23
20
1884
-
Document
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Sara Hood
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Michael Hippchen
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2007-06-26
Description
An account of the resource
<i>Shootings stun campus</i>
By: Michael Hippchen
(11:50 a.m., April 16) While this morning's shootings on Virginia Tech's campus may have come to an end, with one shooter apparently have been captured, things are far from returning to normal on campus.
Classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the day and students were told to remain in their dorms with the doors locked.
I was walking to my class at 10:10 and I heard six shots fired from the Norris area, which was about 200 yards away.
While standing in the middle of the Drillfield, I heard students screaming then running out of the academic buildings across the Drillfield, as well as cops running toward Norris Hall.
During the evacuation, the campus was in full-blown riot mode. I did not feel safe at any time that I was out on the Drillfield, as well as when I was walking back to my dorm.
My friend, Jordan Littauer, said he didn't know what was going on.
"I was sitting in my Econ class, and a girl next to me got an Instant Message saying that cops questioned her roommate about a shooting that happened on her hall," said sophomore Jordan Littauer.
"I didn't know shooting was going off at all. I heard students running and screaming all over campus."
--
Original Source: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=Tech%20in%20'riot'%20mode&ID=184> Big Lick U - April 16, 2007 </a>
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eng
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
A name given to the resource
Tech in 'riot' mode
big lick u
student response
vt campus
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
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Sara Hood
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Amrita Raja
Date
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2007-06-26
Description
An account of the resource
By: Amrita Raja
(April 16) "April is the cruelest month," wrote T.S. Eliot. He might have been right, I recall thinking, as I watched snow land on flashing police lights this morning.
There must have been a reason I flopped back onto my bed after turning off my alarm this morning. As a compulsive email checker, I opened my mailbox at least every other minute as I balanced a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats in my lap. I checked the weather, checked Blackboard and grabbed a shower.
Yet in retrospect, even my morning rituals seemed a bit off - and that might have been because I was pulling on a jacket and scarf mid-April.
I had a 9 a.m. class today. Like usual, I left my dorm at 8:50 a.m. to walk to Smythe, only a five-minute walk since it's on the residential side of campus. During class we heard sirens wailing around the Drillfield in between the wind's howling, but I chalked it up to another day on a college campus.
I lingered to talk to my professor, ignoring the fact that I might be late to my 10:10 a.m. class, all the way across campus. As we stepped outside, the sirens got louder. I smiled at the student walking beside me.
"This campus is going crazy," I said. "And I don't think it's just the weather."
He grinned and shook his head.
Approaching the Drillfield, I couldn't help but note the absurdity of the scene that presented itself. There was the calm, with large flakes floating to the ground, and there, too, was the fear - students running in herds toward the residence halls, backpacks flapping.
"There's a guy with a gun on the other side of campus," someone said. "He was in AJ this morning."
That was the first I'd heard of it.
I needed to get to GBJ, I was meeting a friend there to pick up notes. My cellphone had only a few minutes left to its battery, and I gave him a call.
"I don't think I'm going to make it to that side of campus. The cops are yelling at us to get back to our dorms," I rushed to tell him the news. "Let me know if you hear anything."
When I got back to my room, my inbox was full - 12 new messages, several from listservs and the university, a few from concerned friends and professors.
For the past three hours, I've been watching the TV screen, scouring the Tech Web site and waiting on phone calls. I found out a friend of mine had been injured, shot in the leg. I sighed relief as a dormmate made it back across campus, having been held up in Randolph.
There have been several mixed messages throughout the day from the media. Faculty are being evacuated, I'm told. Someone heard that students will all have to leave as well. I'm not leaving campus, not until I get an email from President Steger and a cop knocking at my door telling me to get out.
--
Original Source: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=A%20day%20unlike%20any%20other%20at%20Virginia%20Tech&ID=188> Big Lick U - April 16, 2007</a>
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eng
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
A name given to the resource
A day unlike any other at Virginia Tech
big lick u
student response
vt campus
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
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Contributor
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Sara Hood
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Amanda Mullins
Date
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2007-06-27
Description
An account of the resource
<b> Local knitters will gather Saturday to make blankets for the affected of April 16</b>
By: Amanda Mullins
(June 15) When the owner of Mosaic, a local Blacksburg yarn store, first started talking about <a href=http://mosaicyarnshop.blogspot.com/2007/04/mosaic-yarn-shop-is-asking-that-all.html>Hokie Healing</a>, she probably wasn't expecting the <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?title=Knitting%20as%20healing&id=311>knitting project</a> to take off like it did.
Gina Bonomo simply reached out to her knitting community, asking for 8-by-8 inch knitted squares that would eventually be sewn into blankets for the families of those killed or injured in the April 16 shootings at <a href=http://www.vt.edu/>Virginia Tech</a>.
Well, the response turned out to be overwhelming.
To date, she and the ladies at Mosaic have received more than 6,000 squares, hand made by knitters in all 50 states and 18 countries. The patterns, designs and colors vary, but the dual message of hope and healing is the same. And the story continues to spread.
When I entered Mosaic this past Thursday, <a href=http://www.wdbj7.com/>News Channel 7</a> had also dropped by to interview Bonomo, some of her employees and a few of her customers about the project. All were excited - it's hard not to be when surrounded by piles of maroon and orange squares - and were ready to begin making the blankets.
On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the ladies of Mosaic will host a sew-in, of sorts, and everyone is invited. There, Mosaic employees and other volunteer knitters will piece together the first 32 blankets, which will eventually be shipped to those families whose loved ones died two months ago. From there, the ladies will continue to make blankets for those affected by the tragedy until they run out of squares.
