The Aug. 30 headline in The Daily Collegian read: "Kulp's prison suicide raises questions." Next headline, "Students welcome Hooters."

Think for a moment what this means about our society. We are all human. We are different because our biological backgrounds are different and our environments are different. It's like a chemistry set. Any one ingredient out of one hundred can make the outcome completely different.

Imagine a young man who is suffering from depression and alcohol abuse. He enters an environment that values drinking for the sake of getting drunk, and that condones women objectifying themselves on a daily basis. What do you think might happen? I think you know. We are confronted with issues every day that change us either positively or negatively.

How many 18 year-olds do you know that have enough life experience to be able to filter things out of their environment that might negatively affect their psyches?

I don't know any. As members in a society where pretty much everything that you are exposed to is out of your control, you must learn. You must learn to ignore things that are harmful to you as an individual and it is your responsibility to share information about the harm with others. Next time it could be someone you know. At some point, it could be your own child.