PERSPECTIVE: Personal instinct only defense against tragic news
By:Ryan MacDonald
Posted: 4/18/07
In the days following a great tragedy, we as human beings collectively exhibit a variety of distinct reactions. Some will experience fear. This response is inevitably redoubled by a media which profits on false dependency -- cable news network owners want Americans to believe that without a constant and unfettered flow of semi-useful detail they will lack the needed information to survive the evening. Others sink deeply into depression. A few bleak hours permanently darken the thousands that they have spent on this planet. A state of war looms on all horizons. A third group will clamor for explanations and solutions. Quick fixes will be enticing and will abound. Pundits and politicians will congest the airwaves and television screens calling for every reform from censorship of music to religious revival. Erroneous causal connections will be purported, and the vulnerable masses will be lost in the sea of competing ideologies.
On Monday, tragedy struck. As news poured in from various outlets we learned the shooting at Virginia Tech was the worst in American history. Reporters interrogated school officials about the identity of the shooter and why he was able to carry out two rounds of mass murder without being caught. People will struggle with causes and effects for weeks; they will pour over preventative solutions; news outlets will inject dramatic twists of plot to increase viewership and revenue. Confusion and disillusionment will not be in short supply.
Amid all of this, though, I urge you to reflect deeply on the events of April 16 and the aftermath. What is your immediate response? How will this affect your perception of the world? What would you do to change things? Preempt the onslaught of ideology before it reaches your ears.
Although I run the risk of being labeled a hypocrite by putting forth a moral position, I'd like to share some of my personal reflections. First of all, the most essential fact of the matter is that an individual was able to acquire fire arms and commit a horrendous act. Immediately I was reminded of my time as an intern in a London law firm where I learned that possession of a firearm carries a five-year sentence there. The rest of Europe views guns as an even darker evil. Mass shootings do not occur in Europe. Although violence certainly exists there, the weapon of choice is a knife. A man with a knife will never kill 32 people by himself.
In the United States, politicians court potential voters by leaking a video of their hunting trips. As John Stewart recently pointed out, Americans do not see the apparent contradiction in being a hunter and standing on a pro-life platform. The possession and ownership of firearms is protected by Constitutional amendment. Guns are entrenched in American politics and culture.
However, many fail to realize that the Constitution is not an infallible document. it had once barred blacks and women from voting, allowed for slavery and banned liquor. When the Constitution is wrong, it can and should be amended. Gun enthusiasts will present the opposite information. In fear of losing their gruesome, death-oriented pastime they will lobby politicians to blame this tragedy on gangsta rap or video games. They want to hide the fact that the domestic arms proliferation for which they are responsible is inextricably linked to the massacre of innocents. Guns kill people. Period. Where no guns exist, violence isn't as rampant.
As I remarked earlier, you may brand these remarks as ideology and apply the above criticism of political opportunism to my own words. I accept this and consider it fair. However, I challenge you to reflect deeply and with self honesty. Consider the sanctity which we afford guns in America. Don't allow yourself to fear entering the classroom or walking the streets. If it is possible, let's grasp this occasion to engender change and put forth well thought out, constructive critiques of our lives and our nation.
Ryan MacDonald is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/18/Opinion/Perspective.Personal.Instinct.Only.Defense.Against.Tragic.News-2849548.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007</a>
Ryan MacDonald
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
PERSPECTIVE: Covering Virginia Tech as a student journalist in Blacksburg
By:Priyanka Dayal
Posted: 4/23/07
I spent three days last week at Virginia Tech University as a reporter covering the heinous murder of 32 innocent people.
I had never felt so many things all at once. I had never been so nervous and so excited and so sad and so scared all at the same time. I had never eaten so much fast food, then slept for three hours then worked for 16.
I've spent this semester at Boston University's Washington Journalism Center, where I write for a newspaper in Massachusetts and intern at USA TODAY's main bureau in McLean, Virginia. Last Monday, I was sitting at my desk doing some mildly interesting research. That's when I heard the first reports that people had been shot at Virginia Tech.
The newsroom started bustling. What was going on in Blacksburg? Which reporters and editors would go? How many should go?
Mindy, a reporter who sits next to me and, for weeks, has been the best mentor an intern could have, started gathering some fresh notebooks and yelled over the wall dividing our desks if I wanted to go.
"Go where?" I asked.
"To Blacksburg!" she said.
That's not what I expected to hear. My heart started beating really fast. I've been a reporter, albeit a student reporter, for four years. I've never had that kind of an adrenaline rush before.
I know I should have jumped on the assignment. But I didn't. I got scared. I didn't know what to do. Did I really want to go straight to a place where a psychopathic killer had just stunned the world?
Yes.
Once we reached Blacksburg, I wasn't nervous anymore. I set about reporting the story like I would report any other story. I talked to people about the situation. But I wasn't always prepared for their answers.
Through tears, a girl my age, named Tina, who was in Norris Hall last Monday morning, told me about hearing gunshots in the classroom below her. She heard pounding. She heard screams. She heard maniacal laughter. Later that night, she heard all those things again in her dreams.
While Tina was telling me this, her mother walked into the room. They hugged and cried and stroked each other's hair. Clutching my pen and notebook, I could only watch. I thought I was going to lose it. How could any reporter not be touched by this? How could any reporter just be expected to say "thanks for your time," then move on to the next interview?
There were a couple other times I almost cried. I guess that makes me a sap. But by the second and third day, I was almost too tired to be sad. I couldn't wait to collapse into my bed in my motel room and fall asleep to the sounds of Sports Center.
It wasn't all horrible. It was thrilling, too. The story was appalling and gruesome and heartbreaking, but it was the biggest story since Katrina.
Every publication and TV station with the means sent people to Blacksburg. The parking lot of the Inn at Virginia Tech, where the press was stationed, was teeming with news trucks and satellites. Inside the building, reporters and photographers and cameramen seized any nook of space they could find to set up their equipment. People were filing stories from cramped hallways and bathroom floors. Everyone had laptops and cell phones or Blackberrys that needed to be plugged in. There was a constant chase for electrical outlets.
On Tuesday afternoon, I roamed the building looking for a place to charge my phone. There was one free outlet. It was right under FOX News cameras. The cameramen said I could plug in my phone, even though they were about to start some live shots. "Just play it cool," they said.
So I planted myself on the floor and took out a sandwich, which had been sitting in my bag for hours. Six inches to my left, Geraldo Rivera and later, Shepard Smith, were fumbling with earpieces and retouching their make-up. In other corners of the same room, Katie Couric, Wolf Blitzer and Tucker Carlson were also getting ready for live shots.
