There is an inaccuracy of fact regarding the murder of Uri Sellers in Sara Ziegler’s otherwise superb Veishea column of Oct. 20. It states: “Two ruffians from Fort Dodge … started the fight that ended with Sellers’ death.”

Well, no. Sellers, a fairly large athlete, and a dozen drunken buddies reportedly started the conflict by terrorizing partiers who were smaller and traveled in smaller packs.

Runyan’s retrieval of his pocketknife from his car made him a murderer. The law on self-defense states that if someone has threatened to attack you on sight, you must avoid him, even if you must walk around the block or leave a friend in a crowd. Had he had the knife on him during their first encounter, the homicide might have been called justifiable.

Because of the tragedy of the killing and from the sympathy for Sellers’ loved ones, we don’t like to mention that Sellers instigated the fight that led to his own murder. But these days, there are important lessons to be learned from the fact for anyone participating in such uncontrolled parties.

Young people who are bullied by jocks can’t respond with equal force. One kid can’t stand up to his high school football team in a fistfight. They either suffer and cower and privately hate or like Runyan, they pick up an equalizer and use disproportionate force.

As we saw so horribly at Columbine, this is a path to tragedy for all concerned. To keep our campus safe, we must do everything possible to prevent such senseless deaths. This includes making rowdy young drunks aware of the possible consequences of randomly assaulting and threatening others.

Wendy Applequist

Graduate student

Botany