https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/6
description: George Mason University students tied maroon and orange ribbons around trees near the student center in support of Virginia Tech.
creator: Sheila Brennan
date: 2007-04-24
contributor: Sheila Brennan
language: eng

https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/7
description: Statue of George Mason dressed in VT colors and t-shirt. A vigil on Thursday April 19, 2007 was held on campus, directly behind the statue of Mason, to express unity with another VA university.
creator: Sheila Brennan
date: 2007-04-24
contributor: Sheila Brennan
language: eng

https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/8
description: Wreath of condolences from Mason to VT.
creator: Sheila Brennan
date: 2007-04-24
contributor: Sheila Brennan
language: eng

https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/9
description: Flowers left by Mason students after a vigil in memory of the fallen at VT.
creator: Sheila Brennan
date: 2007-04-24
contributor: Sheila Brennan
language: eng

A Resolution to support the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Community
description: Draft of resolution passed by the George Mason Student Senate to support the greater Virginia Tech Community.
creator: Sheila Brennan
date: 2007-04-25
contributor: Sheila Brennan
language: eng

I can only say the title is That Day
description: I have a daughter who on April 16 was freshman at Virginia Tech and she was safely in her dorm when the terrible events at A-J and Norris Hall took place. She had been on the road Sunday night and I called her to check up on her. Even though I had been on the phone with my daughter as early as 9:50 am (before we both knew what was going on, she has a noon class on Mondays and was just waking up for the day) and knew she was safe in her dorm, the entire day was difficult for me because of all the uncertainty of events. During the rest of the morning, she kept me posted by email and once text messaged her and said "stay away from the windows!" ...but I still felt quite helpless and upset that I could not be there to protect my daughter. The Internet was my main source for information as it filtered the news through bit by bit. I wanted to know more and to know faster, I called WTOP radio station and asked them, they said they have a person on the way down. As far as I knew, maybe they arrested the gunman, but maybe there was a gunman lose somewhere on the campus, how long would it be before they solve this and find the person, or PERSONS? Then more reports came out, "there are multiple casualties." I was thinking, what is this? What is going on? How could this be, are things under control? I jumped to the websites of the Roanoke TV stations and the Ronaoke newspaper, wanting the answers to my question. Then I walked over to my company's corporate department and asked them to turn on their TV because something is going on at Virginia Tech. Still, news was only trickling out. Then the numbers were announced, first 21, then more and by the end of the day 32 plus the gunman. My daughter left that evening for home, but I would not see her until Thursday evening because of my business travels and was working in metro DC away from home. On Thursday morning I remember seeing a flag at half-mask. I had a few tears and thought, it's sinking in. When I finally got home to my fro…
creator: Shelton Cartwright Jr
date: 2007-05-02
contributor: Shelton Cartwright Jr
language: eng

Virginia_Tech_massacre_candlelight_vigil
description: A panoramic shot taken at the Virginia Tech candlelight vigil. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:2007_Virginia_Tech_massacre_candlelight_vigil_4.jpg/ This file has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, anonymous. This applies worldwide.
creator: Shi Zhao
date: 2007-05-29
contributor: Chad Newswander
rights: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:2007_Virginia_Tech_massacre_candlelight_vigil_4.jpg This file has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, anonymous. This applies worldwide.
language: eng