I met reporters from Norway and Australia, and one who lived down the road in Christiansburg, Virginia. Ten other people from USA TODAY were there. We had make-shift news meetings in crowded hallways then dictated our notes to editors in the home office. I was the only intern, but I was part of the team, part of a special group that shared the special privilege of telling this tragic story.
Priyanka Dayal, a senior in the College of Communication and the College of Arts and Sciences, is a former Science Tuesday and Associate City Editor for The Daily Free Press.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/23/Opinion/Perspective.Covering.Virginia.Tech.As.A.Student.Journalist.In.Blacksburg-2874620.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 23, 2007</a>
Priyanka Dayal
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
PERSPECTIVE: Bush's speech at Virginia Tech clouded by own agenda
By:Matt Holt
Posted: 4/19/07
I had time to listen to President Bush's speech Tuesday morning at Virginia Tech. The president did the right thing by going to the campus in an attempt to console the victims of the unspeakable tragedy that claimed so many young lives Monday.
Maybe "unspeakable" is the wrong word to use. Perhaps such tragedies are born from discontent that is never spoken but stoked, unknowingly, by people who are unaware of the realities that lead up to such a desperate and violent act. No matter the reasons now, the end result will not change. The bullet has left the gun, so to speak.
It is ironic this particular tragedy is not of the president's making yet he was able to address the event so well. Communication is the key to awareness when relating to other people or groups of people. Who knows what we might have learned from talking with the perpetrator of this horrific episode. Why would he want to die and see others suffer and die? What is it that instilled such anger and hatred that it completely eclipsed the light, a soul so damaged that it had reached the point of no return?
Desperation on such a scale is reminiscent of the suicide bombers we hear so much about today. Why can't they see the use in their own existence? They have been trained to hate and destroy themselves and everyone around them. To someone who doesn't harbor hate, this type of action is completely unfathomable. None of the victims deserved to meet such an end. The only way to arrive at an answer is to investigate the causes. Is it possible that the gunman was just deranged, and it didn't take any special event to spawn the actions yesterday?
As I listened to Bush, it occurred to me that much of what he said about the tragedy could also be said about his presidency. His legacy will be a lack of communication and alienation of whole nations and religions. When he said "it's impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering" or "they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," the same could be said by any Iraqi civilian. His rush to war told the nation that it's not so important who we punish for Sept. 11 2001 terrorist attacks, but that we punish someone quickly.
Understaffing in Afghanistan and unnecessary staffing in Iraq have been the catalysts for many tragedies that have affected the entire world. Thousands of dead Iraqi families could probably identify with the families from Virginia Tech and, if they heard the speech, would have thought Bush was the perpetrator in question.
Unfortunately, the president is of the belief that the U.S. could kill all of its enemies. Just ask anyone who has ever suffered such a loss and it becomes apparent that with each enemy you do kill, a whole family of new enemies springs up to take on the cause. And, heaven forbid, we actually talk with our enemies. We might actually reach an agreement to find a way to live free of conflict.
This mindset of "you're either with us or against us" tells others that if they are not willing to bend to our whims, then violence will be the end result. If two people can live together and have disagreements, two countries can as well. Despite all of the communication from his employers (us, the people) the president has ignored the Baker Commission, the democratically elected Senate and House, the Supreme Court and every ally who has tried to point out the administration's.
From Kyoto to Katrina to Kabul, nothing has gone right in seven years. We have more enemies than ever, and we're creating new ones every day. We spy on our own citizens yet allow countries like Pakistan harbor our real enemies with no repercussions.
The time has come to get rid of this man. Are we not tired of the bad news yet? It's not getting any better.
Bush's reaction to Sept. 11 was misdirected and personally motivated. He has been completely ineffective in response yet very effective in playing politics as a result. Bush's strength is in instilling fear, then sending enforcers to back up his will. He is nothing more than a common thug and Chicken Hawk with misbegotten degrees from Yale. A good leader is one who leads by example, yet we have come to accept "do as I say, not as I do" from the leader of the most powerful country in the world.
How do other world leaders view our president's power and what license does this administration give other governments to follow their own self-serving anti-social policies?
Matt Holt is a resident of Easthan, Massachusetts.
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Original Source:<a href=ttp://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/19/Opinion/Perspective.Bushs.Speech.At.Virginia.Tech.Clouded.By.Own.Agenda-2853050.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 19, 2007</a>
Matt Holt
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Media's response to VT tragedy warrants criticism
By:
Posted: 4/20/07
In the time between the two horrific shootings that took place at Virgina Polytechnic Institute April 16, the killer, Cho Seung-Hui managed to mail disturbing video clips and pictures of himself to NBC News in New York. While NBC News did contact the FBI about the materials, they unveiled the disturbing images to the American people on the nightly news Wednesday. This insensitive move is representative of the mainstream media's disappointing coverage of the tragedy, and The Miami Student editorial board finds the glorification of this mass murderer appalling and offensive.
NBC News is effectively giving Cho Seung-Hui exactly what he wanted - a pulpit from which he can speak his insanities. Cho's chilling and senseless photographs only adds to the pain of the victims' friends and families and are not worth playing over and over again. In another sign of sensationalist coverage, other networks, such as CNN, aired a running gunshot tally based off of a cell phone audio clip captured by a Virginia Tech student, almost oblivious to the fact that with each shot another innocent person was being murdered.
This theatrical media coverage suggests that the lessons from Columbine have not been taken to heart. In the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine shooting, the media covered the event with a similar circus-like attitude. Contemporary 24-hour coverage has led to poor journalism that thrives on ratings, melodrama and editorialized field reports, all of which takes away from the actual event.
Rather than these sad examples of media irresponsibility, The Miami Student editorial board feels the American public deserve staid reporting. Moreover, rather than glorifying Seung-Hui's acts, the press should focus more on the victims of his acts. For example, Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old engineering professor and Holocaust survivor, saved his students by blocking his classroom's door with his body, sacrificing his life in the process. Stories such as this represent a sign of selfless humanity amidst the horror of the random violence.
In the end, the media coverage of the tragedy has been disrespectful toward the families and friends of the innocent victims. Just hours after their deaths, the media swarmed the college town of Blacksburg, Va. with little regard for the students and families who lived through the violent act. In many ways, the networks' theatrical coverage has helped to desensitize the American people to the horrors of the April 16 attack. The media should simply allow the tragedy to speak for itself - its horror is self-evident.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2007/04/20/Editorials/Medias.Response.To.Vt.Tragedy.Warrants.Criticism-2870736.shtml>The Miami Student - April 10, 2007</a>
Anonymous
The Miami Student
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
"Skotzko, Stacey Nicole" <skotzksn@muohio.edu>
eng
Massacre of 32 at Virginia Tech shocks alumni in MetroWest
By Danielle Williamson/Daily News staff
GHS
Tue Apr 17, 2007, 12:07 AM EDT
NO DATA - For Bill Saam, the slaughter yesterday at his alma mater resurrected the shock, sadness and anger he felt when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.
