Monday, February 22, 2010
The missing clues
Decatur (Ala.) Daily: Harvard educated. A brilliant researcher. Denied tenure twice, once on appeal.
So Amy Bishop, biology professor at The University of Alabama at Huntsville took a handgun into a biology faculty meeting and, police say, killed three people and injured three.
Colleagues said they never saw that violence coming, which is obvious, yet, they characterize her as a social misfit.
Most associates were surprised to learn she killed her brother with blasts from a shotgun in 1986, although Massachusetts officials came to the controversial conclusion the death was an accidental homicide. Police reported at the time that Bishop, 19, fired a shotgun at least three times, hitting her 18-year-old brother in the chest.
Neither did colleagues know authorities questioned Bishop and her husband in a 1993 attempted mail bombing of the home of a Harvard medical professor under whom she studied. The case remains unsolved.
After the Feb. 12 afternoon tragedy, probing into her past uncovered the incidents.
This type of incident often leaves society asking why it happened. In this case, the issue may be how to prevent them in the future.
The personality sketches of Bishop thus far indicate a complex personality that apparently contributed to her not getting tenure and to her not accepting the rejection.
This case raises the question of how closely colleges and universities should screen and evaluate applicants.