Adair: Taking the VT massacre personally
By Jeff Adair/Daily News columnist
GHS
Fri Apr 20, 2007, 12:19 AM EDT
The responses seemed strange. A legislator in Washington, a student in Oklahoma, an insurance company owner in San Diego, and a government official and many others a continent away.
This week, all felt the need to apologize. But they didn't do anything wrong, so why apologize? They all happen to be of Korean ancestry, like the Virginia Tech gunman, Cho Seung-Hui.
"It hurts me deeply," Paull Shin, an orphan adopted by an American after the Korean War, and now a state senator in Washington, told his colleagues Wednesday. "This is not the way to pay back the blessings we received."
"As a people, we take a certain amount of shame even though we didn't know this guy," said a co-organizer of a candlelight vigil in San Diego.
"I think there's a lot of closed-minded people and people would automatically associate his actions with his race," Naht Nguyen, an Oklahoma City Community College student told the school newspaper.
It seemed strange.
Then of course, it's not new. I'm sure right after the Oklahoma City bombing, when initial reports pointed to a Middle Eastern man, those of that ancestry felt the same. I'm sure right after 9-11, Arab-Americans felt society was blaming them.
Strange, isn't it?
Not really. Not for those of us so-called minorities. The D.C. sniper attacks and the Carol Dimaiti Stuart murder in 1989 (police were looking for a black man, but later discovered her husband was the culprit) are two examples that stand in my mind. The minute the crimes hit the media, I said to myself, "I hope it's not a black man."
Maybe we're paranoid. "Everyone's looking at us," we say.
Maybe we grow tired of the stereotypes. We don't want to hear the critical, often wrong analysis of our communities.
Maybe we see a double standard, as Mercury News writer L.A. Chung put it in a column this week, "I can't say I know a single white male who read about Jeffrey Dahmer's serial killing and thought, 'Oh, no, another white guy' - FBI criminal personality profiles notwithstanding."
Dr. Kermit Crawford, a clinical psychologist and professor, told me that as recently as January, he felt the same way, crossing his fingers, hoping that the fatal stabbing at Lincoln-Sudbury High was not committed by a black person.
The director of the Center for Multicultural Health at Boston University, Crawford said such feelings are rational in the sense that we all take ownership for our culture, whether we want to or not.
That's not to say people should feel guilty, he said.
He said in discussions with many people the past few days, including some who are Korean, it seems there's more of a collective fear, than collective guilt.
"The greater concern is that there might be retaliation," he said. "There's a fear of them being blamed because they are Korean or Asian."
The information from the Virginia Tech case points to Cho Seung-Hui as a very disturbed student, to put it mildly. Therefore, in my opinion every right thinking person should agree with Crawford that race had nothing to do with it.
"Some people are sick," he said. "Some are just evil."
Still, the apologies are made. According to Time.com, South Korea's Ambassador to the U.S., Lee Tae Shik, pledged to fast for 32 days to show his sorrow.
That seems strange. Doesn't it?
Jeff Adair is a Daily News writer and editor. He can be reached at jadair@cnc.com.
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Original Source: Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
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Jeff Adair / The MetroWest Daily News
2007-06-01
Brent Jesiek
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Students mourn, talk about safety after Va. Tech shootings
By Dawn Witlin/Chronicle Staff
Cambridge Chronicle
Thu Apr 19, 2007, 01:30 PM EDT
Cambridge -
While some MIT students mourned the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings at a Wednesday prayer service, others reflected upon campus safety.
A gunman, identified as student Cho Seung-Hui, opened fire on classrooms and a dormitory at Virginia Tech Monday, killing as least 30 students and professors.
"I think it's pretty safe here," said MIT student and Virginia native Mariam Candid. "You would never imagine it would happen at any universities. I have friends that go there who lost friends and I am just trying to be there to help out."
<a href="http://blogs.townonline.com/cambridge/?p=4981">Cantabrigia blog: What do you think?</a>
The prayer service was held at the MIT chapel, where the institute's Chaplain Robert Randolph read the names of the dead as mourners lined up to light a single candle in their memory.
"It's very saddening and scary, that seems to be the case for everyone," said MIT freshman Christine Bognet. "We're all just trying to keep our heads up...life has to go on."
Harvard and MIT officials said they're prepared for a disaster similar to what happened at Virginia Tech last week.
Although Joe Wrinn, spokesman for Harvard University, would not comment on security protocol, he said there are many tools at the disposal of Harvard Police.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etCWbT6bPRM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etCWbT6bPRM</a>
"For obvious reasons, we do not comment on security details, if security details were known it would compromise security efforts," said Wrinn. "I can tell you that there are many tools that would be used in the case of a major emergency."
Wrinn said Harvard students have access to emergency information through a 24-hour phone number, 617-496-NEWS.