"On a personal level, the feeling I had today was very much the way I felt on 9/11," said Saam, a Northborough resident and 1992 Virginia Tech graduate.
An active member of the college's alumni association, Saam was in touch yesterday with other classmates who struggled to comprehend the news.
"It's very much a tight-knit community," he said. "I hope no one from New England is directly affected by this."
Saam described Blacksburg as a "small, rural area."
"You don't hear about crime down there, never mind shootings," he said.
For Milford native Jim Pyne, a 1993 Virginia Tech graduate, yesterday's murders are a sad reflection on the state of society.
"We have people who fly planes into buildings ... and screwballs who have guns and shouldn't have them," said Pyne, a former professional football player. "It's the society we live in, and it's just despicable."
Pyne, who was an All-American at Virginia Tech and played nine seasons in the NFL, said he watched much of the news yesterday but "couldn't keep watching it. It doesn't seem real."
"I've been in all those buildings. I took classes there," Pyne said. "I feel for the parents of the 33 kids and I'm horrified about what happened and what it's like for them."
Peter Darby of Charlestown, who leads the New England chapter of Virginia Tech's alumni association, said the Boston area has 1,300 alumni, many of whom were in contact with each other yesterday.
"We're stunned just numb," Darby said.
For Waltham native Marcus Ly, the shootings were particularly difficult to comprehend.
"I called a lot of my friends in Blacksburg. They're all OK," said Ly, a Virginia Tech grad student speaking by phone yesterday from Minneapolis. "But it's just a lot of confusion, they don't really know anything more than we do reading the headlines."
A 1995 Waltham High School graduate, Ly finished a graduate school program in industrial and systems engineering at Virginia Tech last winter.
"It's really the equivalent of something like this happening in Weston," said Ly, trying to describe the town of Blacksburg, home to the 2,600-acre Virginia Tech campus. "It's one of the safest cities I've ever lived in and I've lived in a lot of cities."
Natick's Chris Mitchell, a junior at Virginia Tech, never imagined such horror could occur on the campus.
"It's a small town and a university where everybody knows everybody," Mitchell, an economics major, told WCVB-TV. "It's the last place where you'd think something like this would happen."
Newton resident Theodore Fritz recognized the buildings photographers captured throughout the day.
"I'm certainly transfixed here," said Fritz, a 1961 Virginia Tech graduate who watched television reports throughout the day.
A Boston University professor, the killings affected Fritz both as a college educator and a Virginia Tech alumnus.
"I think this probably could have happened anywhere," he said.
Danielle Williamson can be reached at 508-490-7475 or dwilliam@cnc.com. Daily News staff writers Albert Breer and Nicole Haley contributed to this story.
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Original Source:Framingham,MA - The MetroWest Daily News
<a href="http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/local_news/x1298126656">http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/local_news/x1298126656</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0</a>.
Danielle Williamson/Daily News staff
2007-07-17
Na Mi
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0
eng
LYONS: The impact of sports during tragedy
By:Chris Lyons
Posted: 4/19/07
Originally, I was planning on writing a column about the debauchery that is Marathon Monday. As one of the biggest days here at our school, it only seemed right to dedicate an entire column taking a look at the day many students compare to Christmas.
Everything started out according to plan. As the day began and the race went off with minimal rain. It seemed as though all would turn out OK.
It's amazing how things can change in a blink of an eye.
Since coming to school here at BU, I've stressed over numerous "problems" that all college students go through when they arrive in a new environment. Making friends, meeting girls (or boys) and rooting for athletic teams that give everyone stress at some point or another. Education, of course, can be thrown into this category as well.
None of those seemed to matter when I went to check my computer Monday morning while taking a break in the Marathon action.
As I went to ESPN.com as I always do, the breaking news at Virginia Tech put everything into perspective. All the things I constantly worry about as a sports fan were irrelevant once again. Suddenly, the marathon didn't matter. The Red Sox game being played down the street didn't matter. The wins and losses of Boston University athletics that I've worried about for the past three years didn't matter.
Feelings reminiscent of those I had when I first heard of the Columbine High School shootings and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks rushed into my head. It seemed as though the death toll continued to rise each time I refreshed the page until the number reached 32 killed by a crazed gunman.
Trying to talk about athletics at the time of a tragedy of this magnitude almost seems senseless. No matter how much passion we put into supporting or playing sports, they are just games at the end of the day.
But somehow, sports always help play a huge role in the recovery process in situations like these.
Columbine's football team's success the season after the 1999 shootings was a feel-good story about a community coming together after tragedy. I still get goose bumps every time I watch New England Patriots lineman Joe Andruzzi - brother of two New York firefighters - run on to the field at Gillette Stadium holding American flags in each hand when the NFL came back after Sept. 11.
Sports seem to offer our country an escape from tragedy and a way of coming together as a group with a common bond. They give us something to rally around.
At no level is this more evident than in collegiate athletics. A team can bring a school together. Here at BU, hockey is a borderline religion for many. Our campus is stuffed with students from all over the country -- world, even -- who are as diverse as can be. But every Friday or Saturday night in the fall and winter, Agganis Arena fills to root on the common bond that we all share.
While watching the images of Virginia Tech students in mourning the past few days, one thing stood out to me.
First, the "Let's go Hokies!" chant at the memorial service on Tuesday. Cheers that Virginia Tech students use at sporting events are now being used to bring their campus together during these trying times.
And it's spreading beyond their campus, too. Similar to "U.S.A." chants following Sept. 11, "Everyone is a Hokie" is being heard on campuses throughout the nation. Athletic pride is turning into a nation's pride for a campus in Blacksburg, Va. that experienced the worst shooting in U.S. history.
So while we always say sports are just games and have little meaning, they clearly offer us comfort in times of tragedy, at least in some sense. On a small scale or large, they have helped our country survive some of our saddest moments. And they will now be part of an effort to move on at Virginia Tech.
On Friday, Virginia Tech's baseball team will be the first Hokies squad to step onto the playing field since Monday's shootings, and several other teams will continue their seasons this weekend.
I don't think I'll be alone in rooting for all of their athletes in their effort to help the campus move forward. America's Team has found a new home in my mind. Let's Go Hokies.
