By: Elizabeth Miller Posted: 4/20/07 I am rarely at a loss for words. But now, as I approach this column after a week of tragedy - both at Miami University and nationwide - I can hardly form a rational thought. Somehow a 500-word column needs to be written on a topic that I cannot find one suitable word for. I don't need to recall the events of Saturday night at Miami, or Monday afternoon at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Nothing that I say can express the individual grief, confusion and frustration that we feel. Like you, I've been watching the news and discussing it in class. Sometimes the facts are accurate. Sometimes they're just pieces of rumor that patch together some semblance of truth. I guess when you're desperate for answers, almost anything helps. But as I'm flipping through the channels of repeated footage, I'm shocked to hear how quickly the actual disaster has been swept aside. The news is flooded with debate about Virginia gun sales and the failure of campus crisis communication. Somehow CNN and ABC find it appropriate to spark these debates right now. Gun control. University communication policy. The horror of this tragedy cannot be simplified into a policy debate. Not yet, anyways. This is about people. People were murdered, first and foremost. The aftermath should be filled with reverence and condolences for the victims. The focus should be for the families left behind, the campus that will be shaken forever and the lives that were taken. We have to let ourselves grieve. We have to take time to hurt, to sympathize, to feel, to pray. This isn't a time to blame. Yes, there will be a time to discuss methods of prevention. That time is not now. It is simply disrespectful to ignite any heated policy debate that supersedes the mourning for the lost lives. Of course, it's natural to seek blame and explanation when such an event happens. So, yes, we can point fingers. We can assume things about the school, the policies, the killer, the situation at-large. It's a natural reaction to assign blame at a time like this. But assigning blame won't bring those students and faculty back. Like I said, I'm at a loss for eloquent words that can articulate the disaster. Words alone will not solve the confusion, they won't mend the grief. I'm at a loss for words, but I'm not at a loss for feeling. And perhaps that's all we can do for now. We can feel. We have to let ourselves grieve. This isn't a time to blame the state of Virginia for gun control policies. This isn't a time to question the administrative communication of the university. We will have months, maybe years, ahead for that. This tragedy isn't about policy. It's about lives. And for now, the respect for those who died and the sympathy for the families left behind should be the forefront of our concern. -- Original Source:The Miami Student - April 20, 2007
"Skotzko, Stacey Nicole" <skotzksn@muohio.edu>
People tied maroon and orange ribbons on trees to express grief and remembrance a week after April 16.
‘Era un buen amigo y un ser excepcional’
Primo de Ramón Ortiz, víctima en virginia tech, lo recuerda como un joven ejemplar Publicado por Maribel Hastings Corresponsal La Opinión 04-19-2007 Washington, D.C.— Juan Ramón Ortiz Ortiz era un joven ingeniero de 26 años, amante de su familia, de la música, de su carrera. "Ramón era un chico prometedor y un ser humano excepcional que por causas de la vida se le privó de ciertamente ser un ciudadano modelo y ejemplar". Así se expresó Óscar Marrero, primo de Ramón, como le llamaba, un puertorriqueño que el lunes fue una de las víctimas mortales de la matanza de la Universidad virginia tech, a la que asistía junto con su esposa Liselle Vega. Casados hace apenas año y medio, el joven matrimonio —ambos ingenieros— se trasladó en agosto de 2006 a virginia tech a cursar sus maestrías. Como todos los días, la pareja se despidió y cada uno se dirigió a sus respectivas clases, cuando se divulgó la noticia del tiroteo. Liselle llamó al teléfono celular de Juan Ramón y le envió correos electrónicos. Al no tener respuesta temió lo peor. Así fue. Marrero conversó con La Opinión vía telefónica desde Puerto Rico. Los padres de Juan Ramón viven en Bayamón. El primo de Juan Ramón, con voz pausada y temblorosa por el dolor de la muerte de su familiar, dijo: "Juan era un muchacho completamente sano, sin ningún tipo de vicios, un muchacho extraordinario y muy aventajado en el área académica, que era un buen amigo, un buen hijo". Y añadió: "Es una pérdida muy grande que todavía no acabamos de entender, y si no la acabamos de entender no la hemos podido asimilar... Y si no la hemos podido asimilar, pues tampoco nos hemos podido reponer". "La familia está devastada. Ha sido un golpe contra la valla. Una situación muy lamentable que no esperábamos", agregó. Juan Ramón estudió ingeniería en la Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico. Siempre fue un alumno y un profesional sobresaliente lleno de aspiraciones, afirmó su primo. "No era un chico conforme. Estaba tras una maestría y un doctorado", indicó. "Pero también le gustaba la música. Tocaba los timbales en una agrupación de música 'del ayer' en la que su papá funge como músico y primer guitarrista", explicó. Óscar dijo que desea que recuerden a su primo "con todos los honores, con todos los méritos, como un ser humano que merecía vivir, un ser humano lleno de alegría, feliz, capaz, inteligente, y un ser humano que por causas de la vida el lunes se le privó de ciertamente ser un ciudadano modelo y ejemplar". "Era un chico que nunca tuvo un cigarrillo en su boca, no era tomador, no era abusivo, no era mal hijo. Eso es lo que duele. Es algo inverosímil", sostuvo Marrero. Pero dijo que no quiere buscar culpables: "Realmente es un proceso que se nos escapa de las manos. Es una situación fortuita que puede suceder dondequiera, en cualquier lugar, en cualquier escenario. En cualquier parte de los confines de este planeta donde haya seres humanos estas cosas suceden", dijo. El padre del joven fallecido, Juan Ramón Ortiz Colón, declaró al periódico El Nuevo Día, de Puerto Rico, que "cuando una persona va a morir, va a morir como quiera... si mi hijo hubiera estado en Puerto Rico le pasaba lo mismo, aunque quizá no de la misma manera. Me han dicho que murió en el acto, así que doy gracias a Dios. No sufrió". Marrero dijo a La Opinión: "Tratamos de mantener la fe en Dios y queremos agradecer el apoyo y pedirle a todo el cuerpo de Dios en este mundo que nos ayuden con sus oraciones para mantener a esta familia un poco más repuesta, porque ha sido un golpe devastador y los cimientos de esta familia se han sacudido". EFE -- Fuente Original: Diario La Raza - Chicago http://www.laraza.com/news.php?nid=43365&clave=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A13%3A%22virginia+tech%22%3B%7D
Jorge Mederos Executive Editor La Raza Chicago Inc. jorge.mederos@laraza.com August 13, 2007
MUPD, OPD evaluate emergency response plans
