CHP Reflections on Virginia Tech
description: Words do not come easily at a time like this, but for a tragedy of this magnitude, it is important to take a step back and observe the world we live in. On Monday, Apr. 16, 2007, 33 people lost their lives on a campus a lot like this one, 2,700 miles away at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Their loss is a tragic one, and we at City on a Hill Press put our support, our condolences, and our deepest sympathy out for our brothers and sisters in education, their families, and the community that will never be the same. Apr. 16, 2007, a day that now marks what has been called the deadliest shooting in American history, is a day of suffering and sorrow. It is also Holocaust Remembrance Day, and just four days before the eighth anniversary of the Columbine massacre on April 20. This is a time for all to reflect upon our own lives, to tell our friends we love them, to honor our parents and family, and to be grateful for those things in life that it takes a tragedy for us to appreciate. This is not a time for politicking. The vultures that are circling, waiting to take their turn at spin, would do well to wait. Already we hear the rising crescendos of the pundits, each with a story to tell and an axe to grind, ready to milk this tragedy for every salty tear and heart wrench they can dig up. We at City on a Hill Press have chosen not to follow suit. We have chosen not to sensationalize the stories of these students, invade their privacy and harass a quote from them, simply to hype a point or sell ads. We feel that it is the people's right to know what happened, and it is our responsibility to tell. We will perform these tasks with the proper respect for this tragedy, providing an informed description based on police reports and research. We will afford the Virginia Tech community every shred of dignity entitled to them, by giving them the only thing we can at this point: time. Over the following days, weeks, months and years, there will be more than enough time to look at the i…
creator: Op/Ed
publisher: City On A Hill Press
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Claire Walla <cityonahillpress@gmail.com>
language: eng

University tragedy
description: Storrs Community Extends Its Support By: Freesia Singngam Posted: 4/17/07 The worst shooting in American history took place at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) on Monday affecting the entire nation. The UConn community is no exception. Students, faculty and staff watched the news and checked for updates on the Internet throughout the day. They reacted to the tragedy and the way Virginia Tech handled the situation. "I know I speak for the entire University of Connecticut community in expressing our shock and grief at the unspeakable tragedy at Virginia Tech," President Philip Austin said in an e-mail sent to the university community Monday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were the victims of this violent, senseless act, their families and their friends." "The Virginia Tech situation is certainly a tragic situation," said Major Ronald Blicher of the UConn Police Department. Because the case in on-going, Blicher said that it would be inappropriate to comment more on the situation. "Certainly we can't really speculate on what happened," Blicher said. "The facts will be forthcoming." On Monday, people were questioning the response the shootings received and how well it was handled. The shootings may have brought fear to students at UConn and across the country. Blicher said that UConn officers are "POST" trained, which means "Police Officer Standards and Training." He said that the police are armed like any state or police department and UConn specifically, is internationally accredited. -- Original SOurce:The Daily Campus - April 17, 2007
creator: Freesia Singngam
publisher: The Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Melissa Bruen <eic@dailycampus.com>
language: eng

Fred Phelps And A Final Farewell
description: By: Laura Alix Posted: 4/23/07 So this is it - my final column for The Daily Campus. Over the past few weeks, I've been pondering whether I should write a more traditional "farewell" column or whether I should just do what I've been doing all along and simply give my opinion on some matter or another. Well, being the indecisive type that I do tend to be sometimes, I felt I should do a little bit of both. Bear with me, please. Rarely am I unsure of whether to laugh or be horrified, but then again, rarely do I check the news for updates on Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, and rarely do I visit Phelps' Web site. For those of you who don't know of the infamous Phelps, allow me to briefly fill you in. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church. He and his 71 followers - about 60 of whom are related to Phelps through either blood or marriage - are best known for protesting, well, just about everything. You may recall an uproar a little while back over some religious fanatics protesting the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq, claiming that the soldiers' deaths were God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality. Those protestors were none other than Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. They have also protested the funeral of Matthew Shepard, productions of "The Laramie Project" - the play that details the death of Shepard - and various other political events. When criticized, Phelps simply invokes his First Amendment right to free speech. Phelps and the WBC have most recently made the news for their plans to protest the funerals of those killed in the Virginia Tech shootings. No, they really do not have any shame or sense of decency. Phelps has claimed that Cho Seung-Hui was hearing the voice of God and carrying out God's orders, even though he is now in hell, too. The victims, according to Phelps, were punished for not being Christian enough. Although I consider myself non-religious, I have a hard time believing that any true C…
creator: Laura Alix
publisher: The Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Melissa Bruen <eic@dailycampus.com>
language: eng

