The Burrus Hall
description: A banner from Anderson University, on display in front of Burruss Hall, reads "We are all Hokies today as we share in your grief, may God grant you strength for the dark days ahead, solace for your pain and suffering, and courage for a brighter tomorrow."
creator: Jinfeng Jiao
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Na Mi
language: eng

Prayer
description: A student mourned for the victims in front of the Hokie stone memorial site of the drillfield one week after the shooting.
creator: Jinfeng Jiao
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Na Mi
language: eng

Chinese students were making origami cranes
description: On April 20, the VT-ACSS organized a donation on the drillfield. In this photo, several Chinese students were making origami cranes. The Chinese community of Blacksburg uses the "1000 cranes" to express grief and remembrance.
creator: Jinfeng Jiao
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Na Mi
language: eng

Florets of remembrance
description: People tied yellow florets on the poles around the campus. Photo taken April 19,2007
creator: Jinfeng Jiao
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Na Mi
language: eng

Ribbons of remembrance
description: Orange and black ribbons were tied on trees around the campus of Virginia Tech three days after the tragety.
creator: Jinfeng Jiao
date: 2007-08-15
contributor: Na Mi
language: eng

Virginia Tech tragedy unites VU community
description: by Joan Brasher News of the events of April 16, 2007 - a violent shooting on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., that resulted in the deaths of 33 students and faculty members - sent chills down the spines of all within earshot of a television, radio or the Internet. University students, faculty and staff across the nation and the world watched the media coverage in stunned silence, as the death toll escalated and the convoluted details slowly became clear. For many students, the first reaction to the shocking event was fear, said Vanderbilt Student Government Association President Cara Bilotta, a junior. "As you watch the tragedy unfold on TV, you cannot help but think, 'Could this happen here?'" Bilotta said. "Your initial reaction is fear of the unknown. The question is, could any university really prevent an incident like Virginia Tech? The good news is that Vanderbilt has always taken a proactive approach to security." University communities nationwide, even those with no direct relationship to the victims, were hard hit, and campus administrators quickly convened not only to reach out to Virginia Tech's faculty, staff and students, but to re-evaluate crisis preparedness on their respective campuses. Chancellor Gordon Gee communicated with the Vanderbilt community via e-mail shortly after the shooting, stating, "Words fail to encompass a calamity of such magnitude. At this raw stage, we can offer our attention, our consideration and our sympathy. We respond with the best part of ourselves." He encouraged students to take advantage of the university's psychological counseling services, seek out religious life groups or turn to resident advisers for support. All Faiths Chapel on the first floor of Vanderbilt Divinity School was made available for reflection, meditation and prayer. Two days after the shooting, a candlelight vigil was held at Benton Chapel. Vanderbilt chaplains, as well as representatives from Tennessee State University, Belmont University…
creator: Joan Brasher
date: 2007-07-11
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Joan Brasher <joan.brasher@vanderbilt.edu>
language: eng

Shooting proves need for gun control laws
description: By: Joe Bialek Posted: 5/2/07 The shooting crisis at Virginia Tech has once again sparked the debate about gun control. The second amendment of the United States 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." Obviously the need for a state militia has been replaced by the National Guard and Coast Guard whereby trained military personnel are entrusted with the defense of this country against domestic enemies. Their weapons are tightly controlled and safeguarded. The only two reasons for a citizen to own a firearm are for hunting or defense of the household from intruders. In either case, ownership of a handgun, shotgun or shoulder rifle is more than adequate to satisfy these purposes. There is absolutely no need for any U.S. civilian to own any weapon more powerful or sophisticated than these. Accordingly, all handguns, shotguns and shoulder rifles must be licensed and registered to the degree necessary to match weapon to owner at the click of a computer key. Furthermore, if we had prohibited the purchase of more sophisticated weapons, several innocent victims would not have died at the hands of Cho Seung-Hui. Joe Bialek Cleveland, Ohio -- Original Source:The Lantern - May 2, 2007
creator: Joe Bialek
date: 2007-08-16
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: GERRICK LEWIS <lewis.1030@osu.edu>
language: eng

