34 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 22, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
34 The Queens Courier • MARCH 22, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com
THE QUEENS
editorial
sun
WWW.COURIERSUN.COM
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
CONTROLLER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
KATRINA MEDOFF, RYAN KELLEY, ANGELA MATUA
SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
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STORY: Bomb scare in Astoria was a false alarm as cops fi nd a pot of
spaghetti instead
SUMMARY: Cops fl ooded a Mobile Gas Station at 21st Street and
Broadway on March 12 after someone spotted a pressure cooker
near a fuel pump in Astoria — but the device turned out to be full of
spaghetti.
REACH: 13,179 people (as of 3/19/18)
This is why they walked out
We couldn’t help but notice the social media response to our March 14 articles
about the National Student Walkout in Queens.
For the most part, many readers applauded the students’ activism, but there
were plenty of rather vocal cynics and critics who disparaged the students;
questioned their participation; and suggested that they didn’t even know
what the kids were protesting about.
Th e next day, March 15, Forest Hills High School was in lockdown for two
hours over a shooting threat that turned out to be false. QNS broke the story,
and the social media response was markedly diff erent.
Th ere were comments of concern and outrage that something like this
could happen here. Aft er the lockdown ended, there was relief that no one
was injured, and the threat turned out to be a sick hoax.
If you’re not a high school student now, try to imagine yourself locked in a
classroom for a couple hours with other terrifi ed people, huddled in a corner
or under desks, away from windows or doors, because there might be some
gunman with evil intentions walking around the building, looking to kill.
Th ink about those teachers, too, and what must have gone through their
heads. If a gun-toting predator walked through their doors, they would be
the fi rst ones to step between the kids and the gunman — ready to sacrifi ce
it all to protect them.
Th at’s not overreaction or hyperbole. Th at’s our reality now.
Mass shootings happen so oft en in America that every school has to go
through lockdown drills to be as prepared for a mass shooter as possible.
We’ve heard these drills compared to the old “duck-and-cover” drills that
occurred in American schools at the height of the Cold War, when the United
States lived under the daily threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
Today, however, we live under the daily threat of one of our fellow
Americans, armed with a military-grade assault weapon, walking into a
school, a church, a movie theater, a concert venue or any other public place,
and mowing down scores of people at random.
Is this any way for our nation to live?
Is this really the kind of nation we want for our kids? Our grandkids? Th eir
grandkids?
Maybe the cynics don’t mind, but our youth has had it. Th ey want gun violence
and the culture of fear ended. Th ose are neither unreasonable requests
nor impossible goals.
Th at’s why they walked out of class last week, and why they’ll hit the streets
across the country again during the March for Our Lives on March 24.
We adults have failed them; now the kids are taking action demanding that
we fi nally get off our butts and do something to stop gun violence.
It’s time for all of us to follow their lead.
Publisher & E ditor Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Co-Publisher Joshua A. Schneps
Associate Publisher Bob Brennan
E ditor-In-Chief Robert Pozarycki
VP, Events, Web & Social Media Amy Amato-Sanchez
Art Director Nirmal Singh
S ocial Media Manager Emily Davenport
S taff Reporters Katrina Medoff, Ryan Kelly, Angela Matua
Suzanne Monteverdi
Contributing Reporters Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni
Assistant to Publisher Deborah Cusick
Classified Manager Celeste Alamin
Controller Maria Valencia
President & CEO Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Vice President Joshua A. Schneps
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Courier Sun
All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation,
indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by
the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within five days of publication. Ad position
cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication.
VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes
all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Courier SUN and its
employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the
publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
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