Stop To Remember Our True Heroes
description: By: Kyle Thomas Posted: 4/24/07 The terrible tragedy which took place last week at Virginia Tech has stunned the nation. The day a tormented madman decided to take the lives of 32 innocent individuals was horrid, disgusting, gut wrenching and a host of other words, which escape my mind right now. But in the midst of such a horrendous event, - one in which pure evil was on display - this nation was introduced to a slew of new heroes. All too often in out commercial society, we choose to worship the wrong type of hero. Most of us at one time or another have aspired to be a famous athlete or actor, and maybe we've even called them "heroes." But every time a tragedy of this magnitude occurs, one really has to stop and think about how silly - or how downright stupid it is - to refer to these commercial icons as heroes. Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old professor, was killed last Monday. By all accounts, Professor Librescu saved the lives of many of the students in his classroom when he, in reckless disregard for his own life, barricaded the door to his classroom with his own body. As a direct result of his actions, only two of his students were injured. No one in the classroom was killed - except Professor Librescu. Librescu, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor, never had an easy life. Yet despite all of the challenges he faced, he still managed to receive advanced degrees in engineering. He was an internationally-known leader in the field of aeronautical engineering. He was also the son of two. It is a shame that true heroes like Librescu will never get the recognition they deserve. Certainly he will be forever memorialized on the campus of Virginia Tech. They will build him a stature, or name a building after him. But only a few months from now, we'll all go back to calling those silly athletes heroes - and so life will go on. Now that this country is an established institution, it seems like there is nary a chance for true national heroes to emerge. There are no more Briti…
creator: Kyle Thomas
publisher: The Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Melissa Bruen <eic@dailycampus.com>
language: eng

Campus Saftey Measures Must Be Sensible
description: By: Daily Campus Editorial Board Posted: 4/24/07 The tragic shootings at Virginia Tech have provoked much discussion regarding measures to avoid future heartbreak. Perhaps the events in Blacksburg hit close to home in Storrs because of the similarities of the size and nature of the communities. Numerous measures have already been called for, some of which would entail strict regulation of the movement of people over campuses, including sign-in sheets and metal detectors. College campuses are open areas, and to restrict the movement of students over such a large area is both improbable and impractical. While the issue obviously needs to be addressed, any response must be reasonable, practical and not overbearing. Thankfully, events like this are rare. Due to this, it is impossible to detect when or where an individual may be driven to commit such an atrocity. It is equally impossible to plan for every eventuality. Regardless of the number of safeguards that may be enacted, it is impractical to expect to prevent something like this from happening again. Some hold counselors culpable for not taking appropriate action. It is extremely unfair to expect anyone to preempt this sort of tragedy by identifying and deterring those who may be likely to commit acts of violence. Even if violence were prevented, there would be no way to prove it was and anyone who took action would be open to liability imposed by our litigious culture. This threat of repercussion understandably causes most to pursue self-preservation rather than taking risks that may or may not save lives. Despite the inability to prevent, there may be more passive measures to keep people out of harm's way if such an incident does occur. Some deaths may have been prevented by a campus-wide notification system. Much of the campus was not aware that a shooting was ongoing. UConn currently has a call box system, the blue light emergency phones around campus, in place to allow distressed individuals to contact the UCo…
creator: Daily Campus Editorial Board
publisher: The Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Melissa Bruen <eic@dailycampus.com>
language: eng