University Homicide: Trauma Revisited
description: Submitted by Shreya Mandal on 17 April 2007 - 2:34pm. Yesterday, as I sat in the lobby of the Elizabeth Detention Center waiting to testify at a hearing, I learned about the violent incident that took place in Virginia. A small flat-screen television hangs on a wall in the detention center's lobby. I sat there for almost six hours, each hour getting more and more agitated at the cell phone and video coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. Normally in these situations, I get up and turn the television off. But I was in a situation where I could not get away from the images bombarded at me. CNN shot the ongoing campus scenes throughout the whole day, reiterating over and over again that this was the biggest shooting ever to take place in American history. At first while I listened to the news reporters, I masked my fears, needing to act like I was in control, that everything was okay, and that I was strong enough to stomach the events they televised. I distracted myself from the flat-screen television and tried to focus on preparing for my testimony. But as the hours went by, officers at the detention center passed by me, shouting out the latest death toll. First 21, then 22, then 29, then 31, then 32, and finally 33. It was impossible to tune out. I felt my mind and my heart drift back to when I was 16 years-old, when I was also on campus during a college shooting rampage. That was almost 15 years ago. At various times yesterday, CNN provided history and statistical information of previous school shootings like Columbine and The University of Texas massacres. I waited for them to list my alma mater. But one school they didn't list was a small early undergraduate program called Simon's Rock College, tucked away in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. This is where a college campus shooting occurred on December 14, 1992, the first shooting to occur in the United States in the 1990s. Each moment I looked up at the television screen, heard the ringing of gunshots, or saw li…
creator: Shreya Mandal
date: 2007-05-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
language: eng

Cartier Liviu Librescu
description: Evenimentul Zilei Nr. 4846 7 Iunie 2007 Silvia Vrinceanu Focsaniul va avea, de luna viitoare, un nou cartier, "Erou prof. dr. Liviu Librescu", situat chiar in centrul orasului, in jurul templului evreiesc, construit in 1896. Consiliul Local Focsani a decis, saptamana trecuta, sa atribuie fostului cartier evreiesc numele profesorului in semn de omagiu pentru ca si-a aparat cu viata studentii in timpul masacrului din 16 aprilie de la Universitatea Virginia Tech din SUA. Propunerea se afla acum la avizare la Comisia Judeteana de Atribuire de Denumiri de pe langa Institutia Prefectului, urmand sa fie aprobata in cateva zile. Decizia municipalitatii focsanene a fost salutata si de fostii studenti ai profesorului evreu de origine romana. Tinerii au facut o baza de date digitala cu toate materiale publicate in lume despre masacrul din 16 aprilie. Baza de date, care cuprinde peste 350 de documente, poate fi accesata pe site-ul www.april16archive.org. Profesorul Liviu Librescu a stat la Focsani pana la varsta de 14 ani. -- Sursa Originala: http://www.expres.ro/article.php?artid=308428
creator: Silvia Vrinceanu
date: 2007-06-20
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: Silvia Vrinceanu-Nichita (silvia@ziaruldevrancea.ro)
language: ron

Profesorul erou din America, plecat din Focsani
description: De, Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita | 18.04.2007 Profesorul Liviu Librescu, impuscat mortal intr-un amfiteatru al Universitatii Virginia Tech din SUA, este originar din Focsani, unde a trait pina la 14 ani. De asemenea, sotia regretatului profesor este fiica unui stomatolog evreu din Focsani. Ambii au supravietuit Holocaustului si au emigrat cu greu in Israel in timpul regimului comunist. In masacrul de luni, de la universitatea americana, au fost omorite 32 de persoane si alte 29 au fost ranite. Ziarul de Vrancea se afla in corespondenta cu renumitul profesor in vederea publicarii unui articol despre opresiunile antisemite din perioada copilariei sale. Putini stiu ca masacrul care a ingrozit planeta in cursul zilei de ieri are legatura cu Focsaniul si cu prigoana evreilor care s-a produs in aceasta zona a tarii in timpul Holocaustului. Liviu Librescu, în virsta de 76 de ani, profesor de aeronautica la Universitatea Virginia Tech din Statele Unite ale Americii, care a fost ucis in atacul de luni, alaturi de 31 studenti, a copilarit mai multi ani la Focsani, unde tatal sau, un avocat evreu repudiat, a avut domiciliul fortat, in timpul prigoanei antiseminte. La Focsani, unde a urmat cursurile Colegiului Unirea, profesorul Liviu Librescu a cunoscut-o si pe cea care i-a fost alaturi toata viata, sotia sa Marilena. Ambii au fost supravietuitori ai Holocaustului din Romania. Chiar in aceste zile, cind comunitatea evreiasca din toata lumea se pregateste sa comemoreze revolta evreilor din ghetoul de la Varsovia, unul dintre simbolurile de rezistenta si eroism in timpul Holocaustului, reporterii nostri se aflau in corespondenta cu apreciatul profesor univesitar pe tema ororilor din timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial. Potrivit studentilor sai, citati de presa internationala, profesorul Liviu Librescu a cazut la datorie, împuscat de un bursier sud- coreean, în momentul în care se pregatea sa înceapa cursul în amfiteatrul universitatii. Stirea despre carnagiu a facut incon…
creator: Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita
date: 2007-06-04
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: Silvia Vranceanu (silvia@ziaruldevrancea.ro)
language: ron

