USF News Flash

[varjohaltia]

Campus in lock down because of sightings of a gunman. It's pretty eerie, it's the middle of the day, the sky's swarming with helicopters, and not a soul in sight.

EDIT: All Clear.

Comments

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

I just saw that it was cleared. Who called it in?

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

No clue. No real info coming out.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

'Gunman', as used by the media in this and many cases, is such a weird word in that context; it turns the simply descriptive 'man with a gun' into a unique identity value.

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

What about gun-women?

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

Where's my grassy knoll? ;)

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

Same problem. ;)

It's an interesting use of language. It objectifies the person, an obviously troubled human being who has come to dire straits and irrational behavior, into the single value of: "He/she Who Has Gun".

This is, I suppose, necessary in warfare. The "Enemy" isn't an individual, with hopes, dreams, family, culture... they're reduced to a single value, which allows us to dispense with them with some degree of impartiality.

But a random man on campus who happens to have a gun? Disarm him, is he still, THE Gunman? Is he now "The Suspect" or "Intruder"? At one point is he just one of us again, if ever?

I know it's simply descriptive, but the psychology of these sorts of words is interesting (and often, disturbing) to me. It's a casual use, and I'm certainly not chastising you for it - just some random thoughts. ;)