68 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dinah Cardin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By Dinah Cardin/salem@cnc.com GateHouse News Service Fri Jul 13, 2007, 12:29 PM EDT Salem - Paducah. Jonesboro. Columbine. They may sound like destinations toured by a small garage band, but if we reach back in memory, they are actually cities that have suffered at the hands of teenage angst combined with dangerous weapons. The Virginia Tech massacre this past spring was a wake-up call to institutions of higher education all over the world. High schools may have their metal detectors and movies starring Michelle Pfeiffer about tough street kids and their violent behavior, but colleges have so far been wide open to strangers and incident. As Shane Rodriguez, deputy director of the Salem State College Police Department, says, when Seung Hui Cho fatally shot 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech, he created "our 9-11." Last July, campus police placed an officer on the task of emergency preparedness. But Virginia Tech put the wheels into rapid motion. "When people send their sons and daughters to college, the last thing they expect is that they will be gunned down in a classroom or residence hall," says Rodriguez. That's why on June 29, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett convened the first annual Essex County College Summit, linking campus security departments with the state police and the FBI. Officers from Salem State, Northern Essex Community, Endicott, Marion Court and Gordon colleges discussed their various security measures and listened to Col. Mark Delaney from the state police outline a training program for dealing specifically with school shooters. One of the most unique questions posed to Delaney was whether students should be locked in or out during a hostile shooter situation. His answer? Less moving parts means less confusion for law enforcement. Lock the doors, get away from the windows and wait for the "cavalry." The cavalry could be any number of local, state and federal law enforcement officers. But getting them on campus can take a while. That's why it comes down to campus police to initially act in a situation. The FBI terrorism division told the officers to develop a plan and then stick with it, practice it and learn from it. Without being too invasive in students' lives. Part of this, says Rodriguez, involves reaching out to police departments in Swampscott and other surrounding towns, including them in the plan to call in every available law enforcement officer. Officers from Salem State College will participate in the state police's active shooter program later this month, along with officers from the Salem Police Department. The state-funded program involves donning swat team equipment and simulating locking down a school to reach the ultimate goal of eliminating the violent threat and saving lives. The only cost to police departments is for the paint balls they will be shooting out of their weapons. Being prepared Across the North Shore, college officials are working to tighten security in time for the fall semester. Of them all, Salem State is probably at the highest risk for a violent attack since the city is difficult to get in and out of, the college encompasses four separate campuses and two new residence halls are being built. It's not only the largest in the area and constantly growing, Salem State is a big commuter school and is soon going to university status. Needless to say, there is a lot going on. All of this poses a big challenge for safety. Arming officers at Salem State is simply a necessity to protect the students and staff, says the chief of campus police. They started carrying patrol pistols a couple of years ago. "We finally came to the conclusion it was time," says Salem State chief of police Bill Anglin. "We're our own little city now." Schools are also looking to use technology to keep students away from campus in case of such an emergency. For two years, the state is funding a text messaging system on all state college campuses that will alert students of emergencies as well as snow days. During registration, the college will be collecting cell phone numbers from students. It's been proven, says Robert Paterson, chief information officer at Salem State, that you only need 65 to 70 percent of student phone numbers for the system to work. There are enough students hanging out together that the word gets around. "The big thing that we learned from Virginia Tech is you need to have multiple channels of communication to the community," says Paterson. The lesson of overloaded communication channels has been learned on 9-11 and during Hurricane Katrina. Even on Thanksgiving, phone lines get jammed. The school is still working out the final cost when the two-year state funded initiative runs out. Salem State is the only college in Essex County with armed officers. But that could soon change. "We're moving closer in that direction," says John Soucy, environmental, health and safety officer at Gordon College. This might come as a surprise for a religious institution. "We like to think the Lord is protecting us," says Soucy. Still, he says, public safety is service oriented and having firearms makes you a better servant. "It's better than standing and watching it happen," he says. 'No warnings' At last week's summit, Julia Cowley of the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime told the assembled that there are three major categories of violent youth â€” the mentally ill, the antisocial and the "normal." They have often engaged in behavior that has caused concern for others. In a study of 41 offenders from 37 schools, the findings showed that the violent youth almost always felt bullied. Kip Kinkel, from Cowley's home state of Oregon, said over and over that he had "no choice" when he killed his parents and then shot students. Beware, said Cowley, of the "injustice collector." But school shootings can also result from the angry ex-husband of a faculty member, she reminded the group. In a slide presentation, she showed disturbing drawings done by the offenders. They were often dark and violent, showing the classic violent youth characteristics of narcissism and lack of empathy. They often tell no one beforehand if they are serious about doing the act and may plan it forever. "Eric and Dylan planned their attack for nearly a year and there were no warnings," she said of the Columbine shooters, speaking almost intimately about those in her area of expertise. Matt Gallagher of the FBI's Victim Assistance Program is someone school officials don't want to get to know. His office assisted Virginia Tech after the shootings. Gallagher spoke of the mistakes made there, like when faculty members were counseling one another. This summer, Salem State is refining their plan, talking about resources and grants. Rodriguez is putting in long hours during a relatively quiet time for a college campus. His enthusiasm for the topic of preparing for a school shooting seemingly has no bounds. "We don't want to be caught off guard," he says. "We want to be as prepared as possible. Virginia Tech forced us to take a real hard look at it. We're diligent now." -- Original Source: Boston, MA - Town Online <a href="http://www.townonline.com/homepage/x117549697">http://www.townonline.com/homepage/x117549697</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Title A name given to the resource Security 101: Salem State and other campuses step up safety boston fbi police safety salem state college security 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Christie M. Wills Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource ERD provides a $20,000 grant for counseling By Christie M. Wills They're calling it a "Hokie Cry." It's described as a wave of emotion that washes over people in the Virginia Tech community, sometimes out of the blue, sometimes when they thought they were doing just fine. Christ Church, Blacksburg, parishioner Bob Miller remembers one Hokie Cry on a Sunday morning. "It was the day when one of the lectionary readings ended with 'and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' The layreader had to collect herself to get through it and lots of us cried along with her," said Miller. Although Blacksburg was clearly the epicenter, people across the diocese felt the pain of the events of April 16. Most churches in the New River convocation have parishioners who are employed at Virginia Tech. Even parishes too far away to have Tech employees often have parents or grandparents of current Tech students. So on Saturday, April 21, Bishop Neff Powell called a diocesan meeting to provide guidance on how the Church might respond, especially on the first Sunday after the shooting. On several days' notice, over 40 clergy and lay leaders across the diocese attended a daylong gathering at St. Thomas, Christiansburg, to pray and gain strength for the journey. New York psychologist Dr. Karen Binder-Brynes, a trauma counselor for the Episcopal Church who has worked with Katrina survivors and firefighters at the World Trade Center, led the program. "You have my deepest respect for all you've been through," said Dr. Karen, who spoke to the group via speakerphone. She explained that the closer people are to the site of a traumatic event, the more affected they are. She said that it was normal to swing between feeling numb and feeling overwhelmed, as well as feeling sadness, loss, hopelessness and anger. "Senseless tragedies like this render us feeling out of control which is often a shameful feeling. That's one reason why we may have found ourselves glued to the TV, looking for answers," she said. "A Mary Tragedy" By late afternoon on April 16, many diocesan parishes had made plans for evening vigils and prayer services [including St. John's and St. Elizabeth's, Roanoke, and St. Stephen's, Forest]. Throughout the week, more parishes held services of remembrance and many noted a moderate number of visitors in their midst. At the same time, the staff at Christ Church, Blacksburg, had determined that while no Episcopal parishioners were among the killed or injured, the web of connectedness within the parish and the Tech community was intimate. Some parishioners eventually attended three or four or more funerals for friends, colleagues and students. All week, the parish phone rang frequently. According to secretary Judie Marsh, the majority of calls were either reporters or folks from outside the parish who called to offer condolences or assistance. On Tuesday, April 17, interim rector Elizabeth Morgan started her day