Chris Lyons, a junior in the College of Communication, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at cjl@bu.edu.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/19/Sports/Lyons.The.Impact.Of.Sports.During.Tragedy-2853081.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 19, 2007</a>
Chris Lyons
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: VT editorial, NBC wrong
Issue date: 4/20/07
Section: Opinion
The Daily Free Press's editorial sounded like it was taken straight from the NBC anchor's monologue, complete with the required clichés of "difficult decision" and "responsibility to tell the story," ("Airing murderous motives," April 19, p. 11).
It gave NBC every benefit in assuming its goal here is to selflessly provide "the story."
"Before even thinking about putting the information on the air, NBC contacted the FBI."
This sounds great, and it was very humble of NBC to do that, but was it true? It seems to me the more likely timeline was to first make copies of everything, contact the FBI and finally slap the NBC logo on each frame before starting the round-the-clock replays.
A more interesting analysis for the editorial could have been to walk through that journalistic decision making process: Does a mass media outlet weigh the good or bad that might come from their exploitation of a situation?
I can easily think of many bad outcomes from this such as additional psychological damage to the victims and their families and the obvious danger of inspiring the next mass murder out there.
The editorial said Cho Seung-Hui copied previous killers, so it acknowledges that there is a real danger. Perhaps his words are being written into some other loner kid's notebook right now.
The editorial does, however, dismiss this danger: "These threats will surface regardless of whether the media provides all the information or not." This is a weak justification (might as well make drugs legal, people will do them anyway). That excuse is also an attempt to remove the mighty responsibility which comes with the journalism profession.
As far as the good from showing the video, I can't think of anything beyond profiting from human misery. Does anyone feel better knowing the final thoughts of a killer, or seeing what must have been the last thing all of those innocent people at Virginia Tech saw before they were killed?
Please let me know what benefit we receive from the telling the killer's story that could not have been conveyed in a summary paragraph of what he sent. Think about the difference between reporting on the package (we received a package with a video which show the killer felt alone, picked on, angry at the rich etc.) compared to fulfilling the last wish of that cold-blooded killer and giving out every word of his manifesto.
Which has a greater chance of inspiring some other unstable person out that? Who knows which sentence or image will be latched on to?
There is such a thing is right and wrong in the world, and in this case, NBC was wrong.
David Stifter
CAS '01, GSM '06
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/20/Opinion/Letter.Vt.Editorial.Nbc.Wrong-2871466.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 20, 2007</a>
David Stifter
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: Shooter needed counseling
By:Bethany Morris
Posted: 4/20/07
n In reaction to the Virginia Tech shootings, different advocacy groups are focusing on gun control and security as issues that should be addressed after this latest tragedy. While these are valid points, doesn't the problem stem from mental-heath care?
It is nearly impossible to get individuals into mental-health facilities after they turn 18 unless they commit themselves or have committed some act of violence against themselves or others. If the professor who had tried to get Cho Seung-Hui help had been able to get him committed to residential treatment (treatment that he had needed for years) this tragedy might have been prevented.
Unfortunately, this young man was too far gone to acknowledge his need for treatment, and his behavior went unchecked.
Bethany Morris
CFA '09
Bethany Morris
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: Shooter didn't represent Korea
By: Don Lucas
Posted: 4/30/07
Two weeks ago, I was shocked once again when a maniac took so many innocent lives at Virginia Tech. I focused on the many news events that followed this tragedy in my home state.
I reflected on the campus, wrapped in such scenic beauty, where my many of my friends attended and later taught. Virginia Tech is a university in which many of my former students attended. It is also a university where my former students and I visited while teaching and performing music.
As I continued to watch the television coverage throughout the week, I had many reflections and feelings, including shock, outrage and compassion.
Late last week, officials posted a letter written by the sister of the murderer. Her words touched me very much. I felt her pain and hurt for those who suffered at the hands of her brother. I perceived her words to be most sincere and heartfelt. In a week of such tragedy, this is the moment that produced my tears. I couldn't help but think she didn't have to write that letter. But she did.
In the last ten years, I have had the opportunity to teach and perform music in South Korea on four occasions, most recently at Yonsei University in Seoul. During my first trip, I remember an older man looking me straight in the eyes and thanking me for the United States' intervention in his country years ago.
I am very proud of the United States' involvement in the Korean War. South Korea is a beautiful country, a beautiful culture and a beautiful people. The Daily Free Press's article ("After VT, Koreans prepare for backlash," April 25, p. 1) quite, and cited the Korean values of community support. I would like to add the values of courtesy and a great work ethic. At the end of the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Today, South Korea has the eighth-highest gross national product wordwide.
I read in a recent book by Lee Iacocca that of all international students recently rated in math and science, Korean students scored the highest.
The Virginia Tech killer did not reflect Korean values. But his sister did.
I also have been reflecting on many of the Korean students at Boston University whom I interact with on our campus. These students continually demonstrate an excellence with dignity and class.
I was so pleased to see written in the article that there have been no backlash incidents reported among the BU community. I am proud of our BU community in this regard.
It is understandable to regret when a tragedy has happened by persons from one's own culture. I have felt this many times as a U.S. citizen. I have also felt pride in the United States. But I hope the readers of the Free Press will join me in answering Clara Pyo and all the students of the Korean Student Association.
Yes, Pyo should celebrate, because her heritage, the heritage of South Korea, is still a proud heritage.
Don Lucas
Associate Professor of Music and Chairman, Brass, Woodwind, Percussion
College of Fine Arts
Don Lucas
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: Massacre is 'senseless loss'
By: Clarissa Nemeth
Posted: 4/18/07
To me, a college campus is one of the best places to be on earth. A university represents a lot of great things: youth and promise, for starters. A sense of community. A devotion to a life of the mind. Personal improvement. Ambition, dedication, discipline. All kinds of respect -- respect from students who want to learn, respect from professors who are honored to be able to share their knowledge, respect of colleagues and self-respect for a job well done. And above all, a love of knowledge, learning and teaching, with the idea that these things can improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
This is why what happened at Virginia Tech horrifies me so much. Any senseless loss of life, especially in such high numbers, is numbing and saddening. But the idea that this took place on a college campus -- especially with the shooter being a student -- is particularly difficult for me to wrap my mind around. Such a thing is in direct reproach to all the wonderful things that a university, one of the civilized world's oldest and most respected institutions, stands for.
This was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, and it happened in a community devoted to higher learning. How does a university community -- teachers, students and staff alike -- begin to recover from such a horrific turn of events, especially because the betrayal came from within?
There is already much criticism of the way the university handled itself during the crucial hours. But how much better could it have done it? How prepared could it have been for something like this? I'm certain that, had it happened here, Boston University would have not have fared much better.
University administrators do think about student safety, but they are generally not thinking about their own students going on shooting rampages. And what a horrible precedent this has set. Clearly, now they will have to start thinking about it.
