Letters to the Editor
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The Comment about Lapite Is Absurd
And just exactly where does Leonard get off implying that Lapite is a bigot? I am totally with Won Joon Choe on this one: Lapite made a simple observation, consistent with the facts: The perp is a Korean citizen. He has been in this country for some time but has not adopted US Citizenship. It is perfectly consistent with the facts that this fellow fulfilled the military requirement during a 1 year stint in Korea. And to this observation, Leonard presents the dumbest of rebuttals - "err, well, hes been here since he was 8" - so what? If anybody needs his keys to thar interwebs taken away, it is the fellow who wrote this pathetic round up of an entirely grisly affair.
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VA TECH
The tragedy at VA Tech is NOT a racial issue! God be with all the victims and their families, but also my heartfelt condolences to any person who is Korean. We are ALL hit by this horrific event, and the color or nationality of any one of us does not lessen the pain individually or collectively.
NO NO NO, the common sense of the mind riles! THIS IS NOT A RACIAL ISSUE, LET US RISE ABOVE THE EVIL, and see that it does not become one.
siri
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To Xanthro and the Jigga
"We know nothing about the American intergration of Cho, so we shouldn't be trying to draw conclusion based on his background."
Well, he had a creative writing backgroud, which normally implies a higher level of familiarity with the Western canon. It should imply a level of fluency as well, but based on the short story workshop I'm in right now, I'm not willing to make that a blanket assumption.
"The real mystery is why bloggers aren't attacking the perverse cult of English majors, or "creative" writing. Why are these people even allowed on campus? Eh?"
While, as an actual Creative Writing major (there's a substantive difference in emphasis between English and CW), I'm often led to wonder as well why I was even allowed on campus, I can safely go on a limb and say neither I nor any of my friends have had much urge to shoot 35 people. As for the cult of English: since the discipline is, how to put this politely, non-rigorous, English majors usually end up taking a great number of classes totally outside their field.
That's right. Even in your math class, your econ class, your psych class... the person next to you just might be an English major. Get your tinfoil hat on now, it's not safe out there anymore.
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South Korean military service
From the U.S. Dept. of State website:
Dual Nationality: The Government of the Republic of Korea does not recognize dual citizenship. An individual is a citizen of the Republic of Korea if his or her name appears on the Korean Family Census Register. The Korean Government requires persons with a claim to dual citizenship to choose or reject Korean nationality by December 31 of the year the individual turns 21 years old.
A person’s name is not automatically removed from the Korean Family Census Register simply because he or she is an American citizen. It is the obligation of an American citizen to inform the Korean government of his or her American citizenship for the purposes of removing his or her name from the Korean Family Census Register.
Any male whose name appears on the Korean Family Census Register must fulfill his two-year military obligation unless he has surrendered his Korean nationality before March 30 of the year he turns 18 years old. An American male in this situation must notify Korean authorities of his parents’ immigration status, renounce his Korean citizenship, and remove his name from the Korean Family Census Register. If an American male fails to remove his name from the Korean Family Census Register, Korean authorities may require that he serve in the Korean military if he lives in Korea or visits Korea during conscription age (18 to 35 years of age).
Under a new law that went into effect on May 26, 2005, men who have dual citizenship may be required to serve in the military before they can give up their Korean citizenship. Women are not required to serve in the military.
The new law affects American men of Korean descent in different ways.
A Korean male, who was born in Korea, emigrates to the U.S. and becomes a naturalized American citizen, loses his Korean citizenship and therefore has no military obligations in Korea.
A male who was born in the U.S., whose Korean parents were U.S. citizens at the time of his birth, does not have Korean military obligations.
A male who was born in the U.S., whose name is on the Korean Family Census Register, and whose parents were not American citizens at the time of his birth but immigrated to and live in the U.S., is not obligated to serve in the Korean military if he renounces his Korean citizenship prior to March 30 of the year he turns 18 years of age.
A male who was born in the U.S. and is on the Korean Family Census Register, whose Korean citizen parents lived only temporarily outside Korea, may not renounce his Korean citizenship until he completes his service in the Korean military.
A U.S. citizen male who was born in and lives in Korea and is on the Korean Family Census Register may not renounce his Korean citizenship until he serves in the Korean military.
After fulfilling his military service, a dual national has two years to choose his nationality before he loses his Korean citizenship.
There have been several instances in which young American men of Korean descent — who were born in and lived all of their lives in the United States — arrived in Korea as tourists only to be drafted into the Republic of Korea army. At least two of these cases involved individuals whose names had been recorded on the Korean Family Census Register without their knowledge.
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Gender
24 out of the last 25 school shooters were male (forgot the source but I read it yesterday) and the one that was female only injured another female. So this is an issue of masculinity and violence. Secondarily, mental health and race-specific mental health, because most mentally ill people do not kill people.