Israel Professor, Murdered Saving Students At Virginia Tech, Buried in Ra'anana
description: By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----April 19...... In a remarkable act of sacrifice and bravery, a 75-year-old Israel professor and Holocaust survivor was murdered in the massacre at Virginia Tech on Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday when he leaped between the crazed gunner and his students. According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class. Asael Arad, an Israeli Virginia Tech student told Israel Army Radio that "all the students lived - because of him,". The last person to see Professor Liviu Librescu alive appears to have been Alec Calhoun, a student at Virginia Tech who turned as he prepared to leap from a high classroom window to see the elderly academic holding shut the classroom door. The student jumped, and lived. Minutes later, the professor was shot dead. Librescu's wife told the NRG Web site that her husband had loved his job with "all his heart and his soul." Librescu was a gifted scientist in Romania, and the government tried to prevent him from moving to Israel. He was eventually allowed to leave the country after then Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin made a special appeal to President Nicolae Ceausescu, Ynetnews reported. Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 but moved to Virginia in 1986 for his sabbatical and had remained their ever since. The professor has two sons, one named Arieh who lives in Israel, and another, Joe, who resides in the US. Librescu was described by his colleagues as a "true gentleman." He was one of 32 people murdered in what has been described as the biggest single shooting attack in US history. Between his first and second bursts of gunfire, the Virginia Tech gunman mailed a package to NBC News containing pictures of him brandishing weapons and video of him delivering a diatribe about getting even with rich people. NBC said that a time stamp on the package indi…
creator: Joel Leyden
publisher: Israel News Agency
date: 2007-08-12
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: Joel Leyden,Publisher;israelnewsagency@gmail.com
language: eng

Tears, Pride for Holocaust Survivor, Virginia Tech Librescu At Israel Funeral
description: By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----April 21...... "Daddy, tell me the story again," said the 6-year-old girl. "Tell me how he saved the big children." It had been hours earlier in this pristine, palm tree lined Ra'anana cemetery that hundreds stood mourning and praising Holocaust survivor and Virginia Tech hero for sacrificing his life so that his students would live. "He was a good man," said Amanda. "Will he come back to life now?" she asked. It was this young girl's first trip to a cemetery. I explained to her that in life we are born in hospitals, live our lives and then we are buried in cemeteries. "We will all be buried in a cemetery, but some people die from old age, others from diseases, but this man - he was a hero. He was buried here because he gave life to the big children in Virginia," I told her. A link to exclusive INA video of the Liviu Librescu funeral in Ra'anana appears here I had promised my daughter when picking her up from her mother's home that we were going to visit a real hero. Heroes come and go. Moshe Dayan is credited for many acts of bravery, including opening up the City of Jerusalem with Yitzhak Rabin in 1967. David Ben-Gurion had the wisdom and leadership to win Israel's battle for independence, creating the modern Jewish state of Israel. But Dayan and Ben-Gurion, who became myths larger than life, had also been criticized. Ben-Gurion for attacking an Irgun ship - the Altalena and Dayan for stealing and selling archaeological treasures from Israel soil. They had both been in the public spotlight for many years. Their achievements were many. Their faults were few but still they were mere mortals. But Liviu Librescu was a hero with no baggage. He had survived the Nazi holocaust, he had survived persecution in communist Romania. Only to find peace and tranquility teaching in the hills of Virginia - until last Monday. In a remarkable act of sacrifice and bravery, the 75-year-old Israel professor and Holocaust survivor was murd…
creator: Joel Leyden
date: 2007-08-12
contributor: Adriana Seagle
rights: Joel Leyden; israelnewsagency@gmail.com
language: eng

Security discussions arise after shootings
description: By Joel Runck Statesman Staff Reporter In light of the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16, security protocols are being reevaluated and modified at campuses nationwide. UMD is also devising and implementing measures to improve security and emergency response. "I would say that the most effective means of notification that we have—and we've just installed this in the last six months— is our tone-alert radios," said Greg Fox, UMD vice chancellor of finance and operations. "Most frequently they would be used for weather emergencies, but they are also available for live-time communication for other emergencies as well." With 60 such radios distributed across major departments at UMD, locations in possession of tone-alert radios can correspond with agencies such as law enforcement and the National Weather Service during specific types of emergencies. "It's kind of the same philosophy as the old weather radios," said Joe Michela, director of UMD Auxiliary Services. "Now we have them around campus, but we have own antenna and receiver ... so that's how we get the message out to warn (people)." Michela said that during a gunman-at-large scenario, the radios would be used to notify campus police who would then notify Duluth police departments across the city. The most recent use of these radios other than monthly testing, occurred during the snowstorm closing in March. Currently, UMD has 10 licensed police officers on payroll and after massacre at Virginia Tech occurred, that same night, two officers were stationed throughout residence halls, according to Fox. In addition to police presence, Fox said that UMD has more than 100 surveillance cameras, which are primarily located in residence hall parking lots. Furthermore, Fox speculates that UMD will be receiving $300,000 from the U of M -Twin Cities Central Security to install cameras that will monitor people entering and exiting residence hall buildings. Other buildings under video surveillance include Swenson Science…
creator: Joel Runck
publisher: The Statesman
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Statesman Editor-in-Chief Desk - Suraj Rambhia <eic@sbstatesman.org>
language: eng

