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E-PrinceLast Friday, the University of Alabama in Huntsville experienced the tragedy that every college campus fears. A neurobiologist who was recently denied tenure opened fire at a department meeting, killing three faculty members and wounding several others. The weight and ...(back to the article)
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The more the press digs into the background of the shooter at UAH the more it becomes apparent that this discussion should be more about taking action predicated on demonstrated behavior than whether public security forces should be armed or access to firearms should be curtailed.
That Dr. Bishop killed her brother in 1986 is not in question. Motive and whether the shooting was accidental were not, according to the current sheriff of the county, sufficiently explored. Then in 1993 Dr. Bishop was the primary suspect in a mail bombing attempt at the home of one of her doctoral advisors. No arrests were made in that incident and as far as the reporting goes no follow-up was taken to mediate the motive police identified in the incident. Now Dr. Bishop has murdered three colleagues and I suspect we'll see a defense based on diminished capacity. What we should be discussing is why there was not some type of mental health intervention and how Dr. Bishop's predilection towards violence was not identified. There are a number of similarities between this case and the Ft Hood shootings where an individual was passed on through the system because the system itself was at fault. The same day Dr. Bishop murdered her colleagues a fourth grade teacher in Clinton, TN shot the principal and vice principal at an elementary school. This was occasioned by his being informed his contract would not be extended. Investigators learned in short order that this person had threatened violence on other occasions, had protective orders issued against him, and had been dismissed from a series of positions because of aggressive and potentially violent behavior. He should have been in a court-ordered program for anger management issues but the system failed both to put him in treatment and to have a method for allowing potential employers to learn of his behavioral tendencies. The discussion here should be "How can we change the system to identify and treat such individuals while protecting society in general from their behavioral swings?"
A question I have is how could Harvard not have investigated Dr. Bishop's behavior further when she was the primary suspect in an attempted murder case as a graduate student? They allowed her to finish the program, earn her doctorate and become an instructor at the University. It isn't as if someone there did not know her background. Could it be a case of "political correctness" and is that what we should be discussing?
"Last Friday, the University of Alabama in Huntsville experienced the tragedy that every college campus fears." Really? "The tragedy that every college campus fears" is that a professor denied tenure will shoot her colleagues? That's _the_ tragedy feared?
Kudos on this thoughtful editorial. The pressures on junior faculty are indeed enormous. Princeton students can do their part. When I was in the junior ranks, from time to time a student would thank me for my efforts or would compliment me on a lecture. On at least one occasion this salvaged what would have otherwise been a completely rotten day.
@Did your...
The "tragedy that every college campus fears," especially since Virginia Tech, is a shooting. If we distributed a survey that asked "What is the tragedy most feared by college campuses?", I'm fairly certain the most common response would be "a shooting."
You are an idiot and a troll.
I'm sure rain during lawn parties would rank pretty high up on the list of fears at Princeton.
Solution: remove anti-self-defense regulations by allowing students/staff to be armed.