Privacy Laws Should Be Changed
description: By: Alex Sanders Posted: 4/25/07 Once the chaos at Virginia Tech subsided, students began to seek answers. Questions rapidly arose after authorities discovered Cho Seung-Hui was the cause of the tragedy. Of course, one of the first questions was, why did he do it? Immediately after the shooting, the university worked with the authorities, sifting through student interviews and Cho's medical history, to figure out what could have possibly influenced somebody to carry out the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. ABC News reported, "in December 2005 - more than a year before Monday's mass shootings - a district court in Montgomery County, Va., ruled that Cho presented "an imminent danger to self or others." That was the necessary criterion for a detention order, so that Cho ... could be evaluated by a state doctor and ordered to undergo outpatient care." However, while receiving outpatient care, the doctor specifically evaluated him as a threat to himself due to mental illness, and not a threat to others. Because of this, his records were kept confidential and by law, the university didn't have a right to know, and they certainly didn't have the right to pull him out of school. This case provides significant evidence that privacy laws concerning mental illness need to be changed. We will never really know if the Virginia Tech shootings could have been prevented, but if the privacy laws concerning mental illness are altered, it is highly unlikely that a shooting of this nature will occur again. Numerous signs pointed to Cho as a possible danger. He had complaints of stalking and sending threatening messages, thinking suicidal thoughts, and writing violent stories. Granted, the state cannot remove a student from school for being troubled or behaving oddly, but they should at least be allowed to alert the university. Instead of strict privacy laws, counseling centers and state institutions should be able to flag students with suspicious behavior or concerning mental ill…
creator: Alex Sanders
publisher: The Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: Melissa Bruen <eic@dailycampus.com>
language: eng

The Virginia Tech massacre: Ed Board doesn't agree with the crisis policy or the media coverage
description: By: The Daily Campus Ed Board Posted: 4/17/07 The worst recorded shooting spree in American history occurred on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., yesterday. Thirty-three people were murdered, dozens suffered injuries and the entire campus now must deal with grief. How does someone begin to digest the incomprehensible evil exhibited by this shooter and the needless loss of innocent lives? Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the entire Virginia Tech community. This is the natural reaction people should have. We were shocked when we saw how politicians, such as John McCain, a Bush administration spokesperson and the media turned this event into a discussion about the right to bear arms. Political policy should not be a part of the discourse and coverage of the massacre at this early stage. It is entirely inappropriate to even mention political policy right now, when families are still being notified of their relatives' deaths. This is a time for mourning, not campaigning. If people need something to talk about, rather than just trying to cope, the discussion should be about why officials took two hours to close down the campus after the first shooting in the dorm. When a murder-suicide occurred at the University of Washington April 2, the entire campus was locked down. Rather than close down the entire campus immediately, Virginia Tech officials did not give students elsewhere on campus any information or warning for two hours. By this time, the gunman had closed off the exits to the engineering building and had begun his killing spree. Furthermore, students were first notified via e-mail about the incident. Ed Board does not think e-mail communication is sufficient for such a drastically dangerous event. Police should have been in every building within minutes of the dorm shooting, going into classrooms and locking down the campus. We wonder how officials here at SMU would react to such an event and hope that they would take better precaut…
creator: The Daily Campus Ed Board
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

SMU says it's ready for campus emergencies
description: By: Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu Posted: 4/17/07 SMU officials say they are prepared if an incident like the one at Virginia Tech happens here. As recently as December 2006 an active shooter scenario exercise was held according to Lee Arning, the director of emergency preparedness and business continuity. But the shootings at the Blacksburg, Va., campus have changed things. "Today's event has rewritten the rulebook," Arning said in an interview Monday evening. A gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in United States history. The victims were massacred in two attacks two hours apart on opposite sides of the school's campus, with Tech's police force unable to warn anyone before the carnage ensued. It ended with the gunman committing suicide - making the final death toll 33. Arning said he would attend a meeting Tuesday morning with other administrators to discuss the incident and its ramifications for the SMU community. At SMU, in the event of such an incident, the building managers would be responsible for either locking down their buildings or taking other measures necessary to keep its occupants safe according to Arning. They could also pass along information through a network of people within each building. The next wave of communication would come electronically: via e-mail, the official university Web site and phone tree messages. Any messages could also be announced on an intercom system; however, there is not a central intercom system and not every building on campus has one to begin with. One thing that will not happen, Arning said, is police officers driving around the campus notifying people over speakers or bullhorns. He said that would make the police cars and officers targets. SMU has emergency "Lockdown/Take Cover" guidelines that Arning said he discusses during the annual campus fire drills at buildings. The guidelines say if a person perceives a threat of violence to dial 911 immediately or call SM…
creator: Mark Norris
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Senate acknowledges Virginia Tech shooting
description: By: Carey Elizabeth White, Contributing Writer, cwhite@smu.edu Posted: 4/18/07 Student Senate held a moment of silence for the victims and families of the Virginia Tech shooting and discussed campus safety yesterday in the second to last meeting of the semester. Senators discussed the need to increase awareness of safety procedures in addition to voicing their support of those affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy. One senator was concerned that no one knew the correct procedures for when the tornado sirens sounded last week. Senate agreed that more concrete legislation needs to be enacted to assure the safety of the students and our campus. Student Body President Taylor Russ said, "The first thing in our minds is survival," adding that, "We really do need an effective crisis management policy, because nothing in my mind outweighs the loss of a life." The current emergency preparedness plan can be found at smu.edu/newsinfo. The Senate hopes to help create a more effective policy for fall 2007. Later in the meeting, the League of United Latin American Citizens, otherwise known as LULAC, presented its case to be chartered as an organization on the SMU campus. The league advocates civil rights, supports leadership skills and provides scholarship funds to Hispanic educational communities. Several universities around the area charter this national organization. Universities like TCU, UT, UNT and TWU each have LULAC as a campus organization. Additionally, the executive committee ruled on the David Mingus Open Meetings Act. The act will create more transparency within Student Senate, making standing committees open at all times to all Senators and officers of the Student Senate, space permitting. The act was passed. The last Student Senate meeting of the year will be held next week on April 24. -- Original Source:SMU Daily Campus - April 18, 2007
creator: Sara AA Hood
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Remembering the Fallen
description: Media Credit: Christina Parrish Members of the SMU community came together for a prayer service for those who were lost in Monday's Virginia Tech massacre. The service was to be held outside at the Flagpole but was moved inside due to inclement weather. -- Original Source:SMU Campus Daily - April 18, 2007
creator: Christina Parrish
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