by doing a live interview at 7 a.m. with a cable news anchor outside the parish office. She said one of the more bizarre phone calls she fielded that week was from a filmmaker in New York who wanted to arrive the next day and follow her around with a cameraman to produce a documentary. Morgan turned him down. Canterbury chaplain Scott Russell was en route home from a trip to Germany and did not learn what had happened until he passed through customs late on Monday. He returned to Blacksburg on Tuesday evening in time to join the Canterbury Club at the candlelight prayer vigil on campus. In his absence, the diocesan office dispatched two trauma-trained clergy, the Revs. Stephen Stanley, Christ Church, Roanoke, and Fran McCoy of St. Mark's, St. Paul/All Saints, Norton, in response to a request for additional chaplains by the campus student activities office. Stanley, McCoy, Hollins Chaplain Jan Fuller and Russell all reported spending a portion of their time on campus shielding grieving people from media cameras and from "the howling evangelists with the bullhorn calls for campus repentance echoing across the drill field," according to a sermon that Stanley later wrote. As the days passed, it became clear that while the tragedy was intense in Southwestern Virginia, even life-changing for some, there was very little that people could do in response, except pray. In his column for "Connections," Bishop Neff Powell assured all that "prayer will come into the locked rooms of fear in our hearts and begin to restore a measure of shalom." As Elizabeth Foster, Director of Christian Education at Christ Church, wrote in an email on April 19, "The most helpful thing at this point is to pray. That is kind of frustrating for those of us who are Marthas, but there is little we can do. We are depending on the Marys to pray for our strength and wisdom." World Response As the news spread, Episcopalians across the country and Anglicans around the world reached out to share their grief and support. Bishop Powell said one of the first emails he received was from Bishop David James in Bradford, England. Two particularly humbling emails of condolence were received on behalf of the diocese: one from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Seoul expressing the shock and sorrow of Korean Catholics and one from the Rev. Bol Deng, a protÃ©gÃ© of the late Rev. Marc Nikkel, in war-torn Sudan. Several dioceses, including Delaware, Colorado, Western Washington and Utah, made response to the tragedy on the front page or within their diocesan newspapers. The Diocese of Delaware opened their annual convention with prayerful silence for the murder victims and for all young people. Their convention keynote speaker, George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, had also met with Bishop Powell in New York (where Powell had been on sabbatical) to plan the April 20 gathering for leaders in this diocese. Utah Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish wrote a poem which she read at an interfaith service of remembrance at the University of Utah. Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California wrote about the event in his online blog. Andrus is a Virginia Tech alumnus and credits the Christ Church Canterbury Club as his gateway to the Episcopal Church. Visits to the diocesan website quadrupled over normal daily traffic, peaking at about 2,000 hits per day in the first week. Within 36 hours, the diocese created an online presence to serve as a streamlined clearinghouse for up-to-date information. It prominently featured two buttons: one to request help and the other to offer help to others. Thanks to a small Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) grant, the site will be a permanent feature of the diocesan website. In times between emergencies, it will be a place to find resources on disaster preparedness. Visit <a href="http://www.dioswva.org/respond/">dioswva.org/respond</a> Moving Forward In a late May interview, campus chaplain Scott Russell said that looking back, much of the first week was a blur. For the most part, he spent the days on campus, running on adrenaline. Then, over the next few weeks, he and the rest of the Christ Church staff called on those they had not yet seen at church. "Some people process grief differently. Some get very quiet or retreat, which is okay, but we're checking on them," said Russell. In the last remaining days of classes, the core group of the Canterbury Club spent a lot of time together. "Many folks donated food so we had plenty to eat and often ate together. When we went out for a meal, we saw the look of recognition in other people's eyes; that they were touched in the same way," said Russell. Russell thanked those in the parish, in the diocese and around the world who prayed for the students and wrote letters to them. Youth from across the country including San Francisco and Arizona sent prayers written on colorful fabric in the style of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags. The campus ministry at Christ Church also received many donations, such as from the youth of Grace Memorial, Lynchburg who sent $539 from a sub sandwich fundraiser. In all, about $5000 in donations was added to the newly formed Christ Church campus ministry endowment. On the last Sunday before graduation, Katie Stanhagen, the president of the parish's Canterbury Club thanked the congregation for their support of the students. Russell said she told parishioners that they had modeled for her what it meant to be in a loving Christian community. The vestry of Christ Church has appointed a committee to implement an approximately $20,000 ERD grant that was given to support counseling efforts for the wider public. Since the area was well-supplied with grief counselors in the first weeks of the tragedy, the parish committee has focused on using the grant to reach out to the community in the summer and into the school year. Among the options being considered: an ongoing, ecumenical series of community events such as films and lectures to provide a place to work through grief together; construction of a community labyrinth; specialized "care-for-the-caregiver" support, particularly for Tech faculty and staff. Russell expects to have a busy summer as he is leading the parish since interim rector Elizabeth Morgan was called to a parish in South Carolina. He'll also begin to contact incoming Episcopal students and will rotate with other campus ministers in staffing an information table during the orientation season. And he is looking forward to preaching at the increased number of weddings to be held at Christ Church this summer. "Our parish is a very organic place; we're able to take what comes. But I'm looking forward to the sense of joy that these weddings will bring," said Russell. // To read updates of the events as they were posted and first-hand journal entries about the tragedy, as well as find information on disaster preparedness, visit <a href="http://www.dioswva.org/respond/">dioswva.org/respond</a> -- Archived with permission of author. Original Source: The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia <a href="http://www.dioswva.org/news/2007/jun/blacksburg-diocese-seek-shalom-after-april-16-shootings">http://www.dioswva.org/news/2007/jun/blacksburg-diocese-seek-shalom-after-april-16-shootings</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Christie Wills (cwills@dioswva.org) Title A name given to the resource Blacksburg, diocese seek shalom after April 16 shootings blacksburg christ church church episcopal local 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Otto Wahl Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource posted 5.01.07 <a href="http://www.miwatch.org/about.htm#Wahl">Otto Wahl, Ph.D.</a>, University of Hartford The tragic death of 33 students at Virginia Tech has shocked and saddened us all. Given the mental health aspects of the situation, it is not surprising that there has been much in the coverage about mental illnesses and their treatment. Unfortunately, the articles and editorials that followed the shootings have often been troubling in what they convey to the public about mental illnesses and mental health interventions. One troubling aspect of the media coverage has been the frequent vilification and dehumanization of the troubled young man who perpetrated the killings. Appropriately sympathetic descriptions of the background and lives of the "32" victims were widespread, and such descriptions helped us to better appreciate the tragedy on a more personal level. However, descriptions of the 33rd person who died in the tragedy, Cho Seung-Hui, focused almost exclusively on his pathology, his anger, and his menacing manner. Some media sources characterized Cho as motivated by "meanness;" others labeled him as a "fiend," a "psychopath," or "just plain "evil." Such coverage ignored the fact that Cho's deathâ€”and much of his lifeâ€”was also a tragedy. His alienation, isolation, anger, and ultimate suicide are probably not the life goals he set out for himself. Much of the media coverage did discuss Cho's mental health, but mostly without notable empathy for his difficulties. Related is the mistaken implication in coverage of Cho's actions that mental illness and violence are synonymous. The widespread images of Cho brandishing weapons epitomized the already prevalent public image of the "menacing madman," and that image was underscored further by the fear-inducing labels Cho was given in many media accounts, such as "maniac" and "psycho" and worse. Likewise, the repeated discussions of the need to protect the college communityâ€”and the larger communityâ€”from such individuals served to reinforce unwarranted public fears of people with mental illnesses. The vast majority of people with mental illnesses, including severe mental illnesses, are neither violent nor criminal. The vast majority of students on campus who are living with mental illnesses are not threatening others, but working and studying to make better lives for themselves. I saw little discussion of this in media coverage. The events at Virginia Tech were truly horrendous. The media, like the public, searched to make sense of the tragedy and to find clues as to how future tragedies could be prevented. However, there was a tendency to focus on mental illness as the sole or primary explanation for the horrific outcome at Virginia Tech. Many reporters and even mental health professionals seemed to commit what social scientists have dubbed the "fundamental attribution error." This term refers to our tendency to attribute the actions of others, particularly