  Friday, February 15, 2008  Gather 'Round My Soapbox  I'm sure
most people have heard about the recent school shooting at
Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois. It was
especially startling news for me to hear last night, because I
attended NIU for a brief time before moving to Tennessee. I am
originally from the Chicago area. My sisters graduated from NIU,
friends of mine have attended the university, and my brother-in-
law is currently a student there (he was not on campus the day
of the shooting).  But I am not distraught simply over the fact
that a shooting has happened at a location I used to frequent. I
am distraught over how common these shooting rampages have
become in our country. Did you know that there have been four
(at least) school shootings this week in this country? Four! In
one week! And it's not just happening in our schools. It's
happening at our malls, and at our churches... Why???  There
don't appear to be any easy answers or explanations for why
these tragedies keep happening.