God isn't dead in America
description: By: Emily Sears, Contributing Writer, esears@smu.edu Posted: 4/19/07 Pat McDonald is an atheist. The junior anthropology major was raised Catholic but reconsidered his religion his freshman year at SMU when he became familiar with Zen Buddhism and atheism. "It surprised me because I never had considered atheism before. Atheism is a scary idea to me, because it seemed so dark and dreary," he said. McDonald represents only a small percentage of Americans today. A recent Newsweek poll shows that 91 percent of Americans believe in God, and of the nine percent who don't, only three percent consider themselves atheists. SMU, unsurprisingly, has about 20 religious or spiritual organizations on campus ranging from Christian to Hindu to Pagan. The university, associated with the Methodist church, turns to prayer in the face of tragedy. Students, faculty and staff united at Hughes-Trigg Student Center recently to pray for the victims of the Virginia Tech mass killings. Crosses were placed in the main quad in memory of the massacred victims. Dr. Jill DeTemple, an SMU professor of religious studies, says the number of Americans who believe in God does not surprise her. In fact, she thinks the percentage would increase if the poll had asked about belief in a higher power rather than God, which would then include many Buddhists and Hindus. "Technically Buddhism is an atheistic religion," she said. DeTemple says it's becoming popular again to be religious. In the '50s it was expected, in the '70s it was unpopular, and now, she says, it's once again the norm. "I do think religion has a more public place than it did a few years ago," she said. DeTemple said openly religious political leaders became popular with Jimmy Carter. "Since then we've expected public leaders to be religious." Emily Worland, a Roman Catholic and SMU sophomore economics major, says her religion has an impact on her political views. "Through Catholicism I believe that everyone is equal, so I follow liberal prin…
creator: Emily Sears
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara AA Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

