The Story of Flunking Out
Gulf War Continues to Strike at American Heartland
By Nidal Sakr
ARIZONA LINK: On the morning of October 28, 2002, Robert Stewart Flores burst into offices and classrooms at the University of Arizona, gunning down three of his instructors before taking his own life. Analysts speculated that Mr. Flores was “flunking out” in his studies at the university. The fact that a shooting, which took a total of four lives, was carried out by a student seeking a career in saving lives makes the whole incident even more profoundly indicative. However, blaming the shooting on “flunking out” in a country with an inherently “Flunking Out” educational system, is just another case of burying our heads in the sand. Students “flunk out” all the time. Presidents, governors, senators, congressman, and “all-Americans” flunk out everywhere and every day, but you do not see every person who is flunking out shooting people down. The part of the Arizona story that seems not to have gotten media attention was the following: “Flores was a Gulf War veteran and licensed practical nurse who worked at the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System.” (CBS News, October 29, 2002) See: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/30/national/main527553.shtml Read more
