By Guo Qiang (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2007-04-18 15:27 The world was shaken by the news that a 23-year-old South Korean killed 32 students at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. The bloody massacre began at about 7:15 a.m. when two people were killed in a dormitory. Two hours later, the gunman reloaded his handgun, shooting another 30 dead. American President George W. Bush said his nation is "shocked" and "saddened" and his administration "would do everything possible to assist with the investigation". The shootings sent the whole nation into a panic, despite many reported incidents of shooting sprees on campuses in a country where owning guns is considered a right. There was no confirmed motive for the shootings. People around the world should observe silence for the 32 innocent victims of the gunman who was purported to vent his pent-up anger because he suspected his girlfriend had a date with a student at the same school. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao expressed China's condemnation of the killings and sent condolences to the victims' families. And what did gunman Cho Seung-Hui achieve in the end? Spurned love is not entitled to end 32 lives unexpectedly from the earth although romantic poets say 'Life is dear, love is dearer'. Now it's time to focus on U.S. gun regulation. Cho is a South Korean immigrant who had lived in the U.S. since 1992 and had a green card, which makes it legal for him to obtain guns at a gun shop. Reports said Cho paid US$571 for his weapons and a box of ammunition. Gun control should be on the agenda of the Bush administration. According to reports, America is one of the most heavily armed societies in the developed world, with 40% of households owning guns. U.S. homicide rates are two to 10 times higher than in other developed countries. It was during the American War of Independence in the late 1700s that guns and firearms were necessities for the American people to fight for their independence against Britain. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed", enabling its citizens to legitimately own firearms. As a legal permanent US resident, Cho had the same rights as any other American citizen to buy guns. Currently, the Democrats support gun control while the Republicans do not. The differing attitudes make it difficult to come to a consensus on gun control. This issue will be a hot topic in next year's presidential elections. Chinese online commentators quickly weighed in on the issue, with many blaming the school for lax safety regulations. Students also complained the school did not react quickly enough to the deadly situation, saying they only received an e-mail from the university that urged them to be cautious about a shooting. However, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger defended the college's response by saying, "We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur." In covering this horrific tragedy, it is necessary to question the media ethics of some news websites. Without confirmation from outside sources, some influential websites, like Sina.com.cn posted a story translated from the Chicago Sun-Times, saying the murderer was likely to be a Chinese immigrant from Shanghai. Chinese media should confirm the facts before releasing stories, which is a basic standard for media outlets. Some websites are so concerned by the number of page hits that they forget their credibility is at stake. Meanwhile, local media outlets should bear the responsiblity for hurting a guy who was wrongly accused as a suspect. Wayne Chiang, 23, an Asian-American student at Virginia Tech University has become the subject of fevered speculation on the internet after the killings. "I am not the shooter. Through this experience, I have received numerous death threats, slanderous accusations, and my phone is out of charge from the barrage of calls. Local police have been notified of the situation," Wayne wrote in his blog http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/the-internet-thinks-its-me/2007/04/17/1176696821109.html?s_cid=rss_age . "It was five for five. I was Asian, I lived in (the dorm), I go to V Tech, I recently broke up with my girlfriend and I collect guns." Let us get back to the point. It is a tragic story of 32 innocent lives killed by a young man. Just hold up candles for their souls. -- Original Source:China Daily http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/18/content_853638.htm
Creado por Gustavo D. Perednik El catoblepas - numero 64 - Junio 2007 - pagina 5 Sobre los defensores selectivos de derechos humanos, que son permisivos sólo con dictaduras. Borges advertía de no convertir la ética en una rama de la estadística, vicio que podría empujar a erróneas conclusiones, por ejemplo que la Segunda Guerra Mundial estalló por una agresión anglonorteamericana contra la inocente Alemania. Ello se deduciría de descontextualizar algunas cifras: durante la contienda fueron muertos cerca de diez mil civiles estadounidenses y unos cien mil británicos, cifras que contrastadas con los casi dos millones de civiles alemanes caídos podría hacer sospechar que el Tercer Reich fue veinte veces más víctima que sus enemigos. Acaso así lo habría planteado Amnistía Internacional, cuyo reciente informe acerca del año 2006 condena a Israel por «crímenes de guerra» durante la Segunda Guerra en el Líbano (12 de julio/14 de agosto de 2006. A.I. se basa en una asimetría insustancial: que han muerto miles de civiles libaneses y «apenas» centenares de hebreos. No repara en la causa de la asimetría: mientras el ejército israelí protege a sus civiles, los grupos terroristas como Hezbolá usan cínicamente a sus propios niños como parapetos para lanzar la agresión. Por medio de disparar sus misiles desde aldeas indefensas, los islamistas especulaban con que, cuando llegara la represalia israelí, sus mecenas mediáticos se apresurarían en exhibir a los judíos como agresores. Su cálculo mostró estar bien fundado y por ello fueron favorecidos por las agencias de noticias. Consistentemente antiisraelíes, los informes de A.I. revelan una conspicua tendenciosidad. Mucho más que Norcorea o Arabia Saudí, el país judío es permanente blanco de sus monitoreos. El Centro de Asuntos Públicos de Jerusalém publicó en 2004 un estudio que compara los informes de A.I. contra Israel con aquellos emitidos acerca de Sudán (éste es un excelente ejemplo después de que dos décadas de violencia étnica y religiosa resultaran en dos millones de muertos y cuatro millones de refugiados). Durante 2001 A.I. produjo siete informes sobre Sudán y 39 sobre Israel. Del estudio se desprenden dos datos elocuentes: 1) A.I. ignoró la destrucción de decenas de aldeas sudanesas, pero condenó una y otra vez la destrucción de cada casa palestina, aun cuando éstas sirvieran de refugio para terroristas; 2) A.I. soslayó miles de asesinatos de civiles sudaneses, pero criticó acremente cada muerte de terroristas activos a manos del ejército israelí. Pese a las críticas