By: Caroline Briggs Posted: 4/20/07 In the wake of the shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute Monday, Miami University's police and administration, along with Oxford Police, are checking Oxford's own ability to respond to such an emergency. Miami President David Hodge sent an e-mail to Miami students, staff and faculty Tuesday stating that Miami's police force is highly trained and able to deal with a live shooter situation. Hodge's e-mail also outlined specific guidelines for students in a lockdown situation. According to Miami University Police Department (MUPD) Chief John McCandless, changes have not been made to the current lockdown policy; however, he and his fellow officers have been preparing for such a situation on Miami's campus for quite some time. "We've been training for an active shooter for a couple of years," McCandless said. "We can tweak the police based on what worked and what didn't (for Virginia Tech police). There is a lot of misinformation streaming to the media for the first 24 to 48 hours in a situation like that. We will learn from the more solid information that the media reports in the following four or five days." Though MUPD only has 29 full-time police officers, McCandless said he is not concerned about quantitative manpower in an emergency. He said the Oxford Police Department (OPD) has 25 full-time officers and the Oxford Township Police has 10 full and part-time officers. McCandless said these departments would fully support Miami police if necessary. "We have a wonderful professional relationship with the local police agencies," McCandless said. "(This will) add up to be a substantial police contingency in the case of an emergency." According to both McCandless and OPD's Chief Steve Schwein, the first force to respond to the most critical police situation; similar to the one in Blacksburg, Va.; would be Oxford's Special Response Team (SRT) Team, comprised of seven OPD officers, one Oxford Township officers and five MUPD officers. In addition, both chiefs said further action would be determined during the events. The squad holds monthly training sessions to prepare for hypothetical situations that need a police presence. McCandless said the SRT Team held a mock live shooter exercise in the summer of 2006 in Reid Hall on Miami's campus. The squad also traveled to New Mexico for further training funded by the Department of Homeland Security in December 2006, according to McCandless. "Any time you can plan a tactical situation in advance, the results are almost always positive," Schwein said. "The key is being properly prepared by planning and rehearsing the situation." Miami University Police Department Lt. Andrew Powers said he has referred students to the police Web site, which outlines procedure in the event of an emergency. It states that if the shooter is outside or in the same building, students should find a safe, lockable room and barricade themselves inside and situate themselves on the ground, away from the door. Subjects hiding from the active shooter should not respond or move from their safe space until verifiable police arrive. Whether or not the shooter is in the room, the policy urges one person in the situation to call 911, so police may be dispatched to the area and properly deal with the situation. McCandless also reiterated the point of calling 911. He said that though the phone may ring several times if there are a lot of calls to the station at once, the dispatch phone lines can handle it and extra officers will be standing by, if necessary, to answer emergency calls. The Office of News and Public Information at Miami has set up a hotline to inform students of a campus-wide emergency. It was originally put in place this spring to centralize school information in regards to weather, according to Carole Johnson, the office's internal communications spokeswoman. According to the Office of News and Public Information, that number is (513) 529-9000. After the snowstorms and necessary cancellations that followed, Johnson said the school thought it necessary to have an outlet for information besides e-mail and Miami's Web site. Besides the hotline, she said Miami's administration is constantly looking for possible improvements so the school can better handle an emergency situation. "We constantly look at our crisis plan, almost on a daily basis," Johnson said. "Looking at it, updating it, and continuous training are critical in continuing a solid crisis plan, year round." Johnson also said because technology is always changing, new ways to contact students in the event of an emergency could potentially develop. Miami University's branch campuses at Hamilton and Middletown do not have their own police force like the Oxford campus, but are instead protected by the city departments of Hamilton and Middletown. According to Officer John Crawford of the Hamilton Police Department, policy has not changed since Monday for the department, nor does he think that it appears they will. "Most police agencies across the country changed policy (regarding schools and active shooter situations) after the Columbine shooting in 1999," Crawford said. "Rapid deployment where officers have their equipment in their vehicle along with SWAT team presence are key in any situation like that." -- Original Source:The Miami Student - April 27, 2007
Luto en el país por matanza en Virginia
Identifican al agresor como un estudiante de Corea del Sur. Publicado por Diario la Raza 04-18-2007 Washington, D.C. — La policía de EE.UU. identificó como el autor de la matanza en la universidad virginia tech al estudiante surcoreano Cho Seung Hui, de 23 años, un joven descrito como "solitario" y cuyos escritos habían suscitado preocupación entre sus profesores. Hasta el momento se desconocen los motivos que llevaron a Cho, quien vivía en EU desde los 8 años y estudiaba filología inglesa, a matar a 32 personas, entre profesores y estudiantes —al menos dos latinoamericanos— y suicidarse. Una de sus profesoras recordaba ayer a la prensa el tono perturbador de algunos de sus ejercicios literarios, hasta el punto de que sus instructores le aconsejaron recibir ayuda psicológica. Según el diario Chicago Tribune, el asesino dejó una nota en su habitación en la que clamaba contra los "niños ricos", "la decadencia" y los "embusteros charlatanes" en el campus y asegura: "Me obligaste a hacerlo". Al parecer, según la cadena CNN, Cho compró una pistola Glock el mes pasado en una tienda de Roanoke, una ciudad vecina, y pagó por ella 571 dólares con un cheque. La matanza se produjo en dos fases: en un primer tiroteo murieron dos personas, un hombre y una mujer, en una residencia de estudiantes; y el segundo, en el que murió el resto, tuvo lugar dos horas más tarde, en las aulas de la Facultad de Ingeniería. Las autoridades han confirmado que las armas empleadas en la matanza fueron al menos dos pistolas y que una de ellas se usó en los dos tiroteos. "La evidencia no nos ha