Gone but not long forgotten

It started almost three years ago, with IU student Benjamin Smith.\nSmith began a shooting spree that started in Chicago and ended in Salem, Ill., when he shot himself during a high-speed chase on Interstate 57. \nIn the three days between July 2 and July 4 of 1999, Smith murdered two men and wounded nine others. Among the slain were former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong and IU student Won-Joon Yoon.\nThis year, to mark the anniversary of Yoon's death, the IU Korean Student Association will place a memorial at the Korean United Methodist Church, where Yoon was killed.\n"There was no service last year in his memory," said Rev. Byung Chil Hahn, pastor of the Korean United Methodist Church. "This year, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon will be here."\nThe IUKSA and the church are both anticipating a large turnout. In a press release sent out by the IUKSA, the association shares its hopes that the University and the community will gather together.\n"We know the late Yoon should be remembered, and that the spirit of unity we shared should be maintained," said Kyoungsun Heo, IUKSA general affairs director. "This is the reason why we are going to hold a memorial service for the late Won-Joon Yoon on July 4th, from 11 a.m. to noon. At the end of the service, we will dedicate a small memorial monument."\nThe crime that claimed Yoon's life was a hate-crime against minorities. Smith was an active member of the World Church of the Creator, an organization that believes strongly in white supremacy. \nThe IUKSA feels the Bloomington and IU communities have become better places to live, but fears that the tragedy of Yoon's death will be forgotten. It's through fear of having to live those mistakes that are forgotten that prompts the association to erect the new monument.\n"There's a place for a respect, a place for memory and a time to move on," recent IU grad Carrie Cline said. "It was an awful thing that he died, but I think there are other ways to remember him. I think the scholarship they created in his honor is a more productive memorial."\nOther students think the memorial is a helpful reminder.\n"It's a tragedy, what happened to Won-Joon Yoon," senior Jimmy Levi said. "The University and the town should get together, because he was a part of both."\nSenior Jonathan Olen feels it was no one's fault in particular for what happened on July 4, 1999.\n"The actions of the community aren't to blame," Olen said. "But I think it's only through the actions of the community that we can heal."\nThe IUKSA is accepting donations, the proceeds of which will be used in the dedication of the monument to Yoon. Any donations can be sent by check or money order to: Yongkuk Chung, 228 Campus View, Bloomington, IN 47408.