Nerdfighters Gazette

On April 20, 1999, a girl is sitting in the library of her high school. She is doing research for a paper that’s due the next week. Her dark hair is falling in front of her eyes as she leans over the book she is studying. A friend comes over to talk to her. Quietly, they whisper and laugh while the librarian shoots them hostile stares.

On April 20, 1999, a boy is working his way through a sheet of math problems in his Algebra 2 classroom. The teacher sits at his desk and tries to ignore the flurry of paper balls tossed across the room, and the laughing that is too-loud-to-be-an-inside-voice.

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold enter their high school. They change the lives of everyone around. They shock a nation. On April 20, 1999, America watched while a school and community lost itself.

School shootings are not something that is taken lightly. Every time a tragedy of this nature occurs the world grieves. True, some are worse than others. However, the damage cannot be measured in the number of lives lost… Each of these events damage the psyche of students, and parents everywhere.

The majority of school shootings are at the hands of male students. There are only two documented accounts of female shooters. Profiles for these people are hard to determine, however. Some display the stereotypical traits. Others do not, they come from good homes, and typical all-American families. One trait, however, is common in the majority of these cases. These children do not snap, they plan. A person planning a school shooting will study about it, take his time. These are not spur of the moment decisions.

On February 23, 2010, just miles from where the Columbine shooting occurred, outside of Deer Creek Middle School, Colorado two students were shot.  (They are expected to live.) The shooter was not a student at the school. It was a man, armed with a high powered rifle, shooting teenagers who attended the school. In comparison to the Columbine Shooting,  or the Virginia Tech Massacre this school shooting is not as severe. The affect is the same. Once again the security of students is brought into question.

Lauren Fairweather, a prominent Nerdfighter musician, will be going on tour come this May. The recession has been very difficult on musicians. Merch sales are down, and not as many people are attending shows.  There will be a show on February 26, 2010 (That’s this Friday people!) at 76 West School Street, Apt 1 Woonsocket, Rhode Island 02895. Lauren will be there along with The Whomping Willows, Draco and the Malfoys, and JFF. Any purchases of merch at this shows will be a great help to these artists. The show is free, all Nerdfighters in the area that attend will be helping these people live their dreams. (Plus listening to the awesome music won’t exactly be a chore.)

For any of you artistic Nerdfighters, Lauren is also holding a Merch Design Contest.  There are some great prizes offered. Some of which include your choice of 10 buttons, and a physical item of the merch that you designed! This contest ends on Sunday.

If you’re not sure who these musicians are you can find them at the following links:

Draco and the Malfoys

Lauren Fairweather

The Whomping Willows

Justin Fitch-Fletchley

The recent article posted on the topic of sexuality in the media, brought to mind a similar topic…. violence in the media. Many people view violence in the media with a very negative attitude. Some even go as far as to blame several school shootings in the US as a result of the violence being shown on every media outlet. While these images, and tales of crimes do portray a more violent image in our culture, social scientists have not been able to distinguish a direct correlation between real life aggression and aggression in short stories, advertisements and on television.  What do you think, Nerdfighteria? Are some of Edgar Allen Poe’s works causing increased crime rates? Will the blood in video games soon be the blood on our hands? Is violence in the media creating more violence in each our lives, and if it is, what should be done?