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2007-08-23
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Officials discuss emergency notification systems
By: Talia Kennedy
Posted: 4/17/07
Editor's note: Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech marked the deadliest act of violence on a college campus in American history. Here, The California Aggie provides information on the shootings and responses from the UC Davis campus community.
When an unidentified gunman entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on Monday morning and opened gunfire, killing two students in a residence hall, the news instantly made national headlines - but the 25,000 students enrolled at the Blacksburg, Va. college were not notified of the incident until hours later, when dozens more had been injured or killed, reports said.
At about 7:15 a.m. in Virginia, the gunman entered a residence hall on campus, fatally wounding two students. According to reports, the campus community was not notified of the incident because university officials believed it to be an isolated event.
"We knew we had two people shot," said Wendell Flinchum, a Virigina Tech police officer, at a press conference Monday afternoon. "We secured the building. We secured the crime scene. We acted on the best information we had at the time."
About two hours later, the gunman returned, this time to Norris Hall, an academic building on the opposite side of the campus. It was here where the gunman reportedly lined students up against a wall, shooting them all.
By noon California time, 33 were confirmed dead and at least 22 were reported injured. The shooter, whose identity had not been determined by press time, was found dead among his victims, apparently due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to reports.
In the hours after the shootings, universities across the country began showing their support for the Virginia Tech victims, including the University of California.
In a statement released Monday, UC President Robert Dynes said, "Shock and horror only begin to describe our reactions at the University of California to the terrible events that have unfolded today at Virginia Tech. Our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives have been lost, and our prayers are with those who have been wounded physically and emotionally by today's campus shootings.
"All of our campuses will be reviewing again their safety programs and procedures in light of today's events, and as we learn more about the specific circumstances of the Virginia Tech shootings, we will apply those lessons as well," he said. "We take these issues extremely seriously and will continue working to provide the safest possible environment for our students, faculty and staff."
The Virginia Tech killings marked the deadliest act of violence on a college campus in U.S. history.
In 1966, Charles Whitman shot 16 people from the 28th floor of a clock tower at the University of Texas before he was shot and killed by campus police.
Eight years ago this Friday, two students shot 12 of their peers and one teacher before turning their guns on themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
"Clearly, university campuses are not immune from the threats of violence that exist in our broader society," Dynes wrote in his statement, and that includes UC Davis.
On Dec. 14, 2004, Martin Louie Castro Soriano, 26, who was seen loitering near the Regan Hall residence halls in Segundo, was reported as a suspicious person to the UC Davis Police Department. When three officers responded and attempted to calm Soriano with three Taser shots, he opened fire.
The officers returned fire, shooting and killing Soriano, who died at the scene. It was later determined that the man had been under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana at the time of the shooting, but his death was the first officer-involved shooting on the UC Davis campus.
On Jan. 18, senior mathematics student Glenn Kirkpatrick was arrested by campus police after 9-1-1 callers reported seeing a man with a rifle in the Mathematical Sciences Building. Though Kirkpatrick's rifle was a rubber replica he used as a Reserve Officers' Training Corps student, the report prompted the lockdown of two campus buildings.
Lisa Lapin, UC Davis' assistant vice chancellor for university communications, said UC Davis has a police force well-trained to respond to emergencies of any kind.
"Our police are trained in rapid-response to exactly this kind of thing," she said. "Our police department is like any that would serve a city. That helps us respond to any kind of crisis.
"However, we are pretty much an open, public campus," she said.
Lapin said emergency plans are in place for UC Davis, but the campus' emergency notification systems are not yet efficient. Students at Virginia Tech were not notified by e-mail of the initial shootings on campus until hours after they took place.
"We have a system that can dial all campus phone numbers, but it takes three hours," she said. "We can also send e-mails to everyone, but it also takes three hours."
Lapin said UC Davis police officers would immediately evacuate students and other campus community members susceptible to a threat. She also said the university is in the process of obtaining a new emergency notification system that would be able to instantly send messages to cell phones, landline phones, Blackberrys and pagers.
Lapin also said several UC Davis faculty members are connected to Virginia Tech.
Mark McNamee, a former dean of what used to be the Division of Biological Sciences at UC Davis, left the university after 26 years of service to take a position as provost of Virginia Tech in 2001, she said.
Michael Parella, an assistant dean in UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is an alumnus of Virginia Tech. He was scheduled to accept an alumni award at the school this Friday, Lapin said, and Brad Fenwick, a former American Council on Education fellow at UC Davis, is currently the vice president for research at Virginia Tech.
