Victim of Isla Vista Assault Dies

Gregory Ghan was a homeless RESIDENT of Isla Vista. He was not a "transient".

Our society's chickens are coming home to roost in flocks nearly every time a homeless person is assaulted and/or killed. The media continues to depersonalize homeless people by assigning derogatory and inaccurate terms to describe them.

"Transient" is a derogatory and inflammatory term used to carefully and systematically dehumanize those human beings who fall outside society's preferred socioeconomic strata.

The process is working well. Teenagers and pissed-off young adults have been carefully trained to view the poor, disabled, homeless and generally unattractive people who dare to share a planet with them as being less than human and thus, OK to victimize.

Good job, Independent. Congratulations on throwing in your lot with the News-Suppressed, KEYT, and the rest of the mainstream, establishment media by referring to human beings as "transients".

It's a hard job to con the public into believing these people aren't human and are thus OK to beat up and kill, but it's working!

Haven't we seen this movie before....and didn't it suck the first several times around? Please review your history; this is a re-run.

Good Lord.

1) The Independent has covered this story and scooped the rest, being the first to include the identity of this poor guy. They obviously think this is an important story.

2) I really doubt that when the reporter wrote this story, she thought to herself, "Hey, what's the best way to go out of my way and dehumanize a guy who suffered a terrible, terrible death?" Not many people assume that "transient" is a derogatory term.

3) The mentioning of the fact that Ghan was homeless is entirely relevant to the story. It is highly possible that the person or persons who beat Gregory Ghan thought that they could get away with this because the man is homeless and no one would care or notice. Well, apparently, they were wrong. It's in the news and it's a big enough deal to make Holly here very upset.

4) There is no media cabal. The Indy does not meet with KEYT, the Daily Sound, the News Press and others for coffee in the morning to plot how they will secretly brainwash society. No news publication does this. I'm sure the Indy, like other papers, also has a decent sized staff with employees who have different views. It's not like Welsh, Partridge and Brantingham got with Meagher and said, "We talked about it and we all agreed. Please use the word transient to offend Holly and make people not care about a dead man."

At any rate, I don't see the problem with the word transient. It doesn't make me think less of Ghan, but if it's really that bad of a term, then I'm sure the good people at the Indy can make a note of it in the future without Holly's damnations.

I knew Gregory. Well, I didn't know his name, but I often saw him as I came to work or left my office at SB Neighborhood Clinics in IV. He always had a smile for me and a kind word. His sweet spirit was ever-present. One time he even helped me unlock my office door when I was having trouble with the key. He was a gentleman through and through. I will miss Gregory and the light he brought to his corner of the world in IV. Shame on me for not knowing his name until I read his obituary.

Main Entry:
1tran·sient Listen to the pronunciation of 1transient Listen to the pronunciation of 1transient
Pronunciation:
\-sh(ē-)ənt, -zē-ənt, -sē-; -zhənt, -jənt\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin transeunt-, transiens, present participle of transire to cross, pass by, from trans- + ire to go — more at issue
Date:
1599

1 a: passing especially quickly into and out of existence : transitory <transient beauty> b: passing through or by a place with only a brief stay or sojourn <transient visitors>2: affecting something or producing results beyond itself
— tran·sient·ly adverb
synonyms transient, transitory, ephemeral, momentary, fugitive, fleeting, evanescent mean lasting or staying only a short time. transient applies to what is actually short in its duration or stay <a hotel catering primarily to transient guests>. transitory applies to what is by its nature or essence bound to change, pass, or come to an end <fame in the movies is transitory>. ephemeral implies striking brevity of life or duration <many slang words are ephemeral>. momentary suggests coming and going quickly and therefore being merely a brief interruption of a more enduring state <my feelings of guilt were only momentary>. fugitive and fleeting imply passing so quickly as to make apprehending difficult <let a fugitive smile flit across his face> <fleeting moments of joy>. evanescent suggests a quick vanishing and an airy or fragile quality <the story has an evanescent touch of whimsy that is lost in translation>.

Thanks winegal...could you point out again in the definition where transient means, "a derogatory and inflammatory term used to carefully and systematically dehumanize those human beings who fall outside society's preferred socioeconomic strata." I missed that part. Holly must be looking in a different dictionary.

I love it when people find a need to grandstand to bash others, instead of focusing their energy on more productive things.

Let's look at the real issue of homelessness; substance abuse, mental health and even a desire to beholden to no one.

Transient is the word used by police. Media often parrot cop-speak, rather than having internal discussions in their newsrooms about what terms are appropriate, inappropriate, etc. Thus you have "transient" instead of "homeless resident", "surge" instead of "escalation" or "increase", etc.

I'd encourage newsroom editors and staff to meet at least quarterly to officially re-evaluate their terminology through discussions and brainstorming. This should include inviting in outside sources in various fields to discuss the implications of certain terminology from the perspective of various communities.

Voiceof SB
I sense a bit grandstanding certainly bashing and non positive focusing.
I have read your response on Feb 21 on a relative topic

"I too am disgusted and turned away by the increasing population of homeless individuals and groups loitering on State St. It changes the landscape, feel and comfort of enjoying the commerce our city has to offer. I can no longer take my children for a stroll downtown to enjoy an ice cream cone without being accosted by these transients.

I can appreciate the plight of our veterans and legitimate victims of society, but our community offers help to many of these who simply refuse to take advantage (or refuse to get sober to reap the benefits of) our social services. What I can not understand are the other half, the overwhelming half, of what I call, "Hip to be Homeless". -- VoiceofSB Feb 21

I hope to hear more from you on issues that befall you and your - no make that "our" community. Make of your replies what you wish......I have and ask or perhaps even expect more of "legitimate "non victims" of society" whoever they are?

Yes, I agree with Ruddy. News editors should meet every quarter and discuss etymology so that they can avoid offending the 2% of the population that finds everything offensive...

or they could do the news.

"Transient" is a cop term that's what they put on all my tickets. It is a little humiliating but so is going to jail because you have chosen the wrong place to sleep.
Humiliation is one of the cops tactics to make us try to leave, you see"they" don't want "us" in" there" town.

I think we need a new ministry to teach us proles the words we should and shouldn't use.
Let's call this set of acceptable words newspeak and get rid of this oldspeak which is so offensive.

All of this talk about symantics and terminology is so secondary to the important thing here. Could we focus on the fact that a human called Gregory was here . . . alive and living among us . . . and now he's gone? He was beaten by fellow humans and that is incredibly sad. Could we all just take a moment to honor Gregory's memory? Then you can all get back to your philosophy and politics of language.

If transient means passing through, ephemeral, fleeting, momentary -- then we are all transients. The difference between Gregory Ghan and anyone else is only one of degree and not of kind. And kind means kindness. We are all camping. We do all sorts of things to try to hide this fact, and superimpose appearances of permanency to placate our insecurities. But sooner or later each must face up to the truth.