If you took the time to read “White society obsessed over loss”, a letter to the editor, then perhaps you had a few questions. The comments seem centered on a valid idea: if classroom killings shock us we ought to be appalled by the amount of violence the rest of society experiences. What makes me cringe is the focus which this person put on “white society” as the central motivation for the continuing interest in things like the NIU shooting and the continuing neglect of the conditions which foster urban violence. I agree that it’s time for some discussion about how to affect change instead of lofty political rhetoric which gets us nowhere. If we want a different discussion, and I think most of us do, then what is the purpose of implicating “white society?” The problem is not that students are obsessed with loss. The problem is one of accessing information and being informed. The same news sources which drag things like NIU, Britney Spears, and the Hillary/Obama battle through countless articles and unnecessary examination are the ones who don’t pursue stories about social justice. So perhaps a good start for this student community is to put some pressure on our student newspaper. Perhaps we should tell them to stop pandering to those who use vague, sensationalist, insulting terms like “white society”. How about an expose about the deterioration of Champaign schools? How about articles which are concerned with more than unofficial and a student life that we are so lucky to have? It’s our newspaper, maybe we should demand more from it.