OPINION
9A
MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Morbid Web site 'collects' friends
Tyler Doehring
Mydeathspace.com is a Web site dedicated to collecting the Mypace sites of people who have died. It also links news stories and obituaries of the person's death if it was newsworthy enough. The site's purpose is for people to pay their respects by leaving notes in each site's comments area.
Having a Myspace means your life is an open book — even when you're six feet under. Now, people can still look at the skeletons in your Myspace closet.
Mike Patterson, the creator of the site, said in an interview with The New Tribune, that he started the site "to show that teens aren't invincible and that the consequences for not using their heads don't just affect themselves, but friends and family members as well."
Teens aren't the only people featured in the site, though. At a random viewing, there was a 39-year-old, a 49-year-old, a 34-year-old and countless others in their mid- to upper-thirties.
The deaths are almost all of "newsworthy" traits. Suicides, freak accidents and car accidents are a dime a dozen. I wonder if being morbidly fascinated about a stranger's death is making a difference in the world.
A map of the U.S. is also on the site and shows the most recent deaths around the country. How convenient.
Map showing the most recent members of mydeathspace.com
Thankfully, the Web site has proved there is still some humanity left in the world. Patterson receives 75 percent hate mail and 25 percent fan mail. I hope by the time the site suffers its own demise, hate mail is at least in the 90th percentile.
Source: mydeathspace.com/map/
by the first amendment in his crusade of warning young adults. If Patterson is protected in expressing his opinion about displaying to the world certain people's deaths, shouldn't the user who posted the "Teen dies..." comment also be protected?
The site can be a tool for expressing words that weren't expressed on the physical earth. The comments, though, can be filled with love or filled with hate. One comment from one user said, "Teen dies while trying to revive a cellphone ... I just had to laugh out loud."
Patterson says he is protected
No, it was removed from the site. Not before, I'm sure, thousands of other visitors viewed the comment.
I guess it's at Patterson's discretion to decide what's appropriate in the cyber world.
I'll leave you with a comment that one user said about a man who died while taking part in a cupcake eating competition. "I shall cringe in advance for offending anyone. Millions of fat girls a year can do this, but one drunk man chokes and dies? How the hell? How dense were the cuppycakes? Thick icing? I mean come on, it's cake. Even children on their first birthday can handle a huge mouthful. So sorry for the family though."
The user said he did feel sorry for the family, but he also injected some humor into his comment.
Worth removal on the site? Check out *mydeathspace.com* and decide
for yourself. And think about if you died in an accident, would you want to be compared to "millions of fat girls" by a stranger?
I didn't think so.
Hirschfeld is a Augusta junior in journalism.
COMMENTARY
Summer music festivals not solely for hazy-eyed
A marmot with an attitude may have declared that winter is here to stay, but I can smell spring just around the corner. The coming thaw and the budding trees can only mean one thing.
Festival season is on its way!
The overpowering aromas of unshaven armpits and well-trodden grass are already flooding my nostrils.
For those still a bit wary of the otherworldly experience that is festival life, this may be the year to
broaden your musical horizons.
Discovery is half of the fun of these events, not only in a musical sense but the pilgrimage to the festival grounds can be an experience in itself.
Music festivals do just that, they allow you to see the bands that you love and expose yourself to new acts that may just melt your metaphorical face off.
A road trip, however far, provides a rare opportunity to see all the great land that's in between point A and point B that so often gets overlooked as our crotches are checked for weaponry in airport security lines.
There are many who still think that festival-goers are solely composed of barefoot hippies and lotseaters.
The festival crowd has grown
This is a fallacy.
Then of course there are the more well known events like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Coachella, which offer some of the big name head liners. Not to mention a new breed of festivals that have sprung up with some surprisingly great line-ups.
Nowadays, there is a festival for almost anyone. For example, Jewlicious Festival 4.0, described as "a mind-expanding Jewish culture fun fest." Or if you're a bit less secular how about Tubeapaloozza Music and Sled festival in Callc, Idaho?
increasingly diverse as the years have passed and you are liable to find any type of person you can imagine baking in the summertime sun.
Take the All Points West Fest in New York City for example, which is being headlined by Radiohead for an unprecedented two days.
Far and wide, big and small, you name it. We have festivals galore.
Of all the Festivals I have mentioned there is one you should care about more than any.
The Wakarusa music and camping festival takes place in our very own town and boasts one of the most impressive lineups year after year.
By going to this event you're not only supporting a piece of Kansas culture — you may just see a side of Lawrence you never knew existed.
This summer they top it off with The Flaming Lips and Cake, along with a host of other great acts.
Before you write-off the festival scene as a just a romp in the woods for hazy-eyed strangers check again, you may just find the festival that was meant for you.
Lerman is a Highland Park, Ill., sophomore in journalism.
music festivals
Bonnaroo
Manchester, Tenn.
June 12-15
Lollapalooza
Chicago
Aug. 1-3
Coachella
Indio, Calif.
April 25-27
10,000 Lakes
Festival Detroit Lakes, Mich. July 23-26
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