unacceptable actions, to their inner, psychological attributes and to neglect potential situational influences. If we succumb to this error and focus mainly on the possible internal causes of behavior, the mental health of Cho Seung-Hui in this case, we may overlook other potential contributors to the event and, thus, other potential and important avenues for prevention. Often overlooked, then, were questions about how we engage or do not engage students on our college campuses or how we do or do not integrate diverse students to better create a sense of community, questions about what gaps in understanding and education about cultural differences might have contributed to Cho's apparent isolation and to the ultimate outcome, and questions about the extent to which stigma and negative attitudes about mental health problems could have contributed to Cho's apparent reluctance to accept counseling assistance despite the recommendations of Virginia Tech faculty. Instead of looking at the factors above, many media reports impliedâ€”directly or indirectlyâ€”that the major preventive solution is the lessening of restrictions on involuntary hospitalization. After horrific events like the Virginia Tech deaths, it is easy to forget that the current criteria for involuntary psychiatric commitment result from a long history of indiscriminate and abusive use of forced hospitalization and from a belated recognition that the individual civil rights of people with mental illnesses need protection. Just as the tragic events of 9/11 should not have allowed us to dismantle the basic civil liberties on which our country is founded, a tragic event like Virginia Tech should not serve as justification for diminishing the hard won civil protections of the millions of people with mental illnesses. But it may, and some of the news coverage is suggesting that it should. Also, it is not clear that involuntary commitment for Cho would have been the appropriate solution. Coerced treatment may have poorer long term outcomes than voluntary treatment if it creates trauma and fuels antagonism and poorer treatment compliance. For a person like Cho, who already felt persecuted and angry, this may have been likely. So hospitalization might have only postponed the tragic outcome. Outpatient treatment may have had a better chance of succeeding in helping Cho and preventing the lethal outcome. In hindsight, we know it was not successful, but we do not know that involuntary hospitalization would have had more success. The events at Virginia Tech have led to calls for greater security on campuses and for a better ability of campus authorities to exclude people with serious mental illnesses from the campus. Again, this represents a troubling inclination to further restrict the rights and opportunities of people living with mental illnesses. Easier hospitalization and campus restrictions are not what is needed for preventing tragedies such as the one at Virginia Tech. Instead, we need better training of service providers to deal with individuals who are reluctant to accept treatment, and therapeutic alternatives that are more attractive, less aversive, and better funded. We also need reduced stigma for seeking and accepting treatment, along with greater outreach and prevention efforts. I do not mean to suggest that there was no sensitive and appropriate media coverage of the events. Many stories were sympathetic to the needs of troubled youth on campuses, urging improvements and cautioning against attempts to exclude students. Former Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellow, John Head, for example, wrote, in the <a href="http://www.ajc.com/search/content/opinion/stories/2007/04/20/edhead0420.html">Atlanta Journal Constitution</a>, "A policy that punishes students for enduring emotional and mental disturbances will only discourage them from seeking help." Articles and editorials have called for expanded suicide prevention programs and improvements in culturally competent services, as well. An article in the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/22/AR2007042201190.html">Washington Post</a>, by another former Carter Fellow, Shankar Vedantam looked "beyond the shooter," to consider social factors that may have contributed to the fatal outcome. And there did emerge a number a number of pieces that looked more fully and sympathetically at the life of Cho Seung-Hui and at his family's pain and suffering. Media coverage also brought to light the archaic and offensive language of the federal statutes for regulation of gun purchases. I am referring to the prohibition against selling guns to "mental defectives,' a category which, for the federal government, apparently includes persons with mental illnesses. I am amazed that such a reference to mental illnessâ€”language that was discarded decades ago because of its pejorative nature and its connection to eugenics and Nazi cleansingâ€”could still be the chosen terminology in the laws of our country.I can only hope that the wide exposure of this language in the press may lead to sufficient embarrassment and/or outrage as to generate an appropriate updating. I am, however, cautiously optimistic. Despite the great deal of stigmatizing coverage that has surrounded the tragic loss of life at Virginia Tech, the discussions that are occurring have the potential to generate important changes. Chief among these are greater understanding of and improved responsiveness to mental health needs on campuses. I do not mean to suggest, as some media coverage has, that these are needed primarily to protect the student body from unstable shooters, but rather that they are needed so that universities can enhance their abilities to support the learning and accomplishment of all students, including the many who experience mental health problems. -- Archived with permission of the author. Original Source: MIWatch.org <a href="http://www.miwatch.org/Wahl.htm">http://www.miwatch.org/Wahl.htm</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Otto Wahl (owahl@hartford.edu) Title A name given to the resource Thoughts About Media Coverage of the Virginia Tech Tragedy media coverage mental health mental illness violence 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Galen Moore / The Milford Daily News staff Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By Galen Moore/Daily News staff GHS Fri Apr 20, 2007, 12:55 AM EDT WESTBOROUGH - Andrew Dyche is safe, but for 30 terrifying minutes Monday his mother, Amy Belue, didn't know it. Dyche, a 2003 graduate of Westborough High School, will graduate from Virginia Tech in June. He was at home in his off-campus apartment the morning fellow student Cho Seung-Hui shot 32 people, then turned a gun on himself. On Monday, after learning of the killings from a co-worker over the Internet, it took Belue, who now lives in Colorado, 30 minutes of trying and re-trying jammed telephone circuits to reach her son. When they got through, the campus was already locked down, he told her. Dyche left Blacksburg, Va., on Wednesday to stay with high school friends at the University of Connecticut. The atmosphere at Virginia Tech, where both his mother and father also went to school, was too much to bear, he said. "Our campus is still swarmed with reporters, news media and cops," he said. "No one's really leaving their apartments." The university canceled classes for the week. Dyche, who first learned of the shootings when his roommate called him from a bus that had been stopped, didn't know any of the students who were killed or injured Monday. For that, he feels lucky. The week's events came as a shock, but they won't change his opinion of the school, he said. When he goes back, he will feel as safe as he could hope to feel anywhere, he said. Belue, who moved with her husband, Dyche's stepfather, to Colorado in 2004, said she still feels a strong bond with the college she attended 30 years ago. "We just love the community down there," she said. "It's so sad this is a part of the history now." Dyche said though he knows there will be questions, he hopes students won't turn to blaming authorities for what happened. "It's kind of difficult that (Cho) took his own life, because now it feels like we need to shift the blame somewhere else," Dyche said. "He's gone and you can't take it out on him." (Galen Moore can be reached at 508-490-7453 or gmoore@cnc.com.) -- Original Source: Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News <a href="http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x663839027">http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x663839027</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Title A name given to the resource Westborough grad, a Virginia Tech student, is safe alumni parents reaction student 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Messenger Post (Rochester, NY) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By Messenger Post and wire reports Posted: Apr 18, 01:00 PM EDT On a campus proud of its unity, the gunman's anger and detachment alarmed those around him. While parents of a 2004 Irondequoit High School graduate learned their son escaped harm in the Virginia Tech massacre Monday, another relative of a Virginia Tech student is mourning the death of her niece. Virginia Tech students and supporters lifted thousands of candles to a sapphire sky Tuesday to remember the 32 people killed by a campus gunman. The vigil testified to the unity on which the mountain campus prides itself. But in the hours after Cho Seung-Hui's rampage, it was obvious the close-knit school was a community of which he never felt a part. The gunman, who turned his gun on himself after carrying out the worst shooting massacre in modern U.S. history, was a sullen loner who left a rambling note raging against women and rich kids. News reports said that Cho, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic. Professors and classmates were alarmed by his class writings â€” pages filled with twisted, violence-drenched writing. In screenplays he wrote for a class last fall, characters throw hammers and attack with chainsaws, said a student who attended Virginia Tech last fall. In another, Cho concocted a tale of students who fantasize about stalking and killing a teacher who sexually molested them. Despite the many warning signs that came to light in the bloody aftermath, police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set Cho off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. Among those killed in the massacre at Virginia Tech was 19-year-old freshman Mary Read, who had multiple ties to the greater