Even if you've never held a needle in your life, don't be afraid to come on down to the <a href=http://www.innatvirginiatech.com/>Inn at Virginia Tech</a>. Local restaurants will provide refreshments, and the first 100 people who arrive will receive a goody bag filled with, well, goodies from <a href=http://www.starbucks.com/>Starbucks</a>, <a href=http://www.theweightclub.com/>the Weight Club</a> and other local businesses.
Also, a few lucky knitters will receive door prizes, such as hand-knit sweaters, jewelry and autographed books. Finally, a silent auction, whose proceeds will go toward the blankets' shipping costs, will keep knitters and bidders on their toes.
"Everything is going great," Bonomo said. "We're overwhelmed, in a good way, with the response, and we're really looking forward to Saturday."
--
Original Source: <a href=ttp://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=An%20abundance%20of%20warmth&ID=372> Big Lick U - June 15, 2007</a>
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eng
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
A name given to the resource
An abundance of warmth
big lick u
hokie healing project
knitting
-
Document
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Contributor
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Sara Hood
Creator
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Amy L. Kovac
Date
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2007-06-27
Description
An account of the resource
<b>More than 20 news outlets toured the April 16 shootings site</b>
By: Amy L. Kovac
(June 14) The cinderblock walls of Norris Hall's second-floor classrooms and hallway are covered with a new coat of cream-colored paint. The classrooms stand bare, save for some newly installed white boards where blackboards previously hung. New doors replaced the ones on classrooms 204, 206, 207 and 211 that Seung-Hui Cho shot through in his violent fit almost two months ago.
But if it were not for the dozens of journalists, with their cameras and notepads, roaming the hallway, that second floor might have looked as sterile and uninhabited as any newly renovated building on Virginia Tech's campus.
The news media got their first post-April 16 look at this now-infamous building, starting at 10 this morning. Previously, journalists had been blocked from entering Norris.
"A horrendous and heinous and horrific crime occurred on our campus and on state property, and I owe it to you as members of the working press to see this," said Larry Hincker, the associate vice president for university relations.
"I simply did not want to subject families to images of Norris Hall at that time," he explained. "It was my decision, and I'll take the heat for closing the building at the time."
The university has offered each of the families of the victims - the murdered and the injured - the opportunity to tour the building to help in the healing process, Hincker said. So far, 18 families have walked through Norris Hall with university police escorts.
The building, where 30 of the 32 people were killed by Cho on April 16, houses several laboratories used by various engineering departments and will reopen to faculty, staff and students Monday. Three of those labs, including the university's only machine shop, were part of the media tour.
"Not being able to get in the building has basically shut down what many researchers on campus used," said David Simmons, the supervisor of the machine shop. "It was a big hindrance to not have it open. These students have been begging to get back in here."
The machine shop, which is also used by researchers at the Corporate Research Center, is the site where law enforcement officers entered Norris Hall on April 16. Cho had chained other entrances shut but not the doors to the shop. Officers shot through a lock on the shop's large doors and went up the stairs on the northwest side of the building. A 4-inch by 4-inch wooden block now covers that lock.
The four affected classrooms and the other general-use classrooms in the building will be converted into rooms for other uses by the Engineering Science and Mechanics department. See Big Lick U article: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?title=Tech%27s%20Norris%20Hall%20to%20begin%20phased%20reoccupation&id=350>Tech's Norris Hall to begin phased reoccupation</a>
None of the classrooms on the second floor are marked with room numbers anymore. Neither do they contain any desks or chairs or any other furniture besides the white boards.
The hallways on the second floor are also bare, in stark contrast to the first floor, where bulletin boards are covered with colorful flyers placed there before the shootings. One of them publicized an April 18 vigil for a National Day of Silence for those "who are forced into silence by violence and fear."
The renovations to Norris thus far have cost approximately $400,000, Hincker said, and included emergency clean-up and general remediation, such as asbestos removal.
The two wings of Norris Hall, named for a former dean of Tech's school of engineering, were built in the early 1960s and together cost $907,000.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=Inside%20Norris%20Hall&ID=370> Big Lick U - June 14, 2007</a>
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eng
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
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Inside Norris Hall
big lick u
media tour
norris hall
reopening
-
Document
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
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Sara Hood
Creator
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Bryan Schamus
Date
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2007-06-28
Description
An account of the resource
<b>A student perspective</b>
By: Bryan Schamus
(June 6) I will admit that I once uttered the statement, "There is no way any student should have to walk through that building again."
Norris Hall being "that building" - the site on campus at Virginia Tech where 31 of the 33 people killed on April 16 were shot.
But now, almost two months later, I just don't feel that way anymore.
When the university announced Tuesday in a press release that Norris will reopen on June 18, I was surprised. But after the initial shock wore off (about five minutes), I was not only OK with it, I realized that I am very glad.
A lot of fellow students agree.
"I think it's a good decision," said Caitlin Czeh, a 2005 graduate who has lived and worked in Blacksburg for the past two years. "It seemed like it just the right amount of time. A decision now will give students and professors who will be working in that building time to acclimate themselves and prepare themselves for being in there. And it gives those students who won't be in there some closure."
As announced, the building will open for office and laboratory use only. It once accounted for 5 percent of the classrooms on campus but will never be used for classes again.
I understand that not every student will be ready to return to that now-infamous building. But once again, the university is bending over backward to take care of students; other arrangements will be made for those not wanting to return there.
Personally, I feel very comfortable with this decision, especially since the engineering faculty themselves requested to move back in, according to the press release. Many of them had laboratory equipment and other materials necessary to do their research that would have been difficult to relocate or replace.
"As someone who was here [at Tech] on April 16, I don't know if I could go back into the building, especially so soon," said Jennie Tal, a 2007 graduate and a fellow BigLickU writer. "But on the other side, while this is a little soon, I think it is a good step in the direction of recovery."
