EDITORIAL: The need for gun control
description: By:Anonymous Posted: 4/24/07 Many believed last week's Virginia Tech shootings would trigger immediate gun-control legislation from the Democrat-controlled Congress. But apparently, that won't be the case. Rep. Michael Capuano seemed to represent the Democrat majority's attitude Monday when he said tackling gun control is "just not worth it," as reported by an April 23 Boston Globe article. He said although he would ideally like to support stricter gun-control laws, putting up a losing fight on such a divisive topic could be political suicide. Capuano added it would be a difficult battle because, when it comes to Congress, "the NRA has this place wrapped up." And most other Democrat leaders seem to agree. But that doesn't mean the fight shouldn't be made. Some of this country's greatest societal changes came after long struggles. The United States entered a civil war in part to end slavery. Activists lost their lives fighting for civil rights in the 1960s. Gay marriage is an undying debate on Capitol Hill. Change is never easy. The last time Democrats held a majority in Congress, they made headway on gun control. In 1994, President Clinton passed a federal ban on selling semi-automatic weapons. This ban expired in 2004 under a Republican Congress. Now that Democrats have regained dominance in the legislature, gun control should be championed again. Many Republicans will see gun-control efforts as an irrational reaction to the Virginia Tech tragedy. Too much emphasis on the issue will appear as if Democrats are trying to take advantage of emotional circumstances to push their agenda. But gun-control efforts are necessary even if they are reactionary. Politics are about responding to society's demands and addressing issues that need to be fixed. It cannot be stressed too often that April 16 was the worst shooting in U.S. history, and it should have been prevented. In 2005, a Virginia court determined Cho Seung-Hui to be mentally ill. Virginia law prevents people who a…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Daily Free Press
date: 2007-08-13
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
language: eng

EDITORIAL: Airing murderous motives
description: By:Anonymous Posted: 4/19/07 When a chilling multimedia package containing 27 video clips, 43 still pictures, a 23-page document and one audio clip composed by cold-blooded Virginia Tech murderer Cho Seung-Hui arrived on NBC's doorstep at Rockefeller Plaza yesterday morning, the station's editors faced a difficult decision. They held in their hands a firsthand account of Cho detailing his twisted motives. With such information comes tremendous responsibility. NBC had the power to shape public perception about the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. But should it provide viewers the valuable details they deserve while giving the gunman the publicity he clearly wanted? It had to be an incredibly difficult decision to make, but on its "Nightly News" broadcast, NBC aired video clips, pictures and words from Cho's package. And the broadcasting corporation handled its reporting as tastefully and tactfully as it could have. Before even thinking about putting the information on the air, NBC contacted the FBI so investigators could begin looking at the vital material. NBC executives understood that it is more important to contribute to the case than it is to immediately post breaking news. But NBC also understood the public has the right to learn as much as possible about the killer. Most will never understand Cho's motives, but everyone deserved to hear them. If NBC knew details but didn't expose the pertinent ones, it would not have been doing its job. Before releasing any footage or sound bytes, though, Brian Williams made sure to preface the broadcast by saying the station knew it would be "airing the words of a murderer." And NBC had to be careful when doing this. If people who share Cho's beliefs think a violent rampage can warrant mass exposure of a killer's message, airing an overload of footage could inspire copycat actions. Cho's actions themselves mimicked past rampages. In his statements, Cho made reference to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the 1999 Columbine Hig…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Daily Free Press
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
language: eng

