Virginia Tech Shootings

Of course there are many words and emotions that come to mind when you think of the recent shootings at Virginia Tech.

Senseless.

Terriable.

Horror.

Shock.

"Shock" seems to be the word that sums it all up. What drives someone to the point where they think the only way to deal with life is to end not only their own but the lives of innocent bystanders? Why would someone get to a place in their life to make them believe that people have the right to die? When did God die and decide to leave us to decide who should live? Just in case you're wondering, I know that He hasn't but hopefully you see where I'm going with that. What I'm trying to say is that I just don't understand.

We could sit around and go over the what ifs and all that mess from now until doomsday. Truth is, we'll proably never understand why a student decided it was time to end his own life and the lives of 31 other innocent people around him. He apparently had been sent to counceling and had been identified as someone who needed help. People tried to reach out to him but he simply wouldn't have it from all accounts. If you believe the news reports all of that simply made him withdraw that much more. People can't be helped unless they want to be helped. You can't blame Virginia Tech because there are laws and they simply had no legal reason to expell him or to otherwise intervene in any other way than they did.

"They should have locked down the school." Please, do consider a few things: First, locking down an entire college campus is a completely different ballgame than locking down a high school. In short, it's much more difficult. Not to mention the police had no idea who they were looking for and the fact that this kid was a student worked to his advantage. He was carrying a backpack... yeah, so does ever other college student (and a lot of professors) in Amerca. He also had a valid student ID so there would have been no way to tell that he didn't belong. A lockdown would have been ineffective and probably would have even caused more panic and disorder.

I can't tell you how sad I am by these events. I grieve with everyone in Virginia, the Virginia Tech University community and the families of the victims and the shooter (don't forget that he had a family and that he was a human being as well). Now's not the time to point fingers; now is the time to pray and heal.

Let me just close with this: I am shocked and appaled at the decision NBC made to show the footage that this troubled man sent to them between the two shooting incidents. The fact that they're showing this manic rambling, if anything, makes this kid a martyr. Do they not realize that they gave him exactly what he wanted? Please, NBC, explain and defend this poor decision. Seriously, you all (from the producers to the anchors--guilty by association) ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Even I, a member of broadcast media (granted, entertainment media but it's all inclusive at the end of he day) can't believe this.

Maybe NBC stands for "No Body Cares."

--Jonathan

Life Update/Imus

Well, I'm sure you might have thought I was dead but obviously I'm not if I'm posting now. :-) It's been a busy time for me lately and that's why I haven't done any other posting since January. I'll try to make this a quick read for you:

I'm now back full time at my station in Meridian, MS (Q951/WJDQ-FM). I'm even essentially doing the same thing I was before (nights and music). Talk about coming full circle! But I like being back in my slot and honestly I've never been happier professionally. I've honsetly done some of my best radio ever since I've been back in my old slot. I also like having a hand in the music again. While I'm not officially the Music Director (our new company doesn't officiall recognize MDs) I'm essentially doing all of the duties and I'm really enjoying that. And as you may have caught when I said "new company" a minute ago we've been sold. CC cleared us out to URBan Radio Broadcasting which is a minority owned broadcasting company. Honestly, I love it. They treat us well and are spending actual money on us (whoda thunk it!). I also like the fact that they aren't big fans of our of market (or even in market) voice tracking. Of course this also means that I gave up the 9-1-1 dispatch gig. I just don't have the time to work there any longer given the hours I have to devote to the radio station.

As for the rest of life, it's steady as she goes. I'm still trying to find a new church down here which has been more of a challange than I anticipated. The problem I have is that I compare them to the church I was going to in Fort Wayne and I'd honestly be surprised if something like that existed down here. Everyone's so wrapped up in the "religion" aspect of it all that they lose the real message and what a church is supposed to be. Maybe the fact that a church like The Pointe doesn't exist here could open a door in the future but for now I'm just trying to figure out God's will for my life and where He wants me to go.

And now a bit if a rant if I may: Don Imus, the legend in New York radio has royally stuck his foot in his mouth. He was talking about the women's basketball team from Rutgers and refered to them as "nappy headed hos." A lot of people are taking this as racism and the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the other usual suspects are coming out to call for his resignation or termination. I can see both sides of this coin: I can see where the comments are being blown out of proporation and totally taken out of context but I also know that there are jocks who have said less than that and been immediately terminated. If he isn't fired there will be a lot of radio folk who resent that fact because of those who have been let go for less than that. When it's all boiled down he's just another radio guy regardless of the fact that he's in New York and that he's a legend. Will he be fired? Probably not. After all he is well known and does make his station millions ever year. Should he be fired? Given the fact that there are those who have been fired for less yes he should.

So that's that. I'll try to do a better job of posting here. Lord knows I'd love to get all political on ya again!

--Jonathan