O strada in memoria unui erou
description: De, Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita | 01.05.2007 Focsanenii emigrati in Israel cer municipalitatii ca o strada din Focsani sa poarte numele profesorului erou din America, Liviu Librescu u dascalul care s-a sacrificat pentru propriii studenti a copilarit la Focsani in timpul Holocaustului u un focsanean caretraieste in Haifa a povestit lucruri inedite despre Liviu Librescu Focsanenii emigrati in Israel dupa cel de-al doilea razboi mondial cer Primariei Focsani sa ofere numele profesorului erou Liviu Librescu unei strazi din municipiul de pe Milcov. Dascalul israelian de orgine romana, care si-a sacrificat propria viata, pe 16 aprilie, pentru a-si salva studentii in amfiteatrul Universitatii Virginia Tech din SUA din fata unei ploi de gloante, a trait in Focsani alaturi de familia lui in perioada celui de-al doilea razboi mondial si tot aici a cunoscut-o pe cea care i-a fost alaturi toata viata, vaduva sa, Marilena. Israelianul de origine focsaneana Zvi Ben Dov, directorul general al organizatiei A.M.I.R. care militeaza pentru infintareaunui muzeu al evreimii romane, i-a trimis zilele trecute primarului din Focsani, Decebal Bacinschi, in numele fostilor focsaneni emigrati in Israel, o scrisoare in care militeaza pentru recunoasterea numelui omului de stiinta Liviu Librescu in orasul in care acesta s-a format ca om. De altfel, acestia il numesc "focsaneanul" pe Liviu Librescu. Comunitatea de focsaneni din Israel a luat decizia de a-i scrie primarului Decebal Bacinschi la funeraliile "profesorului erou". "Prof. univ. dr. Liviu Librescu a trait si a invatat la scolile din Focsani si era atasat de locurile unde a copilarit. Presa romana, americana si israeliana a publicat pe larg istoria vietii sale si exceptionalele realizari in domeniul aeronauticii si nu numai. Fapta eroica a prof. univ. Liviu Librescu a fost elogiata de Presedintele Romaniei, Traian Basescu, ca si de Presedintele USA, George Bush. Noi sugeram ca, in memoria sa, o strada din Focsani sa primeasca numele profes…
creator: Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita
date: 2007-06-08
contributor: Adriana Seagle
language: eng

