Two young and promising lives tragically derailed over ipod music in a college dorm:
About 8 p.m. Thursday, the students in Suite 208 of the Christa McAuliffe residence hall were getting ready for what should have been a fun night out at Bowie State University’s homecoming week comedy show.
Alexis Simpson, a 19-year-old newcomer to the college, abruptly turned off the iPod playing in the suite. Everyone asked her to turn the music back on. “No,” she said, according to an account in court papers.
Simpson and Dominique Frazier, 18, started to yell, and the fight turned physical. Someone in the suite split them up, pushing Simpson into her bedroom. But Simpson came back with what looked like a knife and stabbed Frazier in the neck, the court papers say.
“I didn’t mean to do it. You all don’t know what I’ve been through. You all jumped me,” Simpson said before she ran out of the dorm.
Frazier clutched at her throat, staggered into the hallway and collapsed read more
I don't know the extenuating details of this sad affair; but I do know there is a serious lack of impulse control and a deficiency in conflict resolution - combined with drama addiction in our society, it becomes a lethal.
We have a generation raised on Jerry Springer, Reality TV melodrama and court TV. The common denominator of these programs is to reduce the participants and audience to the lowest common denominator.
Viewers watch people with conflict settle their differences via aggressive confrontation - it makes for exciting TV drama.
They rant, name call, scream and sometimes have physical altercations with no one listening or addressing the core issues.
Black women on these programs are encouraged to go into sister-girl mode - in full effect - with eyes rolling, hands-on-hips and that I wish you would attitude.
To reiterate, we don't have the details of this specific tragedy, nevertheless in far too many cases life imitates art - well, what passes for art these days.
I leave the last words to one Bowie State University administrator:
Artie Lee Travis, vice president for student affairs, became emotional as he told students that it was a time to “think about a life that was taken away from us.”
“Remember to resolve situations, to agree to not be disagreeable, to be civil and not uncivil, to leave a legacy and not leave a record,” Travis said through tears. “Don’t let another young person leave this Earth because they can’t understand how to work together to resolve conflicts.”
Thats a shame.....these young people dont realize that when they kill someone they ruin their life, the victim's life and the lives of both families.
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@rock g...yes it's such a shame when so many of our youth seemingly lack the skill to negotiate issues and such small conflicts escalate to deadly ones.
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