VOL 120, Issue 8 - November 3rd, 2022

08
THURSDAY
NOV. 3,
2022
MICHIGAN AND GUNS GO HAND IN HAND
09
SCENE
First-years Kyra Mullane and Josh Roitman joined the workshop for a relaxing mid-day activity. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH YODER /SF Foghorn
CELEBRATING DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
WITH PAPEL PICADO
HANNAH YODER
Staff Writer
A table covered in cutout scraps of vibrant tissue paper was the aftermath of
Cultural Centers’ papel picado workshop on Thursday afternoon. Students filtered
in and out of UC 4 for an hour and a half to create intricate banners and connect
with Mexican culture, listen to Mexican folk music, and celebrate Día de los Muertos.
Papel picado, which translates to “perforated paper,” is made by cutting designs
into folded tissue paper to make mirrored shapes, which can then be strung
into a banner. These banners are traditionally hung in streets during a range of
Mexican fiestas, but in the United States, they are most commonly associated with
Día de los Muertos celebrations, and are hung among other decorations on ofrendas,
or altars, to welcome the spirits of the dead back to their homes.
While traditional designs are typically elaborate and intricate, featuring skulls,
lovebirds, and flowers — Thursday’s designs were more freeform. Students created
whatever brought them joy — one student even created a scene of an alien abduction.
In some banners, the colors were intentionally chosen to represent different
elements of the holiday: black for grief, pink for celebration, red for blood, white for
hope, and yellow for light.
“When I think of Mexican culture, I definitely think of cyan, magenta, yellow…
really lively colors to show that it's a true celebration of life,” said Dan Perez-Sornia,
assistant director of Cultural Centers.
Cultural Centers invites everyone at USF, regardless of ethnicity and background,
to join in their Día de los Muertos celebrations. “For students that don’t
identify within the Latine umbrella who might be really cautious about cultural
appropriation, we really wanted to break down the barrier and show how easy it is
to celebrate culture and get involved,” said Perez-Sornia.
The Papel Picado workshop was part of a weeks-long series on campus leading
up to USF’s final Día de los Muertos celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Taking
place in McLaren, this event will showcase ofrendas, host performances from Aztec
dancers and various speakers, and celebrate with Mexican food. The community ofrendas
in Gleeson Library and Kalmanovitz Hall will feature papel picado banners
sponsored by the Cultural Center.
As attendees of Thursday’s events take their creations home with them, papel
picado banners will adorn the dorms and apartments of numerous USF community
members who are either embracing their cultural heritage, or excitedly celebrating
a new culture.
TALEAH JOHNSON
is a fourth-year
sociology major.
GRAPHIC BY AVA LORD/SF FOGHORN
MICHIGAN
My Michigan friends and I used to pass the
time by making lists of our high school teachers.
What began as polls of who assigned the most
homework or who had a more chill classroom,
snowballed into the absurd: who had the best (and
worst) dishes during our school’s potlucks, which
Hogwarts house did they belong in, or whose
dinner parties would we attend (Pierson was the
obvious choice — apparently, he laminated his
cocktail menus).
At the top of one particular list was Mr.
Hoffman, a vet who told censored stories about
his life as a military sergeant. It was unanimous:
Hoffman’s room was the best one to be in if a
school shooting happened.
Mr. Hoffman’s safest classroom accolade
was inspired by the Washtenaw County’s Active
Shooter Training Program my high school teachers
did. Under the watchful eye of their trainers,
teachers practiced survival tactics in school shooting
simulations using “Home Alone”-esque tricks to stun an “intruder” armed
with a starter pistol. The training uses the A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform,
Counter, Evacuate) method to teach educators, churches, and government
workers how to stay alive until authorities arrive. The program is credited to the
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department but the program is active on many
campuses in the Metro Detroit Area, including the University of Michigan.
Over the years our drills began to feel tedious, but the reality of what the
drill meant became clearer with each school shooting. It felt like my peers and
I were waiting for our time. On Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High students, an hour
away from my old school, faced theirs.
Allegedly, then 15 year-old Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four of his peers
with a handgun his father purchased for him days before the shooting. The Oxford
community lost Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana
St. Juliana because of an “early Christmas present.” Nearly a year later on Oct.
29 2022, Crumbley pled guilty to 24 felony charges: four counts of first-degree
murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, 12 counts of felony use of
a firearm, and one count of terrorism.
According to CNN, Ethan’s teachers raised warning signs about Crumbley
watching footage from real shootings, researching bullets, and expressing violent
ideation on his schoolwork. Despite meetings between Crumbley’s parents and
school officials, Ethan Crumbley fell through massive cracks.
CNN has covered Crumbley’s trial where expert witness Jillian Peterson, a
forensic pathologist and associate professor of criminology and criminal justice,
described a slow, monotonous “build-up” that led to a crisis point. Peterson said
the “crisis point is often a suicidal crisis where the perpetrator is hopeless and
isolated and no longer cares if they live or die. During that crisis point, their
behavior is changing, they’re acting differently and the people around them are
noticing that they are acting differently.”
In a highly unusual court proceeding, Jennifer and James Crumbley now
face charges of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. The basis of the Crumbleys’
charges is the failure to act as responsible caretakers and committing gross
negligence during their son’s crisis point despite Ethan and school officials urging
for psychiatric help. At the time of writing, it is unclear if James Crumbley will
face federal charges for supplying his underage son with the handgun.
This tragedy doesn’t point to a complete lack of gun laws in Michigan. According
to Everytown, a non-profit organization focused on advocacy for gun
control and against gun violence, Michigan has sensible laws that require background
checks for gun permits and prevent individuals with assault, violent misdemeanors,
hate crime, or felony convictions from owning guns.
There are cracks in legislation that do not account for an epidemic of young
men using gun violence as a deadly way to be heard. Ethan Crumbley’s interest in
guns cultivated by his parents is not novel. Although Crumbley’s mental health
raised red flags, the culture Crumbley, Crumbley’s victims, and every Michigan
student is raised in has intrinsically linked guns to our communities’ identities.
Michigan students and educators
sit at a crossroads of enthusiastic
gun culture and the reality of school
shootings. I wish I could describe
one coming-of-age moment where I
first saw a gun but they were always
there. My mom's attempts to limit
my brother’s and my exposure to
guns in an open-carry state were in
vain. Despite my brother’s desire, she
wouldn’t allow us to have toy guns,
so in basements and backrooms, we
would play with our cousin’s. I knew
who I pretended to be when I held
the plastic replica straight and who
I was when I cocked it to the side.
I saw real guns at county fairs and
at Walmart during my dashes to the
toy aisle. The three of us would ring
in the New Year tucked away from
any windows listening to a cacophony
of fireworks and gunshots.
Gun control is a problem that
adults can solve. The only tool minors
have at their disposal is their
voice — their deaths are not enough
to incentivize adults to vote with
their best interests in mind. I’m still
unpacking my opinions on gun control
but I’m certain of this: the safety
of children in schools should be
prioritized over any hobby, gift, or
right. Rest in peace Madisyn Baldwin,
Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and
Hana St. Juliana.
OPINION