I have a friend at Virginia Tech, and thankfully, she and her friends are safe. But I grieve for her, nonetheless, because of what her community will be going through in the days and months to come, particularly when the media coverage subsides and they are left to pick up the pieces on their own.
Somebody on CNN said yesterday that because of these circumstances no matter what college we are affiliated with, "Today, we are all Hokies."
My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who died, but my prayers belong to everyone affiliated with Virginia Tech. I believe that every university in the country should have its flag at half-mast tomorrow. This tragedy did not just happen to Virginia Tech. It happened to all of us, in this larger community devoted to everything that colleges and universities stand for.
Clarissa Nemeth
CFA '08
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/18/Opinion/Letter.Massacre.Is.senseless.Loss-2849549.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007</a>
Clarissa Nemeth
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: Gun violence is what needs to be controlled
By:Daniel Ross
Posted: 4/24/07
"The Changing Gun Debate," an article written by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in response to the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, can be found in the April 30 issue of Newsweek. I applaud his insight and his efforts; Mayor Bloomberg is leading an uphill battle against gun crime.
For as long I can remember, the gun debate has been about special interests -- on both sides. Our political leaders remind us that they are concerned about guns in America and either passionately advocate or decry gun regulation.
Our two parties are entrenched in this opposition. Sadly, this debate is far more about ideology and not at all about restoring the peace and safety of American homes, businesses and schools. Mayor Bloomberg proposes a middle ground that sidesteps the dogma of regulation. He intends to stop gun crime, and he is making measurable progress doing so. In the past six years, murders in New York City have dropped 40 percent.
Specifically, Bloomberg wants to stop crime perpetrated with illegally purchased guns. Although the Virginia Tech shooter legally purchased his weapons, most criminals do not. Most criminals who use guns purchase them illegally. "FBI statistics show that violent crime is on the rise across America," writes Bloomberg, and the weapon of choice is an illegal gun.
Unfortunately, our federal government is doing little to help the fight against illegal guns. In fact, Bloomberg says federal regulations prevent his police department and cities across the nation from using the resources they need to bust illegal gun dealers.
"Statistics show that 1 percent of dealers sell more than half of all illegal guns," Bloomberg said. In order to stop the sale of these weapons and keep them out of the hand of criminals, Bloomberg started a coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Now, more than 200 cities participate, sharing information about the sale of illegal guns.
Our national debate on guns must change. Following Bloomberg's example, our Federal government should aggressively combat the sale of illegal guns in America. It should share the information that local and state law enforcement officials need to stop gun crime.
Ultimately, a debate on gun crime cannot be one of ideology, but must be one of law enforcement. No matter how stringent or lenient the regulations our society places on legal gun ownership, the majority of criminals will still use illegal guns. Bloomberg supports law enforcement because he wants to stop gun crime.
Our leaders should stop concerning themselves with whether or not an average American citizen should be able to own guns: Our Constitution explicitly provides for gun ownership. Instead, our leaders must stop gun crime. The only way to stop gun crime in America is unequivocal, uncompromising support of law enforcement from the federal government and its agencies.
Let's follow Bloomberg's lead. With support for law enforcement, we can end the epidemic of gun crime in America.
Daniel Ross
CFA '10
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/24/Opinion/Letter.Gun.Violence.Is.What.Needs.To.Be.Controlled-2876897.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 24, 2007</a>
Daniel Ross
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: Good coverage is worthwhile
By:Kyle Cheney
Posted: 4/19/07
Adan Berkowitz's disdain for the very media that gives him a voice is an alarmingly narrow-minded generalization. ("A campus in grief distracted by media attack," April 18, p. 9). While sensationalism is all too prevalent in certain segments of the press, to ignore examples of remarkable, in-depth coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre is equally egregious.
Tragedies such as this are the rare moments in U.S. history when the country collectively holds its breath, anxiously waiting for the newest fact or detail to emerge. In these cases, we rely on reporters on the ground to ask tough questions and capture the horror and pain that sent shock waves around the world.
It surprises me that amid the supposed "swarm" of reporters marauding like vultures on the Virginia Tech campus, Berkowitz failed to notice the intrepid coverage by the Roanoke Times, a local outlet that has the most comprehensive, to-the-minute coverage and became a virtual bible for out-of-town reporters. The paper currently features a moving tribute to the victims on its main web page.
Berkowitz also curiously missed the fantastic USA Today coverage, and even his hometown Boston Globe made a fine showing.
To be sure, the Talking Heads do have a way of obscuring issues and turning them into partisan talking points, and they certainly make a lot of noise. But they are hardly representative of the media as a whole, which, at least on this story, performed masterfully.
Kyle Cheney
COM '06
Former editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/19/Opinion/Letter.Good.Coverage.Is.Worthwhile-2853056.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 19, 2007</a>
Kyle Cheney
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
LETTER: BU must be responsive
By: Natalie Orphanos
Posted: 4/20/07
In light of recent events, I am very disappointed in the administration's lack of a response to its students. Boston University prides itself on being a close-knit community despite its large size, a community in which each person is fully supported. However, this is not being expressed.
In the past, after tragedies, such as the fires near South Campus, BU students have been notified through email of the tragedy immediately and how the university is handling it. However, I sit by my computer three days after the Virginia Tech tragedy without an email. The only places I've been able to read about the tragedy on campus are The Daily Free Press and BU Today. My Residence Assistant even sent out an email giving us support and guidance. I need more than a publication to tell me that everything is okay. And while my RA showed that she cares, I need to feel like the university officials care, too, and that they are doing everything to ensure our safety. And I need to hear that directly from them.
This massacre is one that has affected the nation; it is not a remote incident. We have been reminded time and again through similar tragedies that these events can happen anywhere.
The students at Virginia Tech were not notified by the university after the first shooting took place in a dormitory. The shooter was able to send a video and his manifesto to NBC en route to the classroom building where he killed 30 people. Had the university taken more action, had it notified the students and faculty of the situation and had they placed the university on lockdown, the incident may have been prevented.
If that is not compelling enough, perhaps the fact that a BU student threatened to go on a rampage at another college in Boston similar to the one at Virginia Tech is more reason for the university to send an email out to the students. The media knew of this incident before many BU students had even heard about it.
In these times, BU's administration needs to react. The students need a response assuring them that our campus is a safe one. We need assurance from the administration that everything is being done to protect us. We need to be aware of incidents like these so we can decide to what to do and so we can be more aware of our surroundings. It is up to university officials to be responsive and to let us know that they are there and that they care.