a su parcialidad, A.I. no modificó su rumbo y hasta 2003 produjo 52 informes sobre Sudán y 192 sobre Israel. Este año, para envolver su antisionismo en un manto de pretendida ecuanimidad, el informe de A.I. también critica al Hezbolá. La equiparación es de por sí agraviante, ya que pone en un mismo plano una sociedad pujante y democrática de casi siete millones de habitantes, con una banda terrorista teocrática de algunos miles que difunde en el sur libanés el odio de los ayatolás. A.I. pone en un mismo plano a un país que actúa bajo la ley para aplicar su inalienable derecho de autodefensa, con una caterva que esgrime el Corán para bombardear las ciudades de la Galilea con el objeto explícito de destruir nuestro país. Israel no tiene ningún reclamo frente al Líbano, y está dispuesto a firmar con esta nación un tratado de paz sin condiciones, tal como lo hiciera en el pasado (17 de mayo de 1983) hasta que el régimen fascista sirio obligó a que el tratado fuera unilateralmente anulado (los medios jamás volvieron a mencionar este tema para que nadie dedujera que Israel quiere paz). Sin duda los civiles libaneses sufrieron descomunalmente durante la guerra. Sin embargo, aunque no llame la atención de la prensa ni de AI, los civiles israelíes también sufren: cientos de miles de hebreos fueron repetidamente evacuados de sus hogares y albergados en refugios, tal como le está ocurriendo en estos días a la población de la ciudad de Sederot debido a la agresión de misiles del Hamás, ante la indiferencia de A.I. y del mundo. Síndrome confirmado Presidida hoy por una mujer musulmana, A.I. fue fundada en julio de 1961 por un abogado de origen judío que se había convertido al catolicismo pocos años antes. Se trata de un grupo de presión que promueve derechos humanos, aunque sólo en ciertos países. Su rama española presentó en mayo de 2004 en Barcelona un informe del conflicto de Oriente Medio en el que se alinea abiertamente con una de las partes y reclama que el gobierno español se oponga aun más de Israel. Su director, Esteban Beltrán, hace caso omiso al volcán del terrorismo islamista, y fiel al bizantinismo suicida de la extrema izquierda, exhorta a los españoles a distanciarse de Israel. Ese año un profesor de filosofía de la Universidad de Carolina del Norte, Don Habibi, condenó a A.I. en estos términos: Su obsesión sería sensata si Israel fuera el peor violador de derechos humanos en el mundo. Pero cualquier criterio objetivo mostraría que ello no es cierto. Incluso si salteáramos causa y efecto, y la necesidad de Israel de enfrentar una guerra existencial, nunca podría compararse su contienda con las de Sudán, Argelia o Congo. Como la de la ONU, la posición de la A.I. se relaciona más con la política que con los derechos humanos. El sociólogo Daniel Patrick Moynihan, quien activó con los Kennedy en el Partido Demócrata norteamericano y fue embajador de su país en la ONU a mediados de la década del setenta, acuñó un principio que lleva su nombre y reza más o menos así: «La cantidad de violaciones de derechos humanos en un país es inversamente proporcional a la cantidad de quejas sobre derechos humanos que se oyen en ese país». Cuantas más protestas hay en algún lugar, más protegidos parecen estar allí los derechos humanos. Aunque no se deduce de las ciencias exactas, la ocurrente definición refleja un aspecto olvidado de la realidad: como los Estados que más violan los derechos humanos también ahogan la libertad de expresión, las quejas provendrán habitualmente desde las zonas en donde es posible protestar. Un estudio de este año mostró que A.I. dedicó 48 documentos a Israel, 37 a Sudán, 17 a Hezbolá, 10 a la Autoridad Palestina y 2 a Arabia Saudí. La crítica ante datos tan contundentes generó una ilustrativa respuesta de parte del representante de A.I. en Israel, Amnon Vidan. Por un lado, éste admitió que a la organización le cuesta mucho contar con precisión los civiles libaneses muertos, debido a que los terroristas de Hezbolá en general no están uniformados y por ese detalle se los incluye en la categoría de «civiles». Pero por otro lado Vidan reiteró un principio moralmente pérfido: que A.I. espera de Israel un compartimiento mejor que el de sus enemigos precisamente por ser una democracia. Así se ratifica el síndrome Moynihan. Al momento de juzgar, A.I. será más estricta con los defensores de los derechos humanos que con quieres los infringen. Hay precedentes. Cuando se publicaron las caricaturas que mucho enojaron al mundo musulmán (30 de septiembre de 2005) A.I. aseveró que «el derecho a la libre opinión y expresión no es absoluto... conlleva responsabilidades y puede ser objeto de restricciones a fin de salvaguardar los derechos de otros...» En contraste, A.I. nunca ha salido en defensa del «otro» cuando éste es el judío, objeto en los países árabes de frecuentes campañas deshumanizadoras. A.I. reprende a Occidente cuando se defiende y cuando expresa libremente opiniones polémicas, pero perdona a sus enemigos cuando atacan y cuando difaman. Como no se trata de regímenes democráticos, pareciera que hay que ser más condescendiente con ellos. Junto a Moynihan cabe recordar a otro prohombre que bien simboliza la guerra que nos ha impuesto el islamismo. Cuando se produjo la masacre de 32 personas en la Universidad de Virginia (16 de abril de 2007) se destacó el heroísmo de un matemático israelí, Livio Librescu, sobreviviente del Holocausto y profesor de aerodinámica. A los 76 años de edad, Librescu usó su propio cuerpo como barricada para trabar la puerta del aula donde dictaba clase, y así impidió que el asesino Cho Seung-Hui ingresara a la sala de conferencias. Salvó de este modo la vida de sus estudiantes, que escaparon por las ventanas hasta que Librescu fue ultimado a balazos. Israel es Librescu: para sostener el portal de Occidente y sus libertades amenazadas, el país resiste solo la agresión de grupos como Hamás y Hezbolá. En lugar de gratitud, en general cosecha en los medios occidentales la acre incomprensión de aquellos a quienes está defendiendo. Parece que tienden a identificarse con los enemigos de Israel porque éstos no son democráticos, ergo hay que disculparlos. -- Fuente Original: EL CATOBLEPAS - Jerusalén http://www.nodulo.org/ec/2007/n064p05.htm
Gustavo D. Perednik perednik@netvision.net.il August 1, 2007
Creado por Héctor González Avilés 09/06/2007 a las 04:26 PM El diecinueve de abril del año dos mil siete, un coreano desquiciado, enajenado por entes satánicas, acribilló a tiros en su universidad, a sus compañeros, dándoles muerte. El asesino se suicidó como Balmaceda, de un balazo en la sién, el crimen conmovió mucho al pueblo norteamericano y todo el mundo entero tambien. La muerte asoló las aulas de la Universidad "Virginia Tech", ya nada será igual, pues la violencia y el terrorismo voltearon el mundo al revés. -- Fuente Original: AtinaChile http://www.atinachile.cl/content/view/37554/1er_CONCURSO_INTERNACIONAL_DE_POESIA_LIBRE_ATINA_CHILE.html Licencia de uso: Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 2.0 Chile.
Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 2.0 Chile
Korean feelings on Virginia Tech massacre
By: Hae Min Sung, Contributing Writer Posted: 4/24/07 There was a Virginia Tech Massacre. Everyone was horrified. The killer committed suicide in the end, but he had already killed 32 people. Whenever I turned on the television, I saw the killer's face, and I watched the video clips the killer sent to NBC. I am a Korean. And at some point, I wish that I could speak some Japanese or Chinese so that I wouldn 't have to admit it. That doesn't mean that I don't want to be a Korean or I hate my nationality. But for now, I really don't want to face. When I heard the killer was a Korean, I didn't want to believe it. Korea is a peaceful nation, and we don't do that kind of terrible thing, I thought. I didn't do it, but I am so ashamed as a Korean. He just ruined my country's name. There was a cherish ceremony in Los Angeles' Korea town right after the massacre was broadcasted. Some people say it's an overreaction that Korean people blame themselves, so much so that many Americans scoff at Koreans. Unlike America, Korea is a nation of collectivism. Nation, society and groups come first, then individuals. That is why people are ashamed themselves as parents, as students and as Koreans. It is not only the killer's problem, but also Koreans'. I don't know what to say to those victims' families and to Americans. I cannot say anything but "I'm sorry." Whenever people talk about the massacre, I really want to leave. Wherever I go, I feel like people see me in anger because I am Korean, even though I know that they really don't know whether I am or not. At some point, I am scared that people might hate me because I am a Korean. At another point, I am scared that people might hit me or say something because I am a Korean. I don't think that American people are that irrational to hit somebody only because they have the same nationality that killer has. But I am afraid because as a Korean, I am ashamed of myself. The killer said that the society made him like that and he didn't have any choice. He thought everyone hated him and treated him wrong, and he wouldn't run away from people and society anymore. I don't want to say something bad to a person who has the same nationality as I do. But the killer was a psycho, and his way to face "the enemy" was definitely wrong. Why are other people the enemy, and why does he think society is treating him wrong? What's he running from, and why does he have no choice but to kill people? What's wrong with this guy??!! I am so confused. I am so angry at him and feel so sorry for the victims, victims' family and everyone, but at the same time, I felt so bad for him as a Korean. If he were not a Korean, I think, I might not feel this confusion; instead I'd just blame the murderer and feel bad for people involved in the massacre. I wish that he were not a Korean. But he is; I cannot change that. I cannot change anything. I cannot do anything for the victims, their family and for people. I just can say I am so sorry. -- Original Source:SMU Daily Campus - April 24, 2007
"Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
Haiyan Cheng's experience on April 16 and people's responses
Hi, all: Thank you all for your concern, I'm safe. Here's what was happened to me yesterday. I'm so proud of all my students, please pray for our community to recover from this huge lost and sorrow! Take care all! Haiyan Cheng ******************************************************** It was April 16 2007，a cold and windy morning for Blacksburg. I have class to teach at 9:05 AM. It is "CS4414-Issues in scientific computing", a class for senior student in CS and Math students. Whenever my advisor went to conference, I would take over the lecture. I went to my office in Torgerson Hall at 8:50, checked email, left my cell phone charging, (last Friday there was the bomb threat that made us evacuated immediately, that time I remembered to take my cell phone and laptop, but forgot the charger) and left laptop in the office and went to Norris Hall to teach. One of my colleagues asked earlier where is my classroom. I told him Norris 204 or 205 (the first classroom on the left hand side at the second floor), I'm not sure. So the first thing I went to the second floor, Norris hall, is to check my room number. It is indeed 205, 204 is across the hall, I took a quick look at the classroom, about 20 students were sitting there, an old professor with white hair was taking his teaching material out of his briefcase. At 9:00 am, I went into the classroom, everything was as usual, the window opened a little bit, we can feel the breeze. I started the "Numerical solution of ODE" lecture. I covered analytical solution, discussion on existence and uniqueness, there was about 15 minutes left till the end of the lecture, it was about 9:40. Several loud "Band, Bang, Bang"came from outside of the classroom. They were really loud. I was not sure where it came from, but it seemed very close to us. We all thought it was some kind of construction. Then it stopped for 5-10 sec. I was about to start another topic on stability analysis. Then the sound came again. Teresa, the female student sitting close to the door stood up and went to check. I followed her, with the lecture note still in my hand. We were standing at the door, sticking our heads out and checking what happened. The sound came from room 208, the room across the hall, to the left of our classroom. The door is closed. I gazed at that door for 2 seconds. Then the door opened, a guy walked out, I only saw him 1 sec, but the most shocking thing is that he's holding a black handgun. He wears black, his face is square (roundish). Both I and Teresa came back in immediately, the gun shot right besides our ear. My ear is hurting by the loud sound. The first thing we came back in the classroom is telling everyone down, an Indian student said, let's block the door with table, so he can't get in. 4 guys in my class moved the big table next to the podium and blocked the door. (There's no window and no lock on the door. When there's lecture going on, usually we left the classroom door wide open.) While we were doing this, the gun shot keeps firing outside of the classroom. I and another girl were behind the podium. The other 2 girls were at the back of the classroom. 4 guys are lying on the ground in front, pushing against the desk legs. After about 1 minute shooting in the hallway, the gunman approaches our classroom. He was trying to open the door, but those students push really hard, then he began to shoot the door. The bullets came through the door, woodchips and metal pieces are everywhere. One bullet even hit the podium. Two of my students at the back underneath the desk were calling 911 with their cell phones, and talking to the police, they told the police there were 11 people in classroom 205, the gunman is still outside shooting. After the gunman tried several times, he gave up and began to shot somewhere else. The gun shot keeps going, "Bang, Bang, Bang", all I can do is knee down there and pray to God "Please stop him, please stop the gun fire, please..." Then we heard the police car siren from outside. One student asked that if we should jump out of the window. It's only the second floor. But we all thought that we should stay here, until things are clear outside. The gun shot sounds further and further. But still not stop. Before we went out to check, we already heard about 20, after we came in, we heard about 30-40, or