Rochester area. Read spent summers in the Finger Lakes region, visiting relatives who included her aunt, Mary Courtney. Courtney was interviewed Monday from her Palmyra home by NBC (channel 10), and a portion of that interview appeared this morning on NBC's "Today Show." Courtney expressed grief for the loss of her niece and the others killed in the shooting. In a "Today Show" profile of Mary Read and other victims, Ms. Read was noted as a student who liked to make cupcakes for her friends. Ms. Read was especially close to Courtney, whom she was named after. Ms. Read called her aunt "Queen Mary," while Courtney called her niece "Princess Mary." Meanwhile, an Irondequoit mother was on an unplanned road trip Tuesday to see her son, who is a junior at the university. "I really can't function unless I have a live sighting," Deborah Nicholas said of her son, Josh. "Nightmare, yes," she said of the events of this past Monday when a university student shot 33 at Virginia Tech, a large engineering university in Blacksburg, Va. When the incident happened, Deb Nicholas and her husband, Stephen Nicholas, were on a business trip and couldn't get a news channel on their car radio. They were getting regular reports, via cellular phone, from a nephew who lives in Detroit, but the connections kept breaking up. "It just got worse and worse," Deb Nicholas said. It was a while before they heard from Josh, a 2004 graduate of Irondequoit High School who is an engineering student at Virginia Tech. He told them he had been to one class and was on his way to hand in a paper for another of his classes when kids all around him started running, his mother said. "He said he picked up the pace and scooted into a nearby building," Deb Nicholas said. He has had classes in Norris Hall, the building where most of Monday's shootings took place. Deb Nicholas said her son was finally able to get on a bus that took him back to his apartment in a complex about a mile from the campus. Nicholas has a girlfriend, Genna, who is from elsewhere in Virginia. His mom said Genna has two sorority sisters who were wounded. She said she didn't know if Josh knew any of the victims. "If he (Josh) wants to come home, I will bring him home," she said by cell phone from the road. At least one other Irondequoit resident, Alice Hellyar, a 2006 graduate of Irondequoit High School, is also a current student at Virginia Tech. She was also reported safe but shaken after the shootings. With classes canceled for the rest of the week, many students left town in a hurry, lugging pillows, sleeping bags and backpacks down the sidewalks. On Tuesday night, thousands of Virginia Tech students, faculty and area residents poured into the center of campus to grieve together. Volunteers passed out thousands of candles in paper cups, donated from around the country. Then, as the flames flickered, speakers urged them to find solace in one another. "We will move on from this. But it will take the strength of each other to do that," said Zenobia Hikes, vice president for student affairs. "We want the world to know we are Virginia Tech, we will recover, we will survive with your prayers." -- Original Source: Rochester, NY - MPNnow <a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8010">http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8010</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Title A name given to the resource Virginia Tech tragedy continues to hit home irondequoit mary read new york read student 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kevin Frisch Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By <a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/about/team.php?id=9">KEVIN FRISCH</a> Messenger Post Columnist Posted: Apr 23, 01:00 PM EDT What a difference a weekend makes. Last Friday, the big story was brand new man of leisure Don Imus, who was ousted from his nationally syndicated radio program after making a disparaging remark about a women's basketball team. Since the comment was racist in nature, there were calls for a new discussion on the topic of race; a new dialogue on the parallel universes that are black and white America. By Sunday, this conversation was put on hold â€” along the East Coast, anyway â€” as attention turned to more immediate concerns. Namely, the weather. A full-fledged 'noreaster made an unwelcome April visit and, for some 36 hours, it snowed slush. Or slushed snow. Or rained snow and slush. Whatever, the result was inches and inches of precipitation leading to flooding, treacherous travel and widespread power outages. By late Monday morning, even those with cold homes and flooded basements were suddenly counting their blessings as they heard the first news reports from Blacksburg, Va. An unspeakably violent week in recent American history had another blood-soaked chapter. In the past 15 years, the week between April 15 and April 22 has seen the siege of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Columbine High School shootings and, now, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history: the massacre at Virginia Tech. Including the gunman, 33 souls were lost on the college's campus on April 16. Another 26 people were wounded. As the initial shock and confusion gave way to anguish and a search for likely-nonexistent answers, a few reflexive voices were raised. There was right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, who climbed onto his high horse to condemn the "drive-by media," whoever they are. (Apparently, Rush has a problem with news people showing up to cover what may well be the biggest story of the year.) There was the almost immediate debate over firearm rights, a customary echo when gun-related violence explodes. Have you ever head a loud crash in the next room, then run in to see Junior standing next to a broken lamp and the first words out of his mouth are "I didn't do it"? Then you've got some sense of the tone of a fax sent out the night of the slayings by Gun Owners of America. "When will we learn that being defenseless is a bad defense?" asked Larry Pratt, the group's executive director. "All the school shootings that have ended abruptly in the last ten years were stopped because a law-abiding citizen â€” a potential victim â€” had a gun." Actually, the Virginia Tech gunman took his own life, as did the two teens who wrought carnage at Columbine, but, oh well. On the other side of the argument were people like Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Washington-based Violence Policy Center. "In the wake of these shootings, too many routinely search for any reason for the tragedy except for the most obvious â€” the easy access to increasingly lethal firearms that make mass killings possible," he told the Toronto Globe and Mail. It wasn't hard to side with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. "I think that people who want to take this within 24 hours of the event and make it their political hobby horse to ride ... I've got nothing but loathing for them," he said. Kaine's point is well taken; his revulsion understandable. An informal waiting period of at least a week before latching an agenda â€” any agenda â€” onto sad and painful events would be a welcome change in this country. The time will come for dissecting media coverage and debating the availability of firearms. In the meantime, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and America as a whole have wounds to heal; tears to cry; losses to mourn. Whoever thought we would so quickly be nostalgic for the days when the big issue was the Don Imus controversy? Messenger managing editor and aspiring president Kevin Frisch's column, Funny Thing..., appears each Sunday in the Daily Messenger. Contact him at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 257, or via e-mail at KFrisch@MPNewspapers.com. -- Original Source: Rochester, NY - MPNnow <a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8158">http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8158</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Title A name given to the resource The news gets worse and worse column commentary reaction 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ryan Bray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By Ryan Bray GateHouse Media Thu May 03, 2007, 02:22 PM EDT Scituate - In the two weeks since the Virginia Tech shootings swept through the college town of Blacksburg, Va., people nationwide are still struggling to grasp and adjust to the tragic events that left 33 students and faculty members at the school dead. But miles an miles away from all the mourning and controversy, it's business as usual at Scituate High School, as students and faculty members go about their daily routines. Students rush about the halls while seniors, many of whom are in the process of hearing back from colleges and making their plans for the fall, count down the remaining days of their high school careers. "It hasn't impacted them at all," said Sherri Lewis, director of guidance at the high school, regarding the impact of the shooting on outgoing students. "They all seem very excited." But while students have carried on with things as they otherwise would, that's not to say that the Virginia Tech shootings haven't had some effect on the school, however slight. Principal Donna Nuzzo-Mueller said the shootings are of greater concern to teachers than to students, whom have come to learn of the tragedies from a distance through television and the news. "I think our educators dwell on this more than the young people do," Nuzzo-Mueller said. "Developmentally at their age, I think it's difficult to grasp the severity of it all at that stage of their lives." However, students are reacting in their own ways. Nuzzo-Mueller said several school groups and clubs have rallied to raise money for a fund established for the families of the shooting victims. Others, she said, have likely dealt with the tragedy outside the school with friends and family. "We certainly have kids who want to reach out and help, and that's natural," she said. The shootings almost immediately brought attention to the issue of how to better prepare and respond in the event of a similar emergency in the future. Administrators and campus police officials came under fire from parents and the media in the days following the event for what some saw as an inadequate response to the shootings, while locally, Gov. Deval Patrick met with administrators from public colleges and universities across the state to discuss how to best safeguard students in the event of another shooting. But Nuzzo-Mueller said at the high school, there