Hokies reflect two weeks later
Virginia Tech students finish up tragic semester
By: Rosemary Lane
Posted: 5/3/07
Wednesday was the last day of classes for Virginia Tech students, and students said taking exams is tough while coping with the tragedy.
Charlotte Savercool, a freshman at Virginia Tech, said all the hallways of her dorm are almost empty, as most students did not take exams.
"The teachers have been really supportive," Savercool said. "They let us choose if we want to keep our same grade or finish certain assignments."
She said the teachers won't grade anything that hurts your average.
Laura Gill, a senior, said most teachers have assigned group projects so all the work doesn't fall on one student.
"None of us can imagine sitting down and studying for an exam," Gill said. "It's too much for anybody."
Gill said walking into the classroom on the first day back on April 23 after the shooting was the hardest part.
She said she kept thinking about the shooting - about how the victims thought it would be a normal day.
"Once I was in class, I'd relax a bit, but changing buildings was really rough for me," Gill said. "My heart would start racing, and then I would calm down and realize it wouldn't happen again."
Junior Chris Barrett said classes were the most full on the first day back except for exam days in previous years.
He said teachers talked about what happened in each class.
Savercool said teachers would let students voice their opinions but she has gotten tired of talking about the tragedy.
"After the second and third classes, I didn't want to talk about it anymore," Savercool said.
She said the shooting has been hard to deal with, and she cannot bring herself to watch the video the shooter left behind.
Savercool said she realized the shooting's impact when she looked on the Internet and heard from other students it was the largest school shooting ever.
"The best way for me to deal with it is to see the memorials and not watch the news," Savercool said.
Gill said the reality of what happened hit her when she went home after the shooting.
"It was really hard to come back into (class)," Gill said. "The memories came rushing back. We're in a bubble here and no one understands until they come here."
Gill said it's better when she's with people and hardest when she's alone.
She said she and her friends have been having nightmares about the shooter.
"I see images of him holding the guns, and I watched the video, which I think was a really stupid idea," she said.
Everyone is trying to get back to normal, Gill said, but no one can get it off their minds.
Barrett said the campus seems more empty since the media left.
"For a while it seemed like people were pretty sad, but they seem to be doing OK," Barrett said. "A lot of people are finally getting out of here."
Gill said the campus looks like one big memorial, and the university received a lot of support from other colleges.
She said orange and maroon ribbons and signs reading, "We will prevail" hang all over the place.
Savercool said the Hershey Company made free orange and maroon Kissables candies for students.
"It's stuff like that," Savercool said. "The support is so much more comforting. It's negative when we still talk about the killer."
Savercool said before the shooting she didn't think she'd be sad to leave, but now she doesn't want to go home to Maryland for the summer.
She said students at Virginia Tech have bonded and are in the same boat.
"My friends at home won't understand when I get sad one day," Savercool said. "They'll never understand and they never will."
Gill said the community has grown a lot closer. She said the campus has always been happy, but people are now even more friendly.
"Everyone here is your friend," Gill said. "Down at the bars, we're making so many more friends because everyone is closer."
Gill said she's staying at school this summer and thinks it will be interesting to see how the university cleans up campus while paying respect to the tragedy.
She said Norris Hall, where the shootings occurred, will remain closed for the time being. The building's future is being debated.
Barrett said he's also staying for the summer.
"I love it here," Barrett said. "I'm taking classes all summer here so I'm not ever leaving."
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.marquettetribune.org/media/storage/paper1130/news/2007/05/03/News/Hokies.Reflect.Two.Weeks.Later-2891812.shtml>Marquette Tribune - May 3, 2007</a>
Rosemary Lane
Marquette Tribune
2007-09-03
Sara AA Hood
"Sheaffer, Amanda" <amanda.sheaffer@marquette.edu>
eng
Emergency plan and safety measures information
By Philip Caruso
The Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with the Milwaukee Police Department and other government emergency agencies, has an emergency plan and training in the event a major security issue should occur.
MPD is training all officers for an active shooter situation.
"There may be a situation when an officer can't wait for the SWAT team," MPD spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said. "We hope we never have to use it."