John and Elizabeth Edwards Statement on Virginia Tech Shooting
description: Apr 16, 2007 We are simply heartbroken by the deaths and injuries suffered at Virginia Tech. We know what an unspeakable, life-changing moment this is for these families and how, in this moment, it is hard to feel anything but overwhelming grief, much less the love and support around you. But the love and support is there. We pray that these families, these students, and the entire Virginia Tech community know that they are being embraced by a nation. There is a Methodist hymn that gave us solace in such a moment as this, and we repeat its final verse here, in hopes it will help these families, as it helped us: In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; In our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity, In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory, Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. Our dearest wish is that this day could start again, with the promise of these young people alive. Knowing that cannot be, our prayer is for God's grace and whatever measure of peace can be reached on this terrible day. John and Elizabeth Edwards -- Original Source: http://johnedwards.com/news/headlines/200700416-vt/ Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
creator: John and Elizabeth Edwards / John Edwards for President
date: 2007-05-23
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
language: eng

Violence Without Reason
description: By John Davisson PUBLISHED APRIL 16, 2007 Thirty-two dead and dozens more wounded in Blacksburg. A Journalism School student raped, cut, and burned in Hamilton Heights. These are the twin horrors—baffling, appalling, and without reason—that greeted Columbia's community on Monday. Sadistic acts are lamentable and far-too-common features of the human experience. Each successive day brings with it reports of gut-wrenching atrocities, many on a greater scale than these two attacks, most eliciting a quieter outcry. But our empathy and fear operate in analogues, so it gives us special pause when senseless brutality impacts those bound to us through shared educational experience, whether at Columbia or a peer institution. In these cases, we cannot help but ask why, how, and most alarmingly whether such incidents could recur, but the replies do little to diminish the widespread sense of confusion and grief. One wonders what train of thought led someone to butcher a room full of fellow human beings or brutalize a lone victim, but the causes seem to defy reason, and the savagery yields few good answers. Violence, author Jean Genet wrote, is a calm that disturbs you. In the coming days, much will be said about prevention: what could have been and should be done to forestall such acts of cruelty. This is a good and crucial discussion, but, sadly, one that cannot erase the pain inflicted on the victims and those close to them. Time may bring a degree of distance and comfort, but investigation will only supply the how—never the root causes, the why. We offer, as do all, our deepest condolences to those affected by these crimes, and we hope that the coming weeks will offer them some measure of healing. -- Original Source: Columbia Spectator http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/24875
creator: John Davisson
date: 2008-02-17
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Tom Faure (tomfaure@gmail.com)
language: eng

Audio Report from John Gravois of The Chronicle of Higher Education
description: A Tuesday, April 17 report from John Gravois, a reporter with The Chronicle of Higher education, on the mood on the campus the day after the shootings. This item is also available on the Chronicle's special "Shootings at Virginia Tech" coverage page: http://chronicle.com/indepth/vatech/
creator: John Gravois / The Chronicle of Higher Education
date: 2007-05-04
contributor: David Kniola
rights: Permission to add to public archive granted by The Chronicle on Tuesday, May 8.
language: eng

Op-Ed: Hennessy reflects on tragedy
description: May 4, 2007 By JOHN HENNESSY On April 16, 2007, our country suffered a terrible tragedy when a troubled student killed 32 members of the Virginia Tech community. Such tragedies are unfathomable. Words, as eloquent and sincere as they may be, fail to convey the shock and sadness we all felt upon hearing that news. At Stanford, I was struck by the deep and sincere evidence of sympathy and concern throughout campus, from the moments of silence at many meetings to the cards signed in dining halls to the moving ceremony at Memorial Church. Today, Stanford's condolences stand among those of more than 300 other colleges and universities on the Virginia Tech website. Ours is a caring community, and that fact was never so clear as it was on April 16 and the days immediately thereafter. Not surprisingly, I have been asked about emergency protocols here at Stanford. I want you to know that in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, a group has been convened by Vice President Randy Livingston to review all of our emergency protocols, as well as our methods of communication. Stanford has had an emergency management program in place for many years. The emergency plan has evolved from one primarily focused on earthquake preparation and response and now includes an "all hazards" approach. We practice annually for all types of emergencies, including intentional acts. In addition, we have various methods available through which to communicate with the entire campus, but we are seeking to improve the speed and efficiency with which we can do so. Our emergency protocols are good, but the realities of today's society demand that they be even better. As important as they are, emergency protocols are unfortunately after-event procedures, and therefore only part of a necessary dialogue. As has been made very clear in the days following the tragedy at Virgina Tech, the challenge of how society addresses mental health issues is serious and complicated. We pray that what happened at Virginia T…
creator: John Hennessy
date: 2007-06-13
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Permissions granted by James Hohmann Editor-in-Chief The Stanford Daily <jhohmann@stanford.edu>
language: eng

