31 20 1884 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Na Mi Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 叶铁桥 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource 2007-04-20 10:22:04 新华网 在这起美国历史上最严重的校园枪击案中，部分新闻媒体的错误报道，使公众经受了一次心灵的考验。真相大白后，人们纷纷把矛头指向这些媒体，直言为媒体的表现感到愤怒和悲哀，并开始反思媒体在此次报道中所暴露 出的问题。 某门户网站一名编辑表示，对他们而言，转载了假新闻不知道算不算事故，但如果该新闻没得到确认之前，他们的竞争对手转载了，而他们漏掉了，那就算是事故，"这充分说明了网络媒体竞争的残酷性，我们现在最大的压力是，如何保证新闻首发，这样，有些消息就很难得到证实。" 有过20多年新闻从业经历的美国《大西洋月刊》专栏作家JamesFallows表示，"这个事件充分说明，新闻的精确性是何等重要，特别是在网络时代，特别是面对来自网上的信息资料。" 他说，这一事件再次提醒新闻从业者，应该牢记那个古老的新闻从业原则：你想报道独家新闻，但首先必须要确保这个新闻是真实的。"新闻记者总是处于时效的压力下，但即使这样，我们也不应当发表不能确信其真实性的新闻。" 中国人民大学新闻学院教授喻国明今天(4月20日)表示，这个事件表明，我国媒体还缺乏防范假新闻的职业规范，对于这么重大的事件，按照新闻职业要求，国内的媒体应该在消息予以证实后再发布。"很遗憾，一些媒体工作人员不愿意去证实这个新闻的真实性。" 喻国明说，按照职业的新闻操作手法，对于影响如此巨大的事件，首先要有权威的消息来源，比如警方正式公布的案情等。如果没有的话，也应当找到至少两个切实可信的消息来源作为客观事实的依据，并且必须说明消息来源是未经证实的。 他说，在《芝加哥太阳时报》的网站上，那个专栏女作家使用的都是匿名的消息来源，并且是单方面来源，这个报道从新闻职业规范来看，本来就是不值得信任的新闻。因此，几乎所有的美国主流媒体都没有跟进报道，但国内许多媒体不但转载报道，而且还在报道中舍弃了许多不确定的词语，让整个事件变得似乎确定无疑。"这样做完全不符合真实性、客观性要求，也不符合业务规范的要求。" 中国人民大学新闻学院教授陈力丹也表示，那名女专栏作家的报道，使用了好几处匿名新闻来源，而要确保新闻的真实性，消息来源的透明化无疑是重要保障之一。隐匿权的使用，主要是因为某些消息来源倘若被公开，有关人员会面临各种社会压力甚至有生命危险，因此，在任何时候都做到消息来源的完全透明是不可能的。 "但一篇报道如果充满了&#39;据消息灵通人士透露&#39;、&#39;据业内权威人士介绍&#39;和&#39;一位了解情况的公司高层说&#39;这类的匿名消息源，受众就有可能怀疑该篇报道所陈述的事实。" 陈力丹表示，匿名消息源在使用上给媒体带来了"双刃剑"效应。一方面，它能够帮助媒体揭露事实真相，满足公众知情需要，同时提升了媒体自身的公信力，比如《华盛顿邮报》对水门事件的报道就体现了匿名消息源的正面效应。但另一方面，匿名消息源有可能造成新闻失实，不仅使单个媒体的公信力受损，而且有可能使整个新闻行业的信誉蒙羞，比如《纽约时报》的"布莱尔造假事件"使用匿名消息源，就是其造假的主要手段之一。 喻国明也表示，假新闻会对媒体的品牌和信誉造成巨大损害，消息的准确性比早一点发布永远要高一个层次，我国媒体应当建立起更加规范的操作方式。 Jam e s F allo w s则认为，在美国，市场监督和新闻从业者的自律可以发挥作用。美国媒体有自我评价和相互评价的习惯，市场监督则表现在受众或广告商是否愿意支持一个媒体或栏目上。 前不久，美国就有一个非常知名的广播主持人因为发表种族歧视言论而受到了众多记者的尖锐批评，他的栏目广告也全部被撤了，最终，他那个栏目不得不被取消。(中国青年报北京4月19日电/记者 叶铁桥) -- Original Source:中国青年报 <a href="http://news.china.com/zh_cn/domestic/945/20070420/14054158.html">http://news.china.com/zh_cn/domestic/945/20070420/14054158.html<a/> Language A language of the resource zh-Hans Title A name given to the resource 假新闻伤害媒体公信力 反思美校园枪击案报道 �新闻 �� 《�加哥太阳时报》 媒体公信力 校园枪击案报� 新闻从业原则 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Na Mi Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 沈柬 贝柴华 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource http://www.jrj.com　 2007年04月19日 05:00 第一财经日报 沈柬 贝柴华 　　"刚刚跟美国联邦调查局的人又谈话了，好在现在我已经不再是嫌疑犯。"江伟恩在自己的博客里写道。 　　就在24小时前，美国弗吉尼亚理工大学发生致死33人的枪击案，该校中国留学生江伟恩居然被美国个别媒体报道成杀人嫌犯。事后证明，这完全是一条严重的失实报道，真正的元凶其实是一名韩国学生。 　　对此，外交部发言人刘建超昨日表示："美个别媒体在事实未经查明之前发表不负责任的报道，违反了新闻职业道德，是十分错误的做法。我们已要求有关方面消除其负面影响。" 　　"乌龙报道"冤枉中国学生 　　枪击案发生不久，距离学校所在地布莱克斯堡数百公里远的一家报纸《芝加哥太阳报》率先捅出消息说，凶手是一名中国学生。该报专栏作者麦克·斯尼德还煞有介事地称，这名24岁的冷血杀手姓江，去年8月7日乘美国联合航空公司班机从上海飞抵旧金山。后来，影响颇大的FOX电视台也转播了这一报道。 　　FOX电视台的著名主持人李维拉甚至以莫须有的"诱导"口气来提问："假定这名枪手来自中国，是不是因为他来自社会主义国家，因此憎恶美国社会，并进行行凶？" 　　江伟恩在自己的博客上说，他是一名枪支爱好者，并且刚刚与女友分手。博客上也贴着很多他持枪的照片。亚裔、枪迷、刚和女友分手、弗吉尼亚理工大学学生，种种因素把江伟恩推向了人们关注的焦点。几个小时内，他的博客点击率刷新到了4万。 　　16日晚上10点29分，江伟恩"站"了出来。"我不是枪手。在整个事件过程中，我收到了无数个死亡威胁和诽谤指控，手机也因为接电话太多而没了钱，对此当地警方已了解了情况。" 　　他继续在博客里声称："我现在明确宣布，我不是凶手。我愿意接受媒体的采访，谈谈这件事情，证明我的清白。我还愿意就此发表我的看法，即如果其他学生也被允许持有枪支的话，事情可能没那么糟。" 　　其实还在江伟恩自己发布声明之前，对于《芝加哥太阳报》的内容，MSN新闻立即做了跟进，中国新闻社也跟进报道，随后，忍了半天的新浪、搜狐、腾讯网也进行了报道，甚至最后连CCTV的网站也做了相关播报。 　　"不错，我是亚裔，我在学校宿舍里住，我是VT（弗吉尼亚理工大学）的学生，我最近和女友分了手，我还喜欢枪械。但我不是凶手。"江伟恩16日在接受美国广播公司采访时说，自己还拥有美国联邦政府颁发的合法持枪证。 　　"昨晚是一个非常特殊的夜晚，我几乎难以入睡，情况这么复杂，我想我们那些同胞也都不敢去学校了。"不停地被媒体骚扰的江伟恩在第二天的博客里继续写道，"但是我相信媒体从现在开始，将不会使得人们正确的判断发生偏差了。" 　　按照江伟恩自己的陈述，警方之所以很快就将他排除嫌疑，原因有二：首先是他并不拥有本次案件中使用的那种口径的枪支；其次是提取的指纹也不符合。 　　17日上午，美国方面正式宣布，制造该国历史上最严重校园枪击案的凶手身份已经查明，是英语系学生、23岁的韩国人赵承熙。 　　为什么中国人容易被冤 　　虽然最终的消息使很多国人长舒了一口气，但海外华人的形象，还是因为"乌龙报道"而受到了难以挽回的损伤。 　　近年来，美国媒体"妖魔化"中国的倾向时有体现。曾多年任德国自民党主席的奥托·拉姆普斯道夫伯爵指出："早在2003年，美国工业联合会就指称，中国是造成美国2000年中期以来丧失270万个就业岗位的主要原因。这样对美国政府就形成了内政压力，这些情况不禁使人想起了20世纪70 年代的日本。" 　　也许正因为这样，尽管美国政府一直表示自己没有对中国存在偏见，但美国媒体从来没有停止过对"中国威胁"的含沙射影。 　　《华尔街日报》曾发表文章《另一个威胁正在逼近：中国作为一个新的妖魔》，批评美国国内存在将中国妖魔化的倾向。文章称："对中国妖魔化的活动眼下似乎正如火如荼。为了在冷战后的世界中物色一个能够替代原苏联的敌人，美国政治家在越来越大的程度上试图让中国人充当这个角色。" 　　"媒体的妖魔化做法一直存在着，一直没有变化。"2003年1月，清华大学教授李希光发表评论说，"我相信那种亨廷顿的理论——文明的冲突。哈佛大学的亨廷顿教授把这个妖魔化理论上升到极点，上升到文明的冲突。根据他的理论推理，要取得文明的胜利，只能是妖魔化对方。妖魔化就是为了文明的冲突和文明的胜利。" 　　而在个人层面，意大利《生活》杂志负责人胡兰波女士向《第一财经日报》表示，不管在意大利还是美国，由于文化的不同，中国人融入当地社会有比较大的困难。他们对当地主流社会的一切并没有多大兴趣，当地主流社会的人却特别留意外来移民，对外来人是否构成安全问题、工作竞争问题都十分关注。如此一来，难免在中国移民与当地主流社会之间"立起一堵墙"。 　　"而且，很多外国人从心底不希望中国富强，认为一切能源的涨价都与中国有关。这也对中国人在海外生存带来负面因素。"胡兰波称。 　　不会影响中美交往 　　也许正是上述政治的、经济的、文化的深层次原因，使得美国媒体总是避免不了对中国的报道偏见。然而对美国民众而言，这可能造成对他们的"冤枉"。 　　复旦大学美国研究中心的徐以骅教授认为，造成妖魔化中国的主要原因，是美国政府的不当政策。他说："相对而言美国民众是好的。因为美国人比较崇尚个人意识，他们认为个人的行为个人是要负责的，很少往民族上扣帽子。" 　　事实上，弗吉尼亚州州长凯恩昨天也对媒体表示，尽管发生了韩籍留学生枪杀32人的悲剧，他认为，枪案仅仅是个别案件，不会引发对亚裔学生的歧视，弗吉尼亚州立理工大学会继续对外籍学生开放。 　　凤凰卫视评论员阮次山认为："90％的美国媒体在这次报道中表现得比较成熟，而FOX电视台本来就是充满煽情的一个媒体，不能从他们的个别行为来看待美国社会，从而以为美国对中国很仇视。" 　　上海美国研究所副所长倪建平接受本报记者采访时也指出，中美之间近来交往正常，就算该案件是中国人干的，也只能当作个案来处理，并不会对中美关系产生结构性冲击。 　　而中国政府方面在这次事件中的反应——外交部部长李肇星第一时间致电美国国务卿表达慰问，外交部发言人也发表声明，希望民众不要胡乱猜测凶手的身份，"这些都是负责任的表现，也正是成熟大国的外交方式。"阮次山说。 -- Original Source:第一财经日报 <a href="http://finance.jrj.com.cn/news/2007-04-19/000002165336.html">http://finance.jrj.com.cn/news/2007-04-19/000002165336.html<a/> Language A language of the resource zh-Hans Title A name given to the resource 弗吉尼亚的枪声与被误伤的华人形象 冤枉 �客 �人形象 弗�尼亚的枪声 江伟� 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Na Mi Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 余虹 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource 作者：余虹 文章来源：南方周末 更新时间：2007-6-7 【弗吉尼亚理工大学举行的悼念仪式上，放飞的气球是３３个，敲响的丧钟是３３声，而马加爵被枪决后的骨灰至今还孤独清冷地在那里没人收留，包括他的父母。　　 一名凶手开枪打死了３２个人，凶手本人饮弹自尽。在守夜仪式上他们点燃了３３根蜡烛，为３３个生命祈祷。牧师看着３３根蜡烛说："当那名凶手在开枪的时候，我相信他的灵魂在地狱里，而此刻，我相信上帝也和他的灵魂在一起，他也是一个受伤的灵魂。" 　　与３３根蜡烛形成鲜明对比的，是马加爵被枪决后的骨灰至今还孤独清冷地在那里没人收留，包括他的父母。】 弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击事件发生的时候，我正在波士顿大学做访问学者。一名凶手开枪打死了３２个人，凶手本人饮弹自尽。刚听到这一消息时有些震动，但震动很快过去了，因为这种事听多了见多了；当风闻凶手是中国人时有些不安，毕竟自己是中国人，仿佛自己也脱不了干系，但不安很快也消失了，因不久便有更正，凶手不是中国人；再听说美国人在悼念活动中竟连凶手也一起悼念，我惊讶了，这惊讶久久不能平息。 一天在去波士顿大学的途中，一名同行的中国留学生对我讲了事发第二天晚上他们社区的守夜祈祷。她告诉我在守夜仪式上他们点燃了３３根蜡烛，为３３个生命祈祷，这让我惊讶。她向我转述了守夜仪式上人们的悲伤以及他们的言谈，其中一位牧师的话让我惊讶。这位牧师看着３３根蜡烛说："这里的每一根蜡烛都象征着一个生命，它们现在都很平静，我相信他们都在上帝那里得到了安息。当那名凶手在开枪的时候，我相信他的灵魂在地狱里，而此刻，我相信上帝也和他的灵魂在一起，他也是一个受伤的灵魂。" 这之后，我又看了一些相关报道，这些报道继续让我惊讶。在弗吉尼亚理工大学４月２０日中午举行的悼念仪式上，放飞的气球是３３个，敲响的丧钟是３３声。次日，安放在校园中心广场草坪上半圆的石灰岩悼念碑是３３块，其中一块碑上写着"２００７年４月１６日赵承熙"。赵承熙的悼念碑旁边也放着鲜花和蜡烛，还有一些人留下的纸条。其中有两个纸条这样写着："希望你知道我并没有太生你的气，不憎恨你。你没有得到任何帮助和安慰，对此我感到非常心痛。所有的爱都包含在这里。劳拉"；"赵，你大大低估了我们的力量、勇气与关爱。你已伤了我们的心，但你并未伤了我们的灵魂。我们变得比从前更坚强更骄傲。我从未如此因身为弗吉尼亚理工学生而感到骄傲。最后，爱，是永远流传的。艾琳。" 再后来，我在网上和报上发现，不只是我一个中国人对美国人的做法感到惊讶和意外，很多中国人都如此。就在我听到那名波士顿大学中国留学生对守夜仪式的转述之后，我便打电话问了国内的几位研究生和朋友。我的问题是："如果我们要为这次事件举行一个悼念仪式，我们会烧几炷香？"他们几乎不假思索地回答：３２炷。当我告诉他们美国人的做法时，他们也惊讶了。 于是，一个问题缠绕着我，让我久久不能平静："３３"这个数字为什么让我们惊讶？为什么我们只想到"３２"而不会想到"３３"？那个让我们惊讶和意外的"３３"究竟意味着什么？没有"３３"的地方缺少什么？为什么我们只有"３２"的悲伤经验，而没有"３３"的悲伤经验？换句话说，为什么在我们的悲伤经验中没有凶手的位置？为什么凶手理应是愤恨的对象，而非悲伤的对象？ 悲伤的经验起于爱，我们因爱被害者而悲伤，当悲伤将凶手包含在其中时，爱同样给予了凶手。我们所惊讶并陌生的就是这种爱：对凶手何以不恨而爱？这是一种什么样的爱？ 在枪击事件发生后，我们至少看到三种截然不同的感受与反应：第一种是为受害者悲伤，憎恨凶手，这是最为通常的悲伤经验，它的前提是善恶区分，特点是爱憎分明；第二种反应因受害者是敌人而幸灾乐祸，这里没有悲伤只有快乐，没有爱只有恨，它的前提是敌我区分；第三种反应是既为受害者悲伤也为凶手悲伤，它的信念是一切生命都有同样的价值，或者说生命的价值高于一般的善恶敌我区分的价值。 我们熟悉第一、第二种，而惊讶和陌生于第三种。那第三种感受与反应中就有我们不熟悉的爱。于是我想问：我们熟悉的爱是什么？它与我们不熟悉的爱有什么不同？ 我们熟悉的爱乃有分别的世俗之爱，不熟悉的爱乃无分别的神圣之爱。 一般来说，世俗之爱主要有两种形式：１．以亲疏敌我区分为基础的爱；２．以善恶是非区分为基础的爱。第一种爱是最原始本能的爱，是本能的自我之爱或自爱，它的基础是利害关系，即对我有利者爱，对我无利者不爱，对我有害者恨；对我有大利者大爱，对我有小利者小爱；对我有小害者小恨，对我有大害者大恨。由于血缘关系是最原始本能的利害关系，所以血缘上的亲疏远近决定了爱的等差或爱与不爱，而当亲疏关系恶化为敌我关系时，等差之爱便转换成了恨与爱的对立。通常的自私自利、狭隘的爱国主义、民族主义、地方主义中深藏的就是这种爱，而所谓阶级斗争中也活跃着这种爱。在这种爱的背后可能潜藏着对他国、他族、他乡、他人、别的阶级的疏离、冷漠甚至仇恨。这种爱是我们最熟悉的爱，也是我们习以为常并在无意识中践行的爱。在那种因受害者是敌人而幸灾乐祸的感受中，我们看到了这种爱的极端样式。第二种爱是文明程度很高的爱，它的根据是社会正义和道德善恶，即对义者爱，对不义者不爱，对大不义者恨；对善者爱，对小恶者不爱，对大恶者恨。这种爱也是我们所熟悉的，在为受害者悲伤而怨恨凶手的悲伤经验中，我们看到的是这种爱，在狭隘的道德主义情感和律法主义情感中我们看到的也是这种爱。 显然，让我们惊讶的爱是另一种爱。这种爱超越了所有世俗之爱的偏爱与选择，它不以亲疏敌我、义与不义、善恶是非的区分为前提和条件，它爱人如己，爱义人也爱不义的人，爱善人也爱恶人，"３３"这个数字就是这种爱的见证。这种爱只有爱而没有恨，那是一种来自基督启示并在长期的信仰实践中培育起来的神圣之爱。 一种"爱敌人"、"爱恶人"的爱的确让我们惊讶，一种"与恨彻底割断了牵连"的爱的确让我们意外。尽管在我们的传统中也有宽恕、大度、以德报冤、相逢一笑泯恩仇的美德，但却是一些太过脆弱的美德，它不仅缺乏强大的文化观念支持和信仰实践的支撑，更是在以牙还牙、爱憎分明的腥风血雨中不堪一击。 "恨"是一种原始的非理性情结，也是一种传统的道德理性情结，它们都寄生于世俗之爱。爱亲友与恨敌人二位一体，于是有"对敌人的同情就是对同志的残忍"之论；爱善人与恨恶人一体不可分，于是有"疾恶如仇、爱憎分明"之说。有爱就有恨，仿佛天经地义，亘古不移。然而，十字架上的真理却见证了另一种爱，一种与恨分离的爱。耶稣说："爱你们的敌人并为那些迫害你们的人祷告......天父的光既照好人也照坏人；天父的雨既给义人也给不义的人。"（《马太福音》）耶稣一生的讲道与践行都在向人们启示这种无条件、无分别、化恨为爱的爱。这种爱经过两千多年的基督信仰传播，已成为西方文明中最有价值的一部分，并铸造了一种相当普遍的信念和实践态度，于是才有了"３３"那个令我们惊讶的数字。 一种化恨为爱的爱并不是与社会正义相冲突的爱，并不是不要社会正义的爱，而是一种在正义的要求与践行中将爱贯彻到底的爱。一个有圣爱情怀的人也会主张惩罚凶手，因为一个人必须为自己的罪行承担责任，这是社会正义的基本要求，但他不会怀着对罪犯的仇恨来实施这种惩罚，而是在惩罚中有一种巨大的悲伤和怜悯，他会因一个生命被罪行所毁而痛惜，他会为罪人的不幸堕落而伤心。这种爱对己是一种悲剧性的告诫，因为自己也可能犯罪；对罪犯是一种同情式的惋惜，它会撼动罪犯内心那顽固的恨。与之相反，如果我们把惩罚罪犯的正义要求变成对他的深仇大恨，把对罪犯的惩罚变成一种泄恨的方式，恨就不仅会中断我们对自己可能犯罪的警醒，还会强化我们由正义要求而滋生的恨。至于对罪犯，这种恨会让他更为凄凉地走上不归路，并与自己的恨纠缠不清。 其实无论是民众对凶手的恨，还是凶手对被害者的恨，都可能是一种出于正义要求的恨。赵承熙杀人的直接心理意向是恨。在遗书中他说："你们要什么有什么。光有宾士轿车还不够，你们这些被宠坏了的家伙，有了金项链还嫌不够，有了伏特加酒和干邑白兰地酒还嫌不够，你们放浪形骸还嫌不够。"在录像带上他充满怨恨地说："你们原本有１０００亿个机会可以避免今天这种下场，却把我逼到墙角，让我只剩下一个选择，这是你们自己决定的。"显然赵承熙的恨出于他对社会公义和道德之善的坚持，这种恨的积累使他失去了以恰当的态度来对待不公与不善的理性，最后致使他疯狂地走向犯罪，并将这种犯罪看作是伸张正义的壮举，为此他才说："我死得像耶稣基督一样悲壮，得以启发后世的弱者和弱势族群。"赵承熙的凶杀让我想起了三年前杀死四位同学的马加爵。在执行死刑前记者问他："你是想通过杀人发泄什么？"马加爵回答："恨，反正那段时间真的是很恨他们......他们不光说我打牌作弊，而且说我平时为人怎么怎么样。他们说的与我一直以来想象中的自己很不同，我恨他们。"记者又问："有没有想过去和他们谈谈，交换一下看法呢？"马加爵回答："没想过，不可能的，当时只想到恨......那段时间每天都在恨。必须要做这些事，才能泄恨，至于后果是什么，没去想。"在遗书中他说："我决定给那些歧视穷苦人、蔑视穷苦人的人一个教训，我决定给那些无情践踏、残忍蹂躏穷苦人人格尊严的人一个教训。"显然，马加爵的恨也有道德正义的理由：人格尊严不容侵犯，他也把杀人看作伸张正义的方式。 恨是一种非常危险的非理性激情，不管它来自何处，都可能导致罪，尤其是来自正义要求的恨。历史上形形色色以"正义之剑"杀人的罪实在是太多了，马、赵只不过是其中的小巫而已。以伸张正义之名而产生的恨可能导致十分邪恶的罪，于是，爱的问题最终将我们引向恨的难题。恨是一种非常隐蔽而顽固的罪恶之因，尤其是在正义的名义之下，因此，重要的不是道德上的是非，而是心理上的爱恨。也许，如何消除恨，才是杜绝罪恶的首要问题。显然，只有爱可以否定恨并战胜恨，而恨不仅不能否定恨和战胜恨，还是滋生恨的土壤，所谓"因恨生恨"。世俗的爱恨情仇之所以轮回不已，其主要根源就是它们之间割不断的纠缠。 与３３根蜡烛形成鲜明对比的是马加爵被枪决后的骨灰至今还孤独清冷地在那里没人收留，包括他的父母。马加爵的父亲说："骨灰我们不要了，就当我们没有这个儿子，让一切都过去吧！"马父真的不想要儿子的骨灰吗？马加爵所在村子的村主任马建伦对三年后来采访马家的记者说："马建夫一家老实本分，善良处世，但马加爵这个事天下皆知，让全家背上恶名，再把骨灰弄回来，他们怕再被人指脊梁骨啊！"不单有普通人指脊梁骨，还有社会机构的歧视，甚至执行死刑也不通知家属。种种不光彩的压力都让这个父亲难以坦然地处理儿子的后事，以至于马加爵的姐姐在听到弟弟被枪决后绝望地恳求社会和人们："我们会接受事实，但却有一个请求：请善待我们！" 与马加爵家人的不幸遭遇相比，赵承熙的家人就幸运多了。因为在美国社会的大多数公众眼里，他们也是受害者，甚至是更大的受害者。当赵的姐姐代表家人公开道歉后，马上有人在网上回帖说："这不是你或你家人的错误。" 我在前面提到的那名波士顿大学的中国留学生还告诉我这样一件事。有一次她和一位美国教授谈起这次凶杀事件，脱口而出说这次凶杀让３２个家庭失去了亲人，这个教授马上纠正她说："不，是３３个家庭失去了亲人。"对凶手及其家人的宽容，在美国民众中已是一种普遍的社会精神。１９９１年在美的中国留学生卢刚开枪打死了５名教师和同学，最后自尽。事后第三天，受害人之一的副校长安妮女士的三位兄弟就发表了一封给卢刚家人的公开信，信上说："安妮相信爱和宽恕。我们也愿意在这一沉重的时刻向你们伸出我们的手，请接受我们的爱和祈祷......此刻如果有一个家庭正承受比我们更沉重的悲痛的话，那就是你们一家。我们想让你们知道，我们与你们分担这一份悲痛......" 一个经过了神圣之爱洗礼的社会，是一个共同以爱来承担罪恶与不幸的社会，是一个化解仇恨的社会，那里的人有福了；一个没有经过神圣之爱洗礼的社会，是一个爱恨情仇轮回不已的社会，在此人们不仅世世代代饱尝了世态之炎凉和仇恨的苦果，也混混噩噩地参与了这种炎凉与仇恨的铸造。唉，１９世纪德国诗人里尔克的诗句又在我的耳边响起来了："既不了知痛苦 ／ 亦不懂得爱 ／那在死中携我们而去的东西／还深深地藏匿。" 什么时候，那陌生的爱才会进入我们的灵魂，成为中断爱恨情仇轮回的巨大力量？ -- Original Source:南方周末 <a href="http://www.yuwenonline.com/Article/news/shrd/200706/4636.html">http://www.yuwenonline.com/Article/news/shrd/200706/4636.html<a/> Language A language of the resource zh-Hans Title A name given to the resource 余虹：有一种爱我们还很陌生 仇� 弗�尼亚�工大学枪击事件 悼念仪� 爱 ３３根蜡烛 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Andrew Dunn Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource Christopher James Bishop, known as Jamie in his five years at UNC, was killed Monday in the tragedy that left 33 dead on the campus of Virginia Tech. He was 35. Bishop worked as an academic technology liaison at UNC from 2000 until 2005 with the Office of Arts & Sciences Information Services. He also taught an intermediate German course in 2004. He left UNC to become an adjunct instructor of German and a technology trainer with the Faculty Development Institute at Va. Tech. He was leading a class in introductory German at about 9:50 a.m. Monday when the gunman aimed at his head and fired, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. "Jamie&#39;s thoughtfulness, energy and laughter made him a wonderful peer and friend to many," his former co-workers said in a collective statement. "His legacy continues to shape the education of thousands of students to this day." Bishop first was hired at UNC as a temporary employee in 2000, his former supervisor, Jason Li, said. Bishop later was hired as a full-time employee, working with instructors in language departments and providing one-on-one training in computer applications. "He was such a motivated, dedicated employee," Li said. Charlie Green, associate vice chancellor for teaching and learning at Information Technology Services, looked back fondly on his time working with Bishop. "He was a creative thinker," Green said. "He was someone who saw technology as a creative tool." One innovation of Bishop&#39;s was a way to record students&#39; language practice through laptops. Previously, students had to tape-record their practice and physically bring the tape to their instructor, Green said. Bishop crafted a software package to record and send the practice digitally - which is of much higher quality and much more efficient. But Bishop&#39;s value was more than just in his work. "He cared about people," Green said. "He would spend a lot of time making sure people he worked with had everything they needed." Green said this aspect of his personality is reflected in the fact that Bishop was nominated for an Information Technology award - designed to reward versatility and willingness to go beyond the call of duty - each year he was at UNC. Bishop&#39;s wife, Stefanie Hofer, earned her Ph.D. in Germanic languages from UNC and later taught with Bishop in the German program at Va. Tech. Bishop was a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, and lived in Heidelberg from 1995 to 1996. He earned his bachelor&#39;s and master&#39;s in German at the University of Georgia. Bishop was also a prolific artist. He had posted an extensive gallery of photos, multimedia projects, graphic designs for book covers and computer-generated images on his Web site - www.memory39.com. "He was a member of our family," Green said. "He will be deeply missed." -- Original Source: <a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/18/University/Professor.Who.Died.In.Tragedy.Worked.At.Unc-2848420.shtml>Daily Tar Heel - April 18, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Daily Tar Heel Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource Professor who died in tragedy worked at UNC jamie bishop unc university affiliation 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Erin France, Eric Johnson, Jessica Schonberg and Alexandria Shealy Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource <b>Thousands honor fallen, rally hope</b> BLACKSBURG, Va. - Resounding cries of "Lets go Hokies!" echoed off the walls of Cassell Coliseum on Tuesday, capturing the mix of grief and pride that marked Virginia Tech&#39;s first full day of coping with the aftermath of Monday&#39;s massacre. The basketball stadium was filled with shouting students and community members, clad in the orange and maroon reminiscent of a Hokie Homecoming rally. Only minutes earlier, the room had been silent. The campus and the community gathered at the coliseum for a Convocation to mourn the deaths of the 33 students and faculty members who died Monday. President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush attended the event, along with all of Virginia&#39;s congressmen, Gov. Tim Kaine and his wife, members of the university board of visitors, members of the clergy, poet and Va. Tech professor Nikki Giovanni and local officials. "For many of you, your first instinct was to call home and let your moms and dads know that you were OK," Bush said. "I know many of you feel awfully far away from people you lean on and people you count on during difficult times. But as a dad, I can assure you a parent&#39;s love is never far from their child&#39;s heart." The 10,000-seat arena reached capacity about 20 minutes before the event began at 2 p.m. Several thousand people also camped out in Lane Stadium to watch the ceremony on the JumboTron, filling the football field and parts of the stands. Many students rested their heads on friends&#39; shoulders and cried as speakers took the stage. The Convocation marked the first time the Tech community was brought together after learning that a senior English major, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, was responsible for the shootings. "How can we know if something like this will happen again?" junior Brandon Campion questioned. "That&#39;s like everyone here." Later Tuesday night, as students gathered on the campus&#39; sprawling Drillfield for a candlelit vigil, a crowd of thousands stood silent for almost 10 minutes. The only sounds were of sniffles and camera shutters, as hundreds of photographers from across the world took in the scene. But even that somber event would not have been complete without the inevitable shouts of "Hokies!" and thousands of candles hoisted in a defiant toast of light. At one point, a stadium-style wave rippled across the field. "This is definitely a football school," quipped Weston Hunter, a graduate student in the mathematics department. Hunter said it felt right to remain on campus, even as many students left to be with family and friends. "It&#39;s good to be here," he said. "This is the most relevant place to be." Police confirmed Tuesday morning that Seung-Hui was the gunman in the shooting at Norris Hall, an engineering building, which left 31 people dead, including Seung-Hui. His death is being called a suicide. An earlier shooting at West Ambler-Johnston Residence Hall left two people dead - resident adviser Ryan Clark and freshman Emily Hilscher. Campus police Chief Wendell Flinchum said Tuesday that one of two handguns recovered from the Norris Hall crime scene also was used in the dorm shooting. However, he stopped short of saying Seung-Hui was the shooter in both incidents. One gun was a 9 mm handgun and the other a .22-caliber handgun. Seung-Hui was a South Korean native and a legal resident alien of the United States, here on a visa. He lived in Harper Residence Hall. His permanent residence is listed as Centreville, Va. As of Tuesday evening, nine people remained hospitalized in stable condition and two in serious condition. More than 20 people were injured in the incident and taken to hospitals across the region. As the names of victims leaked to the media, students found comfort and grief in the news. "(Clark) was doing his job and I think that&#39;s the hardest thing to deal with," said senior Manisha Joshi, who was a resident adviser with Clark for two years. Joshi said being around other people who understand what&#39;s going on has helped her deal with the tragedy. And even on such a large campus, with more than 25,000 full-time students, it is hard to find anyone who isn&#39;t somehow connected to the victims. "You&#39;ve either had class with them, they lived on someone&#39;s hall, or you&#39;ve seen them around," junior Staci Hudy said. "I&#39;m waiting to see when individual memorial services are going to be held." Many students are using Facebook.com to create groups for friends and supporters of the deceased. Some groups also have relayed information about those believed injured or dead. Numerous students expressed the need for solidarity in this time of crisis, and even many of those planning to spend time at home elected to stay long enough to attend the group events Tuesday. "I think it was a really nice thing that everybody got together," freshman Tiffani Price said after Convocation. Price said that her biology lab partner was killed and that one of her high-school friends still is missing. "I think it helped a lot of people. It helped everybody feel they had someone who was experiencing the same thing as them." Time is what students say it will take to move on and put this incident behind them. The semester is scheduled to close May 2, with Commencement set for May 12. "Please don&#39;t be concerned right now about how your academic situations will all work out," said Tom Brown, senior associate dean of students, at the Convocation. "You cannot get your mind back on academics without first taking some time to take care of yourself." Classes have been canceled for the remainder of the week to give students time to cope with the situation, and Norris Hall will be closed for the rest of the semester. "I think going to graduation this year is going to have a different effect on a lot of us," Joshi said. "It&#39;s going to be a time to celebrate, but it&#39;s also going to be a time to remember." -- Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/18/StateNational/Resilient.Hokies.Try.To.Pick.Up.Pieces-2848413.shtml>Daily Tar Heel - April 18, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Daily Tar Heel Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource Resilient Hokies try to pick up pieces coping on vt campus tragedy response unc 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Allison Nichols Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-27 Description An account of the resource <b>UNC community feels connected to Va. Tech</b> Hokie maroon and orange dotted the solemn crowd Tuesday night as hundreds from the Carolina community turned out in support of their peers at Virginia Tech. At a candlelight vigil organized by three UNC students from Northern Virginia, students, faculty and residents gathered in the Pit, on its steps and stood 10 deep in places outside it, many sporting ribbons with Va. Tech colors. Speakers and audience members expressed the need for community, both within UNC and also with all college students nationwide. "This is the time when, for all our words, we are speechless, when our fears trump our hopes," said Jan Rivero, campus minister of the Wesley Campus Ministry. "It is times like this when we need each other the most." Counselors from Counseling and Wellness were circulating the crowd in case of a need. Students were invited to write messages on posters that will be sent to Va. Tech. The posters will be in the Pit until the end of this week. Messages ranged from expressions of love for specific individuals to solidarity with the "Hokie nation" to "It could have been us" - an idea that seemed to be on the minds of many. "Virginia Tech is a lot like Carolina," said Margaret Jablonski, vice chancellor for student affairs, citing traits ranging from campus geography to each school&#39;s rabid sports fans. These similarities caused many students to wonder if a situation similar to the tragic shooting by a Va. Tech senior characterized as a loner that left 33 dead - including the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui - could happen here. "No campus is immune from what happened yesterday at Virginia Tech," Chancellor James Moeser said in a Tuesday press release addressed to the Carolina community. "Just as we always do in the wake of a security issue on this campus, we also will learn from the Va. Tech tragedy." Stephanie Berman, Skylar Gudas and Alison Linas, the Northern Virginia natives who organized the event, led the gathering in lighting candles as an expression of community. "As we pass the flame let us be silent and reflect on these events and remember our peers in Blacksburg," Linas said. Student Body President Eve Carson urged students to carry the feelings of community and solidarity forward. "We need to keep this culture of peace at the forefront of our mind." Chelsea Stahr, Va. Tech class of 2005, who sported maroon and orange from head to toe said she was encouraged by the UNC response. "I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support that UNC and all other schools have shown, and it just made it a lot easier." Stahr, who now lives and works in the area, commended Va. Tech for how it&#39;s coped with the situation. "The amount of support that they have shown the students and the amount of unity the students have shown ... that&#39;s what&#39;s going to get us through this," she said. Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said counselors and representatives from the dean of students office and various campus ministries were available to students Tuesday in the Union. He said his office will evaluate the situation today to see if a similar need exists. "We want to make it easy for students," he said, also citing the availability of counselors with walk-in hours in Counseling and Wellness, the office of the dean of students, community directors, resident advisers and faculty members. Campus Y Director Virginia Carson said that difficult times show what&#39;s truly important. "Our values are connecting with each other," she said, urging students to reach out to those most directly affected by the shootings. "They need you a little more now than they did yesterday." -- Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/18/StateNational/Support.Beyond.Words-2848418.shtml>Daily Tar Heel - April 18, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Daily Tar Heel Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource Support beyond words campus response support unc 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Elva Orozco Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Traducción libre Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-30 Description An account of the resource Traducción libre. Original en francés Publicado el 22 de Abril, 2007 El miércoles pasado se publicó en <b>Le Monde</b> una interesante entrevista realizada a Pap Ndiaye, historiador en la <b>Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales</b>, donde habla acerca de la cultura del arma de fuego en Estados Unidos. Esta entrevista fue impulsada por la tragedia ocurrida el pasado lunes 16 de abril en el Instituto Politécnico de la Universidad Estatal de Virginia en Blacksburg. Pap Ndiaye afirma que historicamente las armas de fuego en los Estados Unidos han tenido gran relevancia en el imaginario colectivo y que grupos de poder organizados en torno a su uso, como la <b>National Rifle Association</b>, juegan un papel fundamental en cuanto a la regulación de estos artefactos. Para Ndiaye este tipo de organizaciones se amparan en la Segunda Enmienda de la constitución estadounidense, la cual estipula que no se puede restringir el derecho de las personas a tener y portar armas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¿Usted piensa que se puede hablar de una cultura de la violencia en los Estados Unidos? Yo hablaría sobre todo de una cultura del arma de fuego, es decir, de una parte de la población americana para quienes poseer un arma no es únicamente un derecho, sino de igual manera una protección indispensable. Se ha conformado una comunidad de algunos millones de activistas que coleccionan armas, se entrenan regularmente, con frecuencia son miembros de la <b>National Rifle Association</b> (NRA), profesan un patriotismo a ultranza y se organizan eficazmente, en particular al seno del Partido Republicano. Por otra parte, la difusión masiva de armas de fuego favoriza su utilización rutinaria en situaciones de delincuencia, de conflicto, etc. Por ejemplo en Filadelfia en 2006 se registraron más de 330 muertos por arma de fuego. La situación se ha tornado tan alarmante en esa ciudad que los partidarios por el control de armas no militan por su prohibición, pero sí por una limitación en la venta de armas a razón de un arma por persona y por mes. Cada año se registran alrededor 10 000 homicidios por arma de fuego en los Estados Unidos, teniendo por víctimas y autores fundamentalmente a hombres jóvenes, de los cuales un número desproporcionado son negros e hispanos. Tan dramática es la situación que tiroteos como los de <b>Virginia Tech</b> cuentan poco dentro del total anual. En fin, existe una tradición de violencia política: los presidentes Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley y Kennedy fueron asesinados, del mismo modo que personalidades como Martin Luther King y Robert Kennedy. La cultura del arma de fuego afecta a la mayoría de los estadounidenses, pero eso no es objeto de una movilización política suficiente que permitiera hacer retroceder al poderoso grupo de presión de armas y los intereses económicos asociados. Tan solo las ventas anuales de armas de fuego ligeras sobrepasan el millón de dólares. Gracias a la NRA, desde 2005, los fabricantes de armas y de municiones están al abrigo de toda acción judiciaria. <b>¿Las armas son parte de la ideología americana?</b> En cierto sentido sí. La Segunda Enmienda de la Constitución estadounidense garantiza el derecho a poseer armas de fuego. Pero los historiadores han subrayado que las armas de fuego no siempre han hecho parte de la cultura americana. Antes de la Guerra de Secesión, muy pocos americanos poseían armas, comprendiendo a los habitantes del Oeste, que tenían más libros que fusiles... A partir de 1860, las armas se generalizaron, llegaron a ser menos caras y más precisas, fueron promovidas por los industriales del armamento y los políticos. Las armas formaron parte de la cultura popular gracias a personajes como Buffalo Bill, cazador de bisontes, que presentará la conquista del Oeste como una historia de carabinas y colts. La NRA fue fundada en la misma época, en 1871, y ha mantenido relaciones estrechas con el poder político hasta nuestros días. En su más reciente libro, Gun Show Nation (New Press, octubre 2006), Joan Burdick ha mostrado que la puesta en marcha de la Segunda Enmienda se remonta a los años 60, cuando una franja ultraconservadora del pais promovió las armas como medio para defenderse contra los movimientos sociales de la época, la sublevación negra, comunista y feminista, asociando su uso a un pasado mistificado: la de los verdaderos americanos de la libertad y el patriotismo. <b>Precisamente, la Segunda Enmienda es uno de los principales argumentos de la NRA... </b> Sí, pero es objeto de interpretaciones jurídicas variadas en un sentido más o menos liberal. Varias leyes han venido a regular el comercio de armas, desde el Gun Control Act de 1968 hasta la ley "Brady" de 1994, que impone la verificación de los antecedentes penales del comprador de un arma. Pero eso no atañe a las ventas en los "gun shows", las ferias donde se vende una cantidad increíble de armas de todo calibre. Conseguir un arma es siempre muy cómodo, particularmente en los Estados del oeste o el sur, como Virginia. <b>¿La matanza de Blacksburg puede hacer evolucionar el debate?</b> Víctimas, como las de Columbine en 1999, tuvieron la oportunidad de hacerse entender por los partidistas del control de armas, pero no supieron, hasta el presente, estar tan organizados como el grupo de presión de armas, muy bien representado en el Congreso y en la Casa Blanca. Sin embargo, el Congreso viene de cambiar de mayoría y el momento podría ser propicio para la consolidación de la legislación. Pero es necesario permanecer prudentes, ya que la NRA es influyente y activa. Es uno de los más poderosos grupos de presión en los Estados Unidos, de los cuales los 4 millones de miembros contribuyeron a las victorias electorales de George W. Bush. Los demócratas que piensan en la elección presidencial de 2008, se muestran circunspectos sobre la cuestión. Es probable que no pasará nada. -- Fuente Original: Sociología Contemporánea, Recursos electrónicos para la generación de crítica social. <a href="http://sociologiac.mitus-serveur.net/2007/04/22/la-cultura-del-arma-de-fuego-en-los-estados-unidos/">http://sociologiac.mitus-serveur.net/2007/04/22/la-cultura-del-arma-de-fuego-en-los-estados-unidos/</a> Licencia de Uso: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/"> Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0. Language A language of the resource spa Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Title A name given to the resource La cultura del arma de fuego en los Estados Unidos cultura del arma de fuego national rifle association pap ndiaye segundaenmienda 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Elva Orozco Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Salinger (a.k.a. Al Valdes) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-30 Description An account of the resource Creado por: Salinger (a.k.a. Al Valdes) Posteado por Äl a las 2:37 AM Tarde, pero no quiero que las fatales e inocentes victimas de Virginia Tech caigan en el olvido de este mi humilde blog. Por ende, quiero escribir unas palabras en su recuerdo. Ya se que no tiene remedio, pero todos esperamos que descanseis en paz. Sabemos que no lo mereciais, ni vosotros ni las familias, ni la ciudad, ni siquiera el mundo entero. No empañaré vuestra memoria mencionando al instigador de semejante atrocidad. Total, es lo que queria, visto lo visto. Y tampoco voy a entrar en nacionalidades, razas o credos. Todos somos iguales, para bien o para mal. Alla donde esteis, &#39;Rest in Peace&#39;. -- Fuente Original: Acuse de Recibo Retazos Sutiles en forma soñica, España. <a href="http://parajeremoto.blogspot.com/2007/04/rest-in-peace.html">http://parajeremoto.blogspot.com/2007/04/rest-in-peace.html</a> Licencia de uso: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/es/"> Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 2.5 España Language A language of the resource spa Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 2.5 España Title A name given to the resource &#39;Rest in Peace&#39; descanseis en paz palabras en recuerdo de las victimas 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Elva Orozco Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Santiago Bustelo Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-30 Description An account of the resource Creado por Santiago Bustelo April 17th, 2007 La masacre estudiantil en Virginia Tech ocurrida ayer (lunes 16 de abril de 2007) ha vuelto a instalar la discusión de algunos de los valores de la sociedad norteamericana y del resto del mundo... de una manera tan estéril como en ocasiones anteriores. <b>Los cómplices, <i>o el lado correcto de la mira</b></i> En el tema de la regulación de armas, las opiniones en Norteamérica son opuestas. Básicamente, porque dependen de qué lado de la mira esté -o crea estar- quien opina. La Asociación del Rifle Americano (NRA) cuenta con 4.3 millones de miembros, lo que la convierte en la ONG más grande del mundo. En esta ocasión, al igual que en todos los casos anteriores, sus miembros y autoridades están preparados a expresar sus condolencias... y a dejar claro que no creen que la facilidad con la que se pueden conseguir en EE.UU. armas <i>diseñadas para matar a una gran cantidad de gente en poco tiempo y con un mínimo esfuerzo</i>, tenga algo que ver con que alguien haya decidido -nuevamente- ponerlo en práctica. Claro que no sólo en EE.UU. ocurren masacres de este tipo. En el resto del mundo, cada tanto algún Don Nadie se siente