EDITORIAL: Addressing safety after VT
description: By: Posted: 4/18/07 As expected, even before tears were able to dry, and before the reality of the Virginia Tech tragedy could really set in, officials began discovering details about what happened Monday morning. Yesterday, Americans saw the face of the shooter -- the first step in putting the pieces together in this country's deadliest shooting. And with that name came information about Cho Seung-Hui's troubled past. He was taking medications to treat psychological illnesses, according to an April 18 New York Times article. Pieces that Cho had composed for a creative writing class contained violent material, concerning one professor so much that she had passed the work onto police and other officials. Reports about Cho's criminal tendencies spurred much speculation about why it wasn't addressed before he caused nightmarish destruction. It also inspired security leaders and university administrators across the country to meet and discuss how to improve campus safety. The Boston Police Department met with administrators from surrounding universities to review their own security procedures. One of the biggest things that came out of Tuesday's conversation was the need to find potentially dangerous students and pluck them out before they follow in Cho's footsteps. While officials are correct in holding these meetings because safety is so important and relevant to consider, this sort of psychoanalytical prevention must just be the very start of security discussions. Leaders were merely addressing the most important evidence that had come from the Virginia Tech case at the time. But when more specifics come about what enabled the gunman to strike twice, leaders must try to never repeat whatever mistakes police made Monday. It is unrealistic to think school counselors can identify potential mass murderers within enormous student bodies like those at Virginia Tech, Boston University, Northeastern University and many other colleges. Afterall, not everyone who writes distur…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Daily Free Press
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
language: eng

EDITORIAL: Consoling Virginia Tech
description: By:Anonymous Posted: 4/17/07 On one of the most celebratory Mondays on Boston's calendar -- a day when students forget about classes and hit the streets for a citywide party -- the Virginia Tech campus was in shock and mourning. In the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, a gunman murdered 32 community members and wounded 15 others before taking his own life yesterday. This page can barely begin to express its deepest sympathies to the Virginia Tech community. When Boston University loses any one of its members, the campus has a difficult time recovering. To lose 32 community members in fewer than three hours is unimaginable. The most frightening element of this tragedy is that it was virtually unpreventible. No matter how much money a university pours into its security plan, no matter how often safety procedures are rehearsed, little can prevent a suicidal gunman from going on a rampage. This mass murder is part of the violence this country has been forced to become accustomed to. Many may not consider Monday's shooting an act of terrorism, but that is exactly what it was. Ever since Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, this sort of terrorism has been part of our reality. But that doesn't remove the distress and pain felt after it happens. Blacksburg, Va. may be more than 700 miles from Boston, but the emotions still hit close to home. College students have a connection to universities across the country. Most students know someone, or have a friend of a friend, or have some other tie to Virginia Tech. Even if students don't have these personal connections, they have the bond of being college students -- going to class, sleeping in late, going out on weekends and being close to friends. And sadly the thought about the possibility of a gunman coming into their classrooms and opening fire is a concern that crosses many students' minds. But no one can possibly fathom what this horrific exp…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Daily Free Press
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
language: eng

School security proposal shoves aside prevention
description: By:Anonymous Posted: 4/27/07 Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones urged April 19 that the Ohio state legislature and Governor Ted Strickland consider drafting a new law that would require armed guards in all of Ohio's schools, colleges and universities. In the wake of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute shootings, during which a crazed student killed 32 students and faculty, debate within the Ohio General Assembly has focused heavily on how future tragedies of this sort can be prevented. Nonetheless, the extraordinary cost of this program and its doubtful effectiveness makes it a proposal that the legislature should overlook in favor of more proactive approaches that would act to prevent another school shooting. The high cost of putting an armed guard in every Ohio school raises some serious questions regarding the state's ability to fund this program. Such a program appears to be a colossal waste of expenditures, especially given the fact that the state's budget is already in the red. Given the rarity of such attacks, it is neither prudent nor feasible to devote such a large amount of state resources to a program such as this and more cost effective measures can be implemented instead. Additionally, the presence of an armed guard is unlikely to dissuade a deranged and suicidal student from carrying out a planned attack. It is naive to think that a security guard is a deterrent strategy, or that he or she would be able to intervene in time to stop a determined shooter. Furthermore, Jones' suggestion that teachers and faculty members could be trained and equipped with firearms is a frightening proposition. The answer to school violence does not rest in turning Ohio's public schools into armed camps, thus creating a culture of anxiety. Placing armed contingents within Ohio's schools sends the wrong message that guns are the way to prevent violence. Indeed, Virginia Tech has one of the best campus police forces in the country. Rather, focus must be shifted toward a proac…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Miami Student
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Skotzko, Stacey Nicole" <skotzksn@muohio.edu>
language: eng

