MEADOR: Heroes arise out of tragic events at Virginia Tech
description: By: Jake Meador / Freshman English major Posted: 4/25/07 The heroes of the Protestant Reformation had an old saying that man is simultaneously both saint and sinner, and the truth of this statement is impossible to argue. In the 20th century alone there lived people as awful as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin and as wonderful as Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. The irony of the saying is that it's often when the sinners are at their worst that we get the clearest picture of the saints. The lives of great men and women become most beautiful when confronted with great tragedy. Mother Teresa would be an unknown if it weren't for the horrors of poverty, the oppressive caste system and the ruins of India left behind by British imperialism. Likewise, King would be long forgotten if it weren't for the horrors of racism and segregation. We saw one more example of this truth last week in the tragedy at Virginia Tech. By now everyone has heard the name Cho Seung-Hui, and we should call him by his name, not by some title we make up to avoid the harsh reality that a human being committed this crime. We've heard of how the 23-year-old senior English major killed 32 individuals and then himself in the worst school shooting in U.S. history. Some have even seen the disturbing video he made prior to the massacre. We've heard about his dark, sad life that ended so violently. But few have told the story of another man involved in the tragedy. 76-year-old engineering professor Liviu Librescu was one of the 32 to be killed by Seung-Hui. But if it weren't for a courageous act of sacrifice on Librescu's part, there may have been more casualties. Librescu was teaching a class in Norris Hall when gunshots were first heard in a distant corner of the building. Students in the classroom initially hid, but as the sound came closer and closer, Librescu instructed students to flee through the window. He then, in the ultimate act of sacrifice, braced the door with his own body, being shot t…
creator: Jake Meador
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

Church continues to carry on without pastor
description: By: Ryan Norman Posted: 4/25/07 Events such as the Virginia Tech shooting can be hard on some students. Besides psychological services, students seeking counseling can also find help at campus ministries. Cornerstone Church at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, however, is having more trouble providing this service. The former campus pastor of the church, Melissa Finlaw Draper, became the pastor at Northeast United Church of Christ earlier this semester. This left Cornerstone without an on-site pastor, said Lew Kaye-Skinner, an English lecturer as well as faculty adviser and chair of the ministry board for Cornerstone-United Ministries in Higher Education. "The current absence of a pastor on staff has meant that we have not been able to respond as quickly as might otherwise happen to issues such as the Virginia Tech massacre," Kaye-Skinner wrote in an e-mail interview. Kaye-Skinner said the mission of Cornerstone is to bring the message of God to campus and respond to the needs of students. Because Cornerstone currently doesn't have a pastor, volunteers have been providing these services. "Volunteers have had to fill in," Kaye-Skinner wrote. "For instance, we have had to supply pastors for the Sunday evening worship services at Cornerstone since the first of February." Worship services haven't been the problem, said Jessica Lauer, a senior philosophy and religious studies major and intern at Cornerstone Church. It's the services not on Sundays, such as prayer groups and bible studies, that have suffered. "These events are always a time of great fellowship and fun for students, and we haven't been able to do much of that," Lauer said. Kaye-Skinner said the search for a pastor is progressing but isn't moving quite as quickly as he would like. "It has been very difficult finding qualified applicants for the position," Kaye-Skinner wrote. Cornerstone has been struggling with low attendance this year, and it hasn't been easy to improve campus involvement without a pasto…
creator: Ryan Norman
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