Focsanenii au fost la mormintarea eroului din America
description: De, Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita | 21.04.2007 Focsaneanul Zvi Ben Dov, emigrat in Israel in urma cu jumatate de secol, ne-a transmis ieri amanunte despre funeraliile profesorului Liviu Librescu Liviu Librescu, profesorul care si-a salvat studentii din fata unei ploi de gloante sacrificindu-si propria viata in amfiteatrul Universitatii Tehnice din Virginia, a fost condus ieri pe ultimul drum, in Israel, tara in care locuiesc si cei doi fii ai sai. La funeralii au fost prezenti si citiva focsaneni israelieni, care au copilarit cu profesorul Liviu Librescu in perioada celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, cind au fost nevoiti sa indure ostilitatea dusa pina la extrem fata de populatia de origine evreiasca. "Am participat impreuna cu prietenul meu focsanean Jack Gheber la mormintarea lui Liviu. Au fost sute si sute de oameni, rude, prieteni, profesori de la universitate, plus o delegatie special venita din Romania, in frunte cu ambasadorul Romaniei in Israel, pentru a inmina familiei ordinul national «Steaua Romaniei» in grad de mare cruce, oferit post-mortem de presedintele Traian Basescu pentru eroismul de care a dat dovada. Impreuna cu Jack, ne-am dus la Marilena, sotia lui Liviu, si ea tot din Focsani, si am consolat-o. Eu i-am inminat «Ziarul de Vrancea», care a sosit in Israel in urma cu doua zile, adus de prietenul nostru Nicu Stoinescu. I-am transmis condoleante de la grupul vostru din Focsani", ne-a transmis ieri, prin e-mail, Zvi Ben Dov, liderul focsanenilor din Israel, directorul general al organizatiei A.M.I.R. Acesta si-a ebraizat numele dupa ce a emigrat, in Focsani fiind cunoscut sub numele de Puiu Zilberman. De precizat ca Zvi Ben Dov si Jack Gheber au fost colegi cu Liviu Librescu la Focsani, inainte de a emigra in Israel. "Mama lui Jack a fost directoarea scolii evreiesti de fete din Focsani, unde a studiat si Marilena, sotia lui Liviu. L-a recunoscut si pe Jack si pe mine imediat. La funeralii am intilnit si alti prieteni focsaneni, pe dr. Fritz Scwartz…
creator: Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita
date: 2007-06-08
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita (silvia@ziaruldevrancea.ro)
language: ron

Decenas de miles de personas lloran a las víctimas de tiroteo en universidad Virginia Tech
description: Contribucion de Democracy Now Miércoles 18 de Abril de 2007 Decenas de miles de personas lloran a las víctimas de tiroteo en universidad Virginia Tech Decenas de miles de estudiantes, familiares y miembros del cuerpo docente se reunieron ayer en la Universidad Virginia Tech para llorar a las víctimas de la masacre del lunes, que dejó un saldo de 33 muertos. Este fue el peor tiroteo dentro de una institución universitaria en la historia de Estados Unidos. Anoche se llevó a cabo una vigilia con velas. Ayer temprano el Presidente Bush habló en un servicio religioso que tuvo lugar en el campus. El Presidente Bush dijo: "Para cuando culminó la mañana, había sido el peor día de violencia en el campus de una universidad en la historia de Estados Unidos. Y para muchos de los que se encuentran hoy aquí, fue el peor día de sus vidas. Es imposible comprender tanta violencia y sufrimiento". El Presidente Bush ordenó que la bandera de la nación se izara a media asta. Marisa Plescia se encontraba entre los estudiantes de la Universidad Virginia Tech que estuvieron presentes en el servicio religioso. Marisa Plescia dijo: "Posiblemente esta fue la situación más devastadora que me haya tocado vivir. Probablemente ayer fue uno de los días más aterradores de mi vida. Me encontraba en el campus cuando todo comenzó. Simplemente salimos corriendo del campus. Vivo cerca del campus así que regresé a mi auto. Pienso que es realmente importante que todas las personas estemos hoy aquí. Lo que sucedió fue horrible". El estudiante de Virginia Tech Cho Seung-hui de 23 años fue identificado como el asesino El servicio religioso se realizó horas después de que el Jefe de la Policía de Virginia Tech, Wendell Flinchum, identificara al estudiante responsable de la masacre. Wendell Flinchum dijo: "Pudimos confirmar la identidad del atacante de Norris Hall. Esta persona es Cho Seung-hui. Era un surcoreano de 23 años de edad que vivía en Estados Unidos como residente extran…
creator: Sitio Web Democracy Now
date: 2007-08-06
contributor: Elva Orozco
rights: Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 3.0 Estados Unidos
language: spa