even more than that. It was terrible. We waited and waited....We heard several unclear shout from outside "show me your hand, show me your hand" etc...but we are not sure if that were police or not. Until finally there was the knock at the door. Those guys made sure they were police, and we opened the door. The police had a gun in his hand, asking us all hands up, and go to the back of the classroom. He asked if anybody got injured. We told him no, then he asked us to sit down, keep calm. Then he was about to leave. One student asked him to close the door, since we thought they might still be searching the gunman. He said we were safe, and called another police officer to come at the door, 1 minute later, the police officer told us to stand in a line and run after him, leave our personal stuff behind. I was standing close to the podium, so I quickly grabbed my key and coat, running with the police. I saw the clip on the floor right outside of our classroom. We try not to step on the blood and run quick. I didn't even look at the other classroom, but Lisa running right behind me started to cry, I turned around, held her hand, we run together out of the Norris hall and into the Randolph Hall, while still shocking, the first thing I did is borrowed a laptop from another student and sent an email to my husband and our research group, telling them I was safe. I am so proud of all my students, they did a great job. We did the right things to save our lifes. I am so sorry about those students and professors, I can't believe 1 hour ago, I saw them all sitting in the classroom. So far, my cell phone and laptop are still in my office in Torgerson hall, since the building is closed, I'm almost disconnected from the outside world. All I did is using my neighbor's Internet to reply some messages that concerned about my safety. It was a terrible tragedy for Virginia Tech, for Blacksburg. Please pray for those families that lost of their loved ones. Let's all cherish every minute of our life. ******************************************************** Comments： I really admire that Haiyan is so brave and she even saved people's lives. I am pround of her and pround of being a Chinese. ******************************************************** I am a former VT student, I have read all the emails and news regarding this tragedy. I am so proud that we Chinese people have such a brave student who saved a lot of lives. May God bless all of us. ******************************************************** Hi Haiyan, Thank you so much. I am very proud of you. I sincerely admire your bravery and tact. We are all shocked by this unimaginable tragedy. Wish you all got recovered soon. ******************************************************** my dear friends blacksburg, means beautiful memory to me and my family. since yesterday, we were shocked. but piece by piece we know what happened. i'm proud for all of you, been through this tragedy, we saw heroes arise, we saw people helping each other. ACSS did good job on calm down fellow members. every single one of you is a hero to me. my salute extend to all of you. my wife, my unborn child wish you all recover from this. it's a tough job to do, but we all believe in you. let's go hokies!!! zheng ******************************************************** Definitely, let's give Haiyan a big applause for what she did to save people's lives. Not everyone could keep calm and respond correctly like she did. Haiyan, you did a very excellent job! Pray for your recovering as soon as possible from the nightmare. ******************************************************** Frankly, telling truth doesn't necessarily mean defying of victims. Help identify truth is also a kind of respect, especially given so many questions not answered yet. Tell Media the truth is our responsibility and whether accepting or not is in their side. J.L ******************************************************** I guess I am one of the foreigners on the list and I want to say that I have sent Haiyan's story to several friends and family members. My mother, who lives in Gainesville, FL, said she read something like that story in her paper on Tuesday morning. My husband and I applaud the actions of Haiyan--what a brave and selfless thing to do, to be able to keep one's wit together and save others--and I think it's important that everyone's story be told when possible. As far as I can tell, the media is not ignoring stories--their goal is to gain as many viewers as possible. All students, regardless of ethnic origin or country, are part of the VT community. Thank you all for everything you bring to our country and our community. Tell your stories when you can. Everyone benefits. Cindy Bertelsen VT alumnae, HNFE ******************************************************** Dear all, First of all, Haiyan was definitely brave. She and her students (e.g.Teresa and the Indian student) had been a team acting smartly and bravely to save their lives. But more important, no matter she is a hero or not, we all love her and are so thankful that she survived this terrible event. Let's pray for the victims and their families and all the alives. Stay safe, ******************************************************** Hi, all: Again, thank you all for your concern about me. There are so many news about me right now in both US and China. I can't believe how fast the news spread these days. I got lots of emails and phone calls everyday day from all sorts of medias, (which made my cell phone airtime used up super quick, I guess most of you had the similar situation). I stayed after midnight in office to process emails. At first I returned every phone calls as soon as I got my cell phone, but some of the media started to dig my personal info, which I thought is totally unnecessary, the focus should be the tragedy. I think I'm not a heroine, I wasn't one of the person who blocked the door. I'm just one of the survivors, which is written in the short story and sent to you guys earlier. For most of the medias, all I told them was to use the story I wrote and the interview clip by Washington Post. That was my experience, that was what happened to me, according to my memory. Talking about the same tragedy again and again did bring my memory back to those horrible moments again and again. I wish you all can understand. All I want is to get back to normal life ASAP as you all wished. If necessary, I will talk to one of the major medias, so that there will only be one correct information source. There must be a reason that my life was spared, I wish all of us can learn something, live our life to the fullest, enjoy every moment with the loved one, think positive... Yesterday there was the disaster relief truck on campus that provided free food and drinks for all the community members. There are many counseling services on campus. Today while I stopped at the red light at the corner of college street and Main street. There was an American girl sitting on a bench, smiling and waving to the passengers and drivers passing by. There was a sign besides her reads: "Need someone to hear, I will listen. (Free hugs)...." I didn't cry when I was in danger, but at that moment I can't stop my tears running down. At this time, all we need is the healing, not only for me, but for all the Hokies and families.I was really touched by the candlelight vigil last night, at the moment when all Hokies are united, I saw hope... I'm available to you guys for visit, Thanks for ACSS and everyone in the community. Let's go! Hokies! Haiyan Cheng -- Original Source:Cheng,Haiyan's narrative, and compiled by Mi,Na
