Beyond Words

Title

Beyond Words

Description

Dave Vogt / <a href="http://davedot.com/">davedot.com</a>

I am honestly at a loss for what to say about the events that unfolded on the Virginia Tech campus this morning. I was walking across the Drillfield towards GBJ when firing broke out in Norris hall. I had heard nothing about the previous shootings in West AJ. While I recognize that the decision to go on with classes was an informed one, I still feel that it was the University&#39;s responsibility to inform the students of potential danger.

I consider myself extremely fortunate that neither I nor anyone I know was involved. I spent the morning trying to touch base with as many people as possible until the phone network here became absolutely saturated. I hope that I was at least able to set up a cascade so that people wouldn&#39;t have to be worried about my safety. That being said, it&#39;s extremely difficult to place my reaction. Obviously I am not as heavily affected as those whose loved ones have been injured or killed. At the same time though, this is very jarring for everyone involved. I don&#39;t think I&#39;ll really know how I feel for a while yet. They don&#39;t tell you how to react to this sort of thing.

<b>UPDATE 17 Apr 2007 11:21p:</b> I have been mostly disgusted by the media coverage of this event. I think that larger and more distant news outlets get things the most wrong, and locals do the best job. CNN&#39;s article is as sensationalizing as the rest, but if you scroll down towards the bottom, Gov. Tim Kaine&#39;s remarks perfectly echo my sentiment. "People who want to take this within 24 hours of the event and make it their political hobby horse to ride, I&#39;ve got nothing but loathing for them." I don&#39;t deny that there are questions that need to be asked, but there are more important things to deal with right now.

On the other side of the coin, I am deeply touched by the outpouring of support from universities and individual students across the country and abroad. There has been a huge "We are all Hokies" movement, with students wearing maroon and orange to show support. That is probably the best response that I&#39;ve heard about. I&#39;m glad that the younger generation have a grip on what&#39;s important. We&#39;re going to need it going forward.

This entry was posted on 16.Apr.2007 7:41pm

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Original Source: <a href="http://log.davedot.com/backlog/2007/04/beyond-words/">http://log.davedot.com/backlog/2007/04/beyond-words/</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Creator

Dave Vogt

Date

2007-05-26

Contributor

Brent Jesiek

Rights

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5

Language

eng

Citation

Dave Vogt, “Beyond Words,” The April 16 Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://april16archive.org/items/show/258.