"You have reached four-nine-six news, Harvard's weather emergency and special conditions phone line," said the message left Thursday. "There are no special conditions to report today."
Another tool used by Harvard to notify students of an emergency is blast e-mails and voicemails, sent to all students in case of a major emergency.
"We've done that a couple of times with a campus announcement or a message from the dean," said Wrinn. "The houses have listservs and e-mail networks ... a housemaster at Harvard can communicate directly to students."
Patty Richards, spokesman for MIT, also wouldn't release the details of the campus security methods, but said there are a myriad of tactics for reaching students during an emergency.
"We have very comprehensive emergency plans; we've always had them for any kind of emergency," said Richards. "We have plans for just about every situation, even working on the pandemic flu."
Richards said MIT Police, along with the school's department of environmental health and safety, facilities and staff, all work in tandem during an emergency.
"I've heard discussions among them that people have been looking at those [emergency] plans in light of what happened in Virginia," said Richards. "Kind of like, what can we learn from this?"
A service for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings was also held at Harvard University's Memorial Church Thursday evening.
<i>- dwitlin@cnc.com</i>
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Original Source: Cambridge Chronicle
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Dawn Witlin / Cambridge Chronicle Staff
2007-06-01
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Local colleges look at own safety plans
By John Hilliard/Daily News staff
GHS
Wed Apr 18, 2007, 12:07 AM EDT
After Monday's Virginia Tech massacre, several area colleges and police departments expect to take a closer look at their plans to grapple with a future emergency.
"It's safe to say over the next few days every college around the country will be reviewing their current (safety) procedures," said Peter Chisholm, spokesman for Framingham State College. "We will review what we have in place."
Framingham and FSC police coordinate on training, he said.
In an e-mail sent yesterday, FSC President Timothy Flanagan asked faculty, staff and students to report any suspicious activities and review the school's emergency response plan.
During an interview, he said campus police and Framingham Police have a close working relationship, and campus security can call on the town police for support when needed.
Flanagan met with campus leaders and security officials yesterday to discuss emergency plans following the shooting in Virginia.
"We're not isolated, we're not cloistered" as a campus, said Flanagan.
In Waltham, home to Brandeis University and Bentley College, police Detective Sgt. Timothy King expected to discuss emergency plans with both institutions.
"I'm certain we will be talking to administrators for the schools," said King.
He said city police are familiar with both campuses, but would not comment on any training the city and the two schools' campus security departments undertake.
"That incident is on the same level as a terrorist event," for which police have trained, he said. "We do work closely with both (campus police) departments."
Franklin Police Deputy Chief Stephen Semerjian said his department has a good working relationship with Dean College. The two institutions also have plans in place to ensure "communication is good and fluid," he said.
In Weston, Regis College held a prayer vigil yesterday for the victims as a statement of "solidarity and community," said M.J. Doherty, a former professor and special assistant to the college president.
She said the Catholic school is working on ways to address the needs of any isolated students and "bring that person out of isolation before they can get trapped on a tragic path," she said.
According to published reports, the Virginia Tech shooter was student Cho Seung-Hui, who was described as an isolated loner by some law enforcement officials, and committed suicide after killing the 32 victims.
Regis has a close relationship with Weston Police and does not arm its campus officers, said Doherty. Since 9/11, the school maintains its own disaster plans for emergencies.
"Every workplace, every campus, every situation is vulnerable," said Doherty.
(John Hilliard can be reached at 508-626-4449 or jhilliar@cnc.com.)
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Original Source: Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
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John Hilliard / MetroWest Daily News Staff
2007-06-01
Brent Jesiek
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Lodge: Cho's choice: Murder
By Richard Lodge/Daily News staff
GHS
Fri Apr 20, 2007, 12:20 AM EDT
The debate over gun control in the wake of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech had already reached the presidential campaign trial by midweek, and it's sure to surface many times between now and November 2008.
Why had it been so easy for Cho Seung-Hui to buy a 9mm handgun from a Virginia gun shop, then use it to kill 32 fellow students and professors at Virginia Tech, those within the gun-control faction asked?
If only the Virginia legislature hadn't voted down a bill in late 2006 that would have allowed students and staff at VT to carry guns on campus, Cho would have faced armed resistance before Monday became a massacre, declared the defenders of the Second Amendment.
This tragic slice of life in America is only partly about guns, although that's likely what the debate will boil down to. The Virginia Tech massacre is about mental illness and whether we can learn to recognize it and treat it.
As more comes out about Cho's disturbing behavior, the trail of red flags seems clear. One of his professors, Lucinda Roy, raised the alarm years ago about Cho's disturbing writings and behavior and tried to urge him into counseling. Virginia authorities revealed that in December 2005, a court magistrate ordered Cho to undergo an evaluation at a psychiatric hospital. The magistrate signed the order after an initial evaluation found probable cause that Cho was mentally ill and was a danger to himself or others.