Natalie Orphanos
COM '09
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/20/Opinion/Letter.Bu.Must.Be.Responsive-2871464.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 20, 2007</a>
Natalie Orphanos
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Grieving nation copes with tragedy
<b>University reps. meet with BPD to discuss prevention</b>
By: Andrew FitzGerald
Posted: 4/18/07
The day after a Virginia Tech senior shot and killed 32 people on campus and himself, representatives from 19 Boston-area colleges who met at Boston Police Department headquarters said they must improve communication in the future to prevent similar campus attacks.
University administrators joined state and local police forces to discuss "protocol, procedure and planning" that goes into preventing campus attacks during a meeting requested by Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, said BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.
Representatives at the meeting said they wanted to ensure the BPD and campus security forces are able to communicate through radio, according to Driscoll, who cited the existing Boston Area Emergency Radio Network -- a link between local campus and police departments -- that received boosted support after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Virginia Tech and college campuses around the country have reacted to Monday's shootings, in which 32 people were killed by Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui. The 23-year-old English major from South Korea killed two people in a residence hall shortly after 7 a.m., and he killed 30 in a classroom building two hours later a half-mile across campus.
Local university administrators also compared methods they use to communicate with students in pressing situations, Driscoll said.
Virginia Tech officials have received widespread criticism for not immediately contacting university members after the first shooting. Officials first sent an email to the university about the residence hall shooting at 9:26 a.m., while the gunman was carrying out his second attack.
Driscoll said another topic discussed was the importance of "recognizing the tendency of someone who may act in violence." Classmates and professors have described the shooter as someone who was not very sociable, and some professors had referred him for counseling, according to The New York Times.
Representatives at yesterday's meeting will form subcommittees to develop campus-specific security plans, which will vary based on school size and relative security, Driscoll said.
"The distinction would be that some universities have patrol forces and some do not," she said. "If the security force is unarmed, then what are the steps they should take in an unarmed situation? If the force is armed, then the response should be different."
Attending university administrators said they could not provide details on the tools security personnel use to protect their campuses because the information could aid potential attackers.
Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, who attended the meeting, declined to elaborate on specifics, only repeating Driscoll's summary that they discussed "protocols, training amongst different agencies [and] how students can access information."
Harvard University spokesman Joe Wrinn said universities and law enforcement agencies meet regularly to share information. For example, university representatives and police held a similar meeting in October 2004 to plan for potential riots after World Series games, prompted by the accidental shooting death of an Emerson College student celebrating in the streets after the Boston Red Sox won the American League Championship Series.
"We occasionally get together with other campuses and campus police," Wrinn said. "We run tabletop exercises and drills."
Driscoll said the police forces and university representatives will meet again to further develop prevention techniques, but she did not provide a date.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/18/News/Grieving.Nation.Copes.With.Tragedy-2849523.shtml> The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007</a>
Andrew FitzGerald
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Grieving nation copes with tragedy
<b>BU assessing safety, mental health concerns</b>
By: Barbara Rodriguez
Posted: 4/18/07
Boston University officials are still assessing how Monday's deadly shootings at Virginia Tech will prompt any changes in BU's security and mental health services.
Officials will be monitoring the campus "climate" during the next few days, speaking with the Office of Residence Life and other departments that work with students, said Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore.
More than 100 BU community members gathered on Marsh Plaza yesterday afternoon at a candlelight vigil to remember the victims, many of whom were Virginia Tech students and a few professors.
Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior from South Korea, shot and killed 30 people in an academic building around 9:15 a.m., two hours after he killed two students in a residence hall Monday morning on the Blacksburg, Va. campus. Cho injured more than 15 others and shot and killed himself following the second shooting, police say.
Marsh Chapel officials have been talking with students in person and through email, said Marsh Chapel dean Robert Hill. Representatives from the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House and the Newman House, which houses the university's Catholic Center, were also available at the vigil.
"I was surprised by the number [of people at the vigil]," Hill said.
Elmore and BU Police Department Chief Thomas Robbins attended a city safety meeting at the Boston Police Department headquarters yesterday afternoon where representatives from 19 area schools discussed ways to improve safety protocols and communication among city and local agencies, Elmore said.
"We will be in a continual assessment," addressing BU's training response, how departments communicate with each other and the various city and state agencies they work with, he said.
"We know we've got a network of public safety," Elmore said. "It is still important to assess [BU's] crisis response."
BU officials are continuing to offer chaplain and counseling services. Marsh Chapel officials are inviting students to gather at 11 a.m. today at the chapel for another moment of prayer, Hill said.
"Our hearts really go out to the people in Virginia," he said. "We know what it means to grieve."
Many faculty members, parents, students and staff contacted the Dean of Students Office yesterday with suggestions and concerns about how BU could handle a campus shooting, Elmore said.
Elmore, who hosts weekly conversations with students in the Howard Thurman Center, will focus the first portion of Friday's discussion on the shooting, while a behavioral medicine representative will be present for counseling.
"There's lots of issues about violence and people's personal safety," Elmore said.
The Albert and Jesse Danielson Institute, one of BU's psychological facilities, is also offering students counseling services despite an extensive waiting list to be treated, said Clinical Director Dr. Jorge Stavros.
Stavros said if students contact the Institute with an "acute reaction" to the shootings, the office will make an appointment for them immediately. As of last night, no students had contacted the Institute in regard to the shootings.
Elmore is encouraging BU community members of the BU community to reach out to others and alert officials if they suspect someone behaving suspiciously.
"If it doesn't feel right to us, we have to report it," he said. "I'm always encouraging students to be mindful about their own personal safety."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/18/News/Grieving.Nation.Copes.With.Tragedy-2849522.shtml> The Daily Free Press - April 18, 2007</a>
Barbara Rodriguez
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Final Week: BU to review policies for campus security
<b>Emergency notification system a main goal</b>
By: Lisa Davis
Posted: 5/2/07
After Boston University felt the impact of several tragedies that brought into question the level of campus safety, officials say they will continue to review their safety policies and procedures, including ways to better reach the community in case of an emergency.
"These events are starting to highlight, not only on our campus, but on other campuses, this issue of personal safety and risky behavior in a broader context than people have thought about it before," said President Robert Brown in an April 27 interview.
Methods the BU Police Department uses to communicate emergency information to the community are important, said BUPD Chief Thomas Robbins, who added his department often reviews its procedures when a problem arises.
"How you communicate in different emergencies is different," Brown said. "There is not one size that fits all."
Robbins, who attended a Coffee and Conversation with the dean of students after the April 16 Virginia Tech shootings, said BUPD plans to add safety information for students to its website, similar to how BU launched a fire-safety website after the two deadly fires that killed three students Feb. 24 and March 16.
The day after the Virginia Tech shootings, in which senior Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people before killing himself, BU formed a committee headed by Administration Vice President Peter Fiedler to review emergency and communication policies, Brown said.