Korean's at UNL don't foresee backlash after Virginia Tech shootings
description: By: Adam Templeton Posted: 4/26/07 The recent shootings at Virginia Tech have caused many to worry about a backlash against South Korean students. However, Korean students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say acts of discrimination have not occurred. And they hope it stays that way. "It hasn't been a problem," said Min Suk Shin, a business management graduate student and a member of the Korean Student Association. "Maybe in larger cities with larger Korean communities, but not here." Other students feel the actions of Cho Seung-Hui, a student from South Korea who committed the shootings, should not represent the South Korean community or the country itself. They also agree that Seung-Hui was unstable and burdened with psychological issues. "The first time I heard the news, it was surreal, that he was a South Korean-born student," said Sung Tae Kim, who is also a management graduate student and KSA member. "I felt some sort of connection," he said. "But, nothing's really connected; he had a personal problem." Shin said he felt a connection to the Virginia Tech tragedy "as a human being, a college student and as a Korean" but said Seung-Hui is not and should not become a symbol for the Korean community. Although there has been no reaction against South Korean students at the university, some were worried that the announcement of Seung-Hui's ethnicity could lead to violence. Shin said he became worried when he heard that Seung-Hui was born in South Korea because he felt it could lead to violence."I hope that doesn't happen," he said. Still, students remain confident that acceptance will prevail over ignorance. "I'm sure many people in Lincoln don't connect him (Seung-Hui) to the whole of the Korean people," Kim said. "I don't feel some serious problem will happen in the community or to any individuals." Some students were concerned some people would not differentiate between North and South Koreans, associating all Koreans with President George W. Bush's "Axis of …
creator: Adam Templeton
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

MEADOR: Virginia Tech shootings show need for humanity
description: By: Jake Meador / Freshman English major Posted: 4/30/07 When I first sat down to write my column after the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16, my thoughts were two-fold: First, to write a column advocating stricter gun control. Second, to write a column praising the selfless heroism of Leviu Lebrescu and Waleed Muhammad Shaalan. I did the latter, but I've since decided not to do the former. Gun control is such a divisive issue; the last thing we need right now is further division between people. Today is a day for reconciliation, not debate. Besides, if 33 dead bodies, including the gunman's, won't change your mind (one way or the other), then 850 words probably won't either. But as I browsed the Internet reading stories of the awful event, sometimes wondering what sick curiosity drives us to such exploration, I stumbled across a link with pictures and a brief bio for each victim. Many of the pictures were highly pixilated - a sad reminder that they were never intended for such use. And at that moment I realized I, and many others, have forgotten to talk about the most important lesson to come from Virginia Tech. And it has nothing to do with gun control or stricter campus security policies. Among those killed were husbands and fiancés, wives and mothers, fathers and sons, daughters and sisters, Muslims, Jews, Christians and Hindus. One was a resident assistant who was in the marching band. Another was trying to find a cure for cerebral palsy. Still another had started a sorority for female engineering students. Another was in the dance ensemble. I'm listing all these things for two reasons. Each individual was unique and had diverse interests and a never-before-seen personality. And when these individuals died, it wasn't just another tally on Cho Seung-Hui's killing spree; it wasn't a nameless number. It was the loss of a unique human being that God created and knew intimately. We've heard the number over and over, "32 dead," but we haven't heard about them as…
creator: Sara AA Hood
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

University Police sees improvement in handling crime on campus
description: By: Andy Boyle Posted: 4/30/07 Bomb threats, drunken drivers, pot smokers and thieves. Those are just of the few problems university police dealt with during the past year. Capt. Carl Oestmann of University Police said he thinks major criminal offenses decreased over the past year, and the minor ones have either decreased or stayed relatively the same. "I think (the decrease) shows that an improvement in the constant awareness that our department has - staying alert for any criminal activity and patrolling the way we do in certain areas on campus," Oestmann said. He said the Virginia Tech shootings have caused an increase in calls from people concerned about cases of depression in students. "It might not be criminal," he said of students' depression, "but the safety of our students and faculty and staff is important, and that's part of ensuring that people are OK here." Oestmann said he doesn't mind receiving those calls because "we want people to feel comfortable if they have concern for another student." The Interfraternity Council also amended its bylaws and will require all greek housing to have installed a fire monitoring system by Aug. 27, 2007. The monitoring system will hardwire all of the smoke detectors into a central unit, so if a smoke alarm goes off, a signal will be sent to the Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department immediately. During this summer, University Police will be beta testing laptops for their cruisers, said Officer Gary Etherton of University Police in early April. With these new systems, officers won't have to radio everything in to dispatch, which could help save time, he said. Other than that, Oestmann said, University Police will continue to investigate cases it already has on file and get ready for next semester. Oestmann said the officers have been working to communicate with different university departments about problems they've had, and they're still addressing concerns the campus community might have. -- Original Source: Daily Nebrask…
creator: Andy Boyle
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