4/16: A product of psychology or gun control?
description: By:Adam Rizzieri Posted: 4/20/07 It is no mystery that the tragedy of April 16 at Virginia Tech stands out as the deadliest student-perpetrated school shooting in the history of the United States. It goes without saying that an immediate sense of shock spread across the nation as we learned of the tragedy unfolding from networks like CNN and Fox News. Among the 32 innocent lives that perished on a day that will be forever engraved into the memory of our nation was a Holocaust survivor, a few well-established professors and several bright minds who had a beautiful future stolen from them. With this tragedy, the debates about gun control and explicit video games and music are likely to re-emerge, just as they did after the events at Columbine and other instances where schools have fallen victim to this societal plague. Are guns too easy to obtain, and do violent music and video games truly desensitize people to the point where it's easy to take a human life? These are questions that have emerged in the past; however, in this case I feel that they are not what need to be asked. The shooter at Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-Hiu, was a 23-year-old who had a history of violence and irrational behavior. Before his murderous rampage, it should be noted that he was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, was the subject of two police reports in 2005 for stalking, and was known among the Virginia Tech faculty as "intimidating." In fact, the chairman of the English Department, Dr. Lucinda Roy, took his dark poetry to campus police after his professor, Nikki Giovanni, expressed her intentions to quit if he wasn't removed from her class. Cho wasn't your typical student, and though I'm not a psychiatrist, I think it's safe to say that he didn't kill his peers because of music from Marilyn Manson or "shoot 'em up" video games. This kid was a product of psychology and his interpretation of personal grievances. It is very likely, and almost obvious, that he suffered from some t…
creator: Adam Rizzieri
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Time for the second guessing
description: The media are once again turning into the public's whipping boys By: The Daily Campus Ed Board Posted: 4/20/07 The nation is still focused on Blacksburg, Va. as all Americans honor the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. But as the initial shock wears off, news organizations need to be weary of hyping a story that doesn't need the standard cable news sensationalism. This story has been sent across the globe since it occurred at the beginning of the week. People in Australia, London, India, South Korea and more are all discussing the matter. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun offered condolences to victims for a third time and, among the South Korean public, a sense of despair prevailed. "I and our people cannot contain our feelings of huge shock and grief," said President Roh Moo-hyun. "I pray for the souls of those killed and offer words of comfort from my heart for those injured, the bereaved families and the U.S. people." Hundreds left messages on the country's top Web site, Naver. "I'm too shameful that I'm a South Korean," wrote an Internet user identified only by the ID iknijmik. "As a South Korean, I feel apologetic to the Virginia Tech victims." Ed Board understands that the Koreans are apologizing for Seung-Hiu because they do not want any race-related retaliation to occur. Asian-American groups have released similar statements for the same reason. But this is an angle of the story not worth the time devoted to it. There have been no retributions and there is no need for the Korean peninsula to apologize for a killer. Seung-Hiu wasn't acting on behalf of his country, he was only carrying out his personal desires. Not to mention the flap about NBC's airing of the controversial video made by the killer. As (amateur) members of the media, we appreciate that the network has to walk a careful line between letting people know the whole truth and not offending its viewership. We know that many don't want to pay the killer attention. But we also know that the …
creator: The Daily Campus Ed Board
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Korean feelings on Virginia Tech massacre
description: By: Hae Min Sung, Contributing Writer Posted: 4/24/07 There was a Virginia Tech Massacre. Everyone was horrified. The killer committed suicide in the end, but he had already killed 32 people. Whenever I turned on the television, I saw the killer's face, and I watched the video clips the killer sent to NBC. I am a Korean. And at some point, I wish that I could speak some Japanese or Chinese so that I wouldn 't have to admit it. That doesn't mean that I don't want to be a Korean or I hate my nationality. But for now, I really don't want to face. When I heard the killer was a Korean, I didn't want to believe it. Korea is a peaceful nation, and we don't do that kind of terrible thing, I thought. I didn't do it, but I am so ashamed as a Korean. He just ruined my country's name. There was a cherish ceremony in Los Angeles' Korea town right after the massacre was broadcasted. Some people say it's an overreaction that Korean people blame themselves, so much so that many Americans scoff at Koreans. Unlike America, Korea is a nation of collectivism. Nation, society and groups come first, then individuals. That is why people are ashamed themselves as parents, as students and as Koreans. It is not only the killer's problem, but also Koreans'. I don't know what to say to those victims' families and to Americans. I cannot say anything but "I'm sorry." Whenever people talk about the massacre, I really want to leave. Wherever I go, I feel like people see me in anger because I am Korean, even though I know that they really don't know whether I am or not. At some point, I am scared that people might hate me because I am a Korean. At another point, I am scared that people might hit me or say something because I am a Korean. I don't think that American people are that irrational to hit somebody only because they have the same nationality that killer has. But I am afraid because as a Korean, I am ashamed of myself. The killer said that the society made him like that and he didn't have a…
creator: Hae Min Sung
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