Leaders consider responses to tragedy
description: Sonia Rao Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News In light of the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy Monday, student body president Liz Brown asked members of the Council of Representatives (COR) for input Tuesday on how the Notre Dame student body could show its support to the campus located in Blacksburg, Va. "Immediately after this happened, [student body vice president] Maris [Braun] and I started talking about what we should send as a student body," Brown said, noting that both she and Braun had already received e-mails from concerned students with suggestions. "One of the ideas that has been tossed around is some kind of letter that we would write and solicit signatures from the student body from a variety of points on campus," Brown said. "We just want to get as many signatures of support as possible to send in one package. We could also have blank cards at those sites that people could write messages on." Braun said she looked on Virginia Tech's Web site and saw the school was observing National Maroon and Gold Day. "I think that it would be a really cool thing if we could get Notre Dame students to observe this day sometime next week or something ... maybe notify them through advertisement in The Observer, sending an e-mail out or whatever," she said. In addition to these ideas, members suggested that the student body observe a moment of silence sometime next week, either at a designated location or just during first minute of class at a certain time. -- Original Source: http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/04/18/News/Leaders.Consider.Responses.To.Tragedy-2849121.shtml
creator: Sonia Rao
date: 2008-02-25
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Christopher Hine <chine@nd.edu>
language: eng

EDITORIAL - Media exploits killer's manifesto
description: By: STAFF EDITORIAL Posted: 4/20/07 Just days after the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, NBC made the inappropriate decision to release videos of killer Cho Seung-Hui angrily ranting about the reasoning behind his crimes. Cho had sent a package that contained 43 photos, 28 video clips and a 23-page letter directly to NBC headquarters in New York during a break in his shooting spree on Monday. After NBC first released the shocking "multimedia manifesto" on the NBC Nightly News broadcast, 24-hour news networks quickly followed suit, constantly showing the disturbing video excerpts and photo clips. The media's release of Cho's photos and diatribe gave a deeper look into the mind and motivations of the killer, a decision that has had a great ripple affect across the country. While NBC stands by its decision to release the material, we believe the choice was made too hastily, without much thought or sensitivity for the families of the victims of the shooting, who have only had days to handle the emotional effects of losing their loved ones. Forensic psychiatrist and ABC News consultant Michael Welner appeared on "Good Morning America" yesterday to discuss the troublesome consequences. "This is a social catastrophe," Welner said. "This is perversion...[Cho] needs to create and produce his own picture in order to give himself a sense of power. Nobody saw him that way...that's why he set this up and he did this to achieve immortality." Welner's argument is logical. This footage does not present the public with any deeper knowledge about the crimes and, for that reason, it is not at all newsworthy. Instead, showing the video is a disrespectful and insensitive action toward the Blacksburg victims. Furthermore, the broadcast footage gives the fame-seeking Cho an audience and a stage where he can attempt to justify his crimes. In other words, it gives him exactly what he wanted. The problem is that 24-hour news networks have the unsettling habit of overeagerly reporting breaki…
creator: STAFF EDITORIAL
publisher: The Pitt News
date: 2007-08-19
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Annie Tubbs <annietubbs@gmail.com>
language: eng

EDITORIAL - Va. shooting cause for reflection
description: By: STAFF EDITORIAL Posted: 4/17/07 Many news outlets are calling it "the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history." For us, yesterday's shootings at Virginia Tech were a horrible tragedy, and they're also a reminder for all of us to examine our own campuses. We join college students across the nation in extending our condolences to the families and friends of the Virginia Tech students who died yesterday. Certainly those students were in the forefront of our thoughts and in the background of our actions today. Shock will diminish and the bleak reality of this heinous event will become clearer in the days to come. It's too early to know many of the important details of the shooting, but we do know that this will have an effect on college campuses across the country for years to come. Many students watch or read the news and wonder if their own campuses would be able to handle a similar situation. We also wonder if the communication methods in place now are capable of keeping us abreast of developing situations on campus - not all of us have PDAs and BlackBerrys. Certainly, entire university communities are going to be looking for answers from their own administrators about safety measures that are in place and how they'll be augmented to better handle potential future emergency situations. In the hours after the shootings, it seems as if many are quick to blame Virginia Tech for the shootings. After a thorough investigation into Monday's events is completed, Tech might receive criticism for its handling of the shootings - it might not. But as is the case at most campus, you do the best you can - universities and colleges aren't necessarily responsible for the actions of disturbed people. They certainly can't check every single person at every single door in every single building on their sprawling campus. They have to maintain security on campus while striking a careful balance with civil liberties. Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, in a statement to The Pitt News, s…
creator: STAFF EDITORIAL
publisher: The Pitt News
date: 2007-08-19
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Annie Tubbs <annietubbs@gmail.com>
language: eng