isn't much the school can likely do to prepare for a similar attack beyond the school's current emergency evacuation plan. She said incidents of the scale and magnitude of Virginia Tech or Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., could never be fully prepared for in spite of the best efforts from faculty and administrators. "It all just shows that it could happen to anybody," Nuzzo-Mueller said. "It's a problem that just exists. There's always a slice of humanity that struggles with this issue. No matter what plan are put in place, you'd likely have to adapt to the situation should one arise." Superintendent of Schools Mark Mason said he would meet with security advisers next week to discuss the potential for increased security within the district's six schools. But while student safety is always top priority, Mason said a balance must be struck between what's too much and not enough. "It's a philosophical question," he said. "We want to keep our schools safe, but do we want to keep the kids in lockdown mode throughout the year?" Nuzzo-Mueller said she is uncertain if any outgoing seniors will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall. She said that while graduates have gone on to attend the school in the past, it is not common from year to year. -- Original Source: Scituate Mariner <a href="http://www.townonline.com/scituate/education/x1592158543">http://www.townonline.com/scituate/education/x1592158543</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Title A name given to the resource Business as usual at high school after Virginia Tech shootings high school maine reactions safety scituate security students 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GateHouse Media / Brookfield Suburban Life Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource GateHouse Media Tue Apr 24, 2007, 10:41 AM CDT BLACKSBURG, Va. - A tragedy the magnitude of last week's mass murder in Blacksburg, Va., prompt most of us to ask serious questions. What compelled a student to kill 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus? How could someone so obviously disturbed gain access to the weapons he used? Why didn't anyone recognize his potential for violence and do something to prevent it? These responses are to be expected, given the scope of the collective sorrow experienced by people across the nation. And in time, there is no doubt some individuals may be forced to address some of these questions. The answers may help school officials, counselors and legislators in crafting policies and procedures designed to more effectively deal with such problems. But the finger-pointing masks an inescapable fact: Regardless of who missed what signs and who failed to raise security measures, Seung Hui Cho is solely responsible for all those deaths. And when someone decides to engage in such violence, there often is little that other people can do. Some have described Cho as a loner who didn't interact with his roommates. Others have said his writings were very disturbing. These statements are most likely true, but they don't explain why he killed so many people. How many young people across the country could be described as loners? How many of them have a bizarre attraction to violence and write rather alarming things? Thousands, tens of thousands? Perhaps more? So there are many others who face circumstances very similar to those Cho experienced. Yet virtually none of them make the leap from disturbed loner to mass murderer. While he was plagued by fear, resentment and isolation, Cho had choices to deal with his problems. The difference between him and the countless others confronting the same problems is that he chose not to find alternative ways of handling his fear, resentment and isolation. Cho opted to walk down the path of violence, and this is a mindset few others can comprehend. He took so many innocent lives because he rejected other avenues for addressing his angst. Evil is the true imponderable in life. Yes, we may get a few answers to why this tragedy occurred and how to reduce the likelihood of another. But free choice can be a weapon controlled only by the individual who wields it. -- Original Source: Brookfield, IL - Brookfield Suburban Life <a href="http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/brookfield/editorials/x1774967103">http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/brookfield/editorials/x1774967103</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Title A name given to the resource Finger-pointing wonâ€™t answer problem of evil commentary evil loners 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Palmyra Courier-Journal Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-17 Description An account of the resource By PALMYRA COURIER-JOURNAL Posted: Jun 25, 08:50 AM EDT PALMYRA â€” "What can I do to help?" That was the question on many local lips following the death of Mary Karen Read in the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech University on April 16. There is now an answer to that question. Read's family is sponsoring Rock 4 Mary 2007, a full-day music festival in the Palmyra Village Park, on Sunday, Aug. 5, from noon to 8 p.m. The festival will raise funds for a scholarship in Read's name, to be awarded through her high school in Annandale, Va. Miss Read, a 19-year-old freshman at Virginia Tech, was the niece of Mary Courtney of Palmyra. Her father, Peter Read, was a 1980 Palmyra-Macedon High School graduate. A suggested donation of $5 per person for the entire day is requested, and the first 500 people will receive a memorial bracelet. Eight local rock bands will perform, many of them local student groups. A chicken barbecue will be served from 3 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $8 each, and can be purchased in advance from Courtney by calling (315) 597-5076, or at the customer service counter at Breen's IGA. Other food and drinks will be available throughout the day and T-shirts will also be sold. All proceeds will be donated to the Mary Karen Read Scholarship Fund. Any local business or individual who would like to be an event sponsor, contact Courtney at (315) 597-5076, or by e-mail at mcourtne@rochester.rr.com. -- Original Source: Palmyra Courier-Journal <a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=9713">http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=9713</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Title A name given to the resource Festival to honor local Virginia Tech shooting victim festival palmyra read scholarship 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Steve Fox Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Posted April 17th, 2007 - 15:39PM by <a href="http://zero.newassignment.net/user/steve_fox">Steve Fox</a> Well, it didn't take long. One of my students at the University of Maryland has a brother who attends Virginia Tech and lost two friends yesterday. She started to break down as she told me she would not be in class tonight. As everyone steps up to applaud the "citizen journalism" that occurred yesterday, with kudos upon kudos give to the cellphone video made infamous by CNN, I can't help but think what my student's brother thought yesterday upon seeing that video played over and over and over again. Consider this: the video had no inherent news value and told no story. It did have sounds of bullets being fired and screams. Those were bullets that killed, maimed and injured students and faculty members. This wasn't a video game. Is such video responsible journalism? Are these the types of Citizen Journalists that people want to see? Are we doomed to create "citizen journalists" to play the I-patsies for cable television? There were other not-so-proud moments, including the <a href="http://www.planetblacksburg.com/2007/04/sick_internet_joke_or_real_thing.php">decision to publish this</a> and then the <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/17/va_tech_questions_co.html">rush to judgment reported here</a>. As most professional journalists who have covered breaking news and tragedy know, the facts are never clear in the first couple of hours and will likely change. And, when reporting on tragedy, two things rise above most -- try not to do harm and think of those involved -- both victims and their families. It means slowing down. And, thinking, should I really whip out my cellphone here? Cable television long ago threw out the baby with the bath water. Now, breaking news events are an opportunity for ratings as viewers watch tragedy unfold. Journalism? Hardly. Students who were in shock were interviewed regularly, with the final question of "how are you feeling" inevitably searching for a sob. Watching tragedy unfold via cable news is the soap opera of the modern era. It's hardly journalism. Which brings us back to our heralded cell-phone videographer yesterday. The London bombing showed us how anyone with a cell phone can capture images. But, that was after a news event had occurred. Our heralded citizen journalist captured sounds of people being killed, injured and maimed yesterday as it occurred. Is this really the type of behavior to applaud, to train citizen journalists to take part in? More importantly, what's the news here? Finally, step back for a second. Play the video. And, imagine you have a son or daughter attending Virginia Tech, you can't get ahold of them and you turn on CNN to find out some information and instead you come across that video. -- Original Source: AssignmentZero.com <a href="http://zero.newassignment.net/blog/steve_fox/apr2007/17/now_infamous_va_tech_video">http://zero.newassignment.net/blog/steve_fox/apr2007/17/now_infamous_va_tech_video</a> This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License Title A name given to the resource The Now Infamous Va. Tech Video journalism medie news video 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tarik Trad Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource The fact that God repeats those words - with every hardship comes ease - is a much needed emphasis for those suffering, just in case they miss it the first time. By Tarik Trad, April 17, 2007 All day long, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach. No doubt, I've felt it before - after the Murrah Building/Oklahoma City Bombing, the first World Trade Center attack, the horrors of 9/11, the Anthrax letters, the DC Sniper - now today. While horribly sickened and saddened by the senseless loss of fellow Americans shot and killed on campus at Virginia Tech, I couldn't help but think: What if the shooter was a Muslim? I'm not trying to sound selfish. First