inspirado por quienes pasaron a la historia atentando gratuitamente contra la vida de los demás. Que las armas no estén al alcance de cualquiera, impide a la mayoría pasar a la acción. En el caso de la masacre estudiantil de Carmen de Patagones, Argentina, el perpetrador era el hijo de un policía: le bastó con abrir un cajón para pasar a los hechos. Los miembros de la NRA creen que portar armas garantiza su seguridad personal. O sea, que tener un arma les asegura mágicamente estar del lado correcto de la mira, y que otros no los consideren como un blanco posible. Mientras que la realidad es que en el momento en que alguien nos está apuntando, tener un arma (descargada y prolijamente guardada en un lugar seguro para evitar que nuestros hijos se vuelen la cabeza por accidente), difícilmente haga una diferencia. Sería preferible que otro no nos esté apuntando en primer lugar. En la mentalidad de la NRA, la portación de armas es más que un derecho. Tratándose de la "segunda enmienda", se lo compara en importancia a la primera (la que garantiza la libertad de expresión). Veamos qué dice la famosa Segunda Enmienda: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. En castellano: <i>Siendo necesaria una milicia bien regulada para la seguridad de un Estado Libre, no debe ser vulnerado el derecho del Pueblo de poseer y portar armas</i>. Esto es, el derecho a portar armas tiene para la Segunda Enmienda el <i>propósito</i> de garantizar la seguridad <i>nacional</i>. La seguridad personal no está contemplada como finalidad. Sin embargo, teniendo el ejército más poderoso del planeta, la posibilidad de que EE.UU. sea víctima de una invasión extranjera es prácticamente nula. Más bien, su ejército tiene la costumbre de invadir "preventivamente" todos los países que puedan suponer una amenaza política o económica. El mantenimiento de la <i>Pax Americana</i> debe poco a los más de cuatro millones de miembros de la NRA, a quienes no vemos formando filas quilométricas para partir a Medio Oriente. En lugar de ello, el grueso de las tropas se compone de clases bajas e hijos de inmigrantes. Para ellos, alistarse y arriesgar la vida, es la única manera de obtener una educación y una posición social. <b>Las víctimas, o la cabeza de turco del loco del gatillo</b> ¿Por qué alguien puede alimentar deseos de matar a diestra y siniestra y, peor aún, llegar a hacerlo? Calificar a los perpetradores de estos actos como locos y desquiciados, es la mejor manera de no responder a esa pregunta. Están locos, punto, fin de la discusión. Una veta de "respuestas" aún "mejores" que enuncian algunos norteamericanos, busca culpar al ateísmo (la separación de la Iglesia y el Estado en la educación) o a una "posesión demoníaca", que para esta gente viene a ser más o menos lo mismo. El perpetrador abandonó a Dios, fuente de toda razón y justicia, así que todos sus actos estaban desprovistos de ambas. Y ahora arde en el infierno, fin del problema. De estas maneras, se evita tocar el problema de fondo: cómo una sociedad que valora a sus individuos sólo en base a lo que pueden tener o producir para que tengan los demás, termina alienándolos y convirtiéndolos en Nada, al punto en que pierden el amor a sí mismos y por extensión, al resto de la especie humana. Los alienados y desesperados de clase baja merecen todos los días las páginas de policiales, por su capacidad de asesinar a otro para sacarle dos pesos. El hecho de que en ello no valoren su propia vida (a diferencia de la mayoría de la humanidad, que vive con menos de US$ 1 por día y enfrenta dignamente la pobreza sin matar ni exponerse a morir), queda oculto bajo el motivo de una satisfacción material. Que es la más valorada por la mecánica capitalista: como el capital genera capital, se erige como un fin en sí mismo y como fin último. El Hombre queda desplazado de este círculo, cumpliendo meramente el rol de fuerza laboral necesaria para que la rueda siga girando. El caso de quienes empuñan un arma contra sus compañeros de clase, en cambio, no admite una desesperada necesidad material como explicación. Pero nadie parece dispuesto a analizar qué tienen en común los ricos y los pobres que salen a matar o morir (o ambas cosas). <b>Conclusión</b> Quienes dedican su vida a cualquier rama de la ciencia -tanto <i>exactas</i> como <i>humanísticas</i>-, saben que no existen casos inexplicables. En todo caso, hay casos que los puntos de vista y teorías actuales no contemplan. Y que requieren ampliarlos o reformularlos. Ante las masacres estudiantiles, podemos atrevernos a analizar los valores que nuestra sociedad considera <i>normales</i> y enfrentar las causas de nuestra propia alienación (y las del resto de la humanidad)... o concluir rápidamente que "hay gente muy loca", cambiar de canal y seguir en nuestra cómoda ignorancia. -- Fuente Original: santiago bustelo - detras de las pantallas blog. <a href="http://www.bustelo.com.ar/index.php/es/2007/04/17/virginia_tech_shootings_aftermath/">http://www.bustelo.com.ar/index.php/es/2007/04/17/virginia_tech_shootings_aftermath/</a> Licencia de uso: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/"> Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 2.5 Argentina. Language A language of the resource spa Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 2.5 Argentina Title A name given to the resource VirginiaTech: 32 muertos, 4.3 millones de cómplices y 6.000 millones de víctimas alienacin nra opinin pblica regulacin de armas 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Elva Orozco Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Periodista Digital.com Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-30 Description An account of the resource Creado por Periodista Digital 14.06.07 El asesinato de 32 personas por un estudiante desequilibrado el pasado mes de abril en la Universidad Politécnica de Virginia, en Estados Unidos, ha propiciado que por primera vez en 10 años el sacrosanto derecho a portar armas que impera en el país vaya a ser matizado con un control más estricto en los puntos de venta y del historial (psiquiátrico y delictivo) de los compradores. La nueva ley ha sido propuesta por la ultraconservadora Asociación Nacional del Rifle (NRA, en sus siglas inglesas) y aprobada por aclamación ayer en la Cámara de Representantes. Ahora espera el trámite final en el Senado. "Tal y como nos recordó el tiroteo de Virginia Tech, existe una urgente necesidad nacional de mejorar el sistema de antecedentes" para controlar a quién llegan las armas, señaló la presidenta de la Cámara, la demócrata Nancy Pelosi. Según el texto, los Estados que conforman EE UU se beneficiarán de importantes incentivos financieros para poner al día la base de datos sobre personas para las que está prohibido comprar un arma, en particular criminales y sujetos con problemas psiquiátricos. Además, los Estados serán multados si no ponen en marcha estas medidas. Sin embargo, y como una concesión a la NRA, la nueva legislación permitirá también que personas que hayan cometido "infracciones menores" sean eliminadas del fichero, así como que los veteranos de guerra con problemas mentales incluidos en el mismo tengan la posibilidad de limpiar el registro. Una matanza evitable En el caso de Cho Seung-Hui, el estudiante que mató a 32 personas en Virginia, éste nunca debía haber obtenido el permiso para comprar un arma, dado que tenía antedecentes de problemas psiquiátricos. Wayne La Pierre, vicepresidente de la NRA, ha precisado que la ley no "descalifica a nadie" que tenga la intención de comprar un arma legalmente, si no que, "al contrario, al contrario, da la oportunidad aquéllos que han sido descalificados de "limpiar su nombre". "Los dueños de armas no pierden nada en la ley, tal y como está formulada por el momento", ha recordado La Pierre a los más de cuatro millones de miembros de su asociación. -- Fuente Original: Periodista Digital.com <a href="http://blogs.periodistadigital.com/tizas.php/2007/06/14/virginia_tech_armas_seung_rifle_9933">http://blogs.periodistadigital.com/tizas.php/2007/06/14/virginia_tech_armas_seung_rifle_9933</a> Licencia de uso: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/"> Creative Commons Attribution 2.5. Language A language of the resource spa Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Title A name given to the resource EEUU endurece sus leyes sobre armas tras la matanza de Virginia Tech cmara de representantes control de armas nancy pelosi wayne la pierre 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Elva Orozco Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Markapazos Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-30 Description An account of the resource Publicado por markapazos - Un punto de encuentro. <i>In Memory of the lives that were lost in this senseless tragedy Our hearts go out to the fallen and the injured. Our prayers are with the family and friends of the victims.</i> <i>I want to share with You these words that a friend sent to me and who is professor of the Faculty of Engineering and that by things of life did not have to be present at that tragic moment.</i> <i>Yo quiero compartir con Ustedes esta palabras que me envio un amigo quien es profesor de la Facultad de Ingenieria y que por cosas de la vida, el no estuvo ese tragico momento.</i> <i>A quote out from one of our members</i> "Lets us all pray that no blame be placed. Let us pray that something this tragic never happens again. Let us pray for the media to look beyond the story here and allow all who have been affected an opportunity to gain understanding and to heal. Let us pray for this to be something which will draw us all closer together as a country and closer to God. Let us all pray that there will be no retaliation by those who believe it is warranted against any culture, nationality religion or any other human being in this beautiful world created by our maker. "Let us pray" Written & submitted by: Kennysr61 We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness ... We are the Hokies ... Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist. En el marco de locura y baño de sangre originado por un estudiante surcoreano fuera de sí en la Universidad Virginia Tech, nos muestra que su ser y su corazón estaba en crisis y no tuvo esa mano amiga para enseñarle la verdad y mostrarle la cosas hermosas que tenemos alrededor. Vivimos en una época de falsos héroes, hombres arañas vestidos de negro, estrellas mediáticas cuyo único afán es el egocentrismo y culto a si mismos, y sin embargo en este mundo de contrastes que nos toca para vivir, un profesor sobreviviente de la máxima barbarie cometida contra el pueblo judío, se inmola, sin importarle la raza, religión status de clase de sus pupilos, el simplemente puso su cuerpo, como escudo contra el demente asesino, despechado por el amor de una mujer (que cosa más patética), del loco segado por los sentimientos que le originaba otro ser humano. Por todo esto sigo insistiendo en mi blog sobre todo aquello que se requiere a través de la reflexión para entrar a una conciencia segura que nos garantice bienestar personal, familiar y al entorno en el cual nos movemos, manteniendo esos principios fundamentales de vida. Se requiere conciencia y amor como el inicio de nuestros valores... Pero al hablar sobre el amor, sería conveniente considerar las siguientes premisas que debemos inculcarnos a nosotros mismos y a los demás seres queridos: No se puede dar lo que no se posee... Porque para dar amor hay que tener amor. No se puede enseñar lo que no se entiende... Porque para enseñar sobre el amor y de amor, sencillamente hay que comprender el amor. No se puede saber lo que no se estudia... Porque para estudiar el amor es necesario vivir en el amor. No se puede apreciar lo que no se reconoce... Porque para reconocer el amor es necesario estar receptivo al amor. No se puede dudar de aquello en lo que uno quiere confiar... Porque para confiar en el amor es necesario estar convencido del amor. No se puede admitir aquello ante lo que uno no se rinde... Porque para rendirse por amor es necesario ser vulnerable al amor. No se puede vivir de aquello a lo que uno no se dedica... Porque para dedicarse al amor es necesario crecer eternamente en el amor El amor es dudas es la experiencia mas sublime e importante en la vida y por supuesto es el estado que engrandece al ser humano. -- Fuente original: <a href="http://markapazos.blogspot.com/2007/04/virginia-tech-memorial.html">http://markapazos.blogspot.com/2007/04/virginia-tech-memorial.html</a> Licencia de uso: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/"> Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5. Language A language of the resource spa Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Title A name given to the resource Virginia Tech Memorial... (Text in english & Spanish) poema 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Na Mi Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 心口 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource 4月24日的《参考消息》刊登了一篇题为《"希望人们把怨恨化为宽恕"——美国民众将赵承熙也视为受害者》的报道，读后颇有感慨。 赵承熙，就是那位制造了美国弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击案的凶手，一位举家于数年前从韩国迁往美国的新移民。他在一手造成了 32人丧生后自杀。如果这事偏偏发生在咱们这个"文明古国"，那么，国人的态度会怎样呢？不用说，对赵承熙"恨之入骨"、"咬牙切齿"；对他的身亡也认为 "罪有应得"、"死有余辜"；而对他的父母，在舆论界甚至还要追究"家庭教育责任"。但是，当这种史无前例的校园命案发生在美国时，该国民众的宽容却令中国人无法想象。 在美国人看来，赵承熙虽是凶手，但也是受害者，至于其家人因失去了亲人所带来的悲痛也应慰藉。所以，在4月21日的弗吉尼亚理工大学的操场上，纪念遇难者的花岗岩悼念石不是32块，而是包括赵承熙在内共33块，写着姓名的彩纸也同样如此。而学生在悼念仪式上，敲响的是33 声丧钟，放飞到空中的气球也同样是33个......总之，悼念遇难者的一切活动，都没将赵承熙"抛弃"。对此，似乎没有哪个师生和遇难者的亲人提出异议。而美国民众写给在另一个世界的赵承熙的话更让我们的眼睛为之一亮： "你没能获得必要的帮助，知道这个事实的时候，我感到非常悲哀。希望你的家人能尽快得到安慰并恢复平静。巴贝拉。" "今后如果看到像你一样的孩子，我会对他伸出双手，给予他勇气和力量，把他的人生变得更好。我希望你的家人能克服你的作为带给他们的痛苦。希望你对其他那么多人的生活造成的破坏尽快复原，而这类事也不再重演。希望许多人心中对你的怨恨化为宽恕。大卫。" "希望你知道，我并没有太生你的气，不憎恨你。你没有得到任何帮助和安慰，对此我感到非常心痛。所有的爱都包含在这里。劳拉。"...... 而针对给赵承熙的姐姐4月20日公布的道歉文，也有很多回帖值得我们体味： "这不是你或你家人的错误。你也失去了你心爱的人。克拉克。" "对为了遇害者家属而勇敢站出来的赵承熙家人表示感谢。赵承熙的家人也在我的祈祷名单中。克里斯蒂娜。"...... 对于上述留言，读过的朋友不知有何感受？我想说的是：数十年来，中国大陆与美国在很多"大事"上都有些"针尖对麦芒"。其中孰是孰非，并不是一般人所能明晰的，甚至有的根本就不存在对与错。我能明显感知的是，如今中国人最向往的国家还是美国。为什么？除了物质条件的相对优越之外，美国的精神财富也比我们还是要富有得多。这是不争的事实！至于缘由，我说不清！也许与他们普遍拥有宗教情怀有关？也许与他们那已深入到胃髓里的做人意识有关？其实，我们的教育也提"教书育人"。可是，我们会发现：每一个人从小到大在家庭、学校、社会受到过同口径的实实在在做人的教育吗？如果有，那也是特例！就连我们曾经颇感自豪的"中国式的政治教育"，通过几十年的实践证明，还是取消最好。所以，我有时候想：我们向美国学习的东西不光是科学技术，而且还包括为人处事。 作者：心口 （2007年4月24日晚） -- Original Source:宇辰金融圈 <a href="http://www.ah1234.com/Article/wz/whzt/200704/326.html">http://www.ah1234.com/Article/wz/whzt/200704/326.html<a/> Language A language of the resource zh-Hans Title A name given to the resource 如果赵承熙在中国…… 宽� �害者 美国民众 赵承熙 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Na Mi Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 中新社 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource 万维读者网 2007-05-13 09:48:37 美国弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击事件是美国历史上最严重的，甚至吸引了全球的目光，白宫发言人把校园枪击案形容为一场令"美国人心碎"的悲剧。 　　枪击案发生后，不断有细致、深入的报导和反思。 　　从一开始，人们也有另外的各种担心。凶手被确定是韩国人，部分韩国留学生就担心美国对韩国人的成见会加深。在韩国，"去美国留学的孩子们将不会好过"，"美国签证免签问题是否泡汤了"，"若去美国旅游遭到恐怖袭击怎么办"，"与美国商定的FTA是否被取消"......从关乎个人的签证到涉及国家的韩美自由贸易协定，人们的担忧无所不及。 　　这些担忧并非空穴来风，因为枪击者赵承熙被证实是韩国人后，在美国网络不断有充满仇恨的博客文章："不可理喻的韩国人，让他们完蛋吧"，"在韩国是年轻男人必须服兵役参军或当警察，因为是这种环境才出现这样的人"，"我在韩国待了5年。我看到韩国政府在学校怂恿&#39;反美主义&#39;。应该给韩国大使馆写信立即制止这种做法"。 　　这些博客有不知情乱发议论的，也有是从外国人的角度看问题的。韩国人因怕被美国指定为"危险的异邦人"而感到不安，担心如阿拉伯人9人11后在美国受到无情的检查，以至人权被侵犯。 　　已经发生的悲剧令人恐惧，而由此可能引发的更大误解及报復更恐怖。 　　欣慰的是，在仇恨声浪之中人们又听到了一些美国人理智、清醒的声音。"如果是白人开的枪，人们会说这是一个疯子。可在凶手是韩国人的事实被曝光的瞬间，就成了人种问题。希望这件事不要牵扯到愚蠢的人种主义""一个病态的年轻人的屠杀不应该使我们去抨击双边关係和不同的文化群体。我们不应该将一切政治化，而应该努力保护和治疗那些陷于恐怖和痛苦的人，排在首位的是受害者、受害者的家人和朋友、枪手的家人、他在弗吉尼亚州森特维尔的邻居和他的大学校园。" 　　沿着这一思考方向，人们看到感人的一幕： 　　在弗吉尼亚理工大学的操场上，33个纪念遇难者的花岗岩悼念石摆成一个半圆形，其中包括凶手赵承熙的悼念石。这是因为，他虽然犯下残忍的罪行，但学校和社会此前没能对精神有问题的他提供适当的治疗和心理咨询，人们对此感到遗憾，这样做同时也是为了安慰他的家人。 　　"你没能获得必要的帮助，知道这个事实的时候，我感到非常悲哀。希望你的家人能尽快得到安慰并恢復平静。巴贝拉。" 　　"今后如果看到像你一样的孩子，我会对他伸出双手，给予他勇气和力量，把他的人生变得更好。我希望你的家人能克服你的作为带给他们的痛苦。希望你对其他那么多人的生活造成的破坏尽快復原，而这类事也不再重演。希望许多人心中对你的怨恨化为宽恕。大卫。" 　　这是美国民众写给枪击案凶手赵承熙的一些话。 　　石头上堆了鲜花、蜡烛、国旗和各式各样的纪念品──从兄弟球队带来的垒球到毛绒动物玩具。在赵承熙的悼念石上，和其它悼念石一样，在剪成VT(弗吉尼亚理工大学的缩写)模样的橘黄色彩纸上写着"2007年4月16日赵承熙"。 　　人们在悼念石前想着遇难者，不断擦拭着泪水。他们看到赵承熙悼念石前放置的纸条后，不禁露出百感交集的表情。三年级学生雷切尔说："他虽然很可恶，但他的家人真可怜。" 　　任何一个类似的惨案发生，人们都会悲伤，进而仇恨凶手，希望复仇，但这不是种族歧视的理由，更不该以恶制恶，由此制造更大范围的新的仇恨。多数美国人在悲伤中，随着对事件的了解、反思的深入，认识到凶手也是受害者，给予宽恕，其理智、胸襟令人敬佩，给人的启迪也是深刻的。 　　在世界不断上演着冤冤相报惨剧的今天，深入研究宽容文化，无疑是个重要的课题。因为，建设和谐家园乃至和谐世界，不仅要消除物质贫困，更要化解、消除人与人之间的误解与仇恨。（中新社） -- Original Source:中新社 <a href="http://news.creaders.net/us/subject_details.php?id=411279">http://news.creaders.net/us/subject_details.php?id=411279<a/> Language A language of the resource zh-Hans Title A name given to the resource 怨恨中的感人一幕：赵承熙获宽容引发反思 赵承熙，宽容，悼念石，美国民众，弗�尼亚�工 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sarah Mogin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource News | Sarah Mogin Wednesday night, students and faculty gathered by the Fence. In the midst of the cold and windy weather, 70 hands cupped 70 flickering flames as the Carnegie Mellon community mourned the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. Last Monday, 23-year-old Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed himself and 32 others in the deadliest shooting executed by a single person in United States history. The attacks occurred in a dormitory and an academic building, both located on the Virginia Tech campus. The vigil by the Fence is only one example of the ways in which colleges and universities nationwide are coming together to honor those slain. "Students totally took the lead on creating this opportunity to express themselves after the Virginia Tech shootings," said Jonathan Kroll, housefellow for Morewood Gardens. "I think it definitely helps with the grieving process." The vigil began at 9 p.m. with a moment of silence. As the group grew in number, participants continued to light the candles of those who gathered along the periphery of the crowd. Student Body President Karl Sjogren passed out lyrics to to "Lean on Me" and the group then joined in song. After that, students and faculty members, one of whom was an alumna of Virginia Tech, took turns speaking informally. Two hours earlier, the Hillel Jewish University Center (JUC) of Pittsburgh hosted a vigil led by rabbi Jamie Gibson of Temple Sinai. Gibson led those attending in song and prayer, and students read prayers as well. During the vigil, Gibson gave personal attention to each of the departed. "We knew that we wanted to read the names of every single person whose name had been released," said Sahar Oz, the JUC&#39;s assistant director. "And we also wanted to say a few things about them." Students lit candles for each of the known victims: Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old Holocaust survivor; Reema Samaha, an 18-year-old first-year; Kevin Granata, a biomechanics researcher and a leader in his field; and 26 others. The group also lit three candles for the victims whose names had not yet been released. Oz found Librescu&#39;s death particularly troubling. Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was shot while protecting his students by guarding the entrance to his classroom. "He was murdered on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is an occasion observed around the world," Oz said. "It sent shock and a tremendous sense of loss to the Jewish community." The tragedy resonated in particular with several Carnegie Mellon students in the JUC who met Virginia Tech students last May while on a Birthright trip to Israel. "One of the things we did immediately was try to reach the eight students who went on this trip from Virginia Tech," Oz said. All eight were unharmed. "We had that added element of emotional proximity," Oz said. The modern languages department is also making plans to reach out to Virginia Tech, in part because so many of the shootings took place in foreign-language classrooms. "We feel closer," said Sono Hayes-Takano, a Japanese professor. "We&#39;ve been brainstorming," Hayes-Takano said. "People in MLSAC, [Modern Languages Student Advisory Committee], they&#39;re thinking about raising money for [the victims&#39;] memorial fund." Beyond the campus community, the Internet has helped many feel connected to the Virginia Tech victims. "I think the Internet in this case has been a tremendous asset," Oz said. "I think Facebook is a great example." Profiles of victims on Facebook, in addition to those on news sites such as CNN and BBC News, have helped humanize the tragedy. "We don&#39;t want these victims to become statistics," Oz said. "Keep it personal." But with such accessibility, fear is often not too far behind. "There is this sense of, &#39;It could happen to me,&#39; " Oz said. Students feeling vulnerable might benefit from becoming familiar with Carnegie Mellon&#39;s security policy. "We have trained a certain number of people ... in every building," said Madelyn Miller, director of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) at the university. RAs, building marshals, and other qualified individuals are among those who have received training, she said. EH&S has had a system called AlertNow in place for the past couple of years. AlertNow enables EH&S to make 5000 phone calls in about a minute, which could help alert floor marshals of a campus emergency. "Not everybody knows that we have these procedures in place," Miller said. In the past, EH&S&#39;s procedures were kept online behind a firewall. The procedures were privatized because they included the cell phone numbers of various staff members, in addition to the locations of hazardous materials throughout campus. After Virginia Tech, EH&S decided to make the procedures available to the public — without the information regarding cell phones or hazardous materials. Carnegie Mellon&#39;s urban campus is an asset in the event of an emergency, Miller said. The university is within close reach of city, county, and state police. "I think it makes us safer," she said. Moreover, RAs are trained to recognize suspicious students, which could help prevent a future incident, Kroll said. Concern from other students is often cause for immediate action. "Undoubtedly, we take that very seriously," he said. -- Original Source:<a href=http://www.thetartan.org/2007/4/23/news/va_tech>The Tartan - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Tartan Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Shawn Wertz <swertz@andrew.cmu.edu> Title A name given to the resource How Carnegie Mellon is keeping campus safe after VA Tech massacre campus safety cmu grief vigil 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tartan Board Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource Forum | Tartan Board Amid the chaos of what is already being called the Virginia Tech massacre, the Internet was a steady flow of fairly accurate information. Blogs — typically the anti-news source — were what helped piece together the events of early last Monday. Facebook — the social networking site of the century — was