CARLSON: Camaraderie, willingness to help as necessary in everyday life as in times of tragedy
description: By: Jay Carlson / Junior electrical engineering and mathematics major Posted: 8/6/07 While watching the evening news this week, we heard brilliant accounts of heroism in response to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse into the Mississippi River. Many of these stories are reminiscent of the ones we heard years ago during the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It seems the citizens of this country can band together to accomplish so many things in times of national crisis and tragedy. Yet, most of America's tragedies play to a deaf ear. People have no qualms with stepping in the way of danger when catastrophe strikes, but no one seems to be around to help save people from the smaller tragedies. Sametta Heyward's babysitter had just canceled when Heyward was called in to start a double-shift at a county-run group home in South Carolina. Her two children, age 1 and 4, were left locked in her car for eight hours in the sweltering heat of that summer day. After finding her unconscious, barely alive children in her car, Heyward tried her hardest to revive them by biting and kicking them. Eventually she conceded to defeat. She quietly bathed and dressed them, then cached their bodies under the kitchen sink in garbage bags. We as a nation need to band together to stop disasters - both big and small. It's obvious the deaths of these two small children were easily preventable. At the bridge disaster, Gary Babineau was a lifeline to at least a dozen people he helped save. This woman had no lifeline - for a number of reasons. Experts expect psychological testing of Heyward to show she was mentally unstable at the time. Mental instability? This sounds gravely familiar to the April 16 shooting at Virginia Tech, where the mentally unstable Seung-Hi Cho killed 32 people and wounded 25 before ending his own life. Of course, Heyward wasn't just mentally unstable - she was desperate, and without a babysitter, she had no choice. As a near-socialist, I'm an advocate for universality of health care…
creator: Jay Carlson
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

University Police beef up training, introduce new technology
description: By: Ryan Norman Posted: 8/23/07 With the looming arrival of the fall semester at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Police are preparing for the increased number of on-campus students. University Police are hoping to stay ahead of crime by supplementing training and implementing new technology, said Jim Davis, the education and personnel officer of the University Police. "We have been preparing this summer by training for drug and alcohol-related situations," Davis said. "We have also taken time to study more on action and reaction to hostage situations, in reaction to Virginia Tech." Davis said, along with increased training, the University Police have hired a new officer, Michael Eckel, to increase student safety. The University Police are also planning on using two new online tools to help students. By second semester, the University Police hope to have a system in place where students can register valuable items online in case of campus theft. "We are trying to go out this year and entice everyone to register bicycles and electronics with us." Davis said. "Anything valuable students want to register, we want to be able to put in a system that we can pull up if that item disappears." Capt. Carl Oestmann of University Police said the department implemented another online tool this summer called UNLAlert. UNLAlert is a program which can be downloaded to any computer and will be used to alert university students, parents and staff members in case of a campus emergency. The program can be downloaded at http://emergency.unl.edu/unlalert.shtml. "If you download the program, and have your computer on during a campus emergency, we can send out an emergency message that will automatically come up on your screen," Oestmann said. "It is another tool we can use to alert the campus community in case of an emergency." Even with the new safety measures, the beginning of the fall semester inevitably causes an increase in several problems, including traffic and theft,…
creator: Ryan Norman
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