Media's response to VT tragedy warrants criticism
description: By: Posted: 4/20/07 In the time between the two horrific shootings that took place at Virgina Polytechnic Institute April 16, the killer, Cho Seung-Hui managed to mail disturbing video clips and pictures of himself to NBC News in New York. While NBC News did contact the FBI about the materials, they unveiled the disturbing images to the American people on the nightly news Wednesday. This insensitive move is representative of the mainstream media's disappointing coverage of the tragedy, and The Miami Student editorial board finds the glorification of this mass murderer appalling and offensive. NBC News is effectively giving Cho Seung-Hui exactly what he wanted - a pulpit from which he can speak his insanities. Cho's chilling and senseless photographs only adds to the pain of the victims' friends and families and are not worth playing over and over again. In another sign of sensationalist coverage, other networks, such as CNN, aired a running gunshot tally based off of a cell phone audio clip captured by a Virginia Tech student, almost oblivious to the fact that with each shot another innocent person was being murdered. This theatrical media coverage suggests that the lessons from Columbine have not been taken to heart. In the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine shooting, the media covered the event with a similar circus-like attitude. Contemporary 24-hour coverage has led to poor journalism that thrives on ratings, melodrama and editorialized field reports, all of which takes away from the actual event. Rather than these sad examples of media irresponsibility, The Miami Student editorial board feels the American public deserve staid reporting. Moreover, rather than glorifying Seung-Hui's acts, the press should focus more on the victims of his acts. For example, Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old engineering professor and Holocaust survivor, saved his students by blocking his classroom's door with his body, sacrificing his life in the process. Stories such as this represent a …
creator: Anonymous
publisher: The Miami Student
date: 2007-08-14
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Skotzko, Stacey Nicole" <skotzksn@muohio.edu>
language: eng

Virginia Tech shooting a sign for contemplation and change
description: By: Posted: 4/23/07 Last week was one of tragedy as schools and universities across the United States faced the terror of threats of bombs and shootings on their campuses. The events of April 16 have brought the issues of gun control, freedom, mental health and emergency preparedness to the forefront of the news and our minds. But no one suffered more than the students, teachers, family and friends affected directly by the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16. For all of those with connections to Virginia Tech who are grieving from the tragedy, we'd like to express our sincere condolences. We'd also like to commend everyone who has given University of Nebraska-Lincoln students, faculty and staff members opportunities to contemplate. We've been impressed by the outpouring of compassion that occurred on the UNL campus in many forms: signs, cards and candlelight vigils. But Friday's events on the UNL campus put a damper upon the solemn nature of the week. Like dozens of other college campuses around the country, UNL endured its own copycat scenario on Friday, the anniversary of the Columbine shootings in Colorado. We can't fathom what would motivate a person to say a bomb was planted in the College of Engineering - or anywhere else for that matter. Early Friday afternoon, a man called the dean's office claiming he planted a bomb in the engineering college. Othmer and Nebraska halls and the Walter Scott Engineering Center were subsequently evacuated and closed while police searched the building. The terrorist threat led to the cancellation of the engineering college's recruitment day, for which some prospective UNL students traveled hundreds of miles to attend. It also fostered a sense of fear that had already emerged for some on campus who realized the Virginia Tech shootings could have happened anywhere, even here. Luckily, the threat was an empty one, as were the dozens of other threats that shut down college and high school campuses across the country last week. Not t…
creator: Anonymous
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

Our View: Tragedy strikes Virginia Tech
description: We cannot begin to imagine what the community is going through, but we do know they stood strong in the face of terrible acts of violence. We would like to specifically recognize the Collegiate Times, the student newspaper at Virginia Tech, for its excellent news coverage as the rest of the University faced crisis. While the entire school was in a state of shock, the newspaper's staff managed to provide up-to-date information on the paper's Web site, and we want the paper to know their efforts did not go unnoticed. As student journalists, we can understand the horror of working through the greatest school tragedy in history. Many members of The Plainsman staff referenced that site throughout the day to get the latest information, and we are proud of these strong students. As the details of the tragedy continue to be released, we have confidence the newspaper will continue its excellence in reporting. While we watched in shock as the tragedy unfolded, we began to wonder what we would do if something like this happened at Auburn. We discussed the safety measures at Auburn, and we began to realize that is is almost impossible to prepare for an emergency situation of this magnitude. It is the kind of situation that takes one by surprise in the worst way imaginable, and we feel no amount of preparation could have completely prevented the events at Virginia Tech Monday. We commend everyone involved in the tragedy for the efforts they put forth to help the Virginia Tech community. Again, we offer our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by the events on Virginia Tech's campus, and you will remain in our thoughts. -- Original Source: Auburn Plainsman - April 18, 2007
creator: Anonymous
publisher: Auburn Plainsman
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: David Ingram <ingradc@auburn.edu>
language: eng