"One of the things we put on the table was a blast communication system, which we do not have," he said. "People think that you can send 20,000 emails instantly. The fact is: It takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the technology you're using and how you do it."
In a town hall meeting last week, Robbins said he is considering the use of email and text messaging to contact the community in an emergency.
It is currently impossible to reach every community member at once because the BU registry does not require telephone numbers and email addresses, Brown said, adding the committee is considering a change to his policy changing this policy.
"The reasons you would like an emergency communication system are varied, and I don't think I would couple it just directly with the Virginia Tech shooter incident," he said.
After the two off-campus fires, inspectors visited residence halls and reviewed their fire-alarm procedures.
Brown said although it is important for BUPD to treat BU as a community, police must be trained to "deal with violent or disruptive acts that you'd find in any urban environment."
"I think the most important thing for us, which I've said many times, is that we have a truly professionally trained police force," Brown said.
BUPD trains with the Boston Police Department, and BUPD officers are official Boston police officers, Robbins said.
"One of the things we train on is how to deal with Columbine or Virginia Tech [incidents]," Robbins said. "I'm comfortable of our response we have."
BUPD works toward having its policies and standards match those of police and fire departments across the country through state and national accreditation, said BUPD spokesman Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire.
"We've always had a good relationship [with BU], and nothing has happened to change that," said BFD spokesman Steve MacDonald. "We're responsive when they bring things to our attention."
Boston Emergency Medical Response Chief Richard Serino said EMS has regular exercises in which Boston officials meet to discuss their responses to certain issues and to become familiar with each other. EMS held a meeting last week to address the best ways to respond to shootings, Serino said.
"I think that most colleges in Boston have well-trained, well-equipped public safety staff," Serino said. "We are on a lot of college campuses on a regular basis."
MacDonald said it is easier to deal with fires on campus than in off-campus apartment buildings because BU works closely with BFD.
"Usually, it works smoother from our end, dealing with the colleges and universities, because they have full-time staff who work 24 hours a day," he said.
BUPD, which announced last month it will revamp its methods, for analyzing a revamp in its methods for analyzing "hot spot" crime locations and how the officer force is divided into sections, will respond to any location on the Charles River and Medical campuses in two minutes or less, Robbins said.
"We have authority to stop all traffic, including trains," said Robbins, who served as the Massachusetts State Police superintendent before coming to BU in June 2006.
Although most parents are concerned about their child's safety, it is difficult for BU to hold students' attention about safety resources, Brown said.
"We will have changes in orientation next summer that are not reactionary," he said, "[but] that are trying to change behavior of students as they come into our community, and to make them aware of risks and choices they make."
The Charles River campus, which is situated along the traffic-heavy Commonwealth Avenue, can be a safety hazard to students who are not responsible pedestrians, Brown said.
"We should not have to instruct people on how to cross the street safely at the age of 18," he said.
There are no plans to change academic curricula to incorporate safety information, Brown said.
"The question is: What is the balance between personal responsibility and the university's responsibility?" Brown said.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/05/02/News/Final.Week.Bu.To.Review.Policies.For.Campus.Security-2891718.shtml>The Daily Free Press - May 2, 2007</a>
Lisa Davis
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Examining Safety at State, Local Levels
<b>BHE takes a look at campus security</b>
By: Kate Davies
Posted: 4/20/07
The Board of Higher Education, during its meeting that was previously called to clarify the fine print on Massachusetts's policy toward allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition, said it plans to review universities' security policies in wake of this Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech.
Taking time to reflect on the shootings, in which 32 Virginia Tech members were killed by a gunman who then took his own life, Board officials said although universities already have adequate crisis response plans in place, it is important to review such policies and possibly seek more statewide funding for the schools.
"We have strong plans in place to secure a safe learning and working environment that we can go to everyday," said Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President Mary Grant. "We always have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
The BHE announced it will meet in June at the University of Massachusetts with public and private universities and state police to review existing response programs.
In a BHE press release yesterday, Secretary of Public Safety Kevin Burke said the schools' existing plans are extensive.
"The Department of State Police review of these plans is designed to ensure that the plans continue to reflect best practice standards," he said.
After further work with universities, schools may adopt more high-tech communication methods, including automated voice and text-messaging systems and better counseling services for students, the BHE press release states.
When the Board turned to its original agenda, it released a "fact sheet" detailing the fine print of the in-state tuition system as it applies to undocumented immigrants.
BHE chairman Aaron Spencer said the fact sheet is meant to clarify two bills filed separately by the Senate and House that would each allow undocumented immigrants to attend state institutions at the same price other state residents pay. Similar bills failed in the Legislature last year.
"In an effort to be totally non-partisan and only deal with the facts, we have decided to prepare a questions-and-answers document to provide key information," Spencer said.
Though the Board firmly refused to take a stance on the bills, the fact sheet repeatedly stated the state college system can afford to enroll such students.
According to the fact sheet, under terms of the bills, undocumented immigrants would be eligible for in-state tuition after completing three or more years of high school in Massachusetts and graduating or attaining the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Addressing concerns that the plan would make it more difficult for legal residents to attend college, Spencer said the commonwealth's 29 universities would maintain the same admissions standards. Because undocumented immigrants would still not be eligible for state-funded financial aid, documented residents would not lose state funds.
The BHE fact sheet also states there is sufficient space available in Massachusetts's state colleges for additional students. About 400 to 600 additional students would be eligible for in-state tuition at Massachusetts's colleges under the plan, which would generate about $2.5 million for the state, according to statistics from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The Board's Fiscal Affairs and Administrative Policy Committee also unanimously approved a uniform policy on residency status for state and community colleges that would classify applicants as either residents or nonresidents.
"This motion is merely an effort to have a concerted, evenhanded document that applies to everyone," Spencer said. "One thing I am proud of about this document is that it is one step toward operating as a system, and not separate parts."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/20/News/Examining.Safety.At.State.Local.Levels-2871445.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 20, 2007</a>
Kate Davies
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Examining Safety at State, Local Levels
<b>EMS director outlines city's disaster-response system</b>
By: Evelyn Ratigan
Posted: 4/20/07
As the efficiency of the emergency response system at Virginia Tech faces scrutiny, with critics saying the school was slow to notify its members of the attacks in which 32 people were killed on campus Monday, Boston's expert on emergency response systems said the city is prepared for a large-scale disaster.
Boston Emergency Medical Services Chief Richard Serino, detailing the city's strategy to a group of about 20 yesterday at Harvard University, said the city is focused on improving communication within departments and with the community.
"Everybody has to be involved in all the various parts of this," Serino said. "Communication is a huge issue. You don't want to be exchanging business cards at the scene of the disaster."