STAFF EDITORIAL: UNLAlert a great idea, but needs some work
description: By:Editorial Staff Posted: 8/29/07 This summer, University Police, in cooperation with Information Services and University Communications, implemented a new software system called UNLAlert, most likely in response to the April shootings at Virginia Tech. The software, which students can download and install on their computers, communicates with UNL servers to provide alerts and updates in emergency situations. The thinking is that during an emergency, better communication and dissemination of information leads to a safer campus. We applaud the continuing effort of the university to keep students safe, but the software is by no means an all-inclusive safety net. Far from it, in fact. The software isn't much of an application at all. It's essentially a stand-alone Flash file - University Police are harnessing the same technology used to bring you online Su-Do-Ku puzzles and amusing "Pac-Man" imitation games. And it's big. Really big, actually. Its executable image, the program's memory footprint, is about 16 megabytes - bigger than AOL Instant Messenger and Mozilla Firefox, both of which are full-fledged desktop applications. It should come as no surprise, then, that it constantly consumed almost 10 percent of the processing resources on one of our brand new 2.2-gigahertz design computers. To put that in perspective: Adobe Photoshop, Apple iTunes, and Mozilla Firefox together use less than 3 percent while idle. UNLAlert is no little program that runs in the background. It's not a big deal, though, right? Who cares if it slows down your machine a bit - this application could save your life. Right? Assuming the two servers that are responsible for handling all the emergency alert requests for the entire campus - alert1 and alert2 - stay online, then yes, it could save your life. But, after reverse-engineering and analyzing the software, we're not only disappointed with its performance, we're disappointed with the way information is being distributed to computers. Instea…
creator: Editorial Board
publisher: Daily Nebraskan
date: 2007-09-03
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
language: eng

https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/items/show/1241
description: Consolation during the August 19th memorial dedication
creator: Mark Umansky
date: 2007-08-29
contributor: Mark Umansky
language: eng

Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel
description: Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech April 16, 2007 Report of the Review Panel Presented to Governor Kaine Commonwealth of Virginia August 2007 Cover (pdf, 224kb) Inside Cover (pdf, 39kb) Table of Contents (pdf, 52kb) Dedication (pdf, 525kb) Foreward (pdf, 62kb) Acknowledgements (pdf, 51kb) Summary of Key Findings (pdf, 72kb) Chapters I - Background and Scope (pdf, 100kb) II - University Setting Security (pdf, 647kb) III - Timeline of Events (pdf, 103kb) IV - Mental Health History of Seung Hui Cho (pdf, 280kb) V - Information Privacy Laws (pdf, 156kb) VI - Gun Purchase and Campus Policies (pdf, 111kb) VII - Double Murder at West Ambler Johnston (pdf, 297kb) VIII - Mass Murder at Norris Hall (pdf, 399kb) IX - Emergency Medical Services Response (pdf, 855kb) X - Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (pdf, 175kb) XI - Immediate Aftermath and the Long Road to Healing (pdf, 177kb) Appendices A - Executive Order 53 (pdf, 932kb) B - Individuals Interviewed by Research Panel (pdf, 94kb) C - Public Meeting Agenda (pdf, 155kb) D - Recommendations on Revised Methodology (pdf, 79kb) E - Virginia Tech Guidelines for Choosing Alerting System (pdf, 54kb) F - Active Shooter Excerpt from University of Virginia Emergency Response Plan (pdf, 65kb) G - Guidance Letters on Interpretation of FERPA and HIPAA Rules from U.S. Department Of Education (pdf, 5.85MB) H - Summary of Information Privacy Laws and Guidance from U.S. Department of Education (pdf, 87kb) I - Federal and Virginia Gun Purchaser Forms (pdf, 2.87MB) J - Notification of Adjudication of Involuntary Commitment or Incapacitation (pdf, 512kb) K - Articles on Mixture of Guns and Alcohol on Campus (pdf, 790kb) L - Fatal School Shootings in the United States: 1966-2007 (pdf, 1.75MB) M - Red Flags, Warning Signs and Indicators (pdf, 68kb) N - A Theoretical Profile of Seung Hui Cho (pdf, 48kb) -- Original Sources: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport.cfm http://www.vtreviewpanel.org/report/index.html
creator: Virginia Tech Review Panel
date: 2007-08-30
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