"Our hearts go out to [them]," she said.
In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, some UC Davis students expressed varying reactions.
"It doesn't really affect how I feel here," said sophomore managerial economics major McKenzie Bryan. "[It's] tragic, [but] it's very uncommon. I'm much more likely to die from a shark attack or lightning.
"I really believe that if we did not have 'gun-free zones' or really strict gun control, there could have been people on that campus that could have stopped the shooter right after he got started, way before the SWAT teams got there," he said. "[But] no, I don't feel any more unsafe. Nothing's really changed."
In a statement released to the entire UC Davis campus community, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef reminded students to be aware of their environment.
"Be sensitive to your surroundings and report any suspicions to the campus police department," he wrote. "Be familiar with campus policies related to emergency response. Bookmark the campus's homepage (ucdavis.edu), and emergency services webpage (ucdavis.edu/help/emergency_services.html), where breaking news related to emergencies on campus will be posted. With your help, we can best ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of all members of our campus community."
Students who would like to discuss their reactions to the Virginia Tech shootings should contact UC Davis' Counseling and Psychological Services at 752-0871 or visit its office in 219 North Hall.
Any suspicious activity on campus should be reported to the UC Davis Police Department by calling 9-1-1 from campus phones or 752-1230 from any phone.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/17/CampusNews/Uc.Davis.Responds.To.Virginia.Tech.Shootings-2846057.shtml>The California Aggie - April 17, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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UC Davis responds to Virginia Tech shootings
university of california - davis
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Jenny Pedersen
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2007-08-23
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By: Jenny Pedersen
Posted: 4/18/07
Let's be honest: this isn't my original column.
I was up late last night scribbling down something about "relationship people" and trying to finish a paper. Like most of us I didn't get enough sleep, I woke up late and barely rolled into lecture.
In spite of the usual college stresses, I still managed to start smiling after my morning latte. However, all things changed once I read the morning news. In the state of Virginia, lattes are not enough to make anyone smile.
I've been to Virginia; it's where my favorite high school history teacher grew up, and one of my best friends attends a college two hours north of Virginia Tech. The state was green, the people were friendly and I had an amazing fudge sundae at a place called Shoney's.
Virginia Tech has been described as a quiet place where not much happens. It is an agricultural school in a small town similar to Davis and the school website shows pictures of students feeding large groups of mallard ducks just like the ones that patrol our own campus.
We both have slightly ridiculous mascots - we're the UC Davis Aggies and they're the Virginia State Hokies. We have The California Aggie and they have The Collegiate Times. Much like us, students online discuss the lack of nightlife options in the mountain town of Blacksburg, Va. and jokingly point out that the town doubles in size when school is in session.
Instead of an annual Picnic Day, in Virginia they host the International Street Fair each April. I imagine before yesterday Hokie students could easily have complained about bored Blacksburg cops breaking up their parties, citing them for noise violations and other such superfluous things, just like we were probably ecstatic about the start of spring because nobody knows what to do with themselves in a small town when it's cold.
They're college students just like us in a community much like ours. They had no idea that this would change for them on any other Monday morning in April.
The last time I checked, 32 people were killed; two outside of residence halls and 30 inside classrooms. The students of Virginia Tech experienced a violation of their safety in the worst way. They lost friends and faculty on their campus, in their classrooms, at their college, the place they go to gain skills for their future, to learn the tools that will help them for the rest of their lives. Education is what we hope will make the world a safer place; it is an institution we count on to protect us and our children from the likes of global warming and terrorism.
The parents who lost children to the shooting probably thought there was no safer place in the world for their children to be than attending school in a small town in the United States. They weren't serving in Iraq, or living in "crime-ridden" big cities, and still they were not entirely safe.
I'm not saying that we should all be paranoid and I have no suggestions for preventing school violence. What I am saying is that as fellow students we have a certain responsibility to the memory of those lost at Virginia State. If only for the rest of this week I want to acknowledge this responsibility and show appreciation for a campus that hasn't known fear or violence.
I'm going to smile at strangers, students and staff because they are happy, healthy and here. I'm going to appreciate that the last time I talked to my mother it was to ask her about tax forms and not to tell her that I was injured in open fire. I'm going to appreciate that because I live and breathe, I have the luxury of fighting with my roommates and procrastinating on Facebook. Most importantly I'm appreciating the fact that it still only takes a latte to make me smile.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/18/Opinion/Jenny.Pedersen-2848939.shtml>The California Aggie - April 18, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Jenny Pedersen: Support the Hokies
university of california - davis
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Sara Hood
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Zach Kun Lin Han
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2007-08-23
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By: Zach Kun Lin Han
Posted: 4/19/07
The massacre at Virginia Tech gripped the nation the way Hollywood films always do.