High crime a concern for dorm residents
description: By: Ben Briscoe, Contributing Writer, bbriscoe@smu.edu Posted: 4/25/07 First-year Weston Ashley went out to benches in front of his residence hall, Mary Hay, at 2 a.m. on the night of Oct. 12, 2006 to get his last nicotine fix before heading to bed, like he had done so many times before. But this night was different. As he sat alone in the cold air listening to The Killers on his iPod, a man Ashley had never seen before walked up to the four empty benches and sat down right beside him. "At first I didn't think anything of it," Ashley said. "He just asked me if he could buy a cigarette from me, and I said no and gave him one instead." The two then chatted for about 10 minutes about the lack of diversity at SMU before Ashley caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of something alarming. "I remember turning to him and sticking out of his big puffy jacket was a butcher knife," Ashley said. "I just pretty much froze. In my head I was like, 'Oh my God, I am gonna die.'" But Ashley's nerves calmed, and his instincts kicked in. He quickly told the man goodnight and then walked briskly, "hell almost running," to his room and called the police. About 20 minutes later police caught up with the man. He was holding another student by knifepoint outside of the Owen Fine Arts building. While the man was quickly taken to the Dallas County Jail, the memory still lingers in Ashley's mind. "Every once and a while I will think about it, and my heart will skip a couple of beats," he said. "You feel you're so safe because we live in this Highland Park bubble where everything is so nice and pretty and clean, but the truth is that we're not safer here than anywhere else. It's a hard thing to realize." That's exactly how Virginia Tech Wildlife Science major Danielle Kulas said she felt after the shootings last Monday. "I just remember thinking at first that April Fools Day had already gone by. I couldn't believe this was happening here," she said. "The part that really baffled me was …
creator: Ben Briscoe
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Threat scrawled on desk chair found in Hyer Hall
description: By: Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu Posted: 4/25/07 A message scrawled on the back of a desk chair by an unknown person has prompted an investigation by SMU Police. The note says "I'm going to shoot up SMU on 8-06-07." The message was discovered Monday but was not reported to SMU Police until Tuesday morning. Authorities promptly responded, said Interim Police Chief Richard Shafer. "We have no leads and don't know who did it or why," Shafer said. The threat was discovered in Room 111 of Hyer Hall some time Monday. The professor of the class that meets there at that time reported the message to SMU Police. The message was written in pencil and still "looks fairly fresh," according to police. Shafer said the date of the threat is odd since classes are not in session at the time. The Summer II session is completed by then and the 2007-2008 school year has not begun yet. Police are looking at what classes meet in the room to determine if any names of interest appear on the class rosters. Shafer said the person who wrote the message probably has a warped sense of humor. "We don't think it's a viable or credible threat, but you never know," he said. The police investigation into the matter is still ongoing. This is the first threat made at the SMU community after the shootings at Virginia Tech. "Three weeks ago they probably wouldn't have thought about it," Shafer said. He said the police department is glad that the professor and students took the time to report the threat. He encouraged members of the SMU community to report anything they believe is suspicious. "Give us a call and someone will look into it," Shafer said. This story is exclusive to 'The Daily Campus.' Mention of this story by other media organizations must credit the paper. -- Original Source:SMU Daily Campus - April 25, 2007
creator: Mark Norris
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

April is the cruelest month
description: By: George Henson, ghenson@smu.edu Posted: 4/26/07 No matter how much we try to make sense out of the horrific events of Monday, April 16, we can't. Last Wednesday, under the guise of news reporting, NBC pimped the "manifesto" and video that the Virginia Tech assassin FedEx-ed the network during the two-hour gap between the first and second shootings. "The Today Show" last Thursday morning hyped the same video footage, feigning that journalistic imperative outweighed tabloid sensationalism. For all intents and purposes, the morning infotainment show was co-hosted by a deranged murderer. It was journalistic pornography. Sideshow journalism. Capitalism. I don't know who's worse-them or us. The pornographers or those of us who consume their pornography. To their credit, the students of Virginia Tech ordered all media off their campus by Monday. The question still remains: do we really want to allow a for-profit infotainment corporation to be the voice of our national conscience? Throughout history, poets have given a voice to the tragic events that marked the time in which they lived. In 1865, Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom'd" gave voice to the assassination of President Lincoln. In 1922, the American modernist poet T.S. Eliot published "The Waste Land," gave voice to the chaos following World War I, the irrationality of modern society, the age-old theme of the universe in chaos. That's how many have felt during the last week. The first three lines of the first canto, "The Burial of the Dead," read, "April is the cruelest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing / Memory and desire, stirring / Dull roots with spring rain." Those lines are especially poignant now - in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. If you've never read the poem, it's worth a read. Don't worry if you find the language difficult or the references obscure, let the imagery speak to you. You'll be surprised how much clarity - context - the poem will lend to the horrif…
creator: George Henson
publisher: SMU Daily Campus
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: "Norris, Mark William" <mnorris@mail.smu.edu>
language: eng