Public Safety officers are trained to carry semi-automatic weapons, batons and pepper spray. The university purchases bulletproof vests for Public Safety officers that they are required to wear.
Cameras have been placed around campus to aid in preventing crime.
Emergency blue light phones, which immediately connect with Public Safety dispatch, are stationed around campus.
IDs are required in order to enter residence halls and Raynor Library.
"Students and faculty should take any threatening-type comments heard from a friend or acquaintance as a serious threat and should be reported immediately," Associate Director of DPS Capt. Russ Shaw said.
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Original Sourc:<a href=http://media.www.marquettetribune.org/media/storage/paper1130/news/2007/04/17/News/you-Dont.Think.This.Would.Happen-2844599.shtml>Marquette Tribune - April 19, 2007</a>
Philip Caruso
Marquette Tribune
2007-09-03
Sara AA Hood
"Sheaffer, Amanda" <amanda.sheaffer@marquette.edu>
eng
'You don't think this would happen'
33 dead, at least 15 injured in worst rampage in U.S. history
By: Kellie Bramlet and Megan Hupp
Posted: 4/17/07
Loren Goble left Randolf Hall at Virginia Tech Monday morning and set out to her next class. But the senior at the Blacksburg, Va. school encountered chaos when she got to Norris Hall.
"I saw someone jump out a window. I heard people screaming. I saw students running," she said.
Goble turned and ran back to Randolf Hall, where she remained in lockdown for the next six hours.
"I was supposed to be in the classroom that the shooting took place in. I usually even get there a little early," Goble said. "My professor was shot in the face. Four students were shot. One was shot three times."
Though there is widespread speculation that one gunman had massacred 32 people, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students, the possibility of a second gunman has not yet been eliminated.
The bloodbath ended with the gunman allegedly committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33. Monday's events constituted the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
Much earlier, Brad Shapiro, a junior, headed to breakfast. On his way he passed eight or nine police cars outside of West Ambler Johnston Hall, but he had no idea what had happened.
Neither did freshman Charlotte Savercool when she left Ambler Johnston and walked to her 9 a.m. class.
"I thought it was a normal day," she said.
The day was anything but. On her way out of class, Savercool was met by the usual herd of students. Rather than worrying about the homework they hadn't done, these students were distressed about something else. They had heard rumors about the morning's events, but knew little information.
Trying to avoid the chaos, Savercool returned to her classroom. Professors told the students to sit on the floor and stay away from the windows. They would remain there, in lockdown, for the next three hours.
"We were pretty scared," she said. "We couldn't get in contact with anyone."
Shapiro found himself in a similar situation. He entered his classroom, where his professor told the students to run to an adjcent building, away from the site of the second shooting. They stayed in that classroom for the next few hours.
"My initial reaction was confusion because I didn't know what was going on," he said. "Now I just feel completely sick. This is Blacksburg, not Compton. Things like this aren't supposed to happen here."
In another locked-down classroom, Goble comforted people who had seen the shootings. SWAT teams carried in a professor, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his arm. They set him down and hurried away to bring in more hysterical students who had witnessed the rampage.
Goble said she spoke to one student who had built a barricade in a classroom using his own body and the teacher's desk to keep out the gunman. Walking down the hall when he heard gunshots, the student found refuge in a classroom. The gunman slammed himself against the door trying to get in. With no success he fired several shots through the door. Goble said the student had pieces of the door stuck to his shirt.
The other side of campus was quieter. Kelly Davis, a freshman, returned from her 8 a.m. chemistry lab a little tired. She checked her instant messaging program and saw an away message from a friend who lives in Ambler Johnston. The message said something about a shooting, but Davis disregarded it and went back to bed.
Other students found out what had happened in the following moments. Freshman Sarah Burka said she was getting ready for her 10 a.m. class when she received two e-mails from school officials. One, sent at 9:29 a.m., informed the students there had been a shooting. Another, sent about 20 minutes later, told students of a gunman loose on campus and warned students to stay where they were.
Burka said the e-mail immediately reminded her of last semester when a prisoner escaped from a nearby jail. She thought Monday's situation would be similar.
"I didn't expect it to be this bad, and I'm just in shock basically," she said.