After reading Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," my 11th grade English teacher asked us, "Is death meaningful?" The question forced us to think about the line that appeared over and over in Vonnegut's book, the line that appeared after anyone died: "So it goes." My classremained silent, thinking. "So it goes," sounds light, almost casual. It would describe the feeling most of us get when we read some headline "30 dead in Iraq," or "Tsunami Claims Countless." Vonnegut's line seems fitting for some far off death, very distant from us, almost unimportant. But would I say "So it goes" after I learned my mother died, or my wife was killed? Would I say that casual line after yesterday's events at Tech? The death I once thought was far off, remote and alien, has now struck my life, my family and a campus just two hours away. Yesterday people said things like, "It could have happened to us," and "I have a close friend in that dorm." Yesterday people were "shocked" and "humbled." So if the university were to answer my 11th grade teacher's question, "Is death meaningful?" We would all shout, "of course it is!" Butsadly we only answer this now because of a vicious reminder. Death has become real, close and tangible. Only now do we recognize it. Of all the hypothetical questions and "what ifs" that plague our minds everyday, we seldom reflect on the one possibility that is certain -- our own deaths. We worry about Arab history midterms, internshipapplications, and getting a date for semi-formal, but we never think about the only thing in our lives that definitely will happen. Vonnegut's 'so it goes' was not meant to cheapen life, but was a useful reminder that death will happen to us all. Do you remember that angry wind yesterday? The wind that burned your face and made your eyes water? We should carry a little bit of that wind with us every day, not to makeus hurt and weep, but to remind ourselves that we are all fragile and finite. If we do that, we won't need tragedy to wake us up. We will carry a vigor for life wherever we go. Because now we know each day has meaning, and we will strive to live each moment to its potential. Hamza Shaban CLAS II -- Original Source:The Cavalier Daily - April 18, 2007
I am a doctoral student at the University of Florida but was born and raised in Blacksburg. This statue is of UF's mascots (Albert and Alberta)with a VT. It was very nice to see UF's support after April 16th.
By: Hannah McBride and Andrea Rodi Posted: 4/25/07 Acknowledging cultural repercussions of last week's Virginia Tech shootings, Koreans at Boston University said they have been facing racial pressures as details have emerged about the killer, who came to the United States from South Korea when he was a child. Although Koreans -- whose culture traditionally values community support -- initially did not know how to react to the Virginia Tech shootings, many agree they should not feel responsible for the actions of Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui and should not fear persecution when expressing their culture, said BU Korean Student Association Secretary Clara Pyo. "Because it wasn't racism-driven, personally, we can be sorry that it happened, but we shouldn't feel responsible," she said. Almost immediately after Cho shot and killed 27 students and five teachers before killing himself on the Blacksburg, Va. campus April 16, many Korean organizations -- in the United States and overseas -- prepared for racial backlash against them. Members of BU Asian groups say they have not received a backlash from their peers, and the shootings are not a reflection of their culture. Nevertheless, KSA discussed taking extra precautions before its Korean cultural show, "Lost in Translation," on Saturday. Officers considered postponing the show, and the Student Activities Office offered to bolster security for it, but the group decided to continue with almost no changes. "We didn't know if we should be afraid or if we should celebrate [our heritage]," said Pyo, a School of Education sophomore, "but we decided that if there was any hostility against us, we didn't want to be swayed by the incident." In the wake of the shootings, the media can affect Americans' perceptions of Asians, said BU Asian Student Union President Lisa Tobari. "[Media portrayal] impacts the way you behave and the way you see yourself," the College of Communication junior said. "[However,] the fact that [Cho] is Asian . . . hasn't really affected our identities as Asian people living in America." In following traditional Korean values of taking responsibility in the community, some natives have taken the shootings personally and feel dismayed by them, Pyo said. "It's not our job to apologize for his actions as Koreans," she said. "Not to say it wasn't a big deal, but we had nothing to do with it." The Virginia Tech shootings are another point in history when a specific group of people felt at risk for racial discrimination in association with violence, said New England Korean News Editor-in-Chief Andy Min, who referenced the 1991 Rodney King incident, in which the black New York taxi driver was beaten by three white police officers and a Hispanic officer, sparking race riots. "Some people worry that we're going to get hurt from other people because we're Korean and the killer was Korean," Min said. For Korean immigrants like Cho, an American upbringing can conflict with Asian culture, which may leave children confused and isolated, Min said. "The children don't know why they came," he said. "There's a trauma and a breakdown between where they came from and what they're adjusting to." Trying to honor both American and Korean cultures in shows like "Lost in Translation," one of KSA's goals is to reconcile dual-heritage conflicts, Pyo said. "[Korean Americans] have the struggle of being appreciative of Korean heritage and being Americanized," she said. "[The show is] mixing Korean heritage with what we have experienced growing up here." Cultural student groups and other students have the responsibility to foster a sense of community for isolated students to avoid situations like the Virginia Tech shootings, Pyo said. "Anyone that feels alone or alienated needs to find a group to join for community," she said. "I think that was really missing with [Cho]." -- Original Source:The Daily Free Press - April 25, 2007
Letter to the Editor: Asians, Parents Should Not Be Blamed for VT Tragedy