conducido a decir categóricamente que el mismo autor estuvo implicado en los dos tiroteos", pero "es ciertamente razonable suponer que Cho fue el autor en los dos incidentes", indicó el superintendente de la Policía de Virginia, Steven Flaherty. Entre los fallecidos se encuentran profesores y estudiantes. La lista completa no se ha dado a conocer pero sí han salido a la luz los nombres de un grupo de víctimas. Entre ellos se encuentra el peruano Daniel Pérez Cuevas, muerto mientras asistía a una clase de francés y quien había iniciado sus estudios universitarios en Miami pero se cambió a virginia tech, por su mayor prestigio académico. También está el puertorriqueño Juan Ramón Ortiz, de 26 años, y que cursaba su primer año de maestría en la universidad, donde se había matriculado junto a su esposa, Liselle Vega, con quien llevaba casado un año. El gobierno de EU afirmó ayer que está dispuesto a ofrecer la ayuda que sea necesaria para los extranjeros que hayan sido víctimas de la masacre en la Universidad Politécnica de Virginia el lunes. Según han contado los supervivientes, el asesino cerró varias salidas del edificio con cadenas y candados, y después fue vaciando sus cargadores, aula por aula. La primera clase, y donde al parecer se han registrado más víctimas, fue una de alemán, en la que el asesino disparó a la cabeza del profesor Chris Bishop antes de abrir fuego sobre los alumnos. En otras aulas algunos alumnos huyeron por las ventanas. Otros intentaron bloquear las puertas con sus cuerpos, en algunos casos con resultado fatal. Ese fue el caso del profesor Liviu Librescu, que fue alcanzado por disparos a través de la puerta mientras impedía el paso al agresor y lograba así salvar a sus alumnos. Doce estudiantes de la universidad se recuperan de sus heridas y permanecen estables en distintos hospitales de la zona de Blackburg, donde se encuentra el centro docente. La matanza ha conmovido a todo el país y ha suscitado reacciones de condolencia en todo el mundo. El presidente de EU, George W. Bush, aseguró ayer que se trata de un "día de tristeza para todo el país" e instó a los estudiantes a no dejarse llevar por la ira, en un acto de homenaje a las víctimas en el polideportivo de la universidad. Bush ordenó que las banderas estadounidenses ondeen a media asta en señal de duelo hasta el domingo. El incidente ha comenzado a suscitar ya las primeras críticas sobre la reacción de las autoridades tanto policiales como universitarias. Muchos estudiantes han censurado que, tras el primer incidente, no se suspendieran las clases ni se diera un aviso de peligro hasta dos horas después, y eso sólo a través de un correo electrónico. La matanza ha vuelto a reabrir el debate sobre la regulación de la tenencia de armas en Estados Unidos, un país en el que las leyes sobre el control de armas de fuego son muy laxas. EFE -- Fuente Original: Diario La Raza - Chicago http://www.laraza.com/news.php?nid=43338&clave=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A13%3A%22virginia+tech%22%3B%7D
Comunidad coreana teme tras matanza en Virginia
Pide no centrarse en el origen del agresor, sino en el problema de las armas en el país. Publicado por Maribel Hastings Corresponsal La Opinión 04-18-2007 Washington, D.C.— A partir de la revelación de que el supuesto responsable de la matanza en la universidad virginia tech es un residente legal originario de Corea del Sur, se ha generado cierta preocupación entre las comunidades coreana y asiática en general de Estados Unidos y entre los grupos que las representan por temor a repercusiones negativas hacia este sector de la población. Personas entrevistadas coincidieron en que la raza, el origen nacional o la situación migratoria de Cho Seung Hui, de 23 años, no debería opacar la raíz del problema, ya sea la situación mental que lo llevó a cometer tal acto o la facilidad con que obtuvo armas de fuego. Cho llegó a Estados Unidos en 1992 procedente de Corea del Sur. Era residente permanente y se reportó que renovó su documento migratorio por última vez en octubre de 2003. De momento, líderes de las comunidades coreana y asiática indicaron a La Opinión que han recibido reportes sin confirmar de incidentes aislados. "Estamos preocupados. Desafortunadamente hemos recibido reportes de algunos incidentes, pero nada ha sido confirmado", dijo a este diario Aimee Baldillo, directora de programas del Centro de Justicia Asiático Americano con sede en Washington, D.C. Agregó: "Nuestra preocupación inicial es estar presentes para la comunidad de virginia tech", como lo han estado, aseguró, en oportunidades previas para atender asuntos de otras comunidades. Por su parte, Eun Sook Lee, directora ejecutiva del Consorcio para la Educación al Servicio de la Nación Coreana (NAKASEC), con sede en Los Ãngeles, indicó a La Opinión que no han recibido reportes específicos de incidentes en contra de coreanos, pero que ha sido tema de discusiones entre las diversas organizaciones y se ha discutido en programas de radio. Añadió que, sin embargo, la raza, el origen nacional y la situación migratoria de Cho "no deberían ser el foco central de la historia". Deberían serlo las causas del problema, agregó, "porque esto, lamentablemente, lo vimos anteriormente en situaciones como Columbine" [en referencia a otra matanza en una secundaria de Colorado en 1999]. "Lo ocurrido es una tragedia indecible, pero también sería una tragedia si un individuo [Cho] viene a simbolizar a una amplia comunidad coreana que ha contribuido de manera vital a este país", indicó Lee. En momentos en que el Congreso debate una potencial reforma inmigratoria integral, Douglas Rivlin, portavoz del Foro Nacional de Inmigración (NIF), respondió a La Opinión que es posible que no falten "los oportunistas que siempre intentan vincular todo con la comunidad inmigrante o extranjera". Pero lo ocurrido tiene que ver con el estado mental de una persona y no con el tema de las visas, aclaró. Además de la tragedia de la muerte de decenas de personas, "sería una tragedia que [el joven coreano] se convirtiera en el rostro de la comunidad coreana o de cualquier comunidad extranjera", dijo Rivlin. © La Opinión -- Fuente Original: Diario La Raza -Chicago http://www.laraza.com/news.php?nid=43339&clave=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A13%3A%22virginia+tech%22%3B%7D
Media's response to VT tragedy warrants criticism