Put grief on the front page
description: By: Anthony Galanos Posted: 4/20/07 The media coverage of the tragedy at Virginia Tech is rewarding insanity and complicating grief. But there are 32 families, and an entire university who are grieving. Not sad, not upset, not disgruntled... but GRIEVING. And how we treat them in this critical period will determine how they cope now and what the legacy of this past week will be for them. Almost as sad as the loss of life is that this American culture acts like it knows not what grieving is. You want to see grieving, find any child 10 years of age or younger and watch them after their dog or cat dies. It is not a profound concept; it does not require a degree in philosophy or theological training. It is a natural process, common to all humanity. Why we ignore it or complicate it, I do not know, but to accent anything at this raw moment but the grief of the people involved is to confuse them-no, is to use them and to make their journey more complicated and more traumatic than it already is. If my 18-year-old daughter were shot and killed in her dorm, and the only way it was described by her college president was as a "domestic situation" because they thought she had dated the shooter, I would be outraged. I would wonder why this man or woman was on TV and not acknowledging my loss. I would wonder why a famous news anchor is blaming him for police matters (my assumption is that most college presidents know little, if anything, about police work) when I just lost my daughter. And, if the task of losing my child were not difficult enough, then I would have to cope with the media, stating without any evidence whatsoever, that perhaps my daughter's life "could have been spared". Now, and forever, that "what if" question would dominate me. It was not random or the product of psychosis. It was someone's fault, or so say the pundits. What would have been a normal grieving process, is now complicated. I was not afraid to grieve, but my grieving may have no end point. As a clin…
creator: Anthony Galanos
date: 2007-06-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: David Graham <david.graham@duke.edu>
language: eng

The Moon-After, Virginia Tech Memorial
description: The Moon-After, Virginia Tech Memorial (2007) 40"x30" oil on canvas It is the first time the full moon is observed after the massacre of Virginia Tech. For many, the moon will never look the same again. This is a quest to extract the feelings for the souls that will be missed in the lives of many, and for the souls among us that were touched in different ways. A trans-mix of materialistic and spiritual elements is represented by colorless buildings, lilies to convey an overwhelming feeling of surprise, shock, grieve and hope. Thirty-two different types of lilies in white and orange emerge from the gray-shaded mix of figures, symbolizing the spirits of the 32 victims. With the absence of the victims from sight, they become like images, or like seasonal plants, that are soon gone. Lilies were chosen to represent the diversity of the victims, as lilies grow all over the world in different types. The work on this memorial started with the first full moon after the massacre, and was concluded early June 2007. Original Source: http://www.tonysky.net/tony/pntg12.htm
creator: Antoine Faddoul
date: 2008-04-16
contributor: Antoine Faddoul
language: eng

Ethnic identities questioned after Virginia Tech
description: Korean community reacts to blame and guilt following massacre April 24, 2007 By Aram Hur In the aftermath of last week's Virginia Tech massacre, the national Korean-American community has reportedly suffered a backlash similar to that unleashed against Muslims in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, but Asian Americans on campus largely agree that they are being treated with respect and sympathy and credited the media's portrayal of the attack as objective and fair. A number of Facebook groups, such as "Cho Seung-Hui does NOT represent Asians," are continuously amassing new members, while a YouTube post with the words "I belong in Korea" over Cho's face is receiving hundreds of hits per day. While the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was South Korean, other ethnic groups have expressed empathy for Asians in the wake of last week's attack. Ahmed Ashraf '07, vice president of the Muslim Student Awareness Network, said he had similar fears before the identity of the shooter was disclosed. "I know that when I first heard about the Virginia Tech tragedy, I was very, very nervous about the gunman's background," Ashraf said in an email to the Daily. "If a Muslim student were involved in the massacre, it [would have] hit way too close to home." Media coverage of the shootings has drawn an ambiguous reaction from Asian students and faculty members at the University. "This shows that race and ethnicity is still a key source of collective identity in the United States," said Sociology Prof. Gi-Wook Shin. "Non-white ethnic groups and females can be self-conscious and extra careful precisely because they are still minorities in American politics of identity." Others said they were pleased with the focus on Cho's mental state, rather than his ethnicity. "The media has been pretty good at being neutral," said Kenny Kim '08, co-president of the Korean Students Association. "As a member of the Asian-American community, I was inclined to think of the worst possible outcomes, b…
creator: Aram Hur
date: 2007-06-13
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Permissions granted by James Hohmann Editor-in-Chief The Stanford Daily <jhohmann@stanford.edu>
language: eng

