Lessons Learned from Annie Le

September 18, 2009     Posted in News, Reality

annie le


By Hillary

If you’ve read any news blogs or even watched a televised newscast in the last week and a half, chances are that you’ve heard the tragic story of Annie Le, the Yale grad student who disappeared ten days ago. Her body was found hidden inside a wall at the building where she worked last Sunday—which was to have been her wedding day. Now a lab technician named Raymond Clark has been charged with Annie’s murder.

This whole saga has been unbelievably upsetting and awful, and our hearts go out to Annie’s family and her fiancé. It’s also spurred a lot of interesting discussion about safety on college campuses—and why the media is curiously fascinated by crimes that occur on Ivy League campuses.

Slate editor Jack Shafer observes that the New York Times has written five stories about Annie’s case so far, while the Boston Globe has run at least six. A quick search shows that CNN.com has a whopping 14 stories about the murder. The media frenzy has been so… well, frenzied that an NBC producer was trampled when journalists and camera-people rushed to speak to a New Haven police spokesman on Tuesday.

This isn’t surprising—as Shafer also notes, “The press has long thrived on Harvard and Yale murder.” Any crime or scandal that happens at one of those two schools is basically guaranteed to be exhaustively analyzed by major media outlets—think of the 1998 murder of Yale senior Suzanne Jovin or even the 2006 plagiarism accusations lobbed at Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan.

But the same rule doesn’t apply to state schools and small colleges, where criminal incidents have to be pretty major to get national coverage. Why? Well, simply put, elite newspapers and magazines care about what’s happening at elite universities. And less erudite periodicals (read: trashy tabloids) love to sink their teeth into stories that prove bad things can happen even at America’s snootiest, most prestigious schools.

There are tons of problems with this model—it promotes the idea that students at schools with lower acceptance rates somehow matter more than everyone else, and it heaps unwarranted scrutiny on people who definitely have bigger things to worry about.

Even so, maybe the continual coverage of Annie’s death will lead to some good if it spurs female college students to start making a greater effort to stay safe. Yes, Annie was probably killed by someone who knew her inside of a supposedly secure building, but what happened to her can still serve as a reminder that all of us regularly engage in risky behavior: going out and getting too drunk, taking public transportation or walking home late at night, even forgetting to lock the door or leaving the window open if your room is on a low floor. Ironically enough, in February, Annie wrote a piece entitled “Crime and Safety in New Haven” for a Yale magazine. We’d all do well to try following her advice.

15 Comments on "Lessons Learned from Annie Le"

  1. Emily says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 200912:46 pm 

    It is very true that the media is focused on murders at bigger schools. A girl was brutally strangled and stabbed to death at my college back in the spring, and it got a bit of coverage in major cities, and definitely all over the television stations around my area, but that was about it. My college is tiny though (albeit still a little prestigious, I guess) so it died down really quickly.

  2. Katya says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 20091:28 pm 

    How about VIRGINIA TECH? Every single time something happens at my school it is guaranteed to get coverage by the major media outlets because of April 16th. And it is not what is traditionally considered a "prestigious" school.

  3. Sara says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 20094:07 pm 

    When a person at my school died in a car crash, there was no media whatsoever. He died 100 yards away from the fire station and they took over 45 mminutes to walk out of the fire station and come to his aide. I have my thoughts as to why this happened, but don't really feel comfortable telling them here. It just seems certain schools don't get the same coverage as the larger or more well known schools do…

  4. El says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 20094:18 pm 

    Yeah I go to Virginia Tech too. I think the media covers us more now because of April 16th though… If that hadn't happened then we'd probably be off the radar- even though we've had a couple deaths since then.

  5. Star says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 20095:26 pm 

    Valid points but it doesn’t really matter. If someone wants to harm you, they’re probably going to. It’s better to learn how to fight back. Also, I hate how the media (not this article, but the news articles) are saying things like how her “work attitude may have played a role in her killing.” They always find a way to blame the victim even while they’re saying how terrible it is. And why do they keep bringing up the fact that she wrote a piece about staying safe? It sounds like they’re saying either “If she had followed her own advice this wouldn’t have happened” or that “She’s an idiot for thinking she can stay safe.” Either way it’s terrible.

  6. melanie says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 20099:09 pm 

    Who the fuck actually cares about this case? If the girl isn't attractive and white, they media doesn't give a shit. It is always that way. Whenever there is a missing person that gets a lot of press or a murder, it is always an attractive white girl. Piece of shit media. I know one thing. I don't give a fuck about this case. What else is new? Some rich spoiled bitch at a $50,000 a year school gets killed. Big deal. What about all the people who get killed that aren't going to Yale??? The media doesn't give a shit about them. Why should anyone give a shit about this case???? What a bunch of bullshit. Fuck you media.