Eventually, the empty classrooms will turn into more offices and labs. For now, many areas of the building have been repainted, and new lights have been installed.
Plans are under way for an official memorial somewhere else on campus.
Students and faculty will be able to enter the building using the Holden-Norris tunnel entrance. The building will be unlocked from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, locked on weekends and accessible by key during off-hours.
The building will not be open to visitors.
I spent a good portion of today on campus at Tech and could not find one person in my travels who really opposed this decision. Like me, some were surprised, but then most talked of the healing that has already happened and needs to continue.
To me, closing Norris or knocking it down is just giving in to the evil that was perpetrated on this campus that day.
On June 14, four days before the scheduled reopening, the school will give tours of Norris in groups of 25 to the media. Dean Amy - our editor - and I will be on the first one at 10 a.m.
It will not be easy.
I'm 21 years old, a senior at Virginia Tech. A close friend lost her best friend in that building in April.
But I am honored to be able to report to you the state this place is now in.
Look for our coverage on the walking tour of Norris Hall on June 14.
And to all those engineering students and faculty out there who will return to Norris on the 18th, good for you.
--
Original Source: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=Norris%20Hall%E2%80%99s%20reopening%20is%20one%20step%20toward%20healing&ID=355> Big Lick U - June 6, 2007</a>
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eng
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
A name given to the resource
Norris Hall reopening is one step toward healing
big lick u
norris hall
reopening
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
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Sara Hood
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Jennie Tal
Date
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2007-06-28
Description
An account of the resource
By: Jennie Tal
(May 2) Amanda Blevins is just like any other high school senior. She's excited about getting away from home, meeting new people and just enjoying her college experience.
But Blevins won't be just any other college freshman. This fall, the Nelson County native will proudly enroll at Virginia Tech, a university that is still recovering from the most devastating school shooting in modern U.S. history.
"I'm not going to give up just because something bad happened," Blevins said. "I figure that if it happened there once, it's not really likely to happen again."
Only five students have declined Tech's offer of admissions as a direct result of the shootings that happened on Tech's campus on April 16, said Mark Owczarski, director of news and information for the university. Yesterday was the deadline for students to make their admissions decisions.
Even though so few students have openly declined admission because of the shootings, it will be difficult to know exactly how the events of April 16 affected prospective students, said Amy Widner, the public relations coordinator for undergraduate admissions.
Usually, students who decline an offer of admission do not provide an explanation, Owczarski said. But this year, hundreds of students declining Tech's offer have telephoned to explain that they did not make their decision based on the shootings.
Harrison Mohn, a senior at Fort Defiance High School in Augusta County still plans to come to Tech and major in biology. He hopes to study medicine one day.
Mohn chose to apply early decision to Tech and said he didn't think about going anywhere else. He liked the school because it is big, has a pretty campus and is in state. He said he's always wanted to attend Tech and that recent events could not have changed his feelings about the school.
"I'm not really worried about it at all," Mohn said. "I think it could have happened anywhere. It's not something that Tech did wrong."
Since the shootings, the admissions office has tried to stay in touch with prospective students. Mohn said he received an email from the university explaining that everyone there is doing the best they can to make Tech a safe place.
"Basically, it said they were hoping I was still considering going [to Tech] and that I haven't changed my decision," Mohn said.
Blevins received two such messages.
Neither changed their minds.
Widner explained that every year admissions sends emails to students a few weeks before the deadline, reminding students that they need to contact the university by May 1. This year, the email included an acknowledgement of the shootings on campus.
"It was something to acknowledge the fact that we knew that the whole world was talking about what happened," Widner said. "We wanted to communicate with them specifically and let them know that we were mourning but moving forward and if there were any questions to let us know."
Though Blevins didn't contact the university, she said she wonders if security on campus will be increased. She wants to be safe but doesn't want to have to walk through metal detectors to go to class.
Stafford High School senior Marie Williams applied to Tech early decision for architecture and said she is still excited to start school in the fall - maybe even more now.
Owczarski said no students who had already paid the $400 deposit - including those admitted during the early decision process - asked to withdraw their acceptances.
"I think it's great how the student body pulled together after the tragedy, and I know that while everyone is going through a very tough time right now, they will get through it," Williams said.
--
Original Source: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=Class%20of%202011%20still%20strong%20after%20shootings&ID=282> Big Lick U - May 12, 2007</a>
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eng
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Big Lick U
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
Title
A name given to the resource
Class of 2011 still strong after shootings
big lick u
student reactions
vt class of 2011
-
https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/Police II_e77a25dff2.jpg
null
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Date
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2007-05-30
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Capture Date
2007-05-30 11:41:45
Still Image
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Contributor
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Chad Newswander
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Nathan Dicken
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2007-05-30
Description
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Several police officers (both local and state) are visible and present during the convocation.
Original source: <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndicken/464088526/"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndicken/464088526/</a>
Licensed under <a href=" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 2.0</a>
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eng
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Nathan Dicken
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndicken/464088526/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 2.0
Title
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Officers waiting for the President
convocation
police
president bush
protection
security
-
https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/mourning_306b734429.jpg
null
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Date
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2007-06-05
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Capture Date
2007-06-05 10:12:17
Still Image
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Contributor
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Chad Newswander
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Daniel Lin
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2007-06-05
Description
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Individuals mourn as they attend the candlelight vigil at Virginia Tech.
Original source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/geeknerd99/464196491/in/photostream/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/geeknerd99/464196491/in/photostream/</a>
Photo Courtesy of Daniel Lin
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eng
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Permission:
Daniel Lin
geeknerd99@gmail.com
candlelight vigil
mourning
vigil
virginia tech vigil
-
https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/Vigil IV_769b7b5073.jpg
null
Dublin Core
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Date
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2007-06-05
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Capture Date
2007-06-05 10:18:23
Still Image
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Chad Newswander
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Daniel Lin
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2007-06-05
Description
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A child attends the Virginia Tech vigil.