Massacre at V.T. affects colleges across nation
description: As Tulane officials rethink security policies, some Tulane students express personal grief over Monday's events By: Marta Dehmlow Posted: 4/20/07 Students at Virginia Tech and all over the nation will remember April 16 as a day that shattered the security of college campuses everywhere. "How do you have openness and accessibility and make sure the campus is as safe as possible?" Tulane University president Scott Cowen asked in an April 18 interview with the Hullabaloo. "Campuses are sacred ground." This "sacred ground" was desecrated, however, when Cho Seung-Hui, a 22-year-old senior at Virginia Tech, shot and killed 32 students and injured 26 more before turning his gun on himself. The largest school shooting in history has torn apart the Virginia Tech college community in Blacksburg, Va., leaving college students nationwide doubtful about the security of their own institutions. "It can happen anywhere," senior neuroscience major Jen Velarde said. "Crazy people are out there. It can happen so easily; there's such a fine line. As much as you secure a building, if a student is going to do this, it can happen." And it has happened a number of times before, university officials said. "This is not really an isolated incident," Tulane University Police Department director Ken Dupaquier said, citing past shootings on college campuses. "People think that it hasn't happened before or in a long time, but it has." Nationwide, college students empathizing with their Virginia Tech counterparts have demonstrated their solidarity. Jonathan Horner, a senior microbiology major who has several close friends at Virginia Tech, showed support for the affected school by changing his facebook picture to one saying "Today we are all Hokies," referring to Virginia Tech's mascot. He, like many other college students, also joined a facebook group memorializing the victims. "I also called and messaged all my friends," he said. "I told them I'm praying for them and their school." Other student…
creator: Marta Dehmlow
date: 2007-08-08
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Dickson, Drew D." <ddickson@tulane.edu>
language: eng

Questions arise from tragedy at Va. Tech
description: In wake of tragedy, nation is encouraged to focus on heroic victims of school shooting By: Megan Cox Posted: 4/20/07 A great atrocity occurred in Blacksburg on the morning of April 16. Cho Seung-Hui, a Korean-born English major at Virginia Tech, shot 62 students and teachers, killing 32 people, wounding 29 and leaving an entire nation in shock and mourning. Many people question how and why a single deranged individual could so proficiently commit "the deadliest rampage in American history." Did the university perform all of its duties to secure the safety of its students? Could a better response have saved any lives? How is the media handling this tragedy? What actions is the president taking? Could gun control laws have prevented this tragedy? Who was Cho Seung-Hui, and why did he commit these murders? Details are now trickling in about the young murderer. In an English class, he wrote plays full of grotesque violence. The playwriting professor and the English department had sought help for the young man. He was detached and troubled. He was admitted to a mental institution in late 2005. Possibly the most disturbing piece of the twisted psychological puzzle is that Seung-Hui sent a multimedia package to NBC News between the killings in the dorm and the massacre in the classrooms. It is too soon, both temporally and emotionally, to delve into all of the issues this tragedy presents. Of course, that a man like Seung-Hui should have such ready access to firearms is disturbing, and that the media is turning a profit by running such intense coverage of the tragedy is indeed unnerving. However, all these questions will pale in comparison to the introspection of human nature that follows such atrocities caused by a single man. There is evil in our midst. Some things, some acts, some people, are so horrible as to merit the use of that overused epithet. Whether people are born into it or are brought into it, whether it is caused by neglect or ridicule, whether it festers or…
creator: Megan Cox
date: 2007-08-08
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Dickson, Drew D." <ddickson@tulane.edu>
language: eng