Dangerous People?
description: By Ari Rabkin Apr 26 2007 Between the Lines One of the striking facts about the Virginia Tech shootings was how predictable the murderer's identity was. The authorities knew long before his rampage that Cho Seung-Hui was not merely "troubled," but dangerous. A court had ruled two years previously that he posed an "imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness." As a result, he was civilly committed to an outpatient mental-health clinic. He checked out the next day, however, without being effectively treated. In the wake of the shootings, many commentators have decried the gradual decline in involuntary commitment to mental health facilities. The courts, so the thinking goes, should have been more aggressive, and should have committed Cho to an inpatient facility, and not released him until he was judged to be no longer dangerous. But this sort of confinement poses awkward questions. The mentally ill are confined — locked up — not because they have done anything wrong, but because they might be dangerous in the future. Sun Podcast: A podcast is available for this column. Click here to listen to or to download it.Sun Podcast: A podcast is available for this column. Click here to listen to or to download it.To lock people up, not because they are criminals, but because they are dangerous, subverts many of our normal notions of due process. To go free, a criminal defendant needs to rebut a factual allegation; he needs to show that he didn't commit a particular act. A prisoner confined for being dangerous, however, is in a much more precarious position. "Danger" cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury of laymen, but can only be assessed by expert judgment. To avoid making such judgments, American civil law does not have a general category of "dangerous persons" other than the mentally ill. Sane individuals can normally be imprisoned only after a criminal conviction, for a crime they have already committed. Civil confinement, as it is called, i…
creator: Ari Rabkin
date: 2007-07-10
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Jonny Lieberman <jdl46@cornell.edu>, <lieberman.jonny@gmail.com>
language: eng

What could have been done to prevent to massacre at Virginia Tech?
description: By Arlen Parsa Filed: Thursday April 19th 2007, 9:05 AM In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech on Monday, April 16, many asked how such a thing could have happened. It was the deadliest shooting spree in American history, and already there seems to have been several moments where the incident could have been avoided. The killer, Cho Seung-Hui, himself said in a manifesto mailed to NBC News "You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today." While there probably weren't "a hundred billion chances and ways" to have avoided the massacre that claimed the lives of 33 people including Cho, but there were several common sense things that could have been done. It's important to recognize that this horrific incident didn't happen just anywhere: the shootings happened in Virginia; a state known for having some of the most relaxed firearm regulations in the entire country. In fact, critics and safety advocates had complained for years that VA firearm regulations were wholly inadequate and substandard when compared with the rest of the country. Here are a few ideas that the Virginia state legislature ought to consider implementing. I'm not holding my breath since it's made up of staunch NRA types and has been controlled by Republicans for years. But tragedies like these force everyone to reconsider their ideologies. First, how about a law that says if you've been classified as mentally unstable and an imminent threat to yourself or others by doctors and a court- then you're not allowed to walk into a store and walk out with a gun and enough ammo to kill dozens of students? This might sound like a no-brainer, but there is currently no mechanism in place in Virginia to stop mentally unstable people from buying as many deadly weapons and ammunition as they like. In this case, the shooter Cho Seung-Hui was diagnosed with mental disorders, had been taken antidepressants and been checked into a mental hospital in 2005. But that didn't stop him from buying deadly …
creator: Arlen Parsa
date: 2007-05-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0
language: eng