Original source: <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/geeknerd99/464192730/in/photostream/ "> http://www.flickr.com/photos/geeknerd99/464192730/in/photostream/ </a>
Photo Courtesy of Daniel Lin
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eng
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Permission:
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geeknerd99@gmail.com
candlelight vigil
vigil
virginia tech vigil
-
Document
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Adriana Seagle
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Gregor Hens
Date
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2007-07-01
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/;art772,2141887">Gregor Hens</a>
20.04.2007 00:00 Uhr
Anzeige Während der Übung piepst ein Telefon. Ich werfe einen genervten Blick in die Richtung, aus der der Ton gekommen ist. Es piepst noch einmal - derselbe Student. Ich sehe jetzt, wie er seine SMS liest, und bitte ihn, das Handy auszuschalten. Er sagt, es ist etwas Schreckliches passiert. Er geht raus. Ich mache mit dem Unterricht weiter. In der Pause dann die Nachricht, auf die wir alle irgendwie längst gewartet haben. Dass ein Massaker an einer Universität verübt worden ist, die Rede ist von 28 Toten. Später erfahren wir, dass es mehr sind. Es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, sagt jemand. So etwas musste ja mal passieren. Stille. Irgendwie scheinen wir sehr gefasst. Keiner rührt sich.
Aber nein, sagt eine junge Frau in die Stille hinein, diese Amokläufe in den Highschools hatten etwas mit dem Alter zu tun. Mit fünfzehn, sechzehn, da kommt man vielleicht auf solche Ideen. Wegen der Pubertät und so, den Ängsten und Obsessionen der Jugend. Aber an einer Universität, damit konnte niemand rechnen.
Ich möchte einwenden: Ihr seid ja selbst noch so jung. Ihr wirkt wie Jugendliche auf mich. Was weiß ich, was in euren Köpfen vorgeht, worüber ihr redet, was ihr für Filme schaut, wie es um eure Hormone steht. Eure Welt ist mir sehr fremd. Ihr riecht wie Kinder. Diesen Gedanken behalte ich lieber für mich.
Vielleicht, schlägt jemand vor, sind die Schüler, die vor ein paar Jahren in den Highschools gewesen sind, jetzt einfach im Studium angekommen. Und bringen die Gewalt mit. Eine Art Generation Columbine, die erwachsen geworden ist.
Es hat schon mal sowas gegeben, in Texas, sagt einer, der sonst nie etwas sagt. Nichts Vergleichbares allerdings. Ein Typ klettert auf einen Glockenturm, legt an und spielt den Scharfschützen. Fünfzehn Tote. Aber das ist schon lange her.
Langsam entsteht so etwas wie ein Gespräch. Der Student mit dem Handy ist wieder da, er hat Freunde an dieser Uni, sagt er. Niemandem scheint etwas passiert zu sein. Der Schütze in Texas damals, er hieß Whitman, höre ich, Charles Whitman.
Meint ihr nicht, dass es mit den Waffengesetzen zusammenhängt? Es ist so einfach in diesem Land, an Waffen zu kommen. Du gehst in einen Laden und zeigst deinen Führerschein her und kaufst dir ein Arsenal zusammen für deinen privaten kleinen Krieg.
Eine Studentin in der ersten Reihe sieht das anders. Sie meint, das Schlimme sei, dass jetzt die Europäer wieder einen Anlass hätten, den Amerikanern ihre Waffengesetze vorzuhalten. Jetzt können die sich wieder über uns lustig machen, sagt sie, weil wir so dumm sind, unsere Verfassung zu ehren, unsere Traditionen. Dabei geht es um etwas ganz anderes. Sie nimmt diesen Einwand vorweg, denke ich. Meinen Einwand. Ich bin der Europäer. Ich bin gemeint. Wir spielen ein Spiel, wie eine Schacheröffnung: Beide Seiten wissen längst, welche Möglichkeiten der Fortsetzung es gibt. Also lassen wir das. Mir geht es im Moment nicht darum, diese Leute von irgendetwas zu überzeugen. Worum geht es denn? Sollen wir uns auch bewaffnen? Sollen wir uns rund um die Uhr bewachen lassen? Metalldetektoren ... das funktioniert alles gar nicht, das stört den ganzen Betrieb, die Abläufe hier, schau dir den Campus doch an. Dieser Amokläufer hatte offenbar ein psychisches Problem. Und ...?
Natürlich hatte er das, wirft jemand ein. Wie so viele andere Studenten auch. Jeder von uns kennt doch jemanden, der Antidepressiva nimmt. Sind nicht alle Mörder, oder? Potenzielle Mörder? Vielleicht sollte man jeden Studienbewerber erst psychologisch untersuchen lassen. War das jetzt Sarkasmus?, frage ich mich. Das wäre allerdings etwas ganz Neues.
Die meisten der Opfer, lese ich später, saßen in einem Deutschkurs, zweites Semester. Der Dozent, Jamie Bishop, wurde auch erschossen. Aber eigentlich ist es ein Angriff eines Studenten auf seine Kommilitonen - eine Strafaktion, eine Exekution. Ich behaupte, weil jemand das Thema anspricht, Videospiele funktionieren doch anders: Da wird gekämpft, es geht um bestimmte Fertigkeiten, um Strategien, da kann man nicht einfach Leute an die Wand stellen und niedermähen. (Das Vokabular, das wir für diese Dinge haben.)