Overview of the findings and recommendations of the April 16 tragedy internal review committees
description: By Larry Hincker BLACKSBURG, Va., August 22, 2007 -- On May 9, 2007, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger directed three internal reviews in the wake of the April 16 tragedy on the Virginia Tech campus. He directed the chairs "to look at strengths and weaknesses of our existing systems/infrastructure and how they may be improved or augmented to address emergency situations that might arise in the future." These reviews are internal in structure and focus and not intended to be forensic in nature. Says Steger, "I asked for the creation of two different, but concurrent review processes. The external review commissioned by Governor Kaine is essentially investigatory in nature, while ours is a forward looking review of university policy, resources, and infrastructure through the prism of April 16." The Security Infrastructure Group was charged with examining the university's existing security systems and recommending changes that would enhance the university's ability to respond quickly and effectively in situations where the safety of the campus community is jeopardized. This group was also directed to identify strategies that might decrease the probability of such situations occurring, looking at both technological and behavioral aspects. The Information and Communications Infrastructure Group analyzed and inventoried the communication infrastructure and information systems used during the crisis period, evaluated their performance, and identifies tactics and strategies for improvements. The Interface Group evaluated the relationships between the university's student counseling services, academic affairs, judicial affairs, and the legal system. It was charged with examining the existing systems and the interface between them and determining what constraints, legal or otherwise, hamper effective interactions in order to respond to and support at-risk students. Security Infrastructure Group Among its findings the security infrastructure group found good cooperation an…
creator: Larry Hincker
date: 2007-08-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

Kevin Granata, PhD (December 29, 1961–April 16, 2007) [Obituary]
description: (PDF, 172KB; Full text below.) Kevin Granata, PhD (December 29, 1961-April 16, 2007) [Obituary] Marras, William S. PhD; Stokes, Ian A. F. PhD; Abel, Mark F. MD Address correspondence to William S. Marras, PhD, E-mail: marras.1@osu.edu; Ian A. F. Stokes, PhD, E-mail: istokes@uvm.edu; and/or Mark F. Abel, MD, E-mail: MFA2M@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu Kevin Granata, PhD, died tragically at the age of 45 on April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech where he had worked since 2003. He had started the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics lab at Virginia Tech and held the rank of Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics. Dr. Granata was a prolific and innovative contributor to the field of spinal biomechanics. Dr. Granata earned a PhD in biomechanics in the Biodynamics Laboratory at Ohio State University in 1993, where he used both analytical models and experiments with human subjects to determine the magnitude of muscle forces around the lumbar spine in the work place. His early contributions in this area dealt with integrating electromyographic (EMG) data into analytical models, reflex responses to loads, and the relationship to trunk stability. He also expanded understanding of how brain injury in children with cerebral palsy interferes with balance and movement, using his training in dynamics and control theory. Dr. Granata was one of the most gifted engineers in the field of biomechanics. His scientific achievements are documented in 66 peer-reviewed articles published in a broad range of scientific journals, including Spine. His extraordinary productivity in his tragically shortened career was directed especially at two areas of control theory applied to neuromuscular control of movement—movement impairments in people with cerebral palsy and dynamic aspects of trunk stability. He introduced new and challenging concepts, questioning the accepted paradigms. He pioneered the idea of reflex dynamics in trunk stability, representing the trunk as a multi-joint system stabi…
creator: William S. Marras, Ian A. F. Stokes, and Mark F. Abel
date: 2007-08-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: David O'Brien Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Medical Research, a division of Wolters Kluwer Health Worldwide Copyright Management Group Licensing Manager 351 W. Camden St. Baltimore, MD 21201 + 1 410.528.4016 PH + 1 410.528.8550 FX David.OBrien@wolterskluwer.com
language: eng