Except that it wasn't a film. The slayings were real, brutal and heartless. And while the gunman shot "randomly," it was also with an unmistakable precision.
Death is always a surreal event. It marks the natural conclusion of a unique cycle, which, like birth, isgrotesque and beautiful in equal measure.
Yet when death is inflicted by force, we can never speak of the unspeakable loss and can never express the torment a victim experienced during that brush with mortality. For some, it might be an endless eternity; for others, a fleetingly swift one.
And for those who fell during that battle, through tributes and condolences we remember and commemorate the memories they left. During these times, we mourn and grieve with empathy for the victims. Our roles as part of the community become especially magnified, and our responses become a warning that such behavior of acting upon others is a behavior nobody tolerates.
Nonetheless, where does the Virginia Tech massacre leave us?
It is important to understand the reasons why the massacre occurred in the first place. Cho Seung-Hui has frequently been described by his peers as a socially isolated individual. Twice, his professors were shocked by the severity of the plays he composed, in which he described certain themes of revenge and bloodlust in graphic detail.
And he acted as a result of societal disillusionment. The moral collapse of "what he considered the more privileged students on campus" was cited as the underlying motivation behind his actions. The signs were there, but it wasn't acted upon sufficiently enough, due to both external as well as internal factors. This shouldn't be a blame game about responsibilities, though.
From a national perspective, the blame game about gun-possession merits reverberates even louder. It seems fatalistic to conclude that the event was an inevitable conclusion of a gun-toting policy, yet the tragedy was always a possible consequence of weapons possession.
Others have questioned the long delay of immediate action being taken to identify the cause of the problem, which would have possibly allowed for more stringent security measures. More recent revelations have revealed that investigators were misled by a bad lead, hence the lag time of two hours between the first killings and the rest. Yet in a sprawling, large campus such as Virginia Tech, it would arguably have been difficult for instant prevention policies to be successfully implemented at such short notice, but action was still necessary.
Moreover, Seung-Hui's nationality also meant that fears of future possible racial recriminations against the Korean and Asian community have been expressed. Yet it is foolhardy to shift the blame onto one race simply because of this incident. Emotions do not choose, irrespective of race or nationality. Violence, a frightening product born out of various factors, can overwhelm regardless of one's status, wealth or privilege.
It is heartwarming though, to hear about the character and bravery displayed by those who acted selflessly in trying to protect their fellow brethren while in the knowledge that they might fall in the process: "Students said Professor Liviu Librescu had blocked the door to his classroom to prevent the gunman from entering." Professor Librescu fell, but for his courage he was anointed by President Bush as the first hero of the Virginia Tech massacre. And many of the victims were souls who never got to live longer than they deserved, and their actions are reminders that we all have the capacity to do good during the most crucial moments.
The fundamental unity of this diverse nation is built on trust. And, while the gory Virginia Tech events have been appalling, it is during these times that we should all gather together as a people, and look toward solving what has become our challenge.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/19/Opinion/Zach-Kun.Lin.Han-2852773.shtml>The California Aggie - April 19, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Zach Kun Lin Han: The Virginia tragedy
university of california - davis
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Rob Olson
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2007-08-23
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By: Rob Olson
Posted: 4/19/07
This is how it happens, a tragedy so great that if we were to truly comprehend it, we would find ourselves incapacitated with grief.
Speeches, national debates, 24-hour news channels, investigations, prayers and vigils. Feelings of confusion, anger, sorrow, despair. Politicians and community leaders across the nation issuing statements with identical tones and meanings. The same words appear in every one: tragedy, grief, horrific, shock, violence prevention, counseling services, thoughts and prayers, and so on.
We go through the same motions and emotions. We find the old familiar paths in our minds that we've tread before with other instances of mindless slaughter: Columbine, the Amish schoolhouse shootings, people going postal at work.
At least 9/11 and other terror attacks were part of some greater war of ideologies, a "clash of civilizations," as historian Samuel P. Huntington has dubbed it. This was about nothing. It had no larger purpose, no thought or reason, none of the usual gains for the perpetrator, like money or power. This was evil in its purest, most basic form. Evil for the sake of evil. Killing for the sake of killing.
I write a political column. So what's my political angle? The abhorrent way some in the world community have spun the tragedy, with the Italian Il Manifesto newspaper calling it "as American as apple pie"? A vessel to expand the debate on gun rights versus gun control in America? No, I don't feel up to the task of such columns. They feel like hollow diversions in the face of such an atrocity.