Cho is no emblem of America
description: Leader Sunday April 22, 2007 The Observer Julia Pryde is not a household name. She was a 23-year-old graduate biology student who wanted to encourage recycling at the cafeteria at Virginia Tech University. Her face is not as universally known as that of Cho Seung-hui, the man who shot her and 31 others on campus last week. Cho secured his status as an icon of infamy by taking time, amid the massacre, to send a video manifesto to a TV network. Cho wanted not only to terrorise his fellow students, but to stare the world in the face, or rather, to force the world to look him in the eye. NBC has been criticised for showing the footage. Although there was a legitimate public interest in airing the material - it helped explain the dark motivation of the killer - the decision to run it on a constant loop within hours of the killings was clearly not taken with any consideration of sensitivity to survivors or victims' relatives. NBC apologised and toned down their coverage. But in the modern media age, Cho's broadcast would always have found a worldwide audience. He would still, one way or another, have forced everyone to hear his awful message: it is you who are responsible for this, not me. That is not true, of course. Cho was a psychopath, determined to kill. It may be the case that his determination was expedited by easy access to guns. But that is a feature of American society and American politics with its own strange logic, immune to comment by outsiders. The image of Cho striking murderous poses crosses all cultures. It is the face of modern, media-literate terror. That is not a fair emblem of modern American society. A truer symbol is found in the packed classrooms and lecture theatres of Virginia Tech, filled, just days after the massacre, with students who were determined to get on with their education - a triumph of youthful optimism over deadly nihilism. Pickleme April 22, 2007 8:16 AM Tragic though this all is , one has had a media onslaught day after relentles…
creator: Staff of The Observer
date: 2007-08-10
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: In consideration of the fee of GBP 0.00 ("the Fee") Guardian News & Media Limited ("GNM") grants the Licensee the right to: publish on its website for 10 years. Contact info:Eve Thompson-permissions.syndication@guardian.co.uk
language: eng

'I pretended to be dead ... people died on top of me'
description: Bobbie Johnson and Lee Glendinning Wednesday April 18, 2007 The Guardian Within hours of news of the Blacksburg shootings, a picture of the terror inflicted by 23-year-old Korean student Cho Seung-hui was being built online through videos, blogs and message boards. Clay Violand, 20, a student at Virginia Tech, described on iChat, an online messaging service, how he pretended to be dead as his classmates fell on top of him. "I watched my fucking classmates get mauled in front of me and I was the only one who wasn't shot. I feel crazy. People died on top of me," he told his friend Alana Fragar, who also attends Virginia Tech. "I am the only person who didn't get shot in my French class in Norris and I have no idea why and I don't know what to do. "I pretended to be dead and people got shot in the face ... I keep seeing gross images of blood and gunshots in the face and ... I have no idea why I lived. I didn't even get blood on me. I don't get it." Friends of Emily Hilscher, the first victim of the shootings, had gathered online to create an instant memorial. Using the social networking site Facebook, hugely popular among American college students, friends built a page asking each other to collect their pictures of the 18-year-old from stages of her life. "We want everybody that joins to post one or more things that made Emily cooler than you," it said. Tributes and messages had poured in from friends, family - and even strangers as far away as Norway. "It didn't matter who you were or if she knew you ... she would be your friend in a heartbeat," said one friend. "Emily was so spunky and full of life," said another. "She had such a creative personality, and was always making such fun new things." Youngsters gathered on the site to post tributes and messages for other victims, such as 18-year-old Reema Samaha. "Reema you were one of the funniest people I know ... We all love you," said one. Facebook is a mainstay of American college life, and used by around 18 million p…
creator: Staff: Bobbie Johnson and Lee Glendinning
date: 2007-08-12
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: In consideration of the fee of GBP 0.00 ("the Fee") Guardian News & Media Limited ("GNM") grants the Licensee the right to: publish on its website for 10 years. Contact info: Eve Thompson; permissions.syndication@guardian.co.uk
language: eng