So how could Cho so easily buy a handgun - legally - from a Roanoke gun shop to use in his murderous spree?
Tougher gun laws might have delayed Cho's purchase with a waiting period, but his lack of a criminal record would not have prevented the gun dealer from selling him the weapon. Should psychiatric exams be part of the process to buy a gun? There's not a legislature in the country that would have the backbone to do that. And even if they did, how would such an exam be done without excluding and stigmatizing anyone who has been treated for depression or sought psychiatric help at some point? Unlike a felony record, which is an obvious stop sign in the legal purchase of a gun, mental health records would be open to interpretation, and possibly abuse, by the reviewing authority.
But history shows you don't need to buy a gun legally to commit a massacre. Anyone bent on crime can buy a gun on the black market or steal one.
Closer to home, the tragic fatal stabbing at Lincoln-Sudbury High School earlier this year shows that a weapon as basic as a kitchen carving knife can be the means to a terrible end.
But for wide-scale school violence, the common thread of mental illness and easily obtained guns is clear.
For example:
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine High School killers, bought a rifle and two shotguns through a straw purchaser, illegally circumventing the law. Five years after the Columbine massacre and the suicides of Harris and Klebold, the FBI's lead investigator and several psychiatrists labeled Harris a clinical psychopath and Klebold as a "depressive" under Harris's influence.
In 1998, Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, stole seven firearms from the home of Golden's grandfather and used some of them to kill four students and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Ark.
In March 2005, Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather, stole two of his guns, then used those guns and a third one to kill seven people at Red Lake High School in Minnesota.
Even mass murderers who bought guns legally have tended to have mental problems as a common theme.
Charles Whitman, who used the rifle he bought at a hardware store to kill 15 people from his perch in a University of Texas clock tower in 1966, had been prescribed medication for depression.
In 1992, student Wayne Lo used an SKS rifle he bought legally at a store in Pittsfield, Mass., to kill a teacher and student - and wound four others - at Simon's Rock of Bard College in Great Barrington. Experts at his trial disagreed on whether Lo suffered from schizophrenia or simply had a "narcissistic personality disorder."
Time and time again, killers - almost always men - murder innocents. It's impossible to imagine that any of these killers is sane.
The Rev. Paul Papas, a pastoral counselor and president of NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Framingham chapter), agreed Wednesday that mental illness is a likely trait among those like Cho.
"It's all about choice, about a person's ability to choose," Papas said.
In Cho's case, evidence now says a professor and several others who knew Cho tried to convince him to seek counseling. Apparently immersed so deeply in his own mental quagmire, Cho rebuffed offers of help and rarely even spoke with other people.
Asked what lesson might come out of this week's tragedy in Virginia, Papas suggested that people paying attention and caring for others might be a good start.
"Anybody who has any kind of relationship with somebody else, hopefully they would see changes in that person and recognize that they might need help, and that they should seek help," Papas said.
But, as we're learning this week, getting through to a person as deeply troubled as Cho might be more than is humanly possible.
Richard Lodge is editor of The Daily News and writes a column published on Friday. His e-mail is rlodge@cnc.com.
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Original Source: <a href="http://www.dailynewstribune.com/columnists/x232888155">http://www.dailynewstribune.com/columnists/x232888155</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.
Richard Lodge/Daily News Tribune Staff
2007-05-31
Brent Jesiek
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Salem State rallies behind Virginia Tech
By Lisa Guerriero/salem@cnc.com
GateHouse Media
Fri Apr 20, 2007, 04:30 PM EDT
SALEM - The flags at Salem State College flew at half-mast for three days this week in a show of solidarity for the 32 victims of the tragic shooting at Virginia Technical University on Monday. The gesture was perhaps the subtlest undertaken on a campus that was deeply affected by the shootings in Blacksburg, Va., the deadliest campus massacre in the nation's history.
"It's sad and kind of shocking, because you don't know if it could happen here," said SSC sophomore Jenn Runyan.
Police have identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korea native and VT senior who went on a brutal shooting rampage and then turned the gun on himself, bringing the death toll to 33.
The tragedy hit home for Salem State's faculty and students, as it did at other colleges, and even more so because one of the victims was a Saugus resident, 20-year-old Ross Alameddine, a graduate of Austin Preparatory High School in Reading.
A number of SSC students have friends at Virginia Tech, and one professor taught there before coming to Salem State, said Bruce Perry, the director of the SSC campus center.
"So there's ties and connections," he said.
The president of the Student Government Association, Michael Mitchell, helped coordinate several events and tributes in response to the tragedy and received some 50 e-mails from students offering to help organize a memorial.