Lessons from Blacksburg
description: By Armin Rosen PUBLISHED APRIL 19, 2007 It unfolded like a terrifying set-piece, and each new item of information seemed more trite and intuitive than the next: the killer had been a student. He had been a social outcast, homicidally contemptuous of the society that he felt had cast him out. The guns used had been purchased legally. And there had been warning signs that now seem to have stopped tantalizingly short of portending the coming carnage. "When this is all said and done," the online magazine Slate cited one blogger as writing a few hours after the shooting, "we will likely have an unhappy young person who probably had an unhealthy obsession with guns, violence, gory video games, and over the top blood-fest movies"-which means that, even in its horrifying randomness, the Virginia Tech shooting takes on a grim aspect of predictability. But what should this predictability teach us? Since noted poet and Virginia Tech English professor Lucinda Roy found Cho Seung-Hui unstable enough to justify contacting campus counseling services over 18 months prior to the attack, it could be argued that universities and society in general should be more aggressive in administering psychological help to those who obviously need it. We Americans are great believers in therapy: with nearly one in four adults seeking professional help and Adderall alone bringing in over a quarter-billion dollars in annual revenue, we, arguably, have put more faith in the redemptive powers of the clinical or prescriptive than any other society on earth. But it would be a mistake to let this past week's events reinforce this notion that normalcy can be clinically prescribed, or, as some have recommended, clinically imposed. As author Deepak Chopra appropriately noted in an interview with CNN, psychologist Abraham Maslow maintains that love and belonging are as fundamental to human existence as food and shelter. And the professional concern of a therapist for her patient can't fill basic emotional o…
creator: Armin Rosen (Author)/Shana Rubin (Photo)
date: 2008-02-18
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Tom Faure (tomfaure@gmail.com)
language: eng

Debbie Schlussel and the VT shootings
description: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 The Bill Muehlenberg Trophy: Debbie Schlussel and the Virginia Tech Shootings Just when you think the wingnut Right can't possibly get more insane or logic-deprived than it already is, along comes Debbie Schlussel, writing on the Virginia Tech university shootings. First, she blamed the Muzzies without a shred of evidence. Then, updating her blog entry after reports emerged that the suspect was a Chinese national, she wrote: The shooter has now been identified as a Chinese national here on a student visa. Lovely. Yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students. When the suspect was later more vaguely described as "Asian," Schlussel saw this as a golden opportunity to revive her "it-was-a-Muzzie-wot-done-it" thesis. (This will take your breath away) Why am I speculating that the "Asian" gunman is a Pakistani Muslim? Because law enforcement and the media strangely won't tell us more specifically who the gunman is. Why? Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students. Got that? (Once you've stopped bashing yourself senseless against the keyboard.) Regardless of who is actually responsible for the massacre, it's yet another reason to hate Muslims. Holy dogshit! How are we expected to take that side of politics seriously when it keeps churning out half-wits like Schlussel? (Via Pharyngula) P.S. Compare Schlussel's Islamophobic dribbling to Scott Poynting's thoughtful Perspective piece on Islamophobia and moral panic. UPDATE: It turns out that the gunman was a 23-year old Korean student, acting alone. Not that it makes a lick of difference to Schlussel. Maybe he's a Korean Muslim. Or maybe the Muslim centre of his brain was overstimulated. In any case, he's a foreigner. Foreigner bad. Muslim bad. Rinse. Repeat. UPDATE II: Guess who the creationists are blaming . . . UPDATE III: Guess who's plann…
creator: Arthur Vandelay
date: 2007-05-05
contributor: Arthur Vandelay
language: eng

University of Michigan Vigil for Virginia Tech
description: April 17, 2007 at 10:30 p.m. University of Michigan students joined together in the Diag for a moment of silence to honor the victims of this week's massacre at Virginia Tech. Students also signed a U-M flag that will be sent to the VTech to show our support for the victims and their families and friends. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415576/ Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
creator: Ashley Dinges
date: 2007-05-24
contributor: Chad Newswander
rights: Permission Contact: Ashley Dinges (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415576/) Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
language: eng

