While her story gained worldwide attention, the world wondered: who could have wanted to kill such a kind-hearted, hard-working young woman?

Over a month passed since Pressly’s death, and the police had not named any suspects nor possible motives for the murder, only stating that they believed it was a robbery gone bad. But on November 26th, police in Little Rock arrested 28-year-old Curtis Lavelle Vance for the beating death of Anne Pressly. They did not disclose what led them to arresting Vance, only stating police would have to remain “very tightlipped” before trial.

Then Pressly’s parents, Patti and Guy Cannady emerged on television with riveting new details about the case. Yesterday they appeared on The Today Show stating that there was evidence of their daughter being sexually assaulted during the beating, and furthermore that she broke her hand trying to fight off her attacker. They shared gruesome details about Pressly’s physical condition, including that “every bone in her face was broken,” and immediately condemned Vance as her killer. Mrs. Cannady said that Vance is a “monster [who] stole my daughter’s innocence. He took her life,” while Mr. Cannady added, “I think he could have been a stalker.”

With such a sudden surge in developments in Pressly’s case, many questions arise not only regarding the events themselves, but the media surrounding them. What led the Little Rock police to the arrest of Curtis Vance? Could Pressly’s murder really have been a robbery-gone-awry, or was Vance a crazed stalker? And, perhaps most alarmingly, why are the police keeping so mum about the case while Anne’s family is revealing so much? Doesn’t this present a conflict of interest?

Some specifc details about the case are cause for suspicion. Little Rock police confirm that Vance is also being charged in the rape of an Arkansas schoolteacher last April. If it is true that Pressly was also raped, it seems unlikely that her death was merely the result of a random robbery, particularly if Vance has a history of sexual assault. And Pressly’s mother revealed on The Today Show that she drove to her daughter’s home at 4:30 am October 20th immediately after Anne did not respond to her morning wake-up call. While it may seem circumstantial, why would Mrs. Cannady immediately suspect something had gone wrong and drive over to her daughter’s home so early in the morning if she didn’t respond to a phone call? Maybe she was still sleeping?

Was there any reason for her to believe Anne would be incapacitated?

We may never get the answers we want regarding this case, but one thing is for sure: when there’s a murder in the media, it becomes much more difficult for the media to address the murder.

I admit to not putting 100% into my academic efforts in college, but that was because I didn’t need to. I was writing papers with a buzz on and taking finals hungover, and still made Dean’s List. I knew that grad school would be different though, and I fully intended on being a legitimate scholar.

If you are considering grad school, you are probably doing very well in school. By senior year, you’re probably breaking the curves and tutoring your friends. You probably stand out in class for having thoughtful ideas and a firm grasp of the subject matter. Newsflash: Everyone in Grad School has gotten used to being a star scholar.

Often, PhD students and MA students will be mixed into classes together. I went from taking Shakespeare classes with business majors who didn’t know the definition of “iambic pentameter” to listening to a PhD debate over which folio edition was most likely the Bard’s original manuscript. WTF? My thoughts exactly.

Because college often mixes students of all different academic backgrounds, there’s a lot of information that slips through the cracks, even in a university setting. There were certain things that other MA students took for granted that I’d never been taught. A lot of research methods that PhD students had been using for years were completely alien to me. Even more embarrassing (for an English major, especially): I’d never written an abstract. Of course, writing an abstract was one of my first assignments in grad school.

I spent longer writing my first two-page abstract (a response to a critical article by one of the most renowned Shakespeare scholars in academia) than I did writing a ten-page research paper in college. Imagine my disdain when I received a “check minus” and a “Please Revise” comment on the damn thing. My professors in undergrad had always complimented my writing style, but my graduate professor tore apart my abstract. Comments like “wordy,” “colloquial,” and “strive for active verbs” littered the piece that I’d struggled with for hours.

As I continued through the semester, I continued to be disappointed with myself time and again. I ended up rewriting almost every abstract I wrote for my graduate Shakespeare class, and even my revisions usually didn’t get a higher mark than a “check.” Once a straight “A” student, I got a “C” on an easy response activity because I had two grammatical errors that involved a comma and a semi-colon. I had research paper proposals torn to shreds, and I was told to completely redo entire assignments for various reasons.

Of course, by the end of my grad school career, I was working with the same professor who had given me my first “check minus.” As my thesis advisor, she constantly reassured me that my writing style had become more polished, and the rest of my committee also complimented my word choice and tone. In the end, I stuck it out, and I improved, but it was never easy to handle harsh criticism and see my work take such a beating.

I’m not going to tell you that I finished grad school without a considerable amount of tears, rage, and near-nervous breakdowns. Still, I completed the degree and expanded my knowledge of English literature. Looking back, I think I may have been too sensitive to the negative feedback I received time and again, but that just goes to show that grad school isn’t for everyone. If you are planning on moving on, I suggest you grow a thick skin and check your ego at the door.

You know, I can understand being an angst ridden teenager. I can also understand being angry with someone who might have been provoking me on a social networking site-like Myspace. On top of that, I can understand being jealous of all of the totally rad videos on YouTube that get tons of plays and I can relate to the desire to create something that becomes incredibly popular.

BUT, beating the sh*t out of a cheerleader in your class who MIGHT have been (nothing has been proven) provoking you on Myspace is NOT COOL.

Eight teenage girls in Florida recently did something so disgusting that even angry outcasts would have cringe. They lured Victoria Lindsey, a pretty cheerleader, back to one of their homes. They had a video camera set up and then they proceeded to beat her for 35 minutes. They beat her so terribly that she was knocked unconscious and then dragged off into a car. Once in the car, she was driven to a second location and told that if she ran to the police… she would receive an even worse beating.

All eight teens have been arrested, and thank god that they have because this is some really gross horse sh*t.

I don’t care how angry you are at someone else. I don’t care how pissed you are that someone left a nasty comment about you on your Myspace page. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, excuses this kind of animal behavior.

I’ve been thoroughly sickened by this story ever since I heard about it a few days ago and the nausea is spreading like wildfire, but I don’t think it’s fair to blame Myspace or YouTube for this. These girls are just bratty kids who wanted to beat the hell out of someone and doing it for the world via video was the icing on the cake. Tons of people out there use Myspace for the right reasons. Tons of people out there who want popular videos on YouTube just videotape their kid…laughing…or something.

THIS video, however, is embarrassing and gross.

What do you think about how these girls behaved? How do you feel about the fact that they used YouTube to exploit this horrific act?