By: Posted: 4/20/07 In the time between the two horrific shootings that took place at Virgina Polytechnic Institute April 16, the killer, Cho Seung-Hui managed to mail disturbing video clips and pictures of himself to NBC News in New York. While NBC News did contact the FBI about the materials, they unveiled the disturbing images to the American people on the nightly news Wednesday. This insensitive move is representative of the mainstream media's disappointing coverage of the tragedy, and The Miami Student editorial board finds the glorification of this mass murderer appalling and offensive. NBC News is effectively giving Cho Seung-Hui exactly what he wanted - a pulpit from which he can speak his insanities. Cho's chilling and senseless photographs only adds to the pain of the victims' friends and families and are not worth playing over and over again. In another sign of sensationalist coverage, other networks, such as CNN, aired a running gunshot tally based off of a cell phone audio clip captured by a Virginia Tech student, almost oblivious to the fact that with each shot another innocent person was being murdered. This theatrical media coverage suggests that the lessons from Columbine have not been taken to heart. In the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine shooting, the media covered the event with a similar circus-like attitude. Contemporary 24-hour coverage has led to poor journalism that thrives on ratings, melodrama and editorialized field reports, all of which takes away from the actual event. Rather than these sad examples of media irresponsibility, The Miami Student editorial board feels the American public deserve staid reporting. Moreover, rather than glorifying Seung-Hui's acts, the press should focus more on the victims of his acts. For example, Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old engineering professor and Holocaust survivor, saved his students by blocking his classroom's door with his body, sacrificing his life in the process. Stories such as this represent a sign of selfless humanity amidst the horror of the random violence. In the end, the media coverage of the tragedy has been disrespectful toward the families and friends of the innocent victims. Just hours after their deaths, the media swarmed the college town of Blacksburg, Va. with little regard for the students and families who lived through the violent act. In many ways, the networks' theatrical coverage has helped to desensitize the American people to the horrors of the April 16 attack. The media should simply allow the tragedy to speak for itself - its horror is self-evident. -- Original Source:The Miami Student - April 10, 2007
Students hold candlelight vigil, show support for Blacksburg By: Megan Weiland Posted: 4/20/07 Following closely on the heels of sophomore Beth Spiedel's death and the two-year anniversary of a tragic off-campus house fire, Miami University's community is now confronted with what has been termed by Virginia Polytechnic Institute students as a "college Columbine." "We are all feeling enormous sadness and grief at the thought of what happened in Virginia," said Miami University President David Hodge. "It's overwhelming to know that 33 people died (Monday) and I think it causes fear for us as we live in this modern era, where it is hard to understand what would possess a person to do something like this. It's a feeling of vulnerability." Friday, April 20, college campuses across the country will be joining together for an "Orange and Maroon Effect" Day, when all Americans are encouraged to wear Virginia Tech's colors to show support. "This tradition began in 2002 to encourage the wearing of school colors to sporting events," said Kristen Lucia, a graduate student at Miami who received her bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 2004. "We had two games a year, one where you had to wear orange, and the other maroon." Lucia added that the shirts were sold for only $5, and the first year caused a national shortage in orange T-shirts because of the popularity. It became a tradition at the school as well as across the nation to show "Hokie pride." "I think we have two choices," she said. "We can dress in black, mourn, and sink into the shadows. Or we can dress in bright orange and stand together. The actions of one person will not affect our unity." Lucia said that many people from Virginia Tech are worried about how Monday's event will change the way others view their school. "Everyone's fear right now is that people will think VA Tech is unsafe, but there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent this," Lucia said. "The first thing on our lips was, I want to be in Blacksburg not I want to get away from there but I want to be there with them." Miami students and faculty gathered together Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil honoring and remembering the students who were killed at Virginia Tech Monday. "A college student is a college student no matter where you go to school," said Stacey Brozio, a junior East Asian language and culture major who planned the event. "Whether we believe in something higher or not, we share a common belief in humanity at this vigil. We're here in support for each other and for Virginia Tech." With more than 200 people in attendance, several students and faculty members shared thoughts, memories and wrote sympathy cards to families of the victims and the shaken community. "My own personal loss was very great," said sophomore Kristen Vliet, who lost a friend in the shooting. "There are just some things in life that don't make sense. There's no way we can look back at the victims of the fire and have it make sense. There's no way we can look back at Beth (Speidel) and have it make sense. What does make sense is that we're here grieving together." Both Wal-Mart and the Faith Lutheran Church and Campus Ministry donated candles, which were placed around the reflecting pool behind the Shriver Center at the conclusion of the vigil. "The hardest part for me is when people forget," said Paige Glattly, a first-year psychology major. "We need to remember the families. It changed the rest of their lives. They will remember this every minute of every day." President Hodge expressed his joy at seeing the Miami community gathering together and encouraged them to continue to talk through the grief. "We as college students didn't really have a voice when Columbine happened," said junior Paul Morrow. "We didn't have a platform to express our grief like we do here." Jane Lindsay, a first-year whose two friends live in West Ambler Johnston Hall at Virginia Tech, said talking about her feelings with those friends and with others is a way of showing support. "Virginia Tech is so similar to Miami," Lindsay said. "It's not even a city, just a small town and a close community, like Blacksburg." Other students spoke on questioning their faith and having moments of utter disbelief that this would happen. "You have a finite amount of time in life," said Sarah Baumert, a senior accounting major. "You never get that time back and it's wonderful of these students at Miami to give that time. The people that came out are saying you don't have to talk, just know we're here." Miami's security assessment Miami is one of many universities in America right now re-evaluating its security policy and procedures. "I've gotten a number of e-mails from parents wanting to protect their kids," Hodge said. "I feel the exact same way." Currently, the university's security policy involves emergency phones in locations across