I was appalled by the commentary titled "VT Killer Needs Closer Look" (April 23) that sought to explain Cho Seung-Hui's motives in the Virginia Tech massacre. Overall, I got the sense that the article was trying to pin the blame of the Virginia Tech tragedy on the "typical" Asian-American immigrant household as somehow having stunted Cho's emotional development and ultimately his judgment in making the decision to take the lives of 33 people. The author makes sweeping generalizations about Asian-American families that show a severe misunderstanding of East-Asian culture. Many parenting practices of some Asian-American immigrant parents may seem backward from the Western point of view and may be misinterpreted as stern and unaffectionate. However, we can't discount these parenting styles just because they're different and don't always fit the Western norm. There are thousands of people who have grown up in immigrant families, and many of them have had difficult experiences adjusting to life in the United States. It doesn't make them any more likely to become emotionally traumatized and commit mass murder. Secondly, just because UC Irvine has a large Asian population does not necessitate the sudden need to worry about a UCI student becoming the next perpetrator. This is precisely the kind of dangerous mentality that sets in during times of crisis: that because one person of a racial group committed an atrocity, all the other members of that group are suddenly "on notice." Lastly, it is absolutely ridiculous to speculate that Cho might have not ended up the way he had if he'd had better presents as a child. Most parents do the best to provide for their children but it is impossible for them to satisfy every single one of their children's material wants. At a certain point, people should wise up and recognize the difference between needs and wants, and that material gifts are not the same thing as a parent's love. Perhaps the author should have thought about what sort of inferences he was making about the children of the Asian-American immigrant experience before making these ill-conceived assumptions about Cho's background. Hannah Sung fourth-year cognitive sciences and political science double-major -- Original Source:New University - April 30, 2007
Flowers, pictures, letters remembering each of the 32 victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameraslayer/470549711/ Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 2.0
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Harold X. O'Boyle / The Extremist (Blog) May 03, 2007 Mass murder invariably gets the Victim Disarmament Lobby into a lather promoting safety through helplessness. The Virginia Tech shooting is no exception. A brief but honest look at how the world works, however, should convince any but the most craven cowards that there is not much safety in being as helpless as a newborn. Acts of senseless violence will never be stopped by simply declaring them illegal. It is ironic to me that many of the same people who so adamantly oppose self-defense in the face of violence are the same who claim that boosting "self-esteem" is the highest goal of education. Once we've created people enthralled with their own individuality and inestimable worth how can it be that the lives of those people are not worth defending? Education authorities create "defenseless victim zones" where if confronted by violence students are expected to stand and deliver, whether the delivery involves their property or their dignity. The theory is based on the idea that life is immeasurably precious, to be preserved at any price and that a sane criminal, like a thief or a rapist, will let you live if you just lie nice and still. But what if he isn't a nice sane criminal? What if he just wants to kill you? There was a time, long before years of government schooling and media propaganda had removed the spine from so many Americans, when the failure to defend yourself was considered the equivalent of suicide. That theory was based on the idea that life was a gift from the Almighty, not to be taken lightly or abused. Educational discussion in those days more often centered on "self-respect" and "courage" than "self-esteem." In keeping with the modern preference for self-esteem over self-respect Virginia Tech is a "gun free school zone." That means only law enforcement personnel and psychopathic killers can have weapons on campus. On the day of the recent shooting not a law enforcement officer could be found until after the psychopath had already shot more than 50 people and himself. The cops that did show up, and the SWAT teams, hid behind their cars until the shooting stopped. Then they rushed inside the building and threatened all the survivors with sudden death till everyone was properly prone. Despite the death toll and the utter failure of the police to protect anyone, college officials are steadfast in their enthusiasm for maintaining the campus as a "Defenseless Victim Zone." According to a spokesman, the administration wants students to "feel safe" on campus. I have to agree that "feeling safe" is an important part of a good education. But just think of how a policy that actually provided some safety would make everyone feel. There is no way to know whether the dead and wounded at Virginia Tech "felt safe" attending class in a gun free zone. I'm sure it finally dawned on them that no matter how they felt, they were in big trouble. The shooter ignored laws against carrying a gun without a permit, bringing a gun on campus, assault and murder. The idea that another gun law or "gun free zone" or psych test would have prevented this tragedy is as about as credible as a Senator's promise. In an astonishing turn of events Virginia higher education authorities already had experience with a campus shooting that should have made the solution to the safety problem clear. Five years ago at a law school not far from VT 43-year-old exchange student Peter Odighizuwa shot two professors with a 38 caliber handgun. He also killed a student in the same building and wounded three others. But unlike today, Virginia colleges in those days were not a Helpless Victim Zones. Two students, Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, acting independently, ran to their cars to retrieve handguns when they heard the gunfire. Gross was an off-duty police officer in his home state of North Carolina. He got his 9mm pistol and body armor from the car. Bridges returned with his .357 Magnum. They approached Odighizuwa from different sides and proved that guns are not just for killing. Bridges yelled for the shooter to drop his weapon. He dropped it and several unarmed students subdued him. Gross went back to his car for handcuffs to detain the shooter until police arrived. Other school attacks have also been cut short by armed civilians. A vice principal who got a handgun from his car stopped a student shooter in Pearl, Mississippi and detained him until police arrived. A restaurant owner in Edinboro, Pennsylvania used a shotgun to convince a shooter at a school dance to surrender. He did it without firing a shot himself. Israel had to deal with armed attacks on schools in the 1970s. These were attacks by terrorists, not students, and even then there were cries for disarmament instead of self-defense. Instead of disarmament, the Israelis decided to arm and train their teachers. Terrorists went looking for easier targets. The school attacks stopped. The belief that guns cause murder is like believing that spoons cause obesity or that matches cause arson. The problems of school violence won't be solved by increasing the helplessness of potential victims. When confronted by bad guys with guns we always call good guys with guns. Good guys with guns are like taxi cabs and waiters, the more there are the less time you have to wait for one. Mr. Rogers doesn't become Mr. Hyde just because he has a pistol in his pocket. Declaring insanity illegal won't eliminate insanity. We can only be prepared to minimize the damage that the worst among us can do. To do that we must abandon insane policies that make us "feel safe" while in fact increasing danger. The only sane response to insane violence is to allow armed people to defend themselves and others. The tools and will to confront evil with self-respect, courage and dignity will improve self-esteem more than any number of useless gun laws designed to make us "feel safe." -- Original Source: http://www.the-extremist.com/2007/05/defenseless_vic.html Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5.