Haben Sie eine Ahnung, sagt einer. An seiner Halskette baumelt ein silbernes Kreuz. Ich weiß es nicht. Ich habe keine Erklärungen, nichts, das hilft. Ich höre einfach zu. Morgen um 15 Uhr ist für den gesamten Campus eine Schweigeminute angeordnet, heißt es in einer E-Mail aus dem Büro des Universitätspräsidenten. Im Land fliegen die Flaggen auf Halbmast.
Es gibt im Amerikanischen diesen Ausdruck: going postal. Weil ziemlich viele Amokläufer etwas mit der Post zu tun hatten. Es gab einige spektakuläre Fälle - gefeuerte Briefträger, die mit halbautomatischen Waffen auf ehemalige Kollegen und Vorgesetzte losgegangen sind. In dem Ausdruck offenbart sich unsere ganze Hilflosigkeit, denn er liefert eine Scheinerklärung, ein vermeintliches Muster. Er verhöhnt jeden, der wirklich wissen will, wieso es immer wieder passiert.
Vielleicht trifft es uns so, weil die Ohio State University, an der ich seit vielen Jahren unterrichte, einige Ähnlichkeit mit der Uni in Virginia hat. Die Studenten entstammen größtenteils der Mittelschicht. Der Campus ist riesig und offen. Man kann durchfahren. Es gibt Stellen, an denen man kaum weiß: Bin ich schon drinnen oder nicht? Kein Tor, an dem man kontrolliert wird. Jeder kann hier rumlaufen. Kaum eine Tür ist abgeschlossen. Ganz sicher habe ich mich nie gefühlt, dabei bin ich kein ängstlicher Mensch.
Pro Jahr werden in der Stadt - sie hat etwa siebenhunderttausend Einwohner - um die hundert Morde verübt. Auch auf dem Campus gibt es immer wieder Übergriffe: Mord, Raubüberfall, Vergewaltigung. Letztes Jahr ist einer spurlos verschwunden, unter mysteriösen Umständen. An allen Ecken stehen beleuchtete Notrufboxen. Es gibt eine Dienststelle, die man anrufen kann, um sich nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit eine bewaffnete Eskorte zu bestellen. Wenn man etwa vom Sportzentrum, das bis Mitternacht geöffnet hat, zur Bushaltestelle kommen will.
Ich habe immer geglaubt, dass es zuerst die Lehrenden treffen wird. Dass ein Student, der bei einer Prüfung durchgefallen ist, durch ein Bürogebäude geht, von Tür zu Tür, und uns alle abknallt. Wir sind vollkommen wehrlos - sitting ducks. Noch so ein Ausdruck aus der amerikanischen Waffenkultur. Nichts ist einfacher, als eine brütende Ente abzuschießen, weil sie sich nicht vom Fleck bewegt, egal, wie groß die Gefahr ist. Vielleicht fahre ich deshalb dann und wann zu der Schießanlage in New Albany, miete mir eine Glock 17, setze mir den Ohrenschutz auf und verschieße eine Packung Patronen. Neun Millimeter. Es ist eigentlich gar nichts dabei. Was immer wieder hochkommt, ist Kent State, eine kleine Uni ganz in der Nähe. Am 4. Mai 1970 erschossen Nationalgardisten vier Studenten, die gegen den Einmarsch in Kambodscha demonstriert hatten. Es war der Anfang vom Ende des Vietnamkriegs. Wir sind ein bisschen stolz darauf, dass es in Ohio passiert ist.
Gerade kommt das nächste Bulletin übers Netz: Die städtische Polizei und die Universitätspolizei - wie die meisten amerikanischen Unis haben auch wir eine eigene Einheit, mit eigenen Wagen, einem Logo und einer Website - versichern in einer Erklärung, dass sie auf eine Situation wie die an der Virginia Tech vorbereitet sind. „Unser Einsatzteam würde sofort stürmen und den Amokläufer außer Gefecht setzen", wird ein Sergeant zitiert.
Die Studenten reden. Endlich einmal. Sie diskutieren sonst zu wenig, streiten sich nie. Über Kontroverses spricht man nicht. Ich finde sie immer etwas apathisch. Heute hat jeder eine Meinung. Es geht um ihr Leben. Sie sind es, die zurück in diese zwölfstöckigen Wohnheime auf der Südseite müssen. Ich setze mich am Abend ins Auto und fahre nach Hause.
Der Schriftsteller Gregor Hens ist Professor für Germanistik an der Ohio State University in Columbus. Zuletzt erschien von ihm im S. Fischer Verlag der Roman „In diesem neuen Licht" .
--
Ursprüngliche Quelle: Der Tagesspiegel
<a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/;art772,2141887">http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/;art772,2141887</a>
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Gregor Hens (hens.1@osu.edu)
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Lektion über die Angst
lektion
studenten
universitt
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Adriana Seagle
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Daniel E. Loeb / The Philadelphia Jewish Voice
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2007-07-01
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The Jewish community mourns with Virginia Tech.
<i>-- Daniel Loeb</i>
The deadliest campus shooting in the history of the US occurred on Monday, April 16 at Virginia Tech. The tragic shootings at Virginia Tech happened on the day Jews all over the world observe Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and which is marked in Israel with two minutes of silence, prayer and reflection.
The United States Congress has called for a minute of silence on Friday, April 20 at noon, to remember Monday's victims, as well as the millions of other men and women around the world who have died at the hands of armed madmen and criminals.
Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 29 more before taking his own life.
Ironically, one of the Virginia Tech victims, aeronautics professor Liviu Librescu, was a survivor of the Holocaust. He died while barricading his classroom against the gunman, saving the lives of several of his students through his sacrifice on Yom Hashoah.
