Silence is cause for anger

I have never been the type to involve myself when it comes to social issues.

I guess I am your average, apathetic Generation Xer, but one day I was listening to KLSX-FM and decided I had to get involved.

Hilary Strickland

The topic was the rape and murder of seven-year-old Sherrice Iverson. Actually, the topic was centered on the young man who had the opportunity to save her life but chose to do nothing.

David Cash Jr.'s failure to stop this heinous crime is just the beginning. He had the audacity to ask Jeremy Strohmeyer (the alleged killer) if she was "wet in the vaginal area," according to grand jury testimony.

The broadcast continued and I learned that Cash was about to begin his sophomore year at UC Berkeley.

The two radio personalities, Tim Conway Jr. and Doug Steckler, were organizing a bus trip to the campus in protest of Cash's attendance at UC Berkeley.

I called the station, got on the air, and about a week later was on a bus destined for Cash's school. The trip lasted about 10 hours.

The diversity of the people on the bus was incredible. People of all different ages, colors and religions came together on behalf of Iverson. There are no words that can express this moving scene.

I had a lot of time to think during my trip. I began to get angry.

I can not imagine what kind of person could just stand by and do nothing while a child is being brutally raped and murdered.

If someone saw a dog get hit by a car, he or she would stop to help. Cash did not think he should have helped, he did not even care.

"The simple fact remains, I don't know this little girl," Cash said in his Nevada grand jury testimony. "I don't know people in Panama or Africa who are killed every day, so I can't feel remorse for them."

The ultimate goal of the protest was to get Cash expelled from school.

At first I thought it could happen, but being a jerk is not against the law. There was no way university officials would kick him out.

My personal goal was to raise awareness, with the hope that this issue would get enough attention from the right people to pass a Good Samaritan Law. I also wanted to let the students know what kind of monster Cash is, and make his life at UC Berkeley a living hell.

I heard on the radio that a few days after the protest, Cash went to a fraternity party. One of the brothers got in his face and ordered him out. He was chased back to his dorm by four or five fraternity guys.

Cash may still be attending UC Berkeley, but he will not be welcome there. If this party is any indication of what is in store for him, maybe Cash will voluntarily withdraw.

Hilary Strickland is a journalism major at CSULB.