I want to take no political angle. Politics is about division and conflict. A tragedy of this magnitude should not be used for political debate; not yet, anyway. I don't know if justice can be done to the topic, or if I have the capability to address the worst school shooting in United States history. But here I write, attempting to describe the indescribable. How naive of me.
Sueng-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus and then turned one of his guns on his own face. His rampage was probably inspired by an argument with an ex-girlfriend, who may have gotten a new boyfriend. She was the first of his victims.
It seems Cho simply lost it, just like the killers at Columbine, and hated the world so much that he sought to do as much damage as possible before ending his own life. Killing so many people without a logical motive required a ruthless mixture of hatred, insanity and, as one friend pointed out to me, selfishness.
The terrible truth that no one talks about is that we really have little power to prevent these occurrences. Supposedly a number of people around this psychopath were afraid of what he might do, and referred him to counseling and to authorities. At first glance, people around him acted correctly in response to various warning signs. But only so much could be done, and it wasn't enough.
We rely on some sense of sanity from our fellow man that stops us from doing what Cho did. When that is gone, when sheer malevolence and bloodlust find home in someone's heart, what are we to do? How can atrocities like what happened at Virginia Tech be prevented from occurring on our own campus? Usually these catastrophes are headed off, but other times they slip through, and all we can do is pick up the pieces, and mourn those lost to us forever in this world.
But when we "pick up the pieces," we have one overriding but unspoken goal in mind: to restore faith in our own humanity. When we hear of what Cho did, we no longer believe in ourselves and in our species as inherently good, and we are compelled to respond. We cannot let Cho have the final word. That's why the politicians make their pronouncements of grief, why we write our columns, congregate for our vigils and join our Facebook groups that reach thousands of members before the first day is even over.
The tragedy of Virginia Tech isn't a political debate, but a debate on the soul of humanity. No wonder we feel it so keenly.
You lose, Cho. Humanity wins.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/19/Opinion/Rob-Olson-2852786.shtml>The California Aggie - April 19, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Rob Olson: A question of humanity
university of california - davis
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Brian Hanley
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2007-08-23
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<b>A different perspective on the Virginia Tech shootings</b>
By: Brian Hanley
Posted: 4/19/07
My time here at UC Davis comes after spending years in Central Asia. This tragedy at Virginia Tech is uniquely America of this era, but it is not unique in terms of death. It is most unique in the utter divorce from any apparent meaningful social grouping for the young perpetrator.
The city where I ran an office had seen two civil wars. I have walked by multiple flaming barricades with flames leaping 30 feet in the air, quietly acting the part of someone who belonged there. I have watched events develop of many kinds, and employed staff who grew up playing games as young boys of counting the most dead bodies.
Our office was in a fairly secure building, where men with AK-47s sat in a pillbox built in the lobby. I know of an incident where young men attacked an apartment in broad daylight with hand grenades and guns, but in a gallows humor twist worthy of "South Park," they were defeated by the mothers inside who had lived through the wars.
Living in a place where beheading, kidnapping and simple murder as well as accidentally being caught in crossfire was as real a possibility as being hit by a car while crossing the street, I have thought about such violence. In another time and place, perhaps this man would have joined a violent political movement, or maybe he would have joined the gangster army of a warlord intent on enriching himself and accruing fabulous power.
In another time and place, perhaps he would have been a willing recruit to drive a truck bomb into a crowd, cloaking himself in some convenient ideology, hopeful that in his dying, he would further the cause of sparking wider war.
Such is an atavistic hate-filled impulse to destroy. But underneath it is more than this. It is also fueled at a deeper level by a very personal, desperate impulse to make a mark upon the world, to "be somebody." This is something we should remember when we look at CNN and see truck bombs or similar things. There is not so great a distance as we might think. And the character of those who do such things does not much resemble noble purpose.
In part, such violence abroad can be political. And sometimes there comes a wider support in a culture which forms a larger armed movement. The fundamental fuel for wider support is ideology; it is not economics, nor is it even oppression. Couple that with cruelty and willingness to discipline an organization in the manner of any successful gangster and there it is.