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Virginia Tech shootings Bring Out Stereotypes
April 24, 2007 It was pointed out to me the other night that I'm a living, breathing embodiment of the stereotypical quiet Asian. I was among a few friends and some friends of friends in the bar at AT&T Park prior to a San Francisco Giants game. I was the only Asian American male in the group, but there was a loud, gregarious Asian American woman. The two Asians in the group seemed to be polar opposites, something that was apparent to everyone at the bar. I've been thinking about expectations and stereotypes since news broke that the gunman in the Virginia Tech killings was Korean American. My evening at the bar made me ponder it some more. Everyone else was more than a few drinks ahead of me, and I had driven to the ballpark, so I was nursing a beer. I was also concentrating on the game, which had started and was being shown on the bar's TVs, though this is no excuse for being withdrawn when among friends, and even friends of friends. It didn't go unnoticed by the others, who gave me a few jabs about being so quiet and that I should "keep it down." It was also very apparent that Unusually Loud Asian Woman, who I didn't know, was no quiet Asian. So much so that I was told to stand next to her so "osmosis" would quiet her down. After taking a place next to Unusually Loud Asian Woman and seemingly calming her down, a Friend and Friend of Friend asked me, "have you ever met a Chinese woman who's like this?" So on the one hand, I'm quiet so I'm Walking Stereotype, but on the other hand, Unusually Loud Asian Woman is just having a good time at a bar, but there seems to be something out of place with that as well. The comments and events I describe were all in good fun. We're all aware of our differences and perceived differences. It's what you do with that knowledge that can cause problems. There was no malice that night. I did start thinking more about stereotypes afterward. Reading Jeff Yang's analysis of Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho's race in Salon.com gave me more food for thought. The article really hit home on the effect stereotypes can have. Yang's story and many others since the shooting also talk about the collective gasp that many Asian Americans let out when news broke that the killer was Korean American. As a journalist, I worried that the media would focus on Cho's race without any context, as Thomas Huang writes about at Poynter.org. Many Korean Americans felt a collective sense of guilt, as did many people in South Korea, even though Cho hadn't lived there since he was a boy. Emerson College journalism Professor Paul Niwa, quoted in Yang's article, has a viable explanation: Most of the perpetrators of mass school killings have been white. After those shootings, do you think white people felt guilty that the shooter was white? Do you think white people felt that since the shooter was white, that the shooter would give society a bad impression of whites? A shooter can be white and nobody thinks that race played a part in the crime. But when someone nonwhite commits a crime, this society makes the person's race partially at fault. I don't mean to belittle the killings at Virginia Tech by drawing an analogy to my night at the bar, but I think some of what Niwa says is at play. Sometimes I can have the personality of a cardboard box, so I'm Walking Stereotype, but for non-Asians who are socially awkward, they're just quiet. And Unusually Loud Asian Woman can't be herself, either, without being, well, Unusually Loud Asian Woman. There is nothing innate to being "quiet" and being Asian American. I know plenty of Asian Americans who are more like Unusually Loud Asian Woman, and at times envy them for their ease around people. But I am who I am. The cardboard box that once held the really quiet, painfully shy kid is open. I've been making my way out. Unfortunately, it appears that whatever was holding back Seung-Hui Cho burst to tragic results. Posted by harry at April 24, 2007 10:07 AM -- Original Source: Hyphen Magazine Blog http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archives/2007/04/virginia_tech_s.html Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0.
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The story behind the Hokies Thank The World project
(PDF, 6.9 MB) by Hart Fowler Photos by Christina O'Connor From concept to design to action, Peter Sforza was the man behind the scenes orchestrating Virginia Tech's message of gratitude, making this Thanksgiving one of positive reflection. Provided courtesy of Hart Fowler and 16 Blocks http://www.myspace.com/16blocksmagazine
Hart Fowler and 16 Blocks Magazine 16blocksmagazine@gmail.com
Mental Health is Everyone's Business
4-30-07 Mental Health is Everyone's Business: Historical Reflections on the Virginia Tech Shootings By Heather Munro Prescott Ms. Prescott is Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University. Her book, Student Bodies: The Influence of Student Health Services on American Society and Medicine will be published by University of Michigan Press in Fall 2007. A man's college days, collectively, are usually his happiest. Most of mine were not happy. --Clifford Whittingham Beers, A Mind That Found Itself (1908) Clifford Whittingham Beers's words came to mind as I followed the news coverage of Cho Seung-Hui's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech last week. I empathized with the victims and their families and for the community; it was a tragic and terrible loss of life. As the days wore on, I began to have another reaction to the events. Since I am a historian and a client of mental health services, the heated discussions about what to do with "deranged" students like Cho that appeared in various mainstream media seemed all too reminiscent of earlier incidents of discrimination against mentally ill individuals. One especially troubling article by crime novelist and psychologist Jonathan Kellerman in the Wall Street Journal, placed the blame for the shootings on the anti-psychiatry and deinstitutionalization movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He argued for stricter laws for involuntarily committing students exhibiting disturbing thoughts or behavior, declaring it was better to "err on the side of public safety rather than protect individual liberty at all costs." This cavalier attitude, combined with the sensationalistic footage of the "madman" on NBC, seemed to me a step backward in a century-long battle to safeguard the civil rights and enhance the public's understanding of mentally ill individuals. A Mind That Found Itself represented a landmark in this struggle. Likened to Uncle Tom's Cabin in its vivid description of the horrors of asylum life, the book launched a nationwide movement to reform institutions for the mentally ill. Beers, along with other Progressive Era reformers such as Jane Addams and Julia Lathrop, went on to form the National Committee for Mental Hygiene (NCMH). This organization aimed to take psychiatry beyond the asylum walls and use the discipline to address problems in homes, workplaces, schools, and other institutions. Like other public health organizations at this time, the NCMH aimed their preventive efforts at youth in schools and colleges, believing intervention was most effective during adolescence when the personality was most malleable. Supporting the work of the NCMH were studies of psychiatric problems