Have you seen the “C” lately? If you’re a member of the popular MSN Messenger service, you must have seen the C since Sunday, March 28. The letter C is usually placed in front of the names of the people who are on the MSN Messenger. Some people put it in brackets, others separate it with a dash but no matter how it is placed-it has only one meaning: Cecilia Zhang.
The tragic discovery of Cecilia Zhang’s remains was first reported on Sunday evening. Within hours, the letter C began to pop up in front of names of people who were logged onto MSN Messenger. The letter C is being placed in front of the login names as a sign of respect for Cecilia.
Vivian Kong, a third year Computer Science student here at U of T found out about the C at around 11:30 pm on Sunday. “When I got back home, I saw everyone on MSN with the C…like I heard the news about Cecilia earlier this evening…and I suspected that was it and so I asked my friend and he told me,” said Kong. Across town, Mark Williams of Ryerson University changed his login name starting at 7:48 pm on Sunday.
The C phenomenon is not only limited to the Toronto area, however. Jason Stornelli, a third-year business student at Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario learned of the phenomenon through a friend. He said, “Lots of people have it on their names here. I decided to put it on mine because I feel terrible for that little girl and her family.”
Cecilia Zhang was kidnapped from a second-floor bedroom at her parent’s home in Toronto on Oct. 19. Her remains were found Sunday night in a remote wooded area in Mississauga. Yesterday would have been Cecilia’s 10th birthday.
Through the word of mouth and instant messages, login names everywhere now begin with a C. However, there is an alternate version where the letter X is used instead of the letter C. But no matter which letter of the alphabet is used, the message is clear: Students everywhere feel for the loss of Cecilia and this is one of the ways they are showing it.