what helped friends and family know loved ones were okay. AIM idle times — usually an annoyance to anyone who wants to talk to someone — were identifiers to possible whereabouts for specific times. Wikipedia — what you shouldn&#39;t quote in your class paper — garnered a timetable of events from the aforementioned online "sources." News sites — reliable sources — assembled information about victims from their online profiles. Most of us were affected by the shootings at Columbine in April 1999; as middle schoolers and junior high students, a high school shooting wasn&#39;t something to which we could easily turn a blind eye. Yet the shootings at Virginia Tech seem different, as we are all more closely linked by our similarities — we are all college students — and by our constant connection to the Internet. As we have seen with the deaths of students on our own campus, a Facebook wall can become a memorial; and as students who don&#39;t know the deceased read the walls, it&#39;s often an additional cause for legitimate sorrow. Facebook, and the Internet as a whole, lets us get a little bit closer to knowing the people who have died, and lets us understand what victims&#39; friends are going through, too. The walls of the Virginia Tech massacre victims are experiencing the same flood of visitors, and a lot of it stands to show that as a generation, we are capable of coming together to support each other. ABCNews.com &#39;s April 16 article about online developments included bits from some students&#39; online postings; one included a request for a Facebook group that calls to keep the facts of the incident straight. Another posting from ABCNews.com&#39;s article said that people from all over the world were soliciting videos of personal reactions from students via the Internet. The way the Internet has been utilized by our generation for the Virginia Tech Massacre is telling. While great in some ways, the Internet cannot be a substitute for action or an acceptable replacement for tasteful behavior. The sheer volume of people expressing condolences is amazing and, perhaps, comforting. At the same time, the deluge of Internet gestures makes each one progressively more meaningless. A group search for "Virginia Tech" and "pray" on Facebook returns over 500 results. Except for two groups, at least the first five pages of search returns for just "Virginia Tech" are some kind of remembrance groups. The sentiment is spectacular if it&#39;s based in fact or action, but it is important to remember that starting a Facebook group does not necessarily solve problems or incite real action. Ultimately, human contact is what will help us all move on from this tragedy, not staring at a computer screen. The varied uses for the Internet in the case of the massacre backs arguments from both sides about the Internet: It globalizes, but also singularizes; brings people together, but also prevents actual involvement. We encourage students to use the Internet to help grieve and show support for the Virginia Tech community. When grappling with such terrible loss, the Internet is an excellent tool — it just shouldn&#39;t be the only tool. Good things come from the Internet being used to its fullest capacity, and so do weaker things. We are the Internet generation. We just need to learn to harness the power of the Internet, to use it to unite, but to not expect impossible things from it. -- Original Source:<a href=http://www.thetartan.org/2007/4/23/forum/boarded2> The Tartan - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Shawn Wertz <swertz@andrew.cmu.edu> Title A name given to the resource Internet plays powerful role in wake of Va. Tech cmu facebook internet web 20 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Claire Morgenstern Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource Forum | Claire Morgenstern The day following the Virginia Tech shootings, a message from President Cohon was sent out via e-mail outlining procedures for seeking psychological counseling and reassuring us that we had security on campus. The university wished to provide reassurance that "it couldn&#39;t happen here." Two days later, on April 19, Carnegie Mellon endured its own potential nightmare. A graduate student was apprehended by police with a three-foot-tall, torpedo-shaped metal cylinder in the backseat of his car behind Smith Hall. Police determined that the object was benign — though they would not, or could not, reveal what it was used for. Not exactly a reassuring scenario. The entire incident lasted less than two hours, and most students were blissfully unaware of it. Officials sent out no e-mail warning, issued no official evacuation or lockdown order. Even now, after 10 days, Official Communications has yet to explain the incident or reassure the campus. No press release has been posted on our own university website, though Media Relations spent hours in the wake of the incident talking to local TV and newspaper reporters, presumably to ensure they had the latest information. University Police literally hung up the phone when asked for information. Despite the horrific events at Virginia Tech and all that we had supposedly "learned" there, Carnegie Mellon made precisely the same potential mistake — cutting off communication to the campus community. President Cohon&#39;s post-Virginia Tech e-mail was similarly ambiguous. Serving more as a liability waiver than an instructional tool, it put the burden on students to seek help in an effort to return to normalcy. Cohon and the administration should first hold up their end of the deal by ensuring campus saftey through effective communication instead of arbitrarily offering counseling. That e-mail also linked to an obscure university website that — who knew? — outlined campus safety procedures. This site, ehs.cmu.edu, previously firewalled, was only made accessible in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre. Still, its utility is limited. A student who visits the site can learn how to prepare for heat rash, SARS, or West Nile virus — but not what to do when he sees someone wielding a handgun. Environmental Health and Safety&#39;s (EH&S) emergency communication consists of AlertNow, a system that enables the department to make 5000 phone calls a minute to alert floor marshals of a campus emergency. This system was not implemented on April 19 — an unforgivable decision in the age of text and instant messaging, PDAs, and podcasts. Furthermore, the system only alerts floor marshals and RAs, enabling those who are already in a building to stay there and offering no instructions to those already outside — exactly what happened at Virginia Tech. Carnegie Mellon can do better. Days before the Virginia Tech massacre, Princeton University instituted the Connect-ED alert system. It enables campus leaders to send simultaneous alerts to individuals through landline and cellular phones, text messaging, and e-mail in a matter of minutes using contact information provided by each member of the campus community. While no one could expect such a system to be implemented tomorrow, we have the right to expect basic, essential information to be disseminated promptly through the systems we already have, specifically e-mail and the university website. The university&#39;s actions, or lack thereof, are completely insufficient. Clearly, "it could never happen here" is not a valid excuse; hopefully, no student, let alone 33, will have to die before the university improves its safety measures. -- Original Source: <a href=http://www.thetartan.org/2007/4/30/forum/bomb_scare>The Tartan - April 30, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Tartan Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Shawn Wertz <swertz@andrew.cmu.edu> Title A name given to the resource University safety procedures leave students in the dark campus safety cmu emergency notification 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Daniel Colbert Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource <b>Experts in fields of security, law and mental health comprise panel; victims&#39; families voice reactions</b> Daniel Colbert, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer Thursday, April 19, while the nation was still coming to grips with the tragedy that had unfolded in Blacksburg three days earlier, Gov. Tim Kaine created an eight-member panel of experts in the fields of security, law and mental health to investigate fully what had gone wrong and what could be done to help prevent a similar incident in the future. Last Wednesday, the panel held what was to be its last public meeting -- it has since been announced that another will follow -- at the University. While the panel heard testimony on topics as wide-ranging as community mental health services and gun control laws, much of the discussion centered on the unique challenges faced in servicing and protecting a college population. Beyond "lockdown" As schools consider the most efficient and safe methods for responding to threats such as an active shooter on campus, lockdowns are a common solution. In fact, much of the panel&#39;s discussion of security procedures focused on the appropriateness and plausibility of a campus-wide lockdown; however, all of the law enforcement experts who testified at the meeting in Charlottesville suggested that responding to such an event is not so simple. "I think we have this impression that we hit a switch and everything is locked and everything is secure, and that is not the case," said Don Challis, chief of police at the College of William & Mary. Challis testified that a lockdown creates a "target-rich environment" in the academic buildings where students congregate. He instead recommended that colleges advise students to take refuge in their own rooms or other safe places. Challis emphasized that colleges need to make it clear in advance what would be expected of students in a crisis situation. "Hope is not a plan," Challis said. "We can&#39;t hope that when something happens these people hang on our words and do what we say." Avoiding a tragedy Perhaps the most vexing question surrounding the Virginia Tech tragedy regards the various warning signs of the danger that shooter Seung-Hui Cho posed to others. The panel spent much of the morning hearing ways for universities to more readily identify a troubled student. Central to the goal of pre-emptive action are Threat Assessment Teams. These teams, present at many schools though not formally at the University, are made of up administrators, deans and law enforcement officers that meet to identify and evaluate potential threats posed by students, according to Challis&#39;s testimony. Both Challis and Dr. James Madero, a professor at Alliant International University, testified that teams like these can be helpful in preventing school violence. "It needs to be a campus-wide group that includes ... people who have the most contact with students," Challis said. "If they see a flag, they can run that by others." The panel also heard testimony on the effectiveness of campus psychological services, primarily from Russell Federman, University director of counseling and psychological services. Federman pointed to the low suicide rate at the University-- three suicides in the last seven years, which is less than a third of the national average -- as evidence that CAPS is effective in dealing with high-risk individuals. Among the factors