Burka said she considered going home to Fairfax, Va., located about four hours away from the university, but decided to stay. She and her friends remained in the dorms for the rest of the day in uncertainty.
It was difficult to detect which tear-stained faces had lost a friend or classmate, Burka said.
"People are generally more sad," she said. "It's hard to interact."
Chris Barrett, a junior, discovered the buses weren't running while on his way to class. He had heard of the shooting, but didn't know its extent.
"I thought it was pretty contained. It wasn't till later that I found out how big it was," he said.
Another university e-mail sent around 10:30 a.m. canceled class for the rest of Monday and today.
"It's weird they didn't cancel class immediately," Barrett said. "That's why there were still people in the (academic) buildings two hours later."
Apart from the delay, Barrett said he thought the university handled the tragedy well.
Junior Griffin O'Hanlan, who transferred to Virginia Tech after two years at Marquette, also headed back to his apartment after learning the buses weren't running.
"We turned on the television and soon realized that the gunman had gone to the other side of campus," O'Hanlan said.
O'Hanlan and his friends stayed glued to the television for the next seven hours, fielding calls from loved ones and checking to make sure everyone they knew was safe.
At 10:30 a.m., Laura Gill awoke to a phone call from her dad. She had no idea about what had happened. Gill decided she wasn't going to spend the day in uncertainty, so she and her sorority sisters started a phone tree. The students called sorority members to make sure everyone was ok.
But first, Gill sent a text message to her roommate Loren Goble - the student locked in a classroom, comforting witnesses.
Gill later received a phone call from Christophe Remington, a friend from home and sophomore in Marquette's College of Communication. Remington said he found out about the shooting around 11 a.m. through an IM from a friend.
Remington is originally from Arlington, Va. He said about half his graduating high school class went to Virginia Tech.
"I know most of my friends are all right, but there were a few that I couldn't get a hold of," he said.
As the day went on, the administration released students from the locked-down classrooms. Brad Shapiro left around 12:30 p.m. and was told that one student was dead and 17 were injured. When he returned to his room and turned on the news, Shapiro learned that at least 20 students had died.
"There isn't generally widespread hysteria," he said. "People are concerned, sad, very upset."
Charlotte Savercool was given permission to leave the lock-downed classroom at 1 p.m. She was told to go back to her dorm - the building where the first shooting occurred - but couldn't bring herself to stay. She said she planned to spend the night in a friend's room.
"My room was quiet ... eerie," she said. "I didn't want to go back."
Goble, however, was still in lockdown. The FBI and police arrived and questioned witnesses. Goble tried to help keep everyone calm. Finally, at 3 p.m. they were released. But her struggles weren't over.
Goble said just getting to her car in the parking lot was a challenge. Lined with more than 40 ambulances, the street was blocked off. She took the interstate to her boyfriend's office.
"I felt safe there. It's off campus," she said.
Goble said she planned on spending the night at her boyfriend's parent's house, in the countryside outside of Blacksburg. She wanted to be away from the constant sound of sirens she heard at Virginia Tech.
"It seems crazy because this is such a quiet town. It's usually so peaceful and happy," she said. "You don't think this would happen here."
O'Hanlan, the Marquette transfer, said the 25,000-student school isn't able to have the same level of security as Marquette, such as dorm identification checks and the presence of Public Safety.
"Although I complained about it a lot at Marquette, now I can see the importance of that process," O'Hanlan said. "Something like this would be a lot easier to handle at Marquette than at Virginia Tech, because of the difference in size."
Back on campus, Virginia Tech students said they huddled in front of the TV, waiting for updates. The university told students the victims' names would be released today. Until then, they were left waiting.
After the names are released, the university will hold a 2 p.m. memorial at Cassell Coliseum.
Savercool said she doesn't think she knows any of the students killed.
"Hopefully that won't change tomorrow," she said.
Bridget Thoreson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.marquettetribune.org/media/storage/paper1130/news/2007/04/17/News/you-Dont.Think.This.Would.Happen-2844599.shtml> Marquette Tribune - April 17, 2007</a>
Kellie Bramlet and Megan Hupp
Marquette Tribune
2007-09-03
Sara AA Hood
"Sheaffer, Amanda" <amanda.sheaffer@marquette.edu>
eng