campus, 24-hour patrol by Miami University Police, campus crime alerts via e-mail and use of the myMiami homepage. Hodge added that in an emergency the administration could utilize the Miami Metro system, radio frequencies and local TV. He encouraged students and faculty to read tips on what to do in an emergency, available on the MUPD Web site. "Miami has been as prepared as we could for all situations," Hodge said. "I don't know that anything would have even made a difference at Virginia Tech. Two hours is really a short period of time. People don't realize how much time it takes to put a campus on lockdown." According to Hodge, a new hotline number, similar to the lines available at Middletown and Hamilton campuses, was added Tuesday to relay emergency information. They are also looking into the possibility of text messaging campus alerts. "We do have multiple layers of communication on campus that just depend on the situation," said Richard Little, senior director of university communications. "E-mail can be very spotty in terms of reaching the whole community. It requires sending 25,000-30,000 e-mails and hoping people check them." Little mentioned the employment of phone trees to notify staff and students in the area of the campus phones who would, in turn, notify others. The method of text messaging would require all students to register their cell phones with the university and keep the information updated. "Nothing is perfect," Little said. "Nothing can reach a whole campus in an instant and we have to be careful not to spread panic. The question is not the means of communication, but making sure you have the right information." According to Miami's Web site, MUPD members are trained to respond and handle different emergency situations. "We have all kinds of training and drills," Little said. "You sit down and imagine the unthinkable because someday that unthinkable could happen. I wish we could do something to make sure this never happens again but I also know that isn't a reality." Miami's Student Counseling Service posted a link on its Web site Wednesday offering suggestions and information on coping with the Virginia Tech tragedy. "Grief affects us in several different ways," said Kip Alishio, director of the Student Counseling Service. "It breaks through the normal setting and makes us feel vulnerable. A vast majority of people will get what they are needing from significant others, the natural resources in their lives. You should seek professional resources when those natural resources are non-existent." Alishio added that Miami does have procedures for faculty to report concerns about a student. "We do get consultation requests from faculty who have students who have submitted disturbing works or were acting in a suspicious way," he said. "We decide how to approach or intervene if we find it necessary. A student may go through a mandatory psychological screening to determine if they are a risk to themselves or others." The Web site, sponsored by the American Psychological Association, suggests talking about feelings, taking frequent breaks and helping others do something productive. -- Original Source:The Miami Student - April 20, 2007
By: John Tuzcu Posted: 4/24/07 In the week leading up to the Virginia Tech massacre where 32 people were senselessly killed, there also happened to be Iraqi people being massacred in the bloodbath of Iraq. Five hundred Iraqi men women and children that had nothing to do with the war were found dead in what is a "usual" seven days in the Iraq. These two narratives that both deeply implicate Americans leads us to ponder whose lives we choose to remember and of whose we are completely ignorant. Monday, April 9, 45 innocent Iraqis were killed, many of them found tortured and decapitated. Tuesday, 85 were found dead, half from U.S. attacks. Wednesday a teacher was found shot in the head, a mother and a son were killed on the way to school and a pile of unidentifiable bodies were discovered to make 42 in all. Thursday killed 50, including an explosion inside the "heavily-fortified" Green Zone. Friday, April 13, civilians were killed walking to mosque and a kid was blown up ... 70 more people, people just like you and me. Saturday brought 110 civilian deaths, 16 being blown up by a car bomb. Finally, Sunday, April 15, 100 civilians were murdered in and around Baghdad. This one week of tragedy in Iraq is sadly not an exception. There have been 600,000 civilian deaths since 2003, and 3,323 U.S. deaths (and counting). Despite this, when was the last time we saw a picture of an Iraqi kid on television or read their story in the newspaper? When was the last time we were forced to remember that Iraqis too have rich and important lives or were forced to come face to face with the carnage taking place at the hands of the U.S. occupation? Can you imagine invaders coming into the United States and precipitating massacres that kill 500 Americans a week? This bloody occupation has passed into its fifth year and it's getting increasingly bloodier. Almost half of all the civilian deaths have occurred in the last year of the war, as mortar attacks have quadrupled and bombs killing more than 50 people at once have doubled in occurrence. Suicide bombs, car bombs and roadside bombs have doubled as well in the fourth year. There are also many reports exposing the drastic conditions that living Iraqis are facing. Eleven percent of Iraqi babies are now born underweight, compared to 4 percent before the U.S. invasion, malnutrition has risen to 28 percent and Iraqi civilians are citing stress and anxiety levels that are untenable. The United States has permanently destroyed and ended the lives of millions of Iraqis, though they remain numbers to most of us. Of course we must mourn and remember the loss of life in Blacksburg, Va., but we should also compare the endless coverage that tragedy has received in place of others - killings going on everyday in our name. The memorials accorded to the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings were moving, if only we reserved a fraction of that space in our hearts for innocent Iraqis as well. If we put human faces on those tragedies we might find the continued U.S. occupation to be unbearable. We might feel something again. Or maybe those days are over. -- Original Source:The Miami Student - April 24, 2007
School security proposal shoves aside prevention