Serino cited Boston's historic landmarks, dense population and subway system as factors that make the city a top terrorist target. He said the city has been aware of this and has spent more than 25 years revising tactics in case of an emergency.
"Emergency preparedness is not something new for us," he said. "It's not just something we've been looking at since 9-11."
Serino said the key to emergency preparedness is encouraging partnerships among the city's departments and private businesses, as well as the public services involved in the process. This collaboration has become "institutionalized" from years spent building these relationships, he said.
The BEMS constantly works with the Boston police and fire departments, the MBTA and other state and local agencies, he said. In addition, hospitals sharing staff members and enhanced radio communication systems linking state and local agencies coordinate first responders who would otherwise remain disconnected, he added.
Serino said high-profile events such as the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and the Boston Marathon are used to practice for emergencies, calling them "planned disasters." Monday's marathon, for example, allowed the BEMS to test its hospital tracking system to notify the families of the more than 500 runners hospitalized for exhaustion.
"In an emergency, one of the key things is communication with the injured," he said. "I think that we have to communicate whatever it is to the general public as well."
BEMS technicians also coordinate drills, including a recently staged evacuation on the MBTA's Red Line and a larger disaster simulation planned for this fall, he said.
Addressing the January bomb scare spurred by suspicious packages used in a Turner Broadcasting advertising campaign gone awry, Serino defended the city's reaction, which some called excessive.
"It wasn't just [circuit boards] scattered throughout the city," he said. "There were a lot of things that happened that day that a lot of people don't know."
Two devices resembling pipe bombs in Boston and an explosion on a bus in Washington, D.C. the same day had put Boston authorities on high alert, Serino said, adding the city and state agencies' quick and unified reaction proved the emergency response system's effectiveness.
Maj. Patti Pettis, a weapons of mass destruction specialist from Atlanta, said she approves of Boston's constant scrutiny of its emergency response plans.
"The program will help find where the resources are and where the gaps are," she said.
Pettis said the public must understand the city's elaborate emergency response plans to be better prepared in the event of a disaster.
"It's up to the local community to be prepared," she said. "[At first], they're going to be on their own."
Pettis cited the Virginia Tech shootings as an example of failed communication Boston must avoid, and she said it is vital for first responders to inform the public of emergency situations to put them at ease and avoid mass panic.
"Communication makes all the difference," she said. "If everyone works together, you'll leave no gaps."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/20/News/Examining.Safety.At.State.Local.Levels-2871444.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 20, 2007</a>
Evelyn Ratigan
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-14
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
Emergency-Response Communications to Reach Phones
<b>President announces plans to improve system</b>
By: Lisa Davis
Posted: 5/18/07
Boston University will be prepared to contact almost all students and staff in emergencies this fall with a mass communications system that uses text messaging, voicemail and email, President Robert Brown announced Wednesday in an email sent to the community.
The "Send Word Now" system -- which uses all three message types -- was introduced to the campus this year to some extent, but it will be developed more over the summer, Brown said in the email.
"In light of the deadly tragedy at Virginia Tech University, we are reviewing Boston University's emergency response plans and communication systems to ensure that they are the best available," Brown said in the email.
The improved system would also notify response teams "within minutes" of an emergency, Brown said. In an email to The Daily Free Press, Brown said he expects the school would be able to contact everyone in less than 10 minutes.
Students are not required to register their cellphone numbers in the school directory, which is one flaw in reaching everyone in an emergency, Brown said in an April 27 interview. However, in his email to the community, Brown said incoming students will be required to register cellphone numbers or alternative contact numbers, and he encouraged current students to do so on the Student Link website.
"We will require the information for all students studying on our Boston campuses," Brown said in the email to the Free Press. "Otherwise, the system would only reach a fraction of our students."
The communications system "has been in place," said BU spokesman Colin Riley. "Texting is just one avenue of reaching people. We're trying to find the most effective system possible," he added.
The method was introduced about a year ago at a university meeting that addressed a possible avian flu outbreak, Riley said.
"This assessment is to ensure and reinforce our view that students' safety is our highest priority," Riley said. "The best that will come out of this is that everyone is aware, and the seriousness of these systems are recognized and appreciated. We're always looking to enhance communications with students."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/05/18/News/EmergencyResponse.Communications.To.Reach.Phones-2905215.shtml>Daily Free Press - May 18, 2007</a>
Lisa Davis
Daily Free Press
2007-08-09
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng
EDITORIAL: The need for gun control
By:Anonymous
Posted: 4/24/07
Many believed last week's Virginia Tech shootings would trigger immediate gun-control legislation from the Democrat-controlled Congress. But apparently, that won't be the case.
Rep. Michael Capuano seemed to represent the Democrat majority's attitude Monday when he said tackling gun control is "just not worth it," as reported by an April 23 Boston Globe article. He said although he would ideally like to support stricter gun-control laws, putting up a losing fight on such a divisive topic could be political suicide. Capuano added it would be a difficult battle because, when it comes to Congress, "the NRA has this place wrapped up." And most other Democrat leaders seem to agree.
But that doesn't mean the fight shouldn't be made. Some of this country's greatest societal changes came after long struggles. The United States entered a civil war in part to end slavery. Activists lost their lives fighting for civil rights in the 1960s. Gay marriage is an undying debate on Capitol Hill. Change is never easy.
The last time Democrats held a majority in Congress, they made headway on gun control. In 1994, President Clinton passed a federal ban on selling semi-automatic weapons. This ban expired in 2004 under a Republican Congress. Now that Democrats have regained dominance in the legislature, gun control should be championed again.
Many Republicans will see gun-control efforts as an irrational reaction to the Virginia Tech tragedy. Too much emphasis on the issue will appear as if Democrats are trying to take advantage of emotional circumstances to push their agenda.
But gun-control efforts are necessary even if they are reactionary. Politics are about responding to society's demands and addressing issues that need to be fixed. It cannot be stressed too often that April 16 was the worst shooting in U.S. history, and it should have been prevented. In 2005, a Virginia court determined Cho Seung-Hui to be mentally ill. Virginia law prevents people who are mentally ill from buying weapons, yet he still acquired the weapons that killed 32 people and himself.
Background checks must be more thorough for purchasing guns. There must be more strict limitations on what types of weapons can be bought. Such legislation may be reactionary, but it is appropriate. When 32 innocent people are murdered, Congress not only has the right to respond, it has the responsibility.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/24/Opinion/Editorial.The.Need.For.Gun.Control-2876886.shtml> The Daily Free Press - April 24, 2007</a>
Anonymous
The Daily Free Press
2007-08-13
Sara Hood
Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>
eng