University of Michigan vigil For Virginia Tech
description: April 17, 2007 at 10:30 p.m. University of Michigan students joined together in the Diag for a moment of silence to honor the victims of this week's massacre at Virginia Tech. Students also signed a U-M flag that will be sent to the VTech to show our support for the victims and their families and friends. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415612/ Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
creator: Ashley Dinges
date: 2007-05-24
contributor: Chad Newswander
rights: Permission Contact: Ashley Dinges (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415612/) Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
language: eng

University of Michigan Vigil For Virginia Tech
description: April 17, 2007 at 10:30 p.m. University of Michigan students joined together in the Diag for a moment of silence to honor the victims of this week's massacre at Virginia Tech. Students also signed a U-M flag that will be sent to the VTech to show our support for the victims and their families and friends. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415616/ Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 This was one of my favorite shots. It came out pretty blurry because I didn't have my tripod and I was also balancing a small candle in the opposite hand. We formed a circle around the entire Diag, stretching all the way back to the Hatcher Grad library.
creator: Ashley Dinges
date: 2007-05-24
contributor: Chad Newswander
rights: Permission Contact: Ashley Dinges (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinges/464415616/) Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
language: eng

Tragedy at Virginia Tech
description: Monday, April 16, 2007 As I wrapped up my afternoon course today, my students informed me of the 31 deaths at Virginia Tech today. It was the first I heard of it and so I immediately looked to the news and am now glued to the press conference airing on NBC. It is uncanny that this shooting tragedy has occurred in the same week as Colombine, 8 years ago (the very day I was interviewing for my job here). I am not sure what to make of this event yet, other than to be utterly horrified by this event and sorrowful for the community at Virginia Tech. We don't yet know how many of the deceased are students and how many are faculty. These details are sure to emerge over time. I am dismayed by the tone of the press, who launched into an attack of VT's President for not locking down the campus after the first shooting incident in the morning. The idea of lockdown and the idea that in the future we might have to post guards on our college campuses is frightening. This is a tragedy. This was an event that no one could've forseen (unless I am persuaded by evidence to the contray), and to respond to this event with greater militarism on college campuses horrifies me (perhaps more than the event itself). I will no doubt have something more to say about this event after I learn more facts and digest the coverage. In the meantime, I would appreciate any links to blogs from VT students or other bloggers covering this story. UPDATE: From the Huffington Post A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia. "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said BARF! Posted by Aspazia at Monday, April 16, 2007 -- Original source: http://melancholicfeminista.blogspot.com/2007/04/tragedy-at-virginia-tech.html Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
creator: Aspazia / Mad Melancholic Feminista Blog
date: 2007-05-21
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

On Being A College Professor after the VT Massacre
description: Thursday, April 19, 2007 I had nightmares about the VT massacre last night. It was on a two day delay. I knew that eventually the horror of what had happened would start to eat away at me. In part, I think my dreams haunted me precisely because I didn't talk, or rather listen, to what students thought about this. I didn't check in to see if they were suffering, in shock, afraid . . . I had to think a lot about why I didn't, especially after the Provost sent us a thoughtful email encouraging us to do so. What it comes down to is that I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to actually confront the horror of this event. I wasn't prepared for hearing any vitriol, anger or racist statements either (not that students would've made such statements, but I worried). I am scared and frightened by what happened, and in my selfishness, I didn't want to hear anything about it, or how it affected my students. I started to realize how frightened I was by the events yesterday while talking to my colleagues in the Philosophy lounge. I had been studying the faces of the dead at the NYTimes website. But, more importantly, I had been studying the faces of the dead professors. One of them, Jamie Bishop, looked like the sort of colleague I have here. He was young, married, and well-loved by his students. Don't get me wrong, I paused on pictures of young women and men, who could've been my own students, and found myself speechless over the loss. But, seeing the pictures of dead professors haunted me the most. And, it is precisely that which I dreamt: being hunted by a former student, being called to protect my class from an armed assailant. These are not tasks that one signs on for when he/she becomes a college professor. Kerry reminded me of a student we both had a few years ago, who I am convinced was schizophrenic. He was the right age and gender for the onset of schizophrenia. His papers were long, stream of consciousness writings full of references to disturbing sexuality. Th…
creator: Aspazia / Mad Melancholic Feminista Blog
date: 2007-06-09
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
language: eng