By:Anonymous Posted: 4/27/07 Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones urged April 19 that the Ohio state legislature and Governor Ted Strickland consider drafting a new law that would require armed guards in all of Ohio's schools, colleges and universities. In the wake of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute shootings, during which a crazed student killed 32 students and faculty, debate within the Ohio General Assembly has focused heavily on how future tragedies of this sort can be prevented. Nonetheless, the extraordinary cost of this program and its doubtful effectiveness makes it a proposal that the legislature should overlook in favor of more proactive approaches that would act to prevent another school shooting. The high cost of putting an armed guard in every Ohio school raises some serious questions regarding the state's ability to fund this program. Such a program appears to be a colossal waste of expenditures, especially given the fact that the state's budget is already in the red. Given the rarity of such attacks, it is neither prudent nor feasible to devote such a large amount of state resources to a program such as this and more cost effective measures can be implemented instead. Additionally, the presence of an armed guard is unlikely to dissuade a deranged and suicidal student from carrying out a planned attack. It is naive to think that a security guard is a deterrent strategy, or that he or she would be able to intervene in time to stop a determined shooter. Furthermore, Jones' suggestion that teachers and faculty members could be trained and equipped with firearms is a frightening proposition. The answer to school violence does not rest in turning Ohio's public schools into armed camps, thus creating a culture of anxiety. Placing armed contingents within Ohio's schools sends the wrong message that guns are the way to prevent violence. Indeed, Virginia Tech has one of the best campus police forces in the country. Rather, focus must be shifted toward a proactive preventive strategy that involves more funding for school counselors and an increased effort on behalf of teachers to spot troubled students and refer them to professional help. While schools should be allowed to place armed guards on their campuses and in their halls on a district by district basis, this decision should remain a local matter. Ultimately, Sheriff Jones' proposal is a reactionary measure that will do little except further Ohio's financial crisis and create an unnecessary police presence in elementary, high school and university buildings. -- Original Source: The Miami Student - April 27, 2007
Maroon and orange ribbons remained on trees on the drillfield over the Memorial Day weekend.
Students at Saint Louis University sent nearly a dozen message board to Tech in the weeks following the tragedy. SLU also hosted a memorial mass in honor of the Tech students and professors who died.
A Virginia Tech faculty member and student volunteer at work in the newly completed center of the intermediate memorial, carefully organizing plastic daisies into the shape of the VT logo. For months, these same VT daisies were a fixture on the drillfield grass. Photo taken July 6, 2007. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
BERKOWITZ: A campus in grief distracted by media attack
By:Adan Berkowitz Posted: 4/18/07 In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, there's going to be a lot of people asking why this happened, or what could have been done to prevent this or keep it from happening in the future. I think pundits in the media and people on both sides of the gun debate would be wise to refrain from using the shooting to further their agendas. There's going to be a lot of people on both sides frothing at the mouth, saying this could have been prevented if only some of the students had been armed or if guns were made illegal or other such nonsense. Any group who tries to spin this into a crusade against violent media or for gun advocacy or for its own goals should be ripped apart by the press. Unfortunately, the press usually latches onto this kind of sensationalism and frames it as a crusade for some issue, instead of treating it as it really is: a monumental tragedy. As a journalism student and a person who believes in general good taste, I have to say I was nauseated while watching events unfold on the news, not only because of what happened, but because of the way the media seemed to be wringing every drop they could from the story. With 24-hour news coverage, this comes as no surprise. For hours, networks would loop a 10-second clip of blurry cell phone footage, followed by mostly baseless speculation, followed by a parade of talking heads ready to blame the shooting on everything from video games to rap music. Jerks like Geraldo Rivera talk their mouth off even without any new information about the story. The media is relentless when it comes to stirring up a frenzy. We can't even wait until the dead are buried before all sorts of scaremongering like Fox News's brilliant article: "Experts: Colleges Ripe for Attacks." CNN ran some pretty tasteless stuff, too, like "Students Slaughtered." I know that "if it bleeds it leads," but you can almost smell the media sniffing blood like sharks do in the water. At least wait before all the facts are in before people like Anderson Cooper bring on some idiot who says this was caused by Grand Theft Auto. I can only imagine how the kids at Virginia Tech must feel, being swarmed by reporters with cameras and microphones trying to capture a sound byte of their grief. All the facts haven't been released yet, but no matter what anyone says in hindsight, the sad truth is that nothing really could have prevented this. Virginia Tech officials are most likely going to catch enormous amounts of flak and lawsuits and probably lose their jobs, but who knows if there was anything they could have done differently. I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of sensationalist articles about college safety forthcoming in the media, and I sincerely hope that colleges don't turn into locked-down fortresses because of one incident. Safety is important, but realistically there's only so much that can be done to prevent something like this, and we shouldn't believe that by insulating students further we can avert every incident of violence. All the metal detectors and random searches in the world aren't going to stop a determined nutcase. I don't want to turn this into a debate about civil liberties, because this isn't about that. But people and officials are going to be scrambling to try and prepare for every contingency and start locking things up because everyone feels helpless and wants to think there was something they could have done. We want to be able to find reason in this, to view the shooting as part of an overarching trend, a result of our violent culture or our attitudes about gun control or whatever, because the truth -- that there isn't a reason, that there's no definite thing that would have stopped this -- is hard to accept. My condolences go out to everyone at Virginia Tech, and I can't imagine how they are dealing with this. Hopefully the media will cut them some slack and will give them some time to grieve before they swoop in and start throwing blame on everyone except the guy who did it. Those kids whose lives and dreams were cut short are what's important, not your agenda. Adan Berkowitz, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. -- Original Source:The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007