Reflections on a Mass Homicide (Commentary)
description: (PDF, 30KB; Full text below.) Commentary Reflections on a Mass Homicide Jimmy Lee,1 MBBS, MMed (Psych), Tih-Shih Lee,1,2 MD, PhD, FRCP (C), Beng-Yeong Ng,1 MBBS, MMed (Psych), FAMS 1 Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore2 Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Address for Correspondence: Dr Tih-Shih Lee, Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Outram Road, Singapore 169608. Email: tihshih.lee@gms.edu.sg Introduction The names "Virginia Tech" and "Cho" will be associated forever with the tragic mass homicide of 32 persons cum suicide by Seung-Hui Cho on 16 April 2007. In the aftermath, many questions have been posed: "What happened and why?", "Was he crazy?", "Could it have been prevented?", "Could it happen here?" This was the third mass killing in a US campus, with the largest number of fatalities. The first was in 1966 in the University of Texas with 16 dead and 31 wounded, then the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, in which 13 students were killed. We do not profess to know more about what happened in Blacksburg, Virginia, or Cho's neuropsychiatric condition than whatever is published in the popular press.1 But through a series of questions, we reflect on this tragedy, attempt to place it into a human and psychiatric perspective, and offer insights into if, and how, it can be averted in the future. Question 1: Was Cho insane? Cho was described as a shy and quiet child, who was good in mathematics, but struggled with English. There were allegations of him being taunted and bullied in school since young. Both his pastor and relatives had suspected he might be autistic and suggested professional assistance. There was no record of him being involved in overt violence except that he had harassed 2 female classmates, one of whom called in the campus police. He expressed suicidal ideation and was involuntarily committed by a judge in a mental health facility briefly for assessment. A psychiatrist wrote in his…
creator: Jimmy Lee, Tih-Shih Lee, and Beng-Yeong Ng
date: 2007-08-26
contributor: Brent Jesiek
rights: Kirat Kaur (Ms) Editorial Executive Annals, Academy of Medicine, Singapore annals@academyofmedicine.edu.sg
language: eng

Campus reaches out to Virginia Tech
description: Stanley Evans, Contributing Reporter Students and faculty, including senior administration, formed a maroon "V" and an orange "T" on Freiberger Field last Friday to show their support for the Virginia Tech community. The turnout included various professors and administrators, including the provosts. President Eastwood wore a maroon button-down shirt. From the top of Kelvin Smith Library, photographers and cameramen captured the event. Two poses were taken: one with participants looking up at the camera, another with heads bowed. The composition of the photographs is similar to those taken of incoming freshman classes spelled out to read "Case" or "CWRU." "I think a lot of people really wanted to show their support to the community of Virginia Tech and I think that sentiment is only stronger if we do this as a large campus group as we are now," said Andrew Witte, who pinned a maroon and orange ribbon to his shirt. Three local television news teams and a Plain Dealer reporter were on hand to record the event. Student and faculty were interviewed, and students were asked to read biographies of the victims for a camera. Some students seemed skeptical of the coverage. "I think Case does this kind of stuff for the publicity," said a student who wished to remain anonymous. However, she was wearing maroon and orange and posed as part of the human letters. The USG executive board organized the event. Other organizations involved were the University Program Board, Class Officers Collective, Interfraternity Congress, Panhellenic Council, Residence Hall Association, and Media Board. Other events included painting the wall outside of Thwing in memoriam and a card signing in Thwing last Friday. The cards and pictures were sent to Virginia Tech on Monday. "I know we can't compare to their loss, but we at least are trying to do something," said Jose Baez. -- Original Source:The Observer - April 26, 2007
creator: Stanley Evans
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Margaret Grady <observer@case.edu>
language: eng

Country mourns and questions campus killings
description: By Lisa Kunkel Statesman Staff Reporter Horrific school shootings such as the Virginia Tech massacre leave people wondering what can possibly drive an individual to such extreme measures. Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 33 people including himself at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. Initially, "investigators offered no motive for the attack," read the article on Yahoo! News the day of the shooting, titled "Gunman kills 32 in Virginia Tech rampage." Witnesses said Cho shamelessly opened fire as if he had no victims in mind, leaving the event to appear to be a random act of violence. "It's hard to say what was random and what wasn't," said professor Emily Gaarder, of UMD's Department of Sociology/Anthropology. Monday's shooting reminds us of another tragic event that occurred eight years ago in Littleton, Col., where two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 12 classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives at Columbine High School. Prior to Virginia Tech, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 in Austin at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th floor observation deck killing 16 people before he was gunned down by police, according to MSNBC. These tragic events, along with many others, leave many boggled with one main question: What brings young people like Cho, Harris, Klebold and Whitman to commit such horrendous acts of violence? Cho chose to tell the world his motive in a shocking yet disturbing videotape mailed to NBC news network the day of the shooting. "You had a 100 billion chances and ways to have avoided today," Cho said in the footage. "But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." Though there is no motive that could ever make such a horrendous act acceptable, Cho's disturbing message does help to clarify what was going through his mind. In the c…
creator: Lisa Kunkel
publisher: The Statesman
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Statesman Editor-in-Chief Desk - Suraj Rambhia <eic@sbstatesman.org>
language: eng