But always, in any culture, there are young men on the fringe such as this one. In another time and place such men can be made the pawns of cleverer men to do horrific things, and die believing in their place in history. I say this because I think that it can help us to understand better something about seemingly different violence others sometimes face.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/19/Opinion/Guest.Opinion.Brian.Hanley-2852783.shtml>The California Aggie - April 19, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Guest Opinion: Brian Hanley
university of california - davis
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Sara Hood
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Talia Kennedy
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2007-08-23
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UC Davis to hold candlelight vigils to honor victims
By: Talia Kennedy
Posted: 4/20/07
The gunman who shot and killed 32 students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on Monday was identified this week as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior English student at the university.
On Wednesday, NBC News reported receiving videos and a letter from Cho, sent between the time Cho shot and killed two students in an on-campus residence hall Monday morning and when he gunned down 30 more people before turning his weapon on himself.
"You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience," said Cho in one video, in which he is shown brandishing firearms, a hammer and other weapons. "Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.
"You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off," he said.
Published reports have said Cho was receiving mental-health services, but that they were not provided by Virginia Tech. He was also accused of making unwanted phone calls and sending unwanted instant messages to two fellow students in 2005, but both declined to press charges. A professor said he made students in her class uncomfortable with his violently themed writing and by taking photographs of female students from under the desks in the classroom.
A counselor once recommended Cho be committed to a mental-health facility on an involuntary basis, but a judge denied the request, saying Cho was not a danger to himself or others.
In the aftermath of the shootings, universities across the country have scheduled prayer vigils to honor the fallen Virginia Tech students and faculty members.
The Cal Aggie Christian Association held a prayer vigil on campus Wednesday to honor the Virginia Tech victims, and two more services are scheduled for today.
The UC Davis student assistants to the chancellor, Hayley Steffen and Alfredo Arredondo, along with ASUCD officials, will host a candlelight vigil today at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union Patio. Attendees will observe a moment of silence, and time will be designated to reflect on Monday's events.
A second candlelight service and prayer vigil will begin today at 7:30 p.m. at the Chabad House, at 321 Russell Blvd. across the street from the northern edge of the UC Davis campus. The event is hosted by Chabad of Davis, an organization that promotes the Jewish faith.
Students who would like to discuss their reactions to the Virginia Tech shootings should contact UC Davis' Counseling and Psychological Services at 752-0871 or visit its office in 219 North Hall.
Any suspicious activity on campus should be reported to the UC Davis Police Department by calling 9-1-1 from campus phones or 752-1230 from any phone.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/20/CampusNews/Virginia.Tech.Shooter.Identified-2870930.shtml>The California Aggie - April 20, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Virginia Tech shooter identified
university of california - davis
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Sara Hood
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Leigh A. Needleman and Andrew Freshman
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2007-08-23
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<b>Advocating presence of more guns will not prevent another Virginia Tech</b>
By: Leigh A. Needleman and Andrew Freshman
Posted: 4/24/07
Like so many of the other members of the Davis community, since I first heard about the shootings at Virginia Tech on Monday morning, I have been seeking answers. However, the more that I scour the Web and listen to the news, the more questions I have: Why? What was the motivation? How could this have been prevented? How can this be prevented from happening ever again? How could this be prevented here?
On Tuesday, Apr. 17, I read the article "UC Davis responds to Virginia Tech shootings." I wanted to share my fellow Aggies' reaction to the news. To my horror, I read sophomore McKenzie Bryan's quote: "I really believe that if we did not have 'gun-free zones' or really strict gun control, there could have been people on that campus that could have stopped the shooter right after he got started, way before the SWAT teams got there." I had to reread this quote several times.
Bryan seems to be advocating that members of university communities carry around guns, prepared for armed assault at any time. This very idea causes me to feel profoundly physically ill. (Leaving aside for a moment the idea of the typical college drinking party with the incendiary addition of guns....)
I try to imagine how events might have transpired at Virginia Tech on Monday if members of the community had been armed: One day students are in class when a gunman suddenly enters and begins indiscriminately shooting. Some of the students in the class pull out their guns and fire back. Panic and confusion ensues - who is shooting whom and for what reason? Faculty and staff as well as students are drawn by the noise and join the skirmish. Innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. Half an hour later, the SWAT team enters. Several students have their weapons drawn and are shooting. The SWAT team, unable to determine deranged psychopath from righteous Samaritan, makes the logical decision to "take out" all individuals with a gun. How is this a better outcome than the one in Virginia?
Being an open-minded person, I have wracked my brain to try to understand the suggestion that more guns on campus would lead to a safer community. The declaration of a "gun-free zone" has little to no bearing on whether people are actually able to carry weapons. I am furthermore unaware of any colleges or universities that have implemented any sort of metal detectors or other devices to actively detect and deprive university community members from carrying guns. It therefore seems irrelevant to raise this point in relation to this situation.
