I wondered around for 15 minutes just trying to find the place. In my search, I came across the site of the 1945 Winecoff Hotel Fire. Which to this day, remains the deadlist hotel fire in US History. I'll do some research and write a blog entry about it. Had I not stopped to take pictures, it may have only taken me 10 minutes to find the Atlanta Central Library Auditorium.
Once I finally found the place, I could tell the turnout was a little less than anticipated. Probably about 25-35 people in attendance. Mayor Reed was in fact not present. However, Atlanta's City Council President, Caesar Mitchell was in attendance. He was the first guest speaker, and then left as soon as he was finished speaking. Typical political behavior.
There were some high-ranking APD officers and even GSUPD showed a presence. When the question was asked to the audience if any Student Government Association representatives were present, I raised my hand. Georgia Tech's Student Body President was on the other side of the auditorium, and we were both asked to come up and say a few words....only if we wanted.
I'm not one to decline an invitation, so I went to the podium and said a few words about how one of the first things I did when I took office (as the VP of Student Services) was meet with the GSUPD. I did this because one of the services the University offers to the students is, you guessed it... safety. I then took the info I received from the initial meeting with the GSUPD and compiled a report that I presented to our SGA Senate. I may see if I can dig up that report and post it to the blog.
Other speakers included students who were recent victims of crime on University campuses across Atlanta and the leader of an anti-bullying organization. He made the point that the individuals who commit these crime are "bullies with guns" and if we can get the bullying problems in schools under control, then we may be able to see a drop in crime. An interesting argument nonetheless.
In the girls' school system, there's an anti-bullying program in place which seems to be comprised, mainly, of mediation procedures and trying to understand what motivates a bully. Boot 'em out, I say, and quickly, and have a high tolerance to letting 'em back in. They're are students who want or need an education and who aren't bullies and this kind of thing deprives them of that. Schools are too slow to discipline and too tolerant of aberrant behavior.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I agree that criminals are "bullies with guns," either. Criminals want what you have and are willing to take it from you by whatever means necessary. Did they start out as bullies in school? Maybe. But I think that most didn't.
Good post. Keep 'em coming.