THE STATESMAN: Our View
description: Our View is prepared by the Editorial Board which operates independently from the newsroom. By The Editorial Board On April 20, 1999, the United States watched in horror as the shootings at Columbine High School unfolded and sparked a series of high school violence that has ensued in the years after. As the shock of the initial shooting subsided, educators and students across the country scrambled to both understand and prepare themselves for this new and horrifying threat in American education. In the wake of last week's tragedy at Virginia Tech we can relate the emotion and logic of our response to Columbine as we struggle with the processes of grieving, understanding and preparing ourselves to trudge forward. While we will never entirely understand Seung-Hui Cho's motivation, feelings of anguish flood our mind as we try to comprehend the progression of his deadly thought-process. Although it is extremely difficult to find comfort following the deaths of so many, we can see as we did eight years ago that perhaps our best tools in the grieving process are overcoming and preparing as best we can for such events. Key to our understanding of these tragedies, is our attention to their most obvious similarities. The gunmen of Columbine, Virginia Tech and other schools across the country all felt they were waging a personal war with the world. While we are angry at them for their actions, if we can set aside those emotions and view them as victims of psychological disorders and an increasingly impersonal society, we can better grasp what led to these horrors. In doing such, we form a deep respect for our individual ability to prevent these atrocities by consciously guiding ourselves in being more aware, respectful and interactive with people we see on a daily basis. Our generation and the generations that will follow, live in a world where technological advancements allow us to move so rapidly that we can leave individuals behind and not even notice. While preventing the…
creator: Editorial Board
publisher: The Statesman
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Statesman Editor-in-Chief Desk - Suraj Rambhia <eic@sbstatesman.org>
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

Recent Shooting at Virginia Tech: Looking Through Another Lens
description: By John Williams "A 1st Sergeant handed me an ammo box of 240 rounds: the blood-stained rounds that my best friend had been using when he was shot and killed in an ambush, on a patrol that he wasn't supposed to be on, one day after we were told we were going to be back home." -Toby Hartbarger, Army SPC For me, it was this story that my mind instantly recalled after I heard about the shootings in Virginia last week, for Virginia Tech leads U.S. civilian schools in sending officers to the U.S. Military. It was a terrible tragedy, and I had heard of similar events before, but my thoughts intensified because the killings hit so close to home. I realized then that so many people I know have experienced similar, instantaneously deep connections to other tragedies that have occurred in different ways across the globe. It is these lightning connections, these synapses firing without control, that I would like to address. The tragedy at Virginia Tech (VT) is not an isolated incident, or an anomaly. Though some argue that Cho was insane, and while I have no doubt this might be true, we as a society commit acts of similar insanity on a regular basis. We must take notice of the correlation between a guy like Cho and people like us. The articles I have read about Cho try so hard to push him away from what we are; he was a loner, crazy, friendless, different. We point at the connections between his plays and his actions and wonder why his actions weren't noticed, or prevented. But what if we turn the camera on ourselves? It is much harder to look at the things we do — the video-game realities we spend time in, the films we see and books we read that are bound with senseless killing and violence — and ask the same questions. There is a surge of inspection thrown onto this lone figure, Cho, yet we place hardly an ounce of introspection onto ourselves. I would love to believe that the VT shootings were an isolated incident, that they were an anomaly, that I do not live in a worl…
creator: John Williams
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
language: eng