They are everywhere.
Americans sitting along the curb, standing by intersections, hunched over on a step. “Notice me,” they implore. “I am a war veteran, a grandfather, a child. Help.” On occasion a local volunteer group will wander by, offering snacks and conversation. More often than not, they are ignored. They are, of course, the homeless.
There are times when attention of the wrong sort follows those exposed on the street. Violence against the homeless is an act of wanton cruelty, and it’s been on the rise. For the past few years, crime rates have been recorded by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Alarmingly, the perpetrators tend to be young, between 16 and 19 years of age. San Diego is tied, with Los Angeles, as the eighth most dangerous city in the country for the homeless, according to a 2003 report.
At times, it can be difficult to gauge student compassion when troubling events surface around the UCSD community. The “Jackass”-inspired movie “Bumfights” challenges the limits of human cruelty, yet has sold hundreds of thousands of videos through independent distribution. Started by a pair of USC and UCLA graduates in their early 20s, the film depicts homeless people performing stunts, fist fights and acts of self-mutilation — all for a $20 bill, some food or the guarantee of a night spent in a motel. The thriving fan base? High school and college students.
“Bumfights” isn’t a distant phenomenon. A good portion of the scenes in the video were recorded in San Diego and one of the filmmakers, Ryan McPherson, is a San Diego native. This man, who pays others to set their hair on fire and slam their heads into walls for a cheap thrill, is a peer: in education, location and age.
Two Florida teenagers, aged 14 and 18, kicked a homeless man to death last year because “they had nothing better to do.” In San Diego in 2002, off-duty Navy personnel hunted men on the streets with paintball guns for sport; and earlier this year, a 30-year-old man, asleep in a Boston park, was beaten and set on fire by two others. Along with the startling popularity of “Bumfights,” these incidents show an alarming willingness to dehumanize the homeless.
As a student, it is easy to learn tunnel-vision and concentrate solely on college life. Study, class, friends — it can lead to insulation and forgetfulness of the world outside. Fortunately, the same aspects of UCSD that drive students into isolated study packs can also teach on the good morals of empathy and proactive community service.
Thurgood Marshall College offers a minor in public service, with which students can take coursework about community and education, and later serve in internships and as tutors. With 28 units, a student gains not only a minor, but a chance to shape the outside world.
UCSD professional students have also taken steps toward learning more about San Diego — they’ve started the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project. Students from the health fields offer their services pro bono to the underserved of San Diego, and the program, though only 10 years running, has been popular enough to spark an offshoot program for dental needs. Undergraduates are encouraged to commit a year of volunteer service, though popularity on-campus is probably weakened by the program’s off-site locations, which require personal means of transportation. The importance of the program is not in convenience for would-be volunteers, but rather the sheer need for such a service.
In affluent La Jolla, it is easy to lose oneself to the impersonal luster of business complexes and the core commercialism of nearby malls. But UCSD students need to remain alert to the plight of those people outside the bubble of campus. Opportunities abound to reach out to the San Diego community, both its rich and poor, and students ought to take the initiative and lead the way.