Librescu, born in 1930 in Ploiesti, Romania, survived the Holocaust in the ghetto of Focsani while his father was interned in the Transnistria labor camp. After the war, he studied Aerospace Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and Fluid Mechanics at the Academia de Stiinte din Romania.
He distinguished himself as a researcher at the Institute of Applied Mechanics, Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Constructions of Academy of Science of Romania. However, then Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu did not allow him to emigrate to Israel, however, until Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened on Prof. Librescu's behalf in 1978.
After making aliyah, Librescu served as a Professor of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering at Tel-Aviv University. In 1985, he joined the faculty at Virginia Tech where he distinguished himself as the Virginia Tech professor with the greatest number of publications.
At age 76, Professor Librescu held the door of his classroom shut so that Cho Seung-hui could not enter before his students escaped through the windows. Cho shot Liviu Librescu through the door mortally wounding this Professor considered a hero by his students.
Professor Librescu was <a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/v23/23001vatech.aspx">commended posthumously</a> by the President of Romania with the Star of Romania Order in the grade of Great Cross, "as a token of high appreciation for the entire scientific and universitarian activity, as well as for his heroic acts during the tragic events of April 16th 2007 in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus, when professor Librescu saved his students' lives at the cost of his own".
Rabbi Yossel Kranz announced that the new Chabad House at Virginia Tech will be named for Professor Liviu Librescu. "Professor Librescu's final act of heroism will be eternally memorialized in the life-affirming activities of the new center," said Rabbi Kranz. The professor's widow Mrs. Marilena Librescu and their sons Ari and Joe shared with Rabbi Kranz their wishes that Librescu House serve as a home of healing, joy and spiritual fulfillment to Virginia Tech's Jewish students.
--
© 2007. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute this issue of The Philadelphia Jewish Voice or (unless specified otherwise) any of the articles therein in their full original form provided these same rights are conveyed to the reader and subscription information to The Philadelphia Jewish Voice is provided. Subscribers should be directed to <a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/Subscribe.htm">http://www.pjvoice.com/Subscribe.htm</a>.
Original Source: The Philadelphia Jewish Voice
<a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/v23/23001vatech.aspx">http://www.pjvoice.com/v23/23001vatech.aspx</a>
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Daniel E.Loeb (daniel.loeb@verizon.net)
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Holocaust Survivor Slaughtered On Yom Hashoah
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librescu
mourns
prayer
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Kaitlin Johnsen
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Kaitlin Johnsen
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2007-06-27
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When the events of April 16 happened, I was sitting in school, not aware of what was going on. As soon as I got to my eighth period class, which was English 4 with Mr. Lloyd, I sat down and was looking for my pen. A friend of mine walked into class late because he was talking to a teacher. He said, "Something happened at Virginia Tech. 22 people were killed." I looked at him and the entire class looked at me because I am the only one from my high school attending VT in fall 2007. I was upset, but held it together until I got home.
Once I got home, I put CNN on and sat down, processing everything that I was seeing on TV and hearing. My world turned into a big blur. I had to do something to make myself feel better. Two hours after I got home, I went to Michaels and bought enough ribbon and pins to make 30 ribbon pins to hand out to anyone who would take them. Two days later, I ran out of ribbons and had to go to Michaels to buy a lot more. I had people asking me for ribbons. Thursday of that week, my school principal authorized me to sell them as a fundraiser, and he bought the first one. I ended up selling or handing out over 100 ribbons and the money totaled $200. I had my school district cut the check and send it down. When I tell people about my fundraiser, it makes me feel good, because I can say that I did my part to help.
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The Matawan Ribbon Campaign for Virginia Tech
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Sara Hood
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Bryan Schamus
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2007-06-27
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<b>Tech students are happy with proposed design</b>
By: Bryan Schamus
(June 7) Virginia Tech released its plans today for an intermediate memorial for the victims of the April 16 shootings, one day after announcing that Norris Hall, the site of 31 of the 33 shootings, would reopen on June 18.
The memorial site will be located on the <a href=http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/webcam.php>Drillfield</a>, in front of Burruss Hall, where a makeshift memorial sprung up after the shootings.
"The university community, and particularly the students, has become attached to this location. It seems only appropriate that we continue this tradition with something more substantive while we begin the process of looking elsewhere on campus for a permanent and fitting memorial to honor the memory and lives of our fallen students and faculty," Tech President Charles Steger said in a press release.
Thirty-two small, upright Hokie stones - each etched with the name of one of the victims - will be installed in crushed gravel and surrounded by a semi-circular walking path. Construction is expected to be completed by the time students return for fall semester.
Students walking around campus today seemed content with the decision when they saw an artists' rendering of what the memorial would look like. "Wow, that looks nice," and "Very cool" were their reactions when I showed them a copy of the design pictured above.
"I personally really like the design," said Sumeet Bagai, a coordinator of <a href=http://www.hokiesunited.org.vt.edu/>Hokies United</a>, the group that helped erect the first temporary memorial on the Drillfield. "I think it affirms the university's commitment to what students want and is more of a permanent version of what Hokies United did."
The intermediate memorial and its location were chosen by a committee of about half a dozen Tech community members, including four students. Vice President of Alumni Relations Tom Tillar chaired that committee.
Part of the temporary memorial currently on the Drillfield is a 33rd stone with Seung-Hui Cho's name next to it. That stone was not placed by the university or any university-affiliated group but by the community, Bagai said. The university's design for the intermediate memorial includes no plans for a 33rd stone.
All 33 stones from the original memorial will be offered to the families of those who died, according to university relations and Bagai.
The intermediate memorial will remain until a permanent one is constructed elsewhere on campus. Another committee will be convened to decide on the location and type of permanent memorial that the university will construct.
Tillar's committee suggested the area on the Drillfield across the street from the Duck Pond and off of West Campus Drive as a location for the permanent memorial.
