Since last summer, Gene Chizik, John Pawlowski and Tina Deese have all been fired, and Gus Malzahn is back on The Plains. We were called liars and cheaters by Selena Roberts, and Jay Jacobs and the NCAA quickly shut her down.
On the national scale, two mass shootings, one in Aurora, Colo., and another in Newtown, Conn., stunned and shocked us, although senseless rampages seem almost commonplace in the United States. The April 15 bombing of the Boston Marathon is still fresh in our minds as yet another horrible example of the terror an insane few can inflict on the many.
It's also been one year since the Loveliest Village on the Plains experienced its own part of the national zeitgeist of violence.
Many Auburn residents will never forget June 9, 2012. Many of us at The Plainsman will certainly remember that day and the weeks to follow for the rest of our lives. It was a vicious wake-up call, and it marred the flawless image we had of Auburn as a safe haven from violent crime.
What we gained was a unique perspective. We got a glimpse into the violent crime many cities struggle with every day.
The recent shooting in the parking lot of College Street Bar and Pockets has us looking back on the events of June 9 with more malaise than hope for the future.
Is Auburn on its way to becoming a bad place to live?
The 2011 crime statistics, produced by the Auburn Department of Public Safety, show crime on the downswing, but if the crimes that remain are more violent, then it's not an improvement.
We don't believe Auburn is turning into Montgomery or Mobile, but we do notice a growing trend. It looks as if people prefer to settle their problems with violence rather than be responsible.
Perhaps the 2012 annual report will prove us wrong. Although we hope so, we're not holding our breath.
It doesn't seem fair to the memories of Ed Christian, Ladarious Phillips, Demario Pitts, or anyone else who has died in such a cruel and pointless manner, for us to act so ridiculous. Human life is priceless, and even though humanity is the least violent it has been since the dawn of time, we still don't seem to understand cooperation is infinitely more productive and beneficial.
We aren't preaching some kind of forced altruism or pretending to be the arbiters of morality in Auburn. We aren't even trying to comment on the tired issues of the gun control debate.
These are simple facts that should become all the more obvious when someone decides he has to shoot people to solve his problems.
It's time we took responsibility for ourselves. Auburn can become the example of what a community that values life looks like.
There is no need for us to fall victim to insane, violent whims of a few fools who want to make us scared to live our lives.
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