contributing to this success, he said, are frequent communication between the administration, faculty and CAPS to determine individuals who may pose threats and follow-up procedures for high-risk individuals who do not appear for counseling. "My hunch is that if Mr. Cho had been involuntarily hospitalized at U.Va. [as he was at Virginia Tech before the shootings occurred], CAPS staff would have become involved with him much earlier," Federman said. Not everyone was satisfied with Federman&#39;s reasoning, however. Holly Sherman, whose daughter Leslie was a victim of the shootings, told reporters she thought the procedures Federman described were "very similar" to those in place at Virginia Tech before the shootings. Although he said he was confident that academic deans would have contacted CAPS about a student exhibiting the strange behaviors attributed to Cho, Federman said in a later interview he also could not say with certainty that CAPS would have prevented the shooting. "We can&#39;t buy into the illusion that we can control the uncontrollable," Federman said. "The bottom line is if someone chooses to be violent, he or she can be without us being able to stop that." Issues of confidentiality One of the hotly debated issues of the day was the importance of students&#39; rights, as adults, to privacy regarding their mental health records. Panelist Diane Strickland, Law School alumna and former dean of Student Legal Services, asked if CAPS had access to the mental health records of incoming first-year students while another panelist, Dr. Roger Depue, said he wondered if such information would prove to be helpful. Privacy concerns dictate that the University does not have such access, Federman answered, but that is not necessarily a problem for CAPS. Mandatory on-Grounds housing for first-year students ensures that mental health problems are observed quickly by Resident Staff or fellow students, Federman said. He added that even if mental health professionals had access to background information on a student, it would not always be necessary in deciding how to proceed with treatment. Several victims&#39; parents expressed concern that privacy issues may hinder communication between administrators about students who present potential threats and may prevent mental health professionals from informing parents if their children seek psychological help. The experts testifying were divided over whether privacy laws make it difficult to share information among administrators. While Challis testified that privacy laws sometimes make it difficult to determine what information can be shared legally, other experts did not believe this to be the case. "I have been very alarmed by the perception that the law somehow impedes colleges and universities from doing what they think to be the right thing," University law Prof. Richard Bonnie said. Parental involvement does not always help mental health professionals treat students, Federman said, and it is rarely absolutely necessary. College represents a time of transition between dependency and autonomy for many students, and he said he believed, in most cases, automatically involving parents would undermine that transition. "That&#39;s quite different from a very acute situation where we&#39;re looking at issues of violence and danger to self and where we absolutely need the family involved to help us prevent a tragic outcome," Federman said. During the panel&#39;s meeting, Federman resisted a call from Tom Ridge, former secretary of homeland security, to develop standardized guidelines for informing parents when their children seek psychological help, but assured the panel that mental health professionals would breach privacy laws if a situation demanded it. Several of the victims&#39; parents present were unsatisfied with the explanations. "I worry about a society that places individual rights in such a high regard that it jeopardizes public safety," said Catherine Read, step-mother of victim Mary Read. -- Original Source:<a>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30458&pid=1596>The Cavalier Daily - July 26, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com> Title A name given to the resource Virginia Tech panel discusses prevention strategies campus safety college population investigation panel uva 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maria Tchijov and Thomas Madrecki Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource Cho attended Northern Va. high school, peers describe him as &#39;loner&#39; Maria Tchijov and Thomas Madrecki, Cavalier Daily Senior Writers BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Police identified Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, as the gunman responsible for killing 30 victims Monday in Virginia Tech&#39;s Norris Hall. Some who knew him described Cho as "a complete loner" and the author of "disturbing" and "excessively violent" plays. Cho was found dead among the carnage that spanned four rooms and a nearby stairwell in Norris Hall. Cho, a native of South Korea, was linked to the murder weapon through a fingerprint contained in immigration documents. Ballistics tests confirmed that one of the two guns found at Norris Hall was also used at the shooting that took place two hours earlier in West Ambler Johnston dormitory. While police said it is likely that the two shootings are related, the investigation is ongoing. An ongoing investigation Cho was an English major at the university from Centreville, Va. Peers from Cho&#39;s middle school in Centreville said he was quiet, shy and withdrawn. "He was made fun of a lot by everybody," said Samuel Linton, a homeroom classmate of Cho&#39;s during seventh and eighth grade. "He was a complete loner, he never said a word ... he had no interaction with teachers -- he just stared like he wasn&#39;t paying attention." David Gearheart, who also attended middle school with Cho, said he talked to Cho once or twice, but that talking to him was just that -- talking to somebody rather than with somebody. "He had a lot of crazy writings in his notebook and stuff, how he hated Americans," Gearheart said. Linton said Cho was once reported to the principal for writing down the names of people he was supposedly planning to kill. "It was like a hit list," Linton said. "They found one in his locker." Linton said people "constantly" talked about how Cho might be the type of person that would one day attempt to kill someone. Officials at a press conference yesterday said they could not comment on allegations that Cho had a previous run-in with law enforcement officers in Blacksburg in 2005. Authorities executed a search warrant yesterday of Cho&#39;s dorm room in Harper Hall and removed mostly documentary evidence, including his writings that were widely characterized as violent by peers and professors. Stephanie Derry, a senior English student at Virginia Tech, said she knew Cho from a playwriting class. Derry described Cho&#39;s plays as "disturbing," but said nobody in the class took them as entirely serious. "The plays were excessively violent," Derry said. "But you can&#39;t really assume that everything written is true or is going to be true." The Associated Press reported that officials recovered a note in Cho&#39;s dorm that lambasted "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans." Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said, however, there is no evidence of a suicide note. Flaherty also announced that the handguns used by Cho in the massacre were purchased in accordance with Virginia law in March. Police have not yet determined whether Cho had an accomplice in the shootings. Officials indicated that a person of interest from the first shooting is cooperating with police. That individual was an acquaintance of the female victim of the first shooting and was stopped by police and questioned by authorities at the time of the second shooting. As of press time, this individual was still considered a "person of interest." Officials respond Gov. Tim Kaine extended his condolences to the Virginia Tech community during a televised broadcast last night. "Our hearts go out to the entire community, Kaine said. "This is the darkest day in the wonderful history of Virginia Tech." Kaine also said he will commission an independent panel of law enforcement experts in the next 48 hours to examine the administration and law enforcement response to the events leading up to and immediately following Monday morning&#39;s shootings. The purview of this examination will include complaints about the university administration&#39;s delay in notifying students of danger immediately after the first shooting. That decision has been questioned publicly by some students and members of the media. Kaine did not answer questions regarding policy changes. "Before we talk about any policy changes we have to get our best assessment of what occurred," Kaine said. Kaine added that families of the victims were the number one priority. "This is not a crusade or something for a political campaign," Kaine said. "It&#39;s about comforting families ... and helping this community heal ... For those who want to make this into some kind of crusade I say take that elsewhere." Officials said yesterday they are not releasing the names of the victims until they have identified all the remains and notified the next of kin. Several media sources, including the student newspaper at Tech, have released preliminary lists of the victims&#39; names. Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said Virginia Tech will cancel classes for the remainder of the week. Further announcements about classes were expected today. Norris Hall will remain closed for the rest of the school year. "As you can understand, we are still working to understand this terrible tragedy," Steger said. "It is very difficult for me to express how we feel." -- Alex Sellinger and Stephanie Kassab contributed to this article -- Original Source: <a href= http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30192&pid=1583>The Cavalier Daily - April 18, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Cavalier Daily Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com> Title A name given to the resource Police identify Norris Hall shooter as Va. Tech student cho loner mental illness uva 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource <b>Deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history claims 33 victims</b> Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler, Cavalier Daily Associate Editors "Horror, disbelief and profound sorrow" was how Virginia Tech President Charles Steger described the Blacksburg community&#39;s reaction to what is the deadliest shooting incident in the nation&#39;s history. The school now faces what Steger called a "long and difficult road" to recovery after two shootings yesterday morning resulted in at least 33 fatalities, including that of a gunman, and about 30 injuries. The first shooting occurred at about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, resulting in two confirmed deaths. One of the victims has now been identified as one of the dorm&#39;s resident advisors. Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum cited evidence that a domestic dispute led to the first shooting. As of press time, police had questioned a person of interest who knew one victim and was potentially involved in the first shooting; however, police had not taken the individual into custody. After the first incident, Virginia Tech officials issued two e-mails informing students that there had been a shooting. The first e-mail was sent at 9:26 a.m. and stated that a shooting incident had occurred at West Ambler Johnston. The second e-mail followed at 9:50 a.m. and alerted the community that there was a gunman loose on the campus. Students and faculty were urged to remain inside and away from windows. As these e-mails were sent, the second shooting began in Norris Hall, ultimately leaving at least 31 dead, including the gunman. Virginia Tech sophomores Trey Perkins and Derek O&#39;Dell said in a televised interview with Brian Williams the shooter entered their German class, shot their professor and opened fire on students. Perkins, one of the few students not shot, said the shooter fired for about a minute and a half as students used desks to shield themselves from the fire. O&#39;Dell, who was shot in the arm, described the shooter as "an Asian male, about six-feet tall." "I think we&#39;re both still in shock," O&#39;Dell said. "It&#39;s amazing that we were saved." Shortly after the second shooting, Virginia Tech students received a third e-mail at 10:16 a.m. announcing that classes were canceled and that outside persons were not to come on campus. Students were also urged to "lock their doors and stay away from windows." A fourth e-mail at 10:52 a.m. notified the community of the second shooting in Norris Hall with multiple victims. At that point, police were on the scene and a suspect had been detained, but police continued to search for a second shooter. Bodies were later found at different locations throughout Norris Hall, and doors to the building were chained when police arrived on the scene, Flinchum said, noting that this was "unusual." According to Flinchum, the campus did not go on lockdown until the shooting in Norris Hall took place because officials believed the dormitory shooting to be an isolated incident. Fifteen victims are being treated at hospitals in the Roanoke and New River Valley area. Officials confirmed reports of some individuals jumping out of windows to avoid facing fire. Officials declined to release the Norris Hall gunman&#39;s identity. Police continue to investigate whether a different gunman was involved in the dormitory shooting. Steger said an investigation remains underway to determine whether or not the two shootings are connected. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, currently flying back from an Asian trade mission in Tokyo, declared a state of emergency earlier yesterday to help organize the flow of assistance into Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is currently receiving assistance from state police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, local jurisdictions and the Red Cross, according to Steger. U.S. President George W. Bush spoke from the White House earlier today, saying he was "horrified" by the shootings and promising to "do everything possible" for the victims. Media officials have reported that President Bush may travel to Virginia Tech today. Virginia Tech classes are canceled today and the university will hold a memorial service at 2 p.m. today at Cassell Coliseum. "I cannot begin to covey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless and incomprehensible, heinous act," Steger said at an earlier press conference. "Today the university was struck with a tragedy we consider of monumental proportions." -- Original Source:<a href=http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30158&pid=1582>The Cavalier Daily - April 17, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Cavalier Daily Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com> Title A name given to the resource TRAGEDY AT VIRGINIA TECH administrative response uva vt response 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 An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-31 Description An account of the resource <b>In wake of tragedy, students reflect on shootings that rocked community, describe "fearful environment"</b> Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler, Cavalier Daily Associate Editors Only in her worst nightmares could Nicole Shyti have anticipated the carnage transpiring as she slept on the fifth floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory yesterday morning. One floor beneath her, two Virginia Tech students had been murdered by a gunman who was still at large. It wasn&#39;t until 9:30 a.m., when a friend called her to make sure she was safe, that she learned about the killings. Shyti said she heard the sounds of siren after siren outside her dorm room. It was at that point, she said, that she knew something serious had happened. "I saw people running across the lawn outside, and it was just a lot of commotion," Shyti said. The shootings, which eventually left 33 dead, instantly transformed the Virginia Tech campus into a worldwide epicenter of tragedy and confusion. The campus was left nearly deserted as the university went on lockdown. An impromptu vigil on the Drill Field yesterday evening captured the intensity of emotion. Students locked arms -- some crying -- still waiting to find out whether friends had made it out alive. Virginia Tech student George Lane-Roberts said the rapid escalation of casualties left him "dumbfounded and shocked." As students spent the day within the familiar walls of their dorms, press outlets from around the world descended on Blacksburg to report the greatest tragedy to hit an American college campus. That blanket of media coverage provided many Tech students, hunkered around televisions, with their primary window into the events of the day. Tech student Joseph Chapman said he first found out about the shootings on TV before reading official e-mails from the university. Some have criticized Tech&#39;s response to the initial shooting as too little too late, saying that an earlier lockdown of campus could have prevented 30 deaths. The initial e-mail from the university came almost two hours after the first shooting occurred. Lane-Roberts recalled a shooting in Blacksburg on the first day of classes last August. He said he remembered that the entire campus had been locked down, even though no students were casualties of that shooting. Members of the media may be coming to their own conclusions, but students at Tech are still more confused than angered by the administration&#39;s response. Nathan Carter, who is still waiting to find out whether three of his friends are all right, said he doesn&#39;t blame the administration for its handling of the shootings. "Hindsight is 20/20," he said, adding that what Virginia Tech officials thought they had on their hands with the Ambler Johnston incident was a domestic dispute gone wrong. Freshman student Holly Faust said she was leaving campus, on her way to Radford University with a friend. By late afternoon, she said half of the students in her dorm had already left. Faust, who lives on the top floor of Slusher dormitory, one of the tallest buildings near Norris Hall, said a number of students went up to the top floor to observe clumps of police. Despite being within eye shot of the center of events, Faust said she also relied on television news reports for information about the unfolding events. Faust said she received the first official e-mail informing students of the shooting at about 9:30 a.m. and decided not to go to class. Many students first heard about the massacre not from the Virginia Tech e-mails, but through calls, e-mails and instant messages from friends and concerned family members. A resident advisor in Payne dormitory, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said he found out about the incident through an instant message from a friend. To notify his residents, the RA said he posted notices in stairwells and alerted students leaving the building to be cautious. He said RAs are trained extensively to handle serious situations such as this. Most of his duties yesterday included dispelling rumors and providing his residents with as much information as was available, he said. Carter described how the lack of solid information added to the confusion surrounding the events, saying the rumors ranged from gang-member involvement to "ridiculous" reports that the shooter was eight feet tall. Some may have falsely assumed that the shooter was lurking nearby, even after he had killed himself -- fears that were heightened by the saturation of gun-toting police who were sweeping the campus for any suspicious activity. Lane-Roberts said he and other students watched from a window as two police officers with assault rifles "tackled" a black student. The officers were "shouting" at students to close the blinds and "get in our rooms," he said. Chapman said RAs played a major role in communicating the lockdown to students. Virginia Tech freshman Margaret Hatcher said she never left her room because she had been advised to stay there and distance herself from the windows; however, her roommate had to find shelter in an academic building. "My roommate was actually in class this morning, and actually she was in the building next door to Norris," Hatcher said. "They took them all into the basement for a few hours" and around 12:30 p.m. told them to leave campus immediately. Sophomore Erik Stange said he lives off campus and learned of the situation when his parents called him around 11 a.m. Stange said he later learned from friends that a friend of his who was an RA in West Ambler Johnston had been shot. "He got shot in the leg, [so] hopefully he&#39;ll be okay," Stange said. Hours later, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Finchum confirmed that an RA in West Ambler Johnston had died. Stange is just one of many students forced to cope with uncertainties about yesterday&#39;s events. "At this point, there are still a lot of questions and not answers," Shyti said. "We&#39;re in a fearful environment right now, [and] I think what contributes to the fear is that people don&#39;t know what&#39;s safe." As the community looks to beging the healing process, Virginia Tech has organized a memorial service in Cassell Coliseum, the basketball stadium, to be held today at 2 p.m. Freshman Elizabeth Rogers said she plans to attend the service. "Even though I don&#39;t know anyone directly who [has] been harmed, I just feel that as a university we need to band together ... and try to find the best way to be there for everyone in this time of need," Rogers said. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said the university is starting a "long, difficult road" to recovery from the massacre. As the initial shock turns into a quest for answers, students at Virginia Tech are finding that the first step on that road is coming to terms with the magnitude of what has occurred. As one RA said, "Most of us are just kind of sitting here wondering when we&#39;re going to wake up, because it feels like a dream." -- Original Source:<a href=http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30159&pid=1582> The Cavalier Daily - April 17, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Cavalier Daily Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com> Title A name given to the resource Virginia Tech students react campus response first hand accounts uva vt student reactions