So the world has reacted. How about NIU? Reaction was hard to come by.

About half of the people spoken to didn’t know about the conflict. Some had never heard of it, despite its domination of the broadcast airwaves these past weeks.

As can be expected, those who were familiar with the cartoons had opinions ranging across the spectrum. One respondent broke into tears, while others took a more calculated stance, and the rest didn’t see the “big deal.”

Steve SparksJunior, Management Major”I can understand people protesting about it, but I think they were overreacting. It was just supposed to be kind of a political piece of humor and not really supposed to offend people. People took it too seriously.”Maliha BaggiaJunior, Speech Pathology Major”Being an American citizen, how would I like it if somebody defaced Martin Luther King? I am Muslim. The thing is, religious depictions have been significantly different between the east and the west. If you look at any Islamic religion, you don’t have a picture of anything. You don’t make pictures of faces because you can’t recreate God’s creation.”Hussain AbdulhussainSenior, Biology Major”I think obviously the cartoons are offensive. I am Muslim myself. It’s very childish, and not much thought went into making them. Obviously the protestors are wrong. Violence doesn’t solve anything, it doesn’t mean anything. You’re harming people that haven’t done anything to you. Economic protesting is maybe a better way to do it.”Dawn WhitlockJunior, Visual Communication Major”Every artist has a right to say whatever he wants, but everyone has a right to then think it’s wrong. But of course, if people are dying, then that’s too much for a cartoon.”Kevin TylerJunior, Computer Science Major”I do think free speech is important and the ability to say what you got to say is important. But they were not in good taste. I don’t exactly know what the guy was trying to get at.”

Photos by: Jeni Lodolce