I would advocate for the complete opposite of Bryan. Suppose that easily concealed semiautomatic pistols and ammunition could not be easily obtained by the general public? The likelihood of a delusional and depressed student with homicidal tendencies being able to successfully carry out a massacre on the scale of the incident at Virginia Tech without such weapons would be greatly reduced.
Unfortunately, Bryan and other un-pragmatic gun extremists such as the National Rifle Association continue to advocate for the easy availability of guns that indirectly create the possibility for similar incidents. What is the benefit to society of the proliferation of these weapons in the community?
Our hearts and minds go out to all who have been affected by this senseless, nightmarish and terrible act. The last thing that they (or any of the rest of us) need to read at a time like this is someone advocating the presence of more guns on college campuses.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/24/Opinion/Guest.Opinion.Leigh.A.Needleman.And.Andrew.Freshman-2876662.shtml>The California Aggie - April 24, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Guest Opinion: Leigh A. Needleman and Andrew Freshman
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Sara Hood
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Glendon Y. McCreary
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2007-08-23
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By: Glendon Y. McCreary
Posted: 4/24/07
It can be difficult to cover politics in the aftermath of a nationally felt tragedy like the one at Virginia Tech last week. And as we all remember the victims and reflect on the events that transpired, we are also on high alert to make sure we don't unduly "politicize" anything, because nobody wants to be seen as politically benefiting from someone else's tragedy.
As a result, we often temper any discussions we have on the issues related to such incidents. Case in point, despite the fact that his unbelievably easy access to guns was one of the primary reasons the mentally unstable gunman, Cho Seung-hui, had the means to go on this rampage, our politicians all seem to be scrambling to avoid the issue of gun control.
Unfortunately, we seem to be becoming so wary of courting sensitive topics in these situations that we end up not having the thorough debates we need to have in order to prevent a recurrence. As sad as it may be, it often takes a tragedy to grab our attention and put a much-needed spotlight on a particular issue.
But that attention is fleeting.
Remember Hurricane Katrina? As New Orleans was inundated with water and many thousands of impoverished residents languished in third-world conditions at the Superdome, politicians from Bill Clinton to George Bush told us that now was not the time to blame anybody or anything, and worked to assure us that there would "be a time" for that.
We were told that eventually, Hurricane Katrina would open up a dialogue about race and poverty in America that had been long overdue. But that dialogue never materialized, because as time passed our attention focused on more mundane matters. As a result, the lofty goals of readdressing these issues have gone largely unfulfilled. Perhaps, had we gotten some answers sooner, we might have made more progress in rectifying mistakes made.
Thus, an event even on the scale of Hurricane Katrina can manage to slip from our collective radar into the abyss that is yesterday's news, as the relevant issues are put on the back burner.
But it is more complicated than a matter of trivial issues trumping relevant ones. Sometimes it's a legitimate and important story that draws our limited attention spans away from another important issue.
Don Imus' firing, overkill or not, over racist and sexist remarks was welcomed by members of the African American community as a chance to have a broader discussion about race relations and tolerance in America. But then Cho Seung-hui went on a rampage, and suddenly nobody is talking about race relations and Imus anymore.
All of this highlights the simple fact that we do not necessarily have the luxury of time when discussing how to best respond to an important news event. In the age of youtube.com, blogs and 24-hour cable news, we simply don't have time to wait for a politically calm moment to discuss important and controversial issues facing our society.
So when an issue surfaces to the forefront of people's minds, it should be discussed thoroughly while the public is still focused on it. While we should certainly avoid needlessly aggravating those who have been hurt so badly by the events at Virginia Tech, we shouldn't allow the fear of politicizing an issue to subdue discussion of important issues like gun control.
If we don't talk about these issues now, while the events at Virginia Tech are still fresh in our minds, they may never get talked about until the next tragedy. If we wait a month for everything to settle down and for the nation to go back to business as usual, then we will have lost our chance. By then we will have moved on to discuss the next fleeting issue. What will these 32 individuals have died for then?
The shock we feel over the 32 lost lives at Virginia Tech will eventually pass for most of the country. But as we mourn the victims, let's not squander this brief moment of collective focus.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/04/24/Opinion/Glendon.Y.Mccreary-2876664.shtml>The California Aggie - April 24, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Glendon Y. McCreary: Discussing a tragedy
university of california - davis
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Talia Kennedy
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2007-08-23
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<b>Chancellor urges students in need to seek assistance</b>
By: Talia Kennedy
Posted: 4/24/07
In the wake of the Apr. 16 shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, students across the nation are asking, "Could something similar happen at my school?"