By:Anonymous Posted: 4/17/07 On one of the most celebratory Mondays on Boston's calendar -- a day when students forget about classes and hit the streets for a citywide party -- the Virginia Tech campus was in shock and mourning. In the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, a gunman murdered 32 community members and wounded 15 others before taking his own life yesterday. This page can barely begin to express its deepest sympathies to the Virginia Tech community. When Boston University loses any one of its members, the campus has a difficult time recovering. To lose 32 community members in fewer than three hours is unimaginable. The most frightening element of this tragedy is that it was virtually unpreventible. No matter how much money a university pours into its security plan, no matter how often safety procedures are rehearsed, little can prevent a suicidal gunman from going on a rampage. This mass murder is part of the violence this country has been forced to become accustomed to. Many may not consider Monday's shooting an act of terrorism, but that is exactly what it was. Ever since Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, this sort of terrorism has been part of our reality. But that doesn't remove the distress and pain felt after it happens. Blacksburg, Va. may be more than 700 miles from Boston, but the emotions still hit close to home. College students have a connection to universities across the country. Most students know someone, or have a friend of a friend, or have some other tie to Virginia Tech. Even if students don't have these personal connections, they have the bond of being college students -- going to class, sleeping in late, going out on weekends and being close to friends. And sadly the thought about the possibility of a gunman coming into their classrooms and opening fire is a concern that crosses many students' minds. But no one can possibly fathom what this horrific experience would actually feel, sound or look like. Hopefully, most never will. Virginia Tech will likely never fully recover from what happened yesterday. Coping with the most destructive shooting this country has ever seen will be a slow and seemingly impossible task. Though it may sound insincere or contrived because it will be so difficult, this message isn't meant to be such: We wish the speediest recovery to the Virginia Tech community. -- Original Source:The Daily Free Press - April 17, 2007
A weather-worn sign, dedicated to the memory of Daniel Perez, sits on the walkway of the new intermediate memorial. It reads "Good luck Daniel, God is with you." At the time of this photo, staff members and volunteers were cleaning up the site, moving some items to storage and others to the newly completed center of the memorial. Photo taken July 6, 2007. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
LETTER: Massacre is 'senseless loss'
By: Clarissa Nemeth Posted: 4/18/07 To me, a college campus is one of the best places to be on earth. A university represents a lot of great things: youth and promise, for starters. A sense of community. A devotion to a life of the mind. Personal improvement. Ambition, dedication, discipline. All kinds of respect -- respect from students who want to learn, respect from professors who are honored to be able to share their knowledge, respect of colleagues and self-respect for a job well done. And above all, a love of knowledge, learning and teaching, with the idea that these things can improve the quality of life for everyone in the world. This is why what happened at Virginia Tech horrifies me so much. Any senseless loss of life, especially in such high numbers, is numbing and saddening. But the idea that this took place on a college campus -- especially with the shooter being a student -- is particularly difficult for me to wrap my mind around. Such a thing is in direct reproach to all the wonderful things that a university, one of the civilized world's oldest and most respected institutions, stands for. This was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, and it happened in a community devoted to higher learning. How does a university community -- teachers, students and staff alike -- begin to recover from such a horrific turn of events, especially because the betrayal came from within? There is already much criticism of the way the university handled itself during the crucial hours. But how much better could it have done it? How prepared could it have been for something like this? I'm certain that, had it happened here, Boston University would have not have fared much better. University administrators do think about student safety, but they are generally not thinking about their own students going on shooting rampages. And what a horrible precedent this has set. Clearly, now they will have to start thinking about it. I have a friend at Virginia Tech, and thankfully, she and her friends are safe. But I grieve for her, nonetheless, because of what her community will be going through in the days and months to come, particularly when the media coverage subsides and they are left to pick up the pieces on their own. Somebody on CNN said yesterday that because of these circumstances no matter what college we are affiliated with, "Today, we are all Hokies." My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who died, but my prayers belong to everyone affiliated with Virginia Tech. I believe that every university in the country should have its flag at half-mast tomorrow. This tragedy did not just happen to Virginia Tech. It happened to all of us, in this larger community devoted to everything that colleges and universities stand for. Clarissa Nemeth CFA '08 -- Original Source:The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007
By: Posted: 4/18/07 As expected, even before tears were able to dry, and before the reality of the Virginia Tech tragedy could really set in, officials began discovering details about what happened Monday morning. Yesterday, Americans saw the face of the shooter -- the first step in putting the pieces together in this country's deadliest shooting. And with that name came information about Cho Seung-Hui's troubled past. He was taking medications to treat psychological illnesses, according to an April 18 New York Times article. Pieces that Cho had composed for a creative writing class contained violent material, concerning one professor so much that she had passed the work onto police and other officials. Reports about Cho's criminal tendencies spurred much speculation about why it wasn't addressed before he caused nightmarish destruction. It also inspired security leaders and university administrators across the country to meet and discuss how to improve campus safety. The Boston Police Department met with administrators from surrounding universities to review their own security procedures. One of the biggest things that came