"We had a meeting (of the Student Government Association) and it came up that we, as students, can't sit by and let this go unnoticed," said Mitchell.
Salem State was on break for Patriots Day when the shooting happened on Monday, and when students returned Tuesday, campus was buzzing as students exchanged information and pieced together what had happened in Blacksburg. By Wednesday, the effort to support Virginia Tech was already under way.
Perry received an e-mail from Julie Walters-Steele, the director of university unions at VT, asking colleges and universities across the country to send cards and messages. A spot had been cleared at VT to display the tokens of support, and Salem State is doing its part to fill that spot.
"I think people were looking for something positive to do, some way to express their emotions around it," Perry said.
Salem State rolled into action, setting up posters at hotspots around campus. Large posters bore the outline of the Virginia Tech logo, with ribbons decorating the inside of the letters "VT." The posters read, "4-16-07 Today We're All Hokies," in honor of the name of Virginia Tech's turkey-like mascot. That day, students in the dining hall crowded around one of the posters to write messages and pin on flowers and white ribbons.
"To the Virginia Tech community - Salem State will keep you, the victims and their families in our hearts," one wrote. Students in the dining hall on Wednesday evening told the Gazette the shooting summoned feelings of sadness, sympathy and even a degree of fear.
"We relate to it more. Just because we're on a campus, and it could happen here," said Emily Marte, a sophomore who will be a resident advisor next year. She noted that an RA was one of the first killed during the Virginia Tech shooting.
"It makes you feel different when you look at people," added Stephanie Baez, a sophomore.
Students and faculty found another outlet to express themselves and show support through Facebook, the social networking Web site used by colleges around the country. Mitchell, the Student Government Association president at SSC, had seen a Facebook group created after the 1997 high school shooting in Bowling Green, Ky. Mitchell took the lead from them and created a Facebook group called "Salem State Remembers Virginia Tech." The image for the group is a hybrid of the Salem State and Virginia Tech logos.
Mitchell sent out a message to about 300 people affiliated with his Facebook, who in turn passed the information along to their friends and peers. Within a day, 700 Salem State students had joined the group, posting messages of sympathy for the VT community and making suggestions for how Salem State could contribute.
"It's really powerful to see in one day, one-fifth of the campus come to stand behind Virginia Tech," Mitchell said.
SSC student Pat Reidy said many Salem State students changed the images on their Facebook profiles from their own photos to the VT logo. "It got around really quick," Reidy said.
One of the most important messages shared was a call for the college to organize a vigil. Just as quickly as the posters were created and the Facebook group formed, faculty and students at SSC organized the vigil, which is scheduled for Monday, April 23 at 7 p.m. outside the Central Campus residence hall. Organizers made the decision to open the vigil to the public, to anyone who wants to show support and reflect on the tragedy.
"It's a time for the community to come together to express their emotion in regard to the tragedy that happened," Perry said.
The student government and the college pooled some money to purchase 1,100 white T-shirts that say the VT logo and the phrase "4-16-07 Today We're All Hokies," as well as 1,000 white ribbons for participants to pin on their shirts or bags.
The college plans to line up participants to spell out the VT that is the Virginia Tech logo, and take an aerial photo to send to the university. SSC President Nancy Harrington will attend, and several student leaders will offer brief remarks. Mitchell hopes one of the deans, who is also a pastor, will lend his services.
Perry said his office teamed with the Residence Hall Association, faculty members and the Student Government Association to coordinate the events, but students were the driving force.
"The whole idea has sprung from the students," Perry said.
Mitchell said he hasn't seen the student community so collectively moved since the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He sees a few core reasons for the outpouring of support. It hits home that a victim was from a neighboring town and that students and a professor have ties there.
"That, coupled with the fact that the victims are all their age," Mitchell said, "and it happened on a campus - it could have happened here. It really could have."
The public is invited to a vigil for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting and their families, hosted by Salem State College. The vigil will be held Monday, April 23 at 7 p.m. outside the Central Campus residence hall.
A memorial fund has been established to remember and honor the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. The fund will pay for counseling, memorials and other expenses. To contribute, visit www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php.
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Original Source: <a href="http://www.townonline.com/salem/homepage/x1160276354">http://www.townonline.com/salem/homepage/x1160276354</a>
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Lisa Guerriero / GateHouse Media
2007-05-30
Brent Jesiek
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Leslie Cirineo, a Salem State freshman, signs a tribute poster for Virginia Tech at the college's dining hall on Wednesday [April 18]. Several of the posters were placed around campus for students to write messages to the VT community. They bear the message '4-16-07 Today We're All Hokies.'
Photo by Lisa Guerriero
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Original Source: <a href="http://www.townonline.com/salem/homepage/x1160276354">http://www.townonline.com/salem/homepage/x1160276354</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.
Brent Jesiek
2007-05-30
Brent Jesiek
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