The implications of the query, posed by many at UC Davis, can be difficult to comprehend. But in an e-mail sent Monday to the entire campus community, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said it is a question he is trying to answer.
"I know from some of the questions you've asked this past week that it's hard for us all not to feel more vulnerable now," he wrote. "You've asked about our preparedness for such a circumstance, about how you would be kept informed, and about how such a tragedy might be prevented. The campus is doing lots, but that's not to say there isn't more to do."
Vanderhoef went on to say the UC Davis Police Department and the UC Davis Fire Department have been trained in rapid response to emergency situations such as the one that unfolded last week at Virginia Tech, when senior English major Cho Seung-Hui, 23, went on two shooting rampages, killing 32 students and faculty members before turning a gun on himself. Vanderhoef said the UCDPD is developing a new community-response program to help inform locals "what to do in the event of a critical incident like Virginia Tech's."
The way students, faculty and staff are informed of campus emergencies may also soon be changing. In an interview last week, Lisa Lapin, the assistant vice chancellor for university communications, said UC Davis' current emergency-notification systems are less than ideal.
"We have a system that can dial all campus phone numbers, but it takes three hours," she said. "We can also send e-mails to everyone, but it also takes three hours."
In today's age of high-speed technology, many may wonder why some of the top universities in the nation can't immediately notify their students of a threat on campus. At Virginia Tech, it took hours for students to receive e-mails informing them of the events that had transpired the morning of Apr. 16, when Seung-Hui killed two students in a residence hall. By the time many had opened their e-mails, 31 more people were dead.
In his e-mail to the UC Davis campus community, Vanderhoef said the way UC Davis affiliates learn of emergency situations will improve.
"We currently can deliver urgent notices to you via e-mail, campus telephones, an emergency telephone hotline (530-752-1011), the [World Wide] Web (ucdavis.edu), our KDVS 90.3 FM radio station, and cars equipped with bullhorns," he wrote. "We are revitalizing a network of emergency-response coordinators for every campus building, and investigating the possibility of improving cell phone reception in several high-traffic campus buildings. We are also exploring a system for automatically sending text, voice and e-mail messages, and investigating the possibility of installing sirens and of engaging amateur radio operators to assist in emergencies."
In addition to emergency-notification improvements, Vanderhoef reminded students that counseling services are available on campus. UC Davis' Counseling and Psychological Services in 219 North Hall provides mental- and emotional-health services; the Student Crisis Response Team, a university organization, meets regularly to assist in deescalating potential crisis situations. Similar services are also available for faculty and staff, Vanderhoef said.
The Campus Violence Prevention Program, a subunit of the UCDPD, provides victim advocacy and information to students. Its office is located near Hutchison Field adjacent to the Transportation and Parking Services office.
Vanderhoef urged students to seek counseling or other services should they need assistance.
"[I]t's important that we take care of one another and of ourselves, especially at times of major tragic events," his e-mail said. "We've had such a trauma this past week and, for some, it may be a while before its full, sad impact is felt. If you'd find it helpful to talk with a counselor, or are concerned about a friend or colleague, don't hesitate to be in touch with CAPS.... They very much want to help."
--
Original Source:<a href=http://www.californiaaggie.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=58895f56-6018-41d7-b097-fb316efae644>The California Aggie - April 24, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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UC Davis examines emergency services, notification systems
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Sara Hood
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Teresa Pham
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2007-08-23
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By: Teresa Pham
Posted: 5/14/07
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, some universities are looking into tightening security measures on campus. In Nevada, one man is proposing a reserve police officer program that would allow employees at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to carry guns.
Regent Stavros Anthony, also a Las Vegas police captain, said the program would allow normal employees at the university, such as faculty members, to be trained as reserve police officers.
"The way it works is that an employee would apply with the police department to become a reserve police officer," he said. "They would have to go through the same selection process as their police officers."
That selection process, he added, is very thorough and covers all the basic training that regular police officers go through.
"They'd take a written test, a psychological exam, a polygraph and a background check," he said. "Then they would go through the same police academy that the police officers go through, which is about four or five months. Then, once they graduate, they're considered city reserve police officers and have to go through the renewal training just like police officers for as long as they want to keep their certification. It's a pretty stringent program."
However, there are some groups that oppose letting schools control firearm possession rules on campus. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence released a press release May 3 regarding the risk of guns on college campuses.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center, stated in the press release that guns should be either carefully monitored or banned on campus.