"This is a prominent position and a place of honor immediately opposite the Memorial Chapel with its Pylons that honor Virginia Tech war dead. The memorials will symbolically anchor either end of the Drillfield, another hallowed location on this campus," Tillar said in a statement.
The permanent memorial will likely take several years to construct.
--
Original Source: <a href=http://www.biglicku.com/blu/Stories/StoryDisplayPage.aspx?Title=Intermediate%20April%2016%20memorial%20planned&ID=359> Big Lick U - June 7, 2007</a>
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Chris Winston <Chris.Winston@biglicku.com>
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Intermediate April 16 memorial planned
big lick u
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intermediate
memorial
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Adriana Seagle
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Diane Edbril and Daniel Loeb / The Philadelphia Jewish Voice
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2007-07-01
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<p>Lessons learned on the 8th anniversary of Columbine.
<i>-- Diane Edbril and Daniel Loeb</i>
Yet another American gun massacre, and though the scale is more horrific, it is not surprising. The Virginia Tech massacre is not unlike the Amish schoolhouse shooting in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, late last year. Both of these, while unbearably sad, are hardly unexpected in this country. Our weak gun laws make it a certainty that the United States will continue to suffer recurrences of such preventable tragedies. There is a crying need for Americans to understand - It's about the guns!
Phil Goldsmith, President of CeaseFire PA, said "Since the Columbine shooting tragedy it has become even easier to obtain guns, as well as high capacity ammunition magazines. Many states, including Pennsylvania, have passed pre-emption laws that have undermined the ability of local governments to enact stricter gun laws. (Pennsylvania has preempted local regulation of firearms for over a decade.) Concealed carry laws have multiplied. In addition, for the last six years, the US Department of Justice has required the destruction of gun purchase background check records after just 24 hours, a measure that has prevented a comprehensive review of those who may have acquired guns despite falling into a prohibited category."
Currently:</p>
<p><ul id="obj"><li>Most of our states do not require gun owners to be licensed and for guns to be registered.</li><li>Most of our states have not closed the gun show loophole, so thousands of guns are purchased without background checks.</li><li>Most states impose no limits on the number of firearms one individual can acquire, making it easy for illegal gun traffickers to supply the criminal element.</li><li>Many of our states do not update criminal history databases in a timely manner, making it easy for criminals to obtain firearms.</li></ul></p><p>Imagine how much worse this tragedy could have been if Cho Seung-hui had been in possession of a military assault weapon as is his "right" now that Congress has allowed the Assault Weapons Ban to expire.
Cho Seung-hui was able to obtain firearms despite his psychological record since the burden of proof is on the government to prove that he was a danger to himself and those around him. However, when I get a driver's license, the burden of proof is on me to prove that my eyesight is adequate and that I understand the rules of the road. When I send my children to school or to summer camp, the burden of proof is on me to show that my children have been immunized and are not carrying any communicable diseases. Why not shift the burden of proof and require a recent attestation of sanity from a psychiatrist or psychologist before anyone can handle a firearm?
Will the American people stand up to the gun lobby and demand change, or will the administration simply blame the media for not concentrating their coverage on the majority of universities which do not have gun violence at any given moment?
As Phil Goldsmith observed: "Congress called for a Moment of Silence in response to this massacre. Indeed, a moment of silence is appropriate for such a devastating tragedy with such pain for families and students. But we also need loud, uncompromising noise, particularly in Pennsylvania, where too many of our citizens are being shot and killed in urban areas. The majority of Pennsylvanians favor sensible handgun laws, including Governor Ed Rendell. It is time for the majority's voices to be heard loud and clear."
<i>For information about the Stop Gun Violence Through Peace, Action & Education - A Community-Based Interfaith's Conference on May 20 and the weekly vigils. See last month's article on <a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/v22/22007guns.aspx">Interfaith Initiative Against Guns</a>.</i>
<b>Liviu Librescu Links:</b></p>
<p><ul id="obj"><li><a href="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/virginiatech.shootings/victims/profiles/liviu.librescu.html">CNN Tribute Page</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liviu_Librescu">Wikipedia</a></li><li><a href="http://www.esm.vt.edu/~llibresc/RESUME%20L.%20Librescu.pdf">61 page resume</a></li><li><a href="http://www.chabad.edu/templates/articlecco.html?AID=504498">Family Condolence Page</a></li></ul></p><p>--
© 2007. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute this issue of The Philadelphia Jewish Voice or (unless specified otherwise) any of the articles therein in their full original form provided these same rights are conveyed to the reader and subscription information to The Philadelphia Jewish Voice is provided. Subscribers should be directed to <a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/Subscribe.htm">http://www.pjvoice.com/Subscribe.htm</a>.
Original Source: <a href="http://www.pjvoice.com/v23/23001vatech.aspx">http://www.pjvoice.com/v23/23001vatech.aspx</a></p>
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Daniel Loeb (daniel.loeb@verizon.net)
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Never Again?
background checks
firearms
gun control
gun violence
guns
librescu
moment of silence
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Brent Jesiek
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Jen Sorensen
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2007-07-01
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Archived with permission of the creator.
Original Source: Slowpoke Comics by Jen Sorensen
<a href="http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/shooterPR.gif">http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/shooterPR.gif</a>
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Jen Sorensen (jen@slowpokecomics.com)
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The School Shooter PR Agency
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https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/flower_bcb335890f.jpg
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2007-07-02
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Chad Newswander
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Dana Burman
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2007-07-02
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Message boards filled with comments are stationed on the drill field.
Photo Courtesy of Dana Burman
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Dana Burman
dana74@dwburman.com
drill field
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Chad Newswander
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Dana Burman
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2007-07-02
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Norris Hall has been sealed off as the police conduct its investigation.