  7. Winnie says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 200910:11 pm 

    Melanie- "Whenever there is a missing person that gets a lot of press or a murder, it is always an attractive white girl."

    Um, Annie isn't White. Just thought I'd clear that up for you.

  8. D. says:
    Fri, 18th Sep 200911:01 pm 

    Melanie, how the fuck would you know if she was spoiled? If you don't care, then how about you just don't read articles about her? Jeez, some people.

  9. coco says:
    Sat, 19th Sep 200912:51 am 

    Melanie,

    Wow. It seems you are poorly informed. Annie Le was the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. Also, it hardly seems as though she was a "rich, spoiled bitch." This girl was very bright and obviously worked hard to achieve her goals. It is devastating to have lost someone with such a promising future. Annie wanted her work to help sick people around the world, but now no one can benefit from her potential contributions. Annie did not deserve her fate. I hope her killer rots in jail.

  10. Yale11 says:
    Sun, 20th Sep 20094:02 pm 

    I'm an undergrad at Yale. This post is fucking inane, and misses the point. A young woman was murdered. Given the context, maybe you should focus less on the "problem" of the Ivy League's overexposure in the media and more on the problems of workplace violence and campus security.

  11. Faith says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20095:11 am 

    WOW… I would watch my back, if ever near that “Melanie” (from the post above).!! What a COLD COLD Heart – or – Do you even have a Heart at All.?? First of all – Pull Your Head Out, Annie was Not “White” & I am SURE the Last Thing on Hers or Her Family’s mind was: I wonder How Much Media Coverage do you think Annie’s Murder would draw!?! Wonder if there would be More Coverage, since she attends “Yale”..!?! ‘YOU’ are “Sick & Wrong”, ‘YOU’ sound like the “Spoiled Rich Kid” who is Jealous that “YOU” are not in the Limelight! By the Tone & the EVIL EVIL words used, I am to assume that “YOU” are the “Casey Anthony TYPE”…. “YOU” would Also ‘Enjoy the Hell out of the Lime Light, being “The Star”… UNTIL you Dont Get YOUR WAY & are Unable to go out to ‘Play’(Some More)!! NOT an Ounce of HUMANE EMOTION in regards to the Life LOST, ONLY about YOUR SelfLess Self! SERIOUSLY!??? Are You HONESTLY THAT Low.? “YOU” Truly Need Some Serious HELP, for your Mental Disorder! KEEP YOUR ABUSIVE TALK TO YO-SELF! LEAVE THAT POOR FAMILY ALONE, THEY HAVE ENOUGH PAIN WITHOUT CRAP LIKE YOU WROTE – DEEPENING THEIR WOUNDS!! NOBODY!!! ‘Deserves to Die’ at the hand of Another ~ (NO MATTER Where it took Place)!! I Hope YOU get the HELP you Need, BEFORE “YOU” Decide to ‘Act Out’ vs ‘Speaking Out’ with Your SICK & CRUEL Words!!! Put Yourself into Annie’s Family’s Position… Would YOU Give a Flying F*** then?? Do you ALSO HATE Your Own Family Memebers, the way You HATE All Others on this Earth?? I doubt it, Sounds like YOU think you are the ONLY “Perfect” Person on this Earth.?! Sorry to Pop Your Bubble; Their are NO ‘Perfect People’… BUT IF there were Any, they would NOT be Writing/Thinking/Speaking – ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT YOU DID!!! My Heart goes out to Annie Le’s LOVED ONES! I HOPE her Murderer SUFFER’s to the MAX!! Unfortunately, There is NOTHING that would “HURT” someone like that! Death is Too Good & Too Easy, Cut his Balls Off & his Little Weiner… A Little Chunk Every Day!! **Be Sure to Rinse him with Rubbing Alcohol after each slice, wouldnt want an Infection to take over the Task at Hand!** HE has Earned some “SPECIAL” Treatment… GIVE IT TO HIM GOOD!!

  12. oobunillaoo says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20098:34 am 

    faith, you may have had a point but it's impossible to read…

  13. Mel says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20098:26 pm 

    @ Katya: that's why Hillary said that state schools would have to have a problem "where criminal incidents have to be pretty major to get national coverage."

    @ Melanie: I'm ashamed to share a name with you. u_u Just saying.

    @ Faith: I completely agree with oobunillaoo.

  14. melanie says:
    Fri, 25th Sep 200912:07 am 

    i love black dicks

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