Local colleges look at own safety plans
description: By John Hilliard/Daily News staff GHS Wed Apr 18, 2007, 12:07 AM EDT After Monday's Virginia Tech massacre, several area colleges and police departments expect to take a closer look at their plans to grapple with a future emergency. "It's safe to say over the next few days every college around the country will be reviewing their current (safety) procedures," said Peter Chisholm, spokesman for Framingham State College. "We will review what we have in place." Framingham and FSC police coordinate on training, he said. In an e-mail sent yesterday, FSC President Timothy Flanagan asked faculty, staff and students to report any suspicious activities and review the school's emergency response plan. During an interview, he said campus police and Framingham Police have a close working relationship, and campus security can call on the town police for support when needed. Flanagan met with campus leaders and security officials yesterday to discuss emergency plans following the shooting in Virginia. "We're not isolated, we're not cloistered" as a campus, said Flanagan. In Waltham, home to Brandeis University and Bentley College, police Detective Sgt. Timothy King expected to discuss emergency plans with both institutions. "I'm certain we will be talking to administrators for the schools," said King. He said city police are familiar with both campuses, but would not comment on any training the city and the two schools' campus security departments undertake. "That incident is on the same level as a terrorist event," for which police have trained, he said. "We do work closely with both (campus police) departments." Franklin Police Deputy Chief Stephen Semerjian said his department has a good working relationship with Dean College. The two institutions also have plans in place to ensure "communication is good and fluid," he said. In Weston, Regis College held a prayer vigil yesterday for the victims as a statement of "solidarity and community," said M.J. Doherty, a former professor …
creator: John Hilliard / MetroWest Daily News Staff
date: 2007-06-01
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
language: eng

VT Massacre: Could it Happen at Hampden-Sydney???
description: Submitted by JohnMaxfield on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 7:30am. Would this have happened at a school like Hampden-Sydney? That is the question. And the answer must be dealt with delicately, in the aftermath of such a horrendous massacre that hopefully we will never see repeated in our history. But the fact remains--could this tragedy have been down scaled and at best, diffused, if students were allowed to possess firearms on school campuses? I noticed Cliff Garstang's blog going through the aggregator. He had a post up about the tragedy and I thought for once, that he might have a kind word to pass along to the families in mourning. Instead, it ended up being a diatribe about how guns are bad, guns are evil, conservatives are wrong and reactionary, I'm right and you all are wrong, etc. etc. He went on to say how conservatives are of the mindset that if perhaps either some of the students or faculty had been armed, then this might have stopped the shooter. Of course, he disagreed saying, "Put a gun in the hand of every college kid in the country? That's not only absurd, it's just crazy. Arming the citizenry will mean more gun-related deaths, intentional and otherwise, not fewer. The sane approach is to make sure that there are fewer guns. Not more." What? So here is where my question comes in? Do you think that this tragedy would have happened--better yet--do you think the students would have ALLOWED it to happen at Hampden-Sydney College? Of course not. Why, you ask? Because Hampden-Sydney promotes and allows the use of firearms on campus! Students sleep with shotguns under their beds! They hunt, fish, and target shoot on school property. The Admission Office houses a literal armory of firearms and weaponry under neath that building in their vaults. Statically, the college flaunts, enough firepower to defend the campus against a small country. In talking with a friend after the incident who goes to school there, he said that had discussed this exact issue. They figured that …
creator: John Maxfield
date: 2007-05-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
language: eng

