the government should prioritize improving people's mental well-being. Gun violence is a global issue happening in every generation, region, and moment so it is necessary to raise awareness about this issue.
It is absolutely vital that this issue be dealt with now. Nearly every single day, more news like this appears. Therapy and rehab have been available for a long time, people can only push for mental health for so long before we need to come to the firm and plain realization: we need to get rid of guns. Of course, mental health is a large issue that must be dealt with, and more efforts need to be put towards that cause, but how many more lives are we willing to sacrifice while working on that? It isn't something that is going to happen overnight, and with every single day we wait for these so-called "efforts" made by politicians to push for better mental health aid, we let so many more people die. Elderly people, infants, children, teenagers, adults, all innocent and all deserving of life. How long are we going to let this go on? So yes, while mental health is an issue, what kills those victims in the end is the gun.
This is a very imformative post that talks about the persistent gun violence within our country. It is truly terrifying to go to school worrying if today could be the day that a student snapped and committed such a horrendous and terrifying act. Seeing the media material that came from the Daily Tar Heel truly highlights the fear present with the people on campus. It's scary to think that one day the people in that situation could be me. I believe in order to solve this problem, both the issue of easy to access guns and mental health should be addressed concurrently. Both are major contributors to the rampant mass shootings present within in this country killing thousands per year.
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2023%2F09%2F01%2F1197145404%2Func-daily-tar-heel-newspaper-front-page-shooting&psig=AOvVaw1tt6MBJMTRrF9vj5WesHdK&ust=1697661035728000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjRxqFwoTCODFjan2_YEDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI
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