and foremost, my thought are with those families and friends. Their pain and grief must be overwhelming. During difficult times, I am reminded of the verses from the Qur'an (94:5-6) that state, "With every hardship comes ease. Verily, with every hardship comes ease!" The fact that God repeats those words - with every hardship comes ease - is a much needed emphasis for those suffering, just in case they miss it the first time. It is part of His mercy and compassion. I usually share these words with friends who have lost loved ones. Today, I am sharing them with all those affected by the tragedy in Blacksburg, Virginia. They need them as much as anyone else in the world. That said, I wonder if anyone else was thinking the same way or can relate to what I was feeling? Was the entire world waiting to hear a similar outcome? Am I paranoid or should I have a genuine concern about the fate of American Muslims should another attack on our country come from our so-called co-religionists? When the first video was played on CNN today, the name on the screen was Jamal Albarghouti. My heart sank, only to realize later he was the one shooting the video. When I first heard the shooter was Asian, I thought, "What kind of Asian - South Asian? Afghani? Pakistani? Indonesian?" Should I feel better now that I know he is of Korean ancestry? Should I feel better that he is not a Muslim? Now that we know the identify of the shooter, I don't feel any better. In fact, the pain in my stomach won't go away. Personally, I'm sick and tired from carrying a burden that isn't mine, as if the shooter were a Muslim from my local mosque. Whether some sort of paranoia or a personal defensive mechanism, it's my own self-imposed form of guilt-by-association, and I hate it. I've got enough to worry about with my wife and kids and all the other important things in life. We need to be able to live our lives and not always worry about whether or not such events are going to happen again. Because they will. That is our test, our challenge, and our struggle. How we react to these tests and challenges and struggles is how we are defined, both on earth and the Hereafter. It is part of life. For the most part, we live in a free and open society. With all the division between left and right, between race and religion, rampant drug and gun use combined with easy access to public spaces, malls, universities and houses of worship, I'm shocked we haven't had more Columbines and Virginia Techs to deal with. Logically, of course, this was simply a random act by a lone, heartbroken gunman not affiliated with any group. Logically, of course, I shouldn't feel good about the situation. Logically, of course, we cannot control the acts of every zealot and madman intent on death and destruction. Unfortunately, in today's reality, there is no logic - just more tragedy. But I will make sure my kids and friends and co-workers and anyone else who will listen will know, despite all the hatred and negativity that surrounds us, there is always hope for a better world. After all, with every hardship comes ease. Tarik Trad is a Muslim community activist based in Los Angeles, CA. -- Original Source: altmuslim.com <a href="http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1902_0_25_0_C">http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1902_0_25_0_C</a> Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Title A name given to the resource Can I Breathe Again? identity muslim religion 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 Brent Jesiek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Matt Wiebe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Anyone who is not living an incredibly secluded life (if you are, can I join you there?) has probably heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. where a gunman killed some 33 people, including himself. I've struggled whether to weigh in on this or not, but I felt that I would do so because I feel like a lot of the subtext of what is being said is awful. First and foremost, as a Christian, I am praying for those actually affected by this. Friends, families and Virginia Tech's students and faculty are hurting right now. God of all comfort, be near to them and somehow work this evil towards good. Christ, have mercy. I implore people to not use this as a springboard for their agendas. Gun control lobbyists, anti-video game lobbyists and people of this ilk: I'm talking about you. While you may have some valid points, just shut up for a while and grieve with those who are mourning. I also understand that, in pain, people want someone to blame. Since the killer committed suicide, he does not prevent the convenient target. Please don't turn the school's president and the the chief of campus police into scapegoats to satisfy your pain-fueled desire for justice. Guess what: there won't be any here. The pain won't go away just because you feel like you have someone to blame. To the news media: you disgust me. Human suffering is not a commodity to be packaged, sensationalized and delivered to consumers. You're a pack of vultures; a bunch of parasites of pain. Stop giving voice to the lobbyists who want to twist this for their own cause. Learn to listen, learn to suffer with those who are suffering. Tell us what's happening, and get the hell out of the way. Please. To those who will inevitably say, "let's ensure this never happens again," I have news for you: you can't do that. What you can do is learn to live a life that is full of joy and pain amidst many uncertainties. I'm not saying that nothing can be done, but I am saying that fear and pain do not drive anyone to make good decisions about the way things can be. Every crisis is an opportunity. Let us not miss out, no matter how ugly the package this crisis came in. Published on April 17th, 2007 -- Original Source: mattwiebe.com <a href="http://mattwiebe.com/2007/04/virginia-tech/">http://mattwiebe.com/2007/04/virginia-tech/</a> This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ca/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License</a>. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License Title A name given to the resource Virginia Tech grief gun control lobbyists mourning news media prayer 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 Katy Doll Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Text messages can notify police By: Katy Doll, Staff Writer Posted: 4/20/07 UNC officials are implementing a phone system that alerts campus police when students are in danger. Beginning this fall, the University will offer the Rave Guardian program, which uses a Global Positioning System timer to notify police of students' locations when needed. "You can set a timer on your phone that says: 'If I don't reset this timer, I want you to send a signal to campus police,'" said Larry Hicks, director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education. When the time expires, the phone alerts the student, and if it's not turned off, Rave contacts campus police, who can locate the phone using GPS technology. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, campus security is on everyone's mind, but UNC officials were planning to implement Rave Guardian before Monday's shootings. UNC officials are in negotiations with different providers and do not know the exact costs associated with purchasing the program. Hicks said the housing department plans to offer a reduced price on GPS phones to all on-campus students next year. There will be a push for incoming freshmen to buy the phones, which will be promoted at C-TOPS. The program is part of the Rave Wireless system, an existing service that allows students to receive text messages about Blackboard updates and bus routes. The service also has an emergency broadcasting system. "We could basically send out a broadcast message to all the users of the Rave system," said Brian Payst, director of technology and systems support for the division of student affairs. Students whose phones aren't equipped for the GPS program can use Rave's other features, such as emergency text messaging. Students can sign up at www.unc.edu/rave. Rave was established as a pilot program at UNC last summer with a group of about 20 students and now has 364 students, Payst said. The emergency system never has been used, but officials said they have completed tests of the system. "We've done tests, and they've gone just fine," Payst said. "You log in and have a Web page, type in your message and hit send. It just takes minutes - seconds even." Officials also said a campuswide siren system is on its way. "It certainly wasn't intended to deal with what happened at Virginia Tech, but it can deal with that as well," said James Alty, director of facilities services. Hicks said safety issues have been at the forefront of UNC's concerns. "It's basically taking a little bit more emphasis as a result of Virginia Tech," he said. "People want to expedite the plans." -- Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/20/University/Unc-To.Get.Phone.Alerts-2870650.shtml>The Daily Tar Heel - April 20, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource UNC to get phone alerts campus security emergency notification phone alerts unc https://www.april16.vtlibraries.net/files/original/Vp_1e65bf0ec5.cartoon.shooting_t820.jpg null 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/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-15 Omeka Legacy File The metadata element set that, in addition to the Dublin Core element set, was included in the `files` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all Omeka files. This set may be deprecated in future versions. Capture Date 2007-07-15 16:17:33 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. 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 Julian Diaz Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-15 Description An account of the resource Monday, April 23, 2007 I am offended and embarrassed by the editorial cartoon featured on April 18 concerning the shootings at Virginia Tech. It is insulting and irresponsible to poke fun at such a tragic event that has affected college students worldwide and many UCLA students personally. If the intent was to help students laugh away their anxieties, it failed. Furthermore, to relate the tragedy at Virginia Tech with current events in the Middle East is preposterous. As an enthusiastic reader of the Daily Bruin, I ask that in the future your cartoons be more sensitive. Julian Diaz Third-year, English and history Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu> Title A name given to the resource Letters to the Editor - Cartoon trivializes worldwide tragedy editorial cartoon tragedy response ucla 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 David Reynolds Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Will examine campus security By: David Reynolds, Staff Writer Posted: 4/20/07 In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, school systems across the country are discussing new security measures to ensure that such a harrowing event never could be duplicated. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced Thursday that an independent review panel has been formed to analyze the circumstances surrounding Monday's shooting. Retired Virginia State police Superintendent Col. Gerald Massengill will be the head of the panel, which also will include Tom Ridge, the former U.S. secretary of homeland security. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper also has called for a special task force in conjunction with the State Bureau of Investigation, the UNC system, the N.C. Community College System and the N.C. Independent Colleges and Universities to look for improvements in campus emergency plans. "We'll be looking at issues such as guidelines for when to declare a campus lockdown, how to better communicate with students and faculty in a crisis and more ways to identify a potential shooter, along with many others," he said in a Wednesday press conference. Hope Williams, president of N.C. Independent Colleges and Universities, said school administrators will choose a task force during the next 10 days. She said this task force will release a report within six months containing suggestions for the 2007 fall semester. The task force will not mandate changes, Williams said, because a one-size plan cannot fit different universities' needs. "I think the major question is one of modifying and adjusting existing emergency response plans as institutions feel it is necessary." Jeff Davies, the chief of staff for UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, said discussions already had begun concerning improvements in security before the Va. Tech incident, but the event has added impetus to the debate. "The decisions have been made to ensure that all residence halls will have card access, alarms and cameras," he said. "We are trying to wrap our arms around a very big issue in a very short amount of time." Davies said the UNC system likely will ask for state funding for the changes. And like many other schools nationwide, UNC-Chapel Hill has looked critically at its security measures. UNC-CH officials said their campus police have completed annual active shooter training and will work with local law enforcement in the case of an emergency. UNC-CH has the ability to contact students through radio broadcast, housing fliers and campuswide informational e-mails. E-mails sent to the University community take roughly two hours to reach all intended recipients. -- Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/20/StateNational/State.Looks.To.Review-2870573.shtml> The Daily Tar Heel - April 20, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The 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 State looks to review campus security state safety review 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 Amanda Younger Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource By: Amanda Younger, Staff Writer Posted: 4/23/07 Ardent UNC men's basketball fans stood aghast at a January defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech, cringing at the sight of any reminder of their Virginian foes. But for one day, students traded their Tar Heel blue for Hokie maroon and orange. "Today we're all Hokies," senior Liz Oden said while donning Va. Tech colors Friday as part of National Orange and Maroon Effect Day. Organized by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the day was designed to honor the 32 victims of the April 16 campus shooting and to provide a sense of community for those attempting to return to normalcy after the tragedy. "It's one of the littlest things you can do," said Whitney Pilson, a sophomore communications major. "I was really proud of our community for binding together." Support will continue at noon today as students across the nation plan to commemorate the one-week anniversary of the tragedy with a moment of silence. Student Body President Eve Carson is encouraging UNC students to gather in the Pit for a moment of reflection. Chicago maroon and burnt orange - Va. Tech's school colors for more than a century - have become synonymous with the university. Orange and Maroon Effect Day began as a tradition to support the school's athletic teams, but Friday it became a way to unite alumni and students across the nation. "I have a lot of friends that go to Virginia Tech, and I felt that it was the least I could do," said Emily Bisker, a sophomore biology major. Carson said the tragedy has impacted the UNC community significantly on both a personal and institutional level. She said that the similarities between Va. Tech and UNC, including both schools' rabid sports fans and size, make the tragedy hit much closer to home. "The tragedy at Virginia Tech was so affecting for students across the nation because it could have happened anywhere," Carson said. Freshman George Drometer, whose friend was asleep in West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall when the first shooting took place, said it's important for UNC to be active in helping Va. Tech students. "I really feel we need to step it up and show our support," he said. Having attended Wednesday's candlelight vigil in memory of those affected by the tragedy, Drometer said he felt a sense of community emerging on a campus fewer than 300 miles away from Va. Tech. But this proximity also has led many students to feel a tangible connection to the plight of Va. Tech. "It opens people to the perspective that we're very fortunate it didn't happen here," said Princeston Crisp, a freshman business major. As those affected by the events at Va. Tech seek solace, Jessi Kemp, a junior sociology major, said she is confident that every effort to raise awareness and show support to Va. Tech is important. "It's a subtle, 'We're thinking about you.'" -- Original Source: <a href= http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/23/Features/Students.Wear.Support.On.Their.Sleeves-2873727.shtml>The Daily Tar Heel - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The 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 Students wear support on their sleeves orange and maroon 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 Sara Hood Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Meghan E. Woods Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource New leader reaching out to Va. Tech By: Meghan E. Woods, Staff Writer Posted: 4/23/07 Not even three weeks into her term, Student Body President Eve Carson has found herself trying to console both the UNC and Virginia Tech campuses. Hours after learning of the Va. Tech tragedy, in which 32 people were killed by a suicidal student gunman, Carson, along with student body presidents from other schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, formed an e-mail listserv to send messages of condolence to Va. Tech student government leaders. "Hearing the news was just so incredibly shocking," Carson said. "The listserv was a way of reaching out. In a moment of need, there's nothing like having someone to reach out to you." Carson said she hopes to expand the communication between the schools by encouraging UNC student leaders to reach out to their counterparts in Blacksburg. "We're asking people to send their counterparts an e-mail or a letter," Carson said. "Just something to let them know you're thinking about them. We thought it'd be important to show that we were caring about the Virginia Tech community." Carson said that the matchup program is a collaborative idea and that she has been motivated to reach out because of her experiences with the death of Jason Ray, the UNC senior who portrayed Rameses for three seasons . "When Jason Ray died, I received a number of letters from people expressing their sympathy," said Carson, who took office the week after Ray's death. "I thought it was so incredible. It's nice to know that others are with you and thinking of you." Carson also is talking to UNC athletics officials about putting Va. Tech emblems on baseball helmets and working with other ACC schools to coordinate a full-page advertisement in the Collegiate Times, the Va. Tech student newspaper, expressing support during the wake of the tragedy. Former Student Body President Seth Dearmin said communication among students was the path toward healing last March when nine people were injured after UNC alumnus Mohammad Taheri-Azar drove a rented sport utility vehicle through the Pit. "After the incident, communication was positive and crucial," he said. "As a result, we brought panels together and councils to talk about what had happened and what it meant on a larger scale." James Allred, who was student body president-elect at the time, said finding outlets for students' feelings was also important in handling the incident. "We really focused on how to help students express the shock and concern they felt," he said. "As president, I think the first duty is to make sure the student body has a way to cope." Dearmin said that even though the Pit incident was different than the Va. Tech tragedy, being student body president during any significant event is stressful. "It's a lot of pressure that gets thrown on you," he said. "It's pressure that comes out of nowhere for an event that you have no control over. It comes out of the blue, but it does provide a good learning experience." Carson said she hopes communication will help foster better ties between UNC and Va. Tech. "It's important to show our commitment to Virginia Tech," she said. "We want to be in personal touch and personal communication with people at Virginia Tech. Hopefully, we'll be better connected in the future." -- Original Source: <a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/23/University/Carson.Consoles.In.Tragedy-2873070.shtml>The Daily Tar Heel - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource Carson consoles in tragedy coping student body president 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 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Few mention Va. Tech during Sunday sermons By: Allison Nichols, Assistant State & National Editor Posted: 4/23/07 The Rev. Ruth Stevens, whose son graduated from Virginia Tech