The challenge of preventing violence is not just an American problem
description: Commentary John Monahan and Jeffrey Swanson Sunday April 22, 2007 The Observer One of the largest mass killings in American history was carried out last Monday at the hands of a 23-year-old university student with mental illness. The reverberations of the events that ended the lives of 32 students and faculty staff at Virginia Tech - and of the offender as well - are shaking the already wobbly mental health system. This American tragedy surely holds lessons for the UK as it considers the revision of its Mental Health Bill. The scientific challenges of predicting violence, and the legal challenges of preventing it, transcend national borders. Both UK and US look first to mental health professionals. But how good are psychiatrists and psychologists at distinguishing which people with a mental illness will be violent? Research shows professionals are better than pure chance, but not much. Predicting harmful behaviour is like predicting bad weather. An inaccurate prediction doesn't necessarily mean the clinician or the meteorologist has 'missed something'; it may just mean the science of forecasting has a long way to go. Tools to aid mental health professionals in the task focus on proven risk factors: characteristics that define the person (e.g. young, male); disorders that a person has (e.g. a major mental illness, a personality disorder, and alcohol or drug abuse); what the person has done (e.g. past violence); and what has been done to the person (e.g. being raised by violent or substance abusing parents, and being physically abused as a child). These risk factors can distinguish patients with a low risk of future violence from patients with a high one. What can be done to preclude anticipated violence? If people need treatment, don't want it, and might do something harmful if they don't get it, can the state override their right to refuse? The law of civil commitment - being hospitalised against one's will - in almost every US state focuses on two things: whether t…
creator: John Monahan and Jeffrey Swanson
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

Virginia Tech look back
creator: John Starling
publisher: null
date: 2007-05-02
contributor: John Starling
rights: null
language: eng

Mass for Virginia Tech provides consolation, hope
description: Students, community members fill Basilica John Tierney Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News Only a week after Easter, the Notre Dame community once again "finds [itself] at the foot of the Cross," said Father Pete McCormick during his homily at a memorial Mass for the Virginia Tech community Tuesday night at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. "We always have the Cross in our life, but we do not grieve without hope," said McCormick, the assistant rector of Dillon Hall, who was just ordained on Saturday. The Mass, presided over by Vice President for Student Affairs Father Mark Poorman, was organized Monday after news of the 33-person massacre at Virginia Tech broke. Students were informed of the Mass by an urgent IrishLink email from Poorman late Monday. The Basilica was packed to a standing room only capacity, with the entire rear lobby of the church completely full. The Mass drew more people than last fall's 9/11 five-year anniversary Mass. The congregation was made up largely of students, although many members of the outside community were also present. Some students came straight from the library, carrying their backpacks, while many dressed nicely for the service. Following the Mass, many students visited the Grotto to pray and reflect on the massacre. In his homily, McCormick emphasized the powerful emotions many Americans have felt in the past few days in response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. "We have been overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. [...] We are shocked, we are fearful, and we are angered," he said. McCormick also underlined the similarities between the Notre Dame and Virginia Tech communities. "We've heard the stories of students, staff and professors who died, and we realized that their goals and ambitions are not that different from our own," he said. Because of these similarities, McCormick said he believes the Notre Dame and Virginia Tech communities are "of one thought and mind." Like those at Virginia Tech's candlelight vigil Tuesday night, …
creator: John Tierney
date: 2008-02-25
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Christopher Hine <chine@nd.edu>
language: eng

ND upset by NIU shooting
description: Students ask question, "Could it happen here?" John Tierney Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News Notre Dame students expressed sadness and shock Thursday night at yesterday's shooting at Northern Illinois. The tragedy, in which at least six people, including the gunman, were killed and 17 were injured, occurred in a lecture hall less than three hours away from Notre Dame's campus. Although this generation of Notre Dame students has grown up with school shootings ranging from Columbine in 1999 to Virginia Tech last year, students haven't become immune to the tragedy of school massacres. "It was very tragic and scary. You have to wonder what's going on with those kids. It makes you wonder if something like that could happen at Notre Dame," sophomore Tim Nelson said. Many students had not heard of the shooting by Thursday evening, including a group of seniors who stood speechless after being informed of the news. Student body president Liz Brown noted that school shootings are becoming more common. "Unfortunately, this is kind of becoming an occurrence on college campuses across the nation. Hopefully, this trend will stop," she said. Brown also expressed a sense of grief at the NIU tragedy. "This is a hard thing to react to," she said. "This sort of thing has become all too common at schools in the United States." Senior Meghan Jebb, who was studying in Dublin at the time of the Virginia Tech tragedy, questioned the universality of school shootings. "I don't know if this kind of thing happens in other countries. After the Va. Tech shootings, the kids in Ireland were like, 'why do they have guns?'" she asked. Colleen Fleshman, who is from Illinois, said that her first reaction after hearing the news was to call her friends who attend NIU to make sure of their safety. She said she was relieved to find that all her friends were alright. Although the shooter's motivations are not yet known, some students have wondered about the timing of his attack. "He probably picked Valent…
creator: John Tierney
date: 2008-02-25
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Christopher Hine <chine@nd.edu>
language: eng