Program from April 16th Memorial Dedication, August 19, 2007
description: Front and back of the program for April 16th Memorial Dedication, August 19, 2007. The text on the program reads: "In the hours following the April 16 tragedy, the student-driven volunteer organization Hokies United placed 32 Hokie Stones on the Drillfield. The semi-circle of stones became a place to gather, to mourn, and to reflect, and the poignant display inspired today's memorial. As a community, we dedicate 32 engraved Hokie Stones in honor and in memory of the members of our Hokie family who lost their lives. Hokie Stone has long symbolized the foundation of Virginia Tech. Now, it also symbolizes our relentless spirit, our courage to move forward, and our determination never to forget."
creator: Brent Jesiek
date: 2007-08-24
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

UC Davis responds to Virginia Tech shootings
description: Officials discuss emergency notification systems By: Talia Kennedy Posted: 4/17/07 Editor's note: Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech marked the deadliest act of violence on a college campus in American history. Here, The California Aggie provides information on the shootings and responses from the UC Davis campus community. When an unidentified gunman entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on Monday morning and opened gunfire, killing two students in a residence hall, the news instantly made national headlines - but the 25,000 students enrolled at the Blacksburg, Va. college were not notified of the incident until hours later, when dozens more had been injured or killed, reports said. At about 7:15 a.m. in Virginia, the gunman entered a residence hall on campus, fatally wounding two students. According to reports, the campus community was not notified of the incident because university officials believed it to be an isolated event. "We knew we had two people shot," said Wendell Flinchum, a Virigina Tech police officer, at a press conference Monday afternoon. "We secured the building. We secured the crime scene. We acted on the best information we had at the time." About two hours later, the gunman returned, this time to Norris Hall, an academic building on the opposite side of the campus. It was here where the gunman reportedly lined students up against a wall, shooting them all. By noon California time, 33 were confirmed dead and at least 22 were reported injured. The shooter, whose identity had not been determined by press time, was found dead among his victims, apparently due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to reports. In the hours after the shootings, universities across the country began showing their support for the Virginia Tech victims, including the University of California. In a statement released Monday, UC President Robert Dynes said, "Shock and horror only begin to describe our reactions at the Universi…
creator: Sara Hood
publisher: The California Aggie
date: 2007-08-23
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
language: eng

Jenny Pedersen: Support the Hokies
description: By: Jenny Pedersen Posted: 4/18/07 Let's be honest: this isn't my original column. I was up late last night scribbling down something about "relationship people" and trying to finish a paper. Like most of us I didn't get enough sleep, I woke up late and barely rolled into lecture. In spite of the usual college stresses, I still managed to start smiling after my morning latte. However, all things changed once I read the morning news. In the state of Virginia, lattes are not enough to make anyone smile. I've been to Virginia; it's where my favorite high school history teacher grew up, and one of my best friends attends a college two hours north of Virginia Tech. The state was green, the people were friendly and I had an amazing fudge sundae at a place called Shoney's. Virginia Tech has been described as a quiet place where not much happens. It is an agricultural school in a small town similar to Davis and the school website shows pictures of students feeding large groups of mallard ducks just like the ones that patrol our own campus. We both have slightly ridiculous mascots - we're the UC Davis Aggies and they're the Virginia State Hokies. We have The California Aggie and they have The Collegiate Times. Much like us, students online discuss the lack of nightlife options in the mountain town of Blacksburg, Va. and jokingly point out that the town doubles in size when school is in session. Instead of an annual Picnic Day, in Virginia they host the International Street Fair each April. I imagine before yesterday Hokie students could easily have complained about bored Blacksburg cops breaking up their parties, citing them for noise violations and other such superfluous things, just like we were probably ecstatic about the start of spring because nobody knows what to do with themselves in a small town when it's cold. They're college students just like us in a community much like ours. They had no idea that this would change for them on any other Monday morning in April. Th…
creator: Jenny Pedersen
publisher: The California Aggie
date: 2007-08-23
contributor: Sara Hood
rights: Eddie Lee <editor@californiaaggie.com>
language: eng