First students are buried as US mourns Virginia Tech victims
description: Paul Harris in Blacksburg Sunday April 22, 2007 The Observer America began to bury its dead yesterday from the Virginia Tech massacre that cost 33 lives - the worst mass-shooting in the country's modern history. Three funerals of students killed by Cho Seung-hui were taking place last week. It was a tragedy that made headlines around the world and deeply shocked America. Among those being buried were Austin Michelle Cloyd, 19, the daughter of a Virginia Tech lecturer. She was being buried in Blacksburg, the tiny campus town tucked away in the Blue Ridge mountains of southern Virginia. Elsewhere, Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, was being buried in his home town of Narrows nearby, and Minal Panchal, 26, an Indian-born post-graduate student, was being buried in Odenton, Maryland. The funerals end a week of mourning and regret over the killings. Services are being held all over the country in victims' home towns and are likely go on well into next week. They come after a day of remembrance on Friday that saw a moment of silence observed across the nations. Across Virginia, many people have been wearing the college colours of maroon and orange. Police continue to investigate the shootings, seeking to find out how Cho, 23, carried out the murders. 'The why and the how are the crux of the investigation. The why may never be determined,' Virginia state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. Cho carried out the attack in two assaults. The first killed two students in a dormitory hall and was followed by a pause of several hours before he rampaged through a lecture building, eventually killing 30 more. The investigation is focused on the first killings to see if there was any link between Cho and Emily Hilscher, 19, believed to have been the first person shot. The Cho family expressed its sorrow: '[The family will] do whatever we can to help authorities understand why these senseless acts happened. We have many unanswered questions as well,' it said. On Guardian Unlimited Full coverag…
creator: Staff:by Paul Harris
date: 2007-08-10
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: In consideration of the fee of GBP 0.00 ("the Fee") Guardian News & Media Limited ("GNM") grants the Licensee the right to: publish on its website for 10 years. Contact info: Eve Thompson-permissions.syndication@guardian.co.uk
language: eng

Collective day of mourning for victims
description: Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Saturday April 21, 2007 The Guardian Americans united in a collective day of mourning for the victims of the campus massacre yesterday, with church services and vigils from Capitol Hill to California. Yesterday's solemnities were centred on a moment of silence for the dead across the state of Virginia at noon after the governor, Tim Kaine, declared a day of mourning. Forty other states held vigils for the dead at the same time. "This has touched the globe," Mr Kaine told a memorial service . "The universality that we all suffer, we all grieve, has touched hearts around the world." The sombreness of the day was deepened by the knowledge that it was the anniversary of another school shooting - of 13 students and one teacher at Colorado's Columbine high school in 1999. After days spent trying to decipher the motives behind Cho Seung-hui's rampage, which left 32 dead before he turned the gun on himself, yesterday was given over to the victims. On the grassy expanse called the Drill Field at the heart of Virginia Tech campus, just outside Norris Hall, where Cho killed all but two of his victims, church bells tolled as students and professors gathered on a sunny day. Almost all the mourners wore the school colours of orange and maroon as they drew close to the makeshift memorial on the grass, a semi-circle of stones surrounding large placards covered with handwritten tributes to the dead, large wreaths and humble bouquets of flowers. Elsewhere in Virginia, bells chimed for each of Cho's victims at an interfaith memorial at Virginia Commonwealth University. "The thing that matters most today is to remember the friends and families of those who lost loved ones," Virginia's lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling, said. There were services at Washington's national cathedral, as well as a moment of silence in the House of Representatives. In Santa Monica, California, Virginia Tech alumni were scheduled to hold a memorial service later in the day. Th…
creator: Staff:Suzanne Goldenberg
date: 2007-08-10
contributor: Adriana Seagle
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language: eng