It was a joke???

Kadydid · #1 (**permalink**) 03-09-2006, 10:48 PM

At College, Moral Obligations Are Felt on Church Burnings

By JIM NOLES
Published: March 10, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 9 — Students and administrators at Birmingham-Southern College here struggled Thursday to come to terms with the arrests of two sophomores in the burning of nine rural churches last month.
"I almost have a sense of grief about this and about Birmingham-Southern's association with it," said Martin Landry, a junior from Pell City, Ala. "The bottom line is that this is a great school. I'm still extremely proud of it, and I do think we have an obligation to help make this right."
Keith Thompson, a Methodist minister who is the college's vice president for institutional advancement, had a similar response.
"This was a bit of a kick in the gut," he said. "Something like this is so contrary to what Birmingham-Southern is about. Still, if we are going to take the credit for the great accomplishments of so many of our alumni, we have to be prepared to take some responsibility for our current students when something like this happens."
On Wednesday, two students, Benjamin N. Moseley and Russell L. DeBusk Jr., both 19, were charged in the fires, which officials said began as a "joke" that spun out of control while the students were deer hunting. A third student arrested, Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20, had attended Birmingham-Southern but is now enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
After the arrests, the president of the college, David Pollick, promised to help rebuild the churches. "We have people contacting each of these churches right now," Dr. Pollick said on Thursday. "The important thing is to be helpful, not cumbersome."
"We do not want to be a mini-FEMA," he added. "We want to use the mechanisms in place, to listen to the churches' needs, and do this right. We don't want to be sending six crates of Hershey bars to Vietnam."
Dr. Pollick said the effort would probably make use of student volunteers. "Or it may be that alumni want to do labor, to drive nails," he said. In order to receive donations, the college said that it had established the "Alabama Churches Rebuilding and Restoration Fund."
Throughout the day, students visited the Norton Campus Center on the manicured campus known as the Hilltop to sign a resolution adopted by the Student Government Association.
The resolution said: "The alleged actions of the individuals linked to these crimes do not represent the values and principles held by the collective Birmingham-Southern College student body." It added that "the student body offers its full support and prayers to all those affected by these crimes."
As students paused to sign the resolution, others at a nearby table talked about the suspects.
"I knew Ben," Chris Stallings, a sophomore from Pell City, said, referring to Mr. Moseley. "He was a really likable guy. Very outgoing and easy to get along with. I can't even capture the feeling I had when I heard that he was arrested. It was eerie. I wondered, 'If Ben is involved, where do we go from here?' "
Mr. Stallings and others worried about how the arrest would affect the reputation of the college.
"Obviously we are associated with this," Jimmy Romines, a sophomore from Decatur, Ala., said. "But they did it. They just happen to go here. I just want people to understand that." Nevertheless, the students said they would probably take part in the effort to aid the churches. Mr. Landry, a musical theater major, said he had performed with Mr. Moseley and Mr. DeBusk in a number of plays.
"They were both important parts of our community — two very talented people," he said. "They were going to play roles in our upcoming production of 'Marley.' Ben was going to play Scrooge."
He added that when a friend told him about the arrests, "You could have heard my jaw hit the floor. I had to ask him twice. I thought he was joking."
Across town, the administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has taken a more neutral stance in responding to the church fires. Mr. Cloyd transferred there from Birmingham-Southern last fall.
"All I can say is that Cloyd is a junior who enrolled at U.A.B. in the fall of 2005 as a transfer student," said Gary Mans, the director of public relations. He said privacy laws barred him from commenting on Mr. Cloyd's current status.
Birmingham-Southern, with 1,500 students, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. U.A.B. is a part of the University of Alabama public university system.
Back in his office on the Hilltop, Dr. Pollick said, "I think the underlying question remains to be answered: 'How did this happen?'
"We didn't expect this to happen to us any more than anybody expected it to happen to them. So this is the most serious question — how could two good students from wonderful families, with such a zest for life, do something so diametrically opposed to their background and this school?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/10/na...=1&oref=slogin

I don't know where these little snots got their sense of humor from, but it sure isn't funny. Honestly I was expecting to see someone with some sort of an agenda guilty of this.

I don't really think this is a much of a debate, but it just irked me when I found out who did this. (not that it was not bothersome before, I had been following it)

How many years does one get, for burning 9 churches?

geela · #2 (**permalink**) 03-10-2006, 06:57 AM

Yeah, it is a horrible crime regardless of the reasons, but at least if the people responsible had a goal that would at least have been something. To know it was simply a "joke" really makes it all the more distasteful.

Arson, regardless of the type of building burned, is a very serious crime. They are going to get a lot of time. I hope they are happy that they wasted their lives over a "joke".

jillindelray · #3 (**permalink**) 03-10-2006, 08:32 AM

it definitely wasn't a joke. one time, maybe. but over and over again supposedly to "cover the trail"???? no way. it is either religious hatred or pyromania. these kids definitely need psychological help.

jsnbean · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2006, 11:13 PM

which officials said began as a "joke" that spun out of control while the students were deer hunting.

Deer hunting leads to "joke" leads to church burning. I'm not following that train of logic at all.

So this is the most serious question — how could two good students from wonderful families, with such a zest for life, do something so diametrically opposed to their background and this school?"

How about this for an idea. They aren't really good students. They just knew really well how to act like ones. Deep down inside they are pathological selfish bastards with no regard to others and they should be locked away for a long time. A lot of people in this world are hypocrites and liers. Lots of kids are abused by parents that act like angels when others are around.

Jilda