in 2004, was one of few ministers of Franklin Street churches to address in a sermon Sunday the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. "The most vulnerable were not the 32 students who were shot," she said at University United Methodist Church, linking the week's events to Christian teachings. "The most vulnerable was the one who did the shooting." Stevens said some of her parishioners have felt out of step with society at large because they feel empathy for Seung-Hui Cho, the Va. Tech senior who shot 32 others before killing himself, in addition to their compassion for his victims. She and other area religious leaders said no one has come to them in the past week for help coping with the tragedy "I think the University really counsels itself," said Rabbi Ben Packer of the Jewish Experience Movement of the South, a UNC student organization. "It's amazing how the University community has come together to deal with it communally, whether it's religious or in other ways," he said, adding that the Va. Tech shootings were a main topic of conversation at Shabbat meals on the Sabbath. Packer said the reactions of students with whom he's spoken about the tragedy were neither uniquely religious nor uniquely Jewish. "Everybody's hurting from it," he said. "Everyone kind of feels the same pain." The Rev. Bob Dunham of University Presbyterian Church said that for people within any faith tradition, there is an element of basic personal compassion for the pain of others, as well as a responsibility to intervene whenever possible. He said the most important thing people can do now is to listen to those most affected by the deaths at Va. Tech. "It's too early to talk about forgiveness," he said. Rabbi John Friedman of the Judea Reform Congregation in Durham said he's talked to his congregation about gun control laws and mental health care in America in the aftermath of Va. Tech. "Part of the spiritual reaction that is normal in human beings is to look for ways to address the underlying causes or lack of prevention," he said. "It helps us spiritually to feel more secure." Agape Campus Ministry did not address the shootings Sunday in its Christian service in the Student Union, nor have students approached the organization's ministers for help dealing with the week's events. "The University as a community has done such a good job of coping together," Packer said by way of explanation. "It's really been very helpful with the candlelight vigil, with all the different Facebook groups." -- Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/23/StateNational/Religious.Leaders.Defer.In.Healing-2873741.shtml>The Daily Tar Heel - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Kevin Schwartz <kschwartz@unc.edu> Title A name given to the resource Religious leaders defer in healing coping religious 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 Editorial Board Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource More gun control doesn't infringe on right to bear arms By: Editorial Board Posted: 4/23/07 It took little time for the journalists and political pundits to start talking gun control. This editorial is not just about last week's Virginia Tech shooting. It's also about the North Mecklenburg High School student who brought a gun on campus last Wednesday, threatened two other students and then left and shot himself. It's about the rumors of a planned shooting that circulated around Orange County High School last Friday and about the student who killed his father, then injured two others at that same school last fall. This editorial isn't about the Second Amendment or taking away Americans' right to bear arms. It's about how to keep guns away from those who are unfit to use them. It's about taking away an easy means of suicide for the roughly 16,000 Americans who killed themselves with a firearm in 2004. It's about limiting the 14,000 murdered by guns in 2005 and the 650 fatal accidents the year before. One reason to study history is to avoid making the same mistakes as in the past. Stricter gun control laws might not prevent tragedy from striking, but they can make it far less likely. Even simple regulations such as background checks can make a huge difference. If somebody has a history of mental illness, that should certainly show up in a background check and prevent that person from buying a gun. And there is no sense in destroying information gathered during those checks after 24 hours, as is mandated by national law, when, in some states, that person can return to buy another gun 30 days later. A comprehensive registration system of gun owners would not hurt anyone but criminals. In Texas, residents do not need a permit to own a gun and do not have to register their firearms. The authorities don't even know how many guns are in the state. In addition, 80 percent of prisoners who own guns received their gun from family or a friend or bought it on the street or illegally. These person-to-person transactions go unrecorded. Automatic and semiautomatic weapons - for instance, a 9 mm Glock - only are available to police in almost every other country. You can buy an AK-47 online for $379.99, and nobody in their right mind - and certainly nobody not in their right mind - needs one of those. The assault-weapons ban, which expired in 2004, should be renewed. Gun-related crime has fallen since the mid-1990s, but rose sharply again in 2005. Unfortunately, the rates are still exorbitantly high. The gun-murder rate in America is more than 30 times that of England. Tighter gun control won't necessarily bring that down. If somebody has a strong enough inclination to kill another, that person likely will find a gun regardless of how strong the restrictions are, but it sure won't hurt to conduct thorough background checks and ban automatic weapons. We're not trying to take away Americans' rights to hunt or own a gun in case anyone feels the need to start a militia and revolt against tyranny. But nobody should complain if America is a safer place. -- Original Source: <a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/23/Opinion/The-Right.To.Life-2873036.shtml> The Daily Tar Heel - April 23, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The 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 The right to life background checks gun control 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 Erin France Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-07-16 Description An account of the resource Some students able to forgive</a> By: Erin France, State & National Editor Posted: 4/24/07 BLACKSBURG, Va. - The first day back to class for Virginia Tech students began with a morning ceremony honoring the 32 students and faculty killed by senior English major Seung-Hui Cho. Thirty-two white balloons were released with the strike of a bell in front of 33 small stones placed in a semi-circle on the wide expanse of the field known as the Drillfield. The 33rd marker, placed between Matthew Gwaltney's and Dan O'Neil's, was for Cho, who killed himself at the end of his rampage; it was removed later Monday. There still is a sizable showing of flowers and notes in the place where his stone lay. "He was still a person, too," junior Matthew Quinn said. "He was still a Hokie." In this community of more than 25,000 students, there are signs of forgiveness toward the gunman, but it is not a consensus. There were not many on campus willing to talk to the media Monday, and while the campus population spiked from last week, it was far from a normal spring day. "There are a lot of students back, but this is pretty sparse," graduate student Amy Tanner said. "I think it will be just a slow, long week." Instructors received e-mails from the Va. Tech administration encouraging them to mention last week's events in their classes. Ting Cai, a graduate student, is teaching a general chemistry class today and said he cannot predict how many of his students will attend. "We're only going to meet for 15 minutes," he said. "I think I'll probably start with a moment of silence." Teachers are using Monday and Tuesday to assess the grades and conditions of their students before finishing the semester. Exams are optional in calculating students' final grades. Andrew Blando, a junior oceanic engineer, said he still is debating the different options. "I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of the situation," he said. The students remaining on campus Monday were searching for normalcy. Many students experienced abbreviated classes along with reminders of the last week, such as signs on the outside of all academic and residence halls curtailing the media's presence. "I know in my first class there was quite a bit of awkward silence," Quinn said. "Being able to go back to class helps, though." The somber atmosphere is punctuated by requests for media interviews, many of which were turned down, although Quinn acknowledged the importance of broadcasting information. He said he just found out Sunday that he knew one of the victims when he saw her picture on CNN. "I was just in shock for, like, five minutes," he said. Authorities have named Cho the gunman in one of two university shootings last Monday. The first incident occurred about 7 a.m. at the West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall, where a resident adviser and a female student were shot. Police have identified Cho as the gunman in the second shooting two hours later that left 30 people dead at Norris Hall, an academic building. Cho then committed suicide. One of the guns used in the second shooting also was used in the first. There is a heavy police presence on campus as the investigation continues. Campus tours resumed Monday, although guides had to detour to avoid the police tape surrounding Norris Hall. "This is a great school," was repeated to prospective students and their parents by professors and current students. And the decreased numbers in the student body this week might not indicate next semester's trend. "I don't know many people who weren't coming back," Blando said. For the Blacksburg community, it will be a long time before they can walk through campus without thinking about the 33 dead students and faculty. "It's always going to be in the recesses of my mind," Blando said. -- Original Source: <a href=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/24/StateNational/Hokies.Return.Seeking.Routine-2876165.shtml>The Daily Tar Heel - April 24, 2007</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The 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 Hokies return seeking routine on campus reporting student perspectives unc