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eng
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Dana Burman
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crime scene
norris hall
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https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/media_51ec4c1cff.jpg
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2007-07-02 12:12:25
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Chad Newswander
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Dana Burman
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2007-07-02
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Major media outlets interview students, faculty, and staff.
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eng
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Dana Burman
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interviews
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https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/memorial_52716ce21a.jpg
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2007-07-02
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2007-07-02 12:16:39
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Chad Newswander
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Dana Burman
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2007-07-02
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The memorial at the Drill Field near Burress Hall and Norris Hall.
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eng
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burress hall
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memorial
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Brent Jesiek
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Manny Frishberg
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2007-07-02
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06/08/07
Manny Frishberg • JTNews Correspondent
On the morning of April 16, Dr. Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old Holocaust survivor and aeronautical engineering professor, blocked the door of his classroom in Norris Hall at Virginia Tech so that his students could escape through the windows.
One month later, on the shloshim of his death, the University of Washington Chabad brought Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe to the UW campus for a memorial lecture in Librescu's honor that looked at, among other things, how his actions should be viewed through a Jewish lens.
Shlomo Yaffe serves as rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in West Hartford, Conn. and the founding director of the Institute for Jewish Literacy and the founder of the Connecticut Symposium on Contemporary Legal Issues and Jewish Law in Hartford. He is well known for his ability to make Jewish mysticism accessible to people to make use of it in daily life.
After studying rocket science and WWII history, Yaffe turned to Talmudic law and Hassidic philosophy. He has written and lectured on the Judaic perspective of contemporary, legal, scientific and social issues. Rabbi Yaffe is also an expert on secular law and legal ethics who serves as a legal consultant and lecturer for the New York Legal Assistance Group.
Rabbi Yaffe began his talk with the question: "From the standpoint of Jewish ethics and law, did [Prof. Librescu] do the right thing? He put himself against the door, which someone could, and did ultimately, shoot through and kill him. Was he really supposed to give his life for others?
"This is not such a simple question," Yaffe explained, "because if someone's life is no less valuable than your own, then it's certainly no more valuable than your own."
He promised to answer that question, but first
took an hour-long digression that began with the question of how German society, with its long traditions of scientific and philosophical leadership, could emerge in the 1930s as the author of the Holocaust, one of the most horrific moments in modern human history.
"How did a very large group of people from a highly developed society...engage in and justify such a pervasive, long term abuse of ethics? The Holocaust was not the passionate, vicious bloodletting of the mob that ultimately runs itself out," he said. "It was a cold and calculated societal choice devoted to the extermination, destruction and utter and complete cruelty and disregard, first of all to Jews, but also many others."
His answer was that the people making those choices believed that they had evidence that the Jews, the Gypsies, the handicapped, homosexuals and other outcast groups were a blight on the society and, that by removing them, they were improving the world as a whole. Then, like the teacher that he is, he led the dozen or so people that had come to hear him on a journey of exploration into the essential question of what makes a human life inherently worth preserving.
"There's this premise that we have that people have a fundamental right to live, that people have a fundamental right to express themselves, that people have a fundamental right to equal opportunities," he said. "The question is: is there really any quantifiable truth to them — can they be proved logically, or should we say scientifically?
"Scientifically, differences between human beings on a racial or national level are far less than their similarities. But that doesn't mean anything because someone else might have a different way of looking at things and, like the German scientists of the '20s and '30s, come to the conclusion that the shapes of skulls and the colors of skin and the like may be terribly important," Yaffe said. "And who's to say that it couldn't happen again?"
Once an idea becomes entrenched in the scientific or popular beliefs, he explained, the data tend to be read in a way that support that belief.
Making a case analogous to the anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany, he said, "I could identify any one of five racial groups that have a much higher rate of indictment, convictions and incarcerations for murder. There are certain minorities that commit crimes and get convicted for them at a much higher rate than other minorities. It probably has nothing to do with race and a lot to do with history....These statistics do exist.
"Put yourself in the shoes of these German scientists," Yaffe said. "Once you believe that this group contains a greater percentage of social pathologies and that once you get rid of them you get rid of the social pathologies ... I ask all of you, is there any reason why we should not exterminate this group?"
His comments counter the ethical calculus in Jewish tradition that the fundamental belief that human beings are made in the image of God and, as such, each and every one of us is imbued with an inherent value that cannot be reduced by the "greater good" for society as a whole.
"We can argue from today to tomorrow about God and religion and everything, but if you do not bring in a being that is the source of everything whose purest expression is in a human being, a being that assigns a special value to the human being, a being that says its most profound and indivisible irreducible expression is in a human being, then you can never, ever find a reason why I should not do something wrong to another person," Rabbi Yaffe said.
"The only thing that would seem to guarantee such a thing is that there is a sensibility that assigns an absolute value as part of itself to the human being. That value says there's nothing more precious than a human life, so I need to do everything I can to protect it and preserve it unless that other person forfeits its life by seeking my destruction."
Under that precept, he said, one person cannot, under Jewish law, sacrifice his own life for another person's, no matter how much better or more deserving they believe that other person to be.
"On the other hand," he said, drawing back to where he began, with the sacrifice made by Prof. Librescu, "can someone risk [his] life to save someone else's life? Yes, as long as it's not a definite one-on-one sort of thing. Can someone risk [his] life to save many? It would seem the answer is yes — that answers the original question that we started with."
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Archived with permission of JTNews.
Original Source: <a href="http://www.jtnews.net/index.php?/news/item/2808/">http://www.jtnews.net/index.php?/news/item/2808/</a>
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Joel Magalnick - JTNews (editor@jtnews.net)
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Reflections of Virginia Tech
jewish
librescu
reflections