"Our schools should be sanctuaries, not armed camps," Helmke said. "Institutions of higher education already have chosen policies either banning or tightly controlling guns on campus. That is as it should be."
Other schools have chosen to reevaluate security measures after Virginia Tech, but have not taken the same measures that UNLV is proposing.
Paul Browning, California State University spokesperson, said the CSU schools have security measures in place in order to respond in the event of a situation such as the Virginia Tech tragedy.
"CSU is granted authority to maintain police officers on all 23 campuses, and they receive full police-academy training," he said. "Everyone has looked at their procedures. They have developed really extensive plans in order to handle all kinds of situations."
However, he said CSU schools probably wouldn't be implementing a program to adopt regular university employees as reserve police officers.
"Well, I can't really see a CSU adopting a plan where regular employees would act as undercover officers in any way," he said. "Each campus has a really high-quality, well-trained police force. We believe that they are very capable of handling any type of situation that comes up."
At UC Davis, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in an Apr. 23 statement that the campus is revitalizing its emergency-response network and investigating the possibility of improving cell phone reception in the event of an emergency.
After several calls, no one from the UC Davis Police Department was available by press time to comment on adopting a police-faculty program.
Anthony said his program, which he proposed at UNLV, is a fairly new program and will come before the University of California Board of Regents for consideration soon.
"My idea is pretty new as far as allowing employees to become police officers, but the reserve officer program has been successful all over the country," he said. "I'm presenting it to the board of regents in June for complete discussion. The board will vote, and if the majority wants this, then the police department will put the process together."
Despite critics who question whether Anthony's program is necessary, he said his program is important because of the rise in shooter violence.
"We're seeing an increase in shooter situations," he said. "They've occurred at shopping malls and obviously with the Virginia Tech tragedy, and we're starting to see more of these active shooter situations. They're not going to go away. They're going to continue, and we're going to have more in the future. We have to be in a position to defend ourselves, which we're having a hard time doing today."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/05/14/CityNews/Unlv-Proposes.Arming.Faculty.Staff.To.Increase.Campus.Security-2903038.shtml>The California Aggie - May 14, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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UNLV proposes arming faculty, staff to increase campus security
university of california - davis
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Sara Hood
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EDDIE LEE
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2007-08-23
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By: EDDIE LEE
Posted: 8/6/07
I recently received an e-mail from a graduate student at Virginia Tech. She asked me if I would be willing to release any articles that The California Aggie had written on the school's tragedy in April to be part of a larger database that is working to preserve and present stories from around the country.
When I read the e-mail, it quickly reminded me of that terrible day on Apr. 16, when a lone student went on a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus leaving 33 people dead, 25 injured and scores more scarred for life. College campuses across the country, including UC Davis, began reviewing and reevaluating their emergency response services in the case a similar attack should happen. Schools were no longer safe and seemingly anyone was capable of committing such a horrific act.
Eventually, though, these thoughts became memories. Students here at UC Davis were able to continue to attend class, eat at the Coho and play intramural sports without worry. Of course, that's how it should be, and not just here, but everywhere. We should never have to live in a world of constant fear and trepidation, and should instead strive to live our lives as normally as possible. However, it is clear that normalcy is a status that many students in Blacksburg, Va. understandably continue to seek.
Virginia Tech is not so different from UC Davis. It is a public institution with an undergraduate population of nearly 22,000. Blacksburg, like Davis, is also dominated largely by the local university. The population of the town is nearly 40,000 citizens, 60 percent of which is college students. Compare that to Davis, with a population around 60,000, about 50 percent of which is comprised of students. If you think that it can't happen here in quiet Davis, you are sorely mistaken.
That being said, however, this is not a column trying to scare the population here on campus or the city at large that an attack is imminent. Instead, it is to serve as a reminder of how fortunate we are that we have been able to avoid a tragedy of such magnitude, and how easily we can undervalue every day that we walk on campus.
In addition, we should not forget our brethren in Virginia. While many of us may not know any students over in Blacksburg personally, we can nonetheless imagine the pain and shock they continue to go through and the ongoing healing process.
Last week the first football practice of the season for the Virginia Tech football team took place. The Hokies are the pride of Blacksburg and will once again be a top-25 team. But much more importantly, on that first game of the season when the team runs out of the tunnel and onto the field, the cheering students and fans can remember what it is to be normal again - for at least four quarters of football.
Here at UC Davis, we as students should never take normal for granted.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/08/06/Opinion/Back-To.Normal-2929416.shtml>The California Aggie - April 6, 2007</a>
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Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
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Back to normal
university of california - davis