among soldiers during the Great War. According to Dr. Stewart Paton, a lecturer in neurobiology at Princeton University and a former member of the American Expeditionary Forces Medical Corps, "Peace no less than War produces 'shell shock.' " By the late 1920s, Princeton and at least twenty other private and public colleges and universities had added mental hygiene to their health services on at least a part-time basis. Establishing counseling services on the college level was not easy, however. Despite the efforts of Beers and the NCMH, mental illnesses, even minor ones, still carried an overwhelming social stigma. Indeed, it was during the 1920s that many states passed laws calling for the involuntary sterilization of "mental defectives." Another formidable obstacle was opposition from faculty members, who believed that mental hygiene services were simply coddling students who could not meet academic standards. Yet diligence by college mental health experts, as well as a high incidence of psychiatric problems in the military during the Second World War, provided additional justification for counseling programs for the nation's young people. The 1947 report issued by President Truman's Commission on Higher Education lent further support, arguing that these institutions should not only train the intellect, but also foster emotional growth and social adjustment. Dana Farnsworth, Director of Harvard University Health Services, argued in 1954 that mental health was not only the responsibility of health care professionals, but was everybody's business. This included students themselves, whom he believed should play a role in planning and organizing health services. Farnsworth's call for a student-centered health service would have unintended consequences in the ensuing decade, as students demanded freedom from "institutionalized paternalism," which permitted campus health centers to release confidential patient information to other campus officials, parents, and prospective employers. At this time, homosexuality was still considered a mental illness, and grounds for dismissal from many colleges as well as exclusion from the U.S. military and civil service. Some campus psychiatrists, including Farnsworth, blamed student uprisings on permissive parenting that caused a growing gap between intellectual and emotional maturity in late adolescence. Robert Coles, a research psychiatrist from the Harvard University Health Service, and Joseph Brenner, a physician from the M.I.T. health service, who served as medical staff for the Mississippi Summer Project in 1964, challenged this viewpoint. They found that the student volunteers were far from "immature" or "psychopathic." Rather, most student volunteers displayed extraordinary bravery in the face of constant danger, serving as exemplars for mental health professionals on how to advance human dignity and freedom. This activism by students and sympathetic professionals contributed to the passage of the Family Educational and Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to protect students' rights to privacy. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 provided further protections for mentally ill students. Earlier this year, Virginia became the first state in the nation to pass legislation prohibiting colleges and universities from expelling or punishing students "solely for attempting to commit suicide, or seeking mental-health treatment for suicidal thoughts or behaviors." Last week's tragedy has caused many to consider revoking this law. If accomplished, this measure would be a major setback in the history of mental health services on college campuses. Not only is it impossible to predict which emotionally disturbed students will commit violent acts, the threat of sanction would deter mentally ill students from seeking treatment. It also overlooks larger structural problems, including cutbacks to student counseling services, lack of insurance coverage, and most importantly, persistent cultural myths about mental illness that prevent troubled individuals from obtaining the help they need. The time has come to heed Beers's call, cease stigmatizing the mentally ill, and provide full access to the supportive mental health services that all Americans deserve. Related Links HNN Hot Topics: School Shootings -- Original source: History News Network http://hnn.us/articles/38250.html
Posted by Helena Cobban at April 16, 2007 04:33 PM Tragedy has struck the community at Virginia Tech, our state's "other" fine flagship university, which is located around 120 miles southwest of my hometown, Charlottesville. Apparently a single gunman went on a rampage there earlier today and killed at least 30 members of the university community-- most likely, most of them students. Obviously, this is a truly horrible blow for all members of the community there. Equally obviously, we know that communities throughout Iraq have been suffering blows as huge as this one-- or on occasions, even larger blows-- on a daily or almost daily basis throughout the past 3-4 years. Many communities in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from gun violence on this scale, too. And last week, Algeria, in North Africa, was the scene of two extremely lethal suicide bombings... Can we all unite in grief together, and in sad wonder at the senselessness of ultra-lethal weapons and the tragedy of their widespread availability and use in many different parts of the world? Can we unite in sad wonder at the depth of alienation and hopelessness that leads some people to engage in mass killings, even sometimes to the point of throwing their own lives into the project, as well? Can we unite with a commitment to support, help, and try to repair all those bereaved by these and other acts of violence? Can we unite around a strengthened commitment never ourselves to resort to violence, and to redouble our search for the nonviolent ways that always do exist to resolve any differences among us as humans? I have only been to Virginia Tech once. It was a magical half-day I spent there, in the summer of 2005. The Friends General Conference (FGC), which is the main body of 'liberal' north American Quakers, was holding its annual summer gathering in a small part of Tech's beautiful campus, which is built from flinty blue-grey stone in the incredibly beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I wasn't a participant in the gathering, but I made a special trip there one evening to spend a few hours with my dear friend Misty Gerner, who was then in a fairly advanced stage of her cancer. Misty, her husband, and I walked around the beautiful lawns a bit, and had dinner at a small nearby restaurant. Then Phil (the husband) left Misty and me alone a while. We walked and talked a whole lot more. She was wracked with bouts of pretty intense physical pain but her spirit was radiant. I prefer to remember Tech's campus as the place where I talked with Misty on that sunny evening about life, death, love, God, justice, peace, and the Middle East... She died last summer. Maybe a little part of her still hovers over the Tech campus. If so I hope she can help to comfort the many shocked and bereaved people there today. God forgive us all for having let the spirit of violence permeate our communities and animate our actions to this extent. -- Original Source: http://justworldnews.org/archives/002479.html Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0
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