The unassuming title of the posting on the ever so eminent website Juicycampus.com read "Alumni Mall," but as we all know, its content was less subtle.
For some of us, Juicy Campus was a mere nuisance; for others, it was a guilty pleasure, but nonetheless it wasn't supposed to be a big deal. However, Juicy Campus is a big deal. Interestingly enough, it took the LAPD to realize this. Never mind those slandered, mocked and discriminated against; it takes the possibility of a massacre for the administration and students to take a more serious look.
The threat, as we all know, was dealt with timely and properly, but where was our follow up from school officials? Where was our explanation or consolation? Certainly our worries and curiosity were not expected to be quelled with that coy summary of events posted on the LMU website and residence halls. No one mentioned that the Alumni Mall dilemma is a result of more than just the doing of a disturbed individual. No one entertained the idea that the real problem is the nature of Juicycampus.com itself.
Alas, we can say anything behind the cover of innocent anonymity and thus say what we wish to, yet never would. We begin to work outside of the politically correct and societal boundaries to embrace what we really think and feel. But what happens as a result of this embrace? What happens when people can lash out their deepest and darkest sentiments about life and people with no consequence? We feel as if we can say anything, whether we truly feel it or not, because it simply doesn't matter. We feel invincible without the chains of externally imposed morals. We begin to say things we might not even believe, however spiteful or disdainful, just to test reactions. Curiosity takes over our minds as our everyday limitations vanish.
Could this be the Alumni Mall syndrome? Was our troubled Juicy Campus contributor really a violent individual or just someone lured by an enticing mask? That Saturday it was made clear to all that these limits still do exist. Anonymity made someone forget an essential rule of life: you don't threaten it. But what about all our other moral and ethical rules? These as well as other rules disappear when we believe there is no consequence for what we say.
We seem to say quite a lot about ourselves in becoming captivated with this "harmless" anonymous gossip. Does this mean that we humans act without guidelines so long as we are not accountable for what we say? Yes. Without knowing the potential consequences of our actions and given the lack of accountability, humans can be ruthless. Juicy Campus, it seems, is the channel for this ruthless human nature. So we begin to see forums titled "too many blacks and Mexicans," "top 10 sluts/whores on campus," and of course "I like cocaine because …"
Sure these are all problems; the embrace of hate, ignorance and negative culture as a result of a forum geared to the members of our campus community is something of a nuisance. But the fact that this campus community distinguishes itself as a Jesuit school while at the same time looking the other way is, quite frankly, egregious hypocrisy.
This is an issue that must be specifically addressed. Should LMU claim to be a Jesuit University, we cannot take a course of inaction on something that brings the worst out in humans. This is about seeing our obligation to preserve humanity. We say we oppose racism and vulgar defamation, so let's do something about it. We must value the importance of our humanity and the need to oppose all that threatens it. Juicy Campus is inhumane. We can see this in regular postings and especially in the Alumni Mall incident. We must stop allowing it to remain taboo and take action. Simply put, boycott Juicy Campus. Boycott for those hurt and those who are given the power to injure, but most importantly, boycott for humanity.
This is the opinion of M. Alex Centeno, a first-year political science major from Torrance, Calif. Please send comments to adwyer@theloyolan.com.