out of Tuesday's conversation was the need to find potentially dangerous students and pluck them out before they follow in Cho's footsteps. While officials are correct in holding these meetings because safety is so important and relevant to consider, this sort of psychoanalytical prevention must just be the very start of security discussions. Leaders were merely addressing the most important evidence that had come from the Virginia Tech case at the time. But when more specifics come about what enabled the gunman to strike twice, leaders must try to never repeat whatever mistakes police made Monday. It is unrealistic to think school counselors can identify potential mass murderers within enormous student bodies like those at Virginia Tech, Boston University, Northeastern University and many other colleges. Afterall, not everyone who writes disturbing material about death in an English class is a possible criminal. The reality is that the two murders at West Ambler Johnston Hall were not preventable. However, it is possible that if students had known of the first shooting almost immediately after it happened, fewer might have been shot two hours later at Norris Hall. But until all the details of the shootings surface, it will remain unclear what could have been done. After the first shooting, police began tracking the boyfriend of the female victim, but during their pursuit, the second series of shots were reported at Norris Hall, according to the Times. University officials cannot completely improve security based on unknown errors. Monday's massacre must be put under a microscope. Police need the closest possible look at everything that transpired on the Virginia Tech campus to learn what went wrong, what could have been prevented and what was unfortunately inevitable. Only when all of this is revealed will officials know how to improve university security. -- Original Source: The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007
Every Friday, Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli nonviolent activists gather in the Southern villages of Bethlehem to protest against the building of the Apartheid Wall that will eventually destroy the livelihood of these villages. This Friday [April 20, 2007], the protest began with a silent procession by the group of about fifty participants. We carried banners and leaflets with the Virginia Tech logo and statements supporting them in this time of pain. Thirty two olive trees were also carried in the procession to remember each person killed in the massacre. The olive tree is a global symbol of peace and hope. Once we reached the path created by the by the bulldozers for the building of the Apartheid Wall we dug the earth and plated the thirty two olive trees in a row - instead of building an ugly wall that divides people, let us plant trees that bring people together. Several of the participants made statements condemning the violence that we all, as the human family are witnessing and condemning the building of the Apartheid wall and the killing of innocents. -- Archived with permission. Original Source: http://samiawad.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/
Sami Awad (Text) and Muhamad Zboun - PNN (Photo)
University reps. meet with BPD to discuss prevention By: Andrew FitzGerald Posted: 4/18/07 The day after a Virginia Tech senior shot and killed 32 people on campus and himself, representatives from 19 Boston-area colleges who met at Boston Police Department headquarters said they must improve communication in the future to prevent similar campus attacks. University administrators joined state and local police forces to discuss "protocol, procedure and planning" that goes into preventing campus attacks during a meeting requested by Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, said BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. Representatives at the meeting said they wanted to ensure the BPD and campus security forces are able to communicate through radio, according to Driscoll, who cited the existing Boston Area Emergency Radio Network -- a link between local campus and police departments -- that received boosted support after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Virginia Tech and college campuses around the country have reacted to Monday's shootings, in which 32 people were killed by Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui. The 23-year-old English major from South Korea killed two people in a residence hall shortly after 7 a.m., and he killed 30 in a classroom building two hours later a half-mile across campus. Local university administrators also compared methods they use to communicate with students in pressing situations, Driscoll said. Virginia Tech officials have received widespread criticism for not immediately contacting university members after the first shooting. Officials first sent an email to the university about the residence hall shooting at 9:26 a.m., while the gunman was carrying out his second attack. Driscoll said another topic discussed was the importance of "recognizing the tendency of someone who may act in violence." Classmates and professors have described the shooter as someone who was not very sociable, and some professors had referred him for counseling, according to The New York Times. Representatives at yesterday's meeting will form subcommittees to develop campus-specific security plans, which will vary based on school size and relative security, Driscoll said. "The distinction would be that some universities have patrol forces and some do not," she said. "If the security force is unarmed, then what are the steps they should take in an unarmed situation? If the force is armed, then the response should be different." Attending university administrators said they could not provide details on the tools security personnel use to protect their campuses because the information could aid potential attackers. Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, who attended the meeting, declined to elaborate on specifics, only repeating Driscoll's summary that they discussed "protocols, training amongst different agencies [and] how students can access information." Harvard University spokesman Joe Wrinn said universities and law enforcement agencies meet regularly to share information. For example, university representatives and police held a similar meeting in October 2004 to plan for potential riots after World Series games, prompted by the accidental shooting death of an Emerson College student celebrating in the streets after the Boston Red Sox won the American League Championship Series. "We occasionally get together with other campuses and campus police," Wrinn said. "We run tabletop exercises and drills." Driscoll said the police forces and university representatives will meet again to further develop prevention techniques, but she did not provide a date. -- Original Source: The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007