In recent months, certain threats have popped up at other universities, including Saint Xavier University, Malcolm X College and Oakland University.

Upon learning this news, my first reaction was one of sickness. Every time I hear about a threat, it disgusts and tires me.

I wanted to know why these threats continue to occur. What could be reasons for them? Does a trend exist?

“Copycat crimes are quite common,” said DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler.

A copycat crime is defined as a crime where “certain aspects of a crime are copied,” Spangler said.

In recent cases, communication of a threat to a university came through graffiti.

“The standard response should not be to cancel classes or events you have going on unless you have some information that something is going to happen,” Spangler said.

This is because it is hard to link something substantial to a certain threat.

With the one-year anniversary of Virginia Tech having just passed, threats are on people’s radars a little more than usual. Any extra attention given to threats can heighten emotion.

The media today have a much greater ability to cover events, and coverage of a single event can make people think that event is more common or possibly more of a risk.

“I wasn’t on campus the day of the shootings at NIU, but I knew almost immediately it was occurring. Turn on the TV; there’s Cole Hall,” assistant sociology professor Kirk Miller said. “I think that makes a big difference on people’s perceptions in terms of the scale of the problem.”

Whatever the reason for writing graffiti – gaining attention, canceling class or closing school for a day – the person making a threat is still trying to accomplish the same thing.

Spangler said that an increased amount of threats coupled with increased media attention could be at the source of this issue.

School violence, unfortunately, isn’t a modern phenomenon, Miller said. The largest attack at a school at an American school was the Bath School Disaster in 1927, where 45 people – mostly children – died and 58 were injured when a disgruntled school board member bombed the one-room school.

“That’s not something people really think about. Everybody thinks this is a really modern phenomenon,” Miller said.

Part of the reason could be an increased amount of thought and attention put on a certain event.

“There are almost 80 people that die every day as a result of gun wounds in the United States,” Miller said.

News coverage is not given to every single one of those people. That may be for various reasons, and probably depends on the time, place and situational circumstances.

Simply, stick together. Unfortunately, these events will happen.

At least there is some rationality and sociology in explaining them. That, for me, at least, can help to cope and move on.