Hokie Stone and Flowers - Nicole Regina White
A large flower arrangement rests in front of Nicole Regina White's new hokie stone at the memorial on the drillfield. The card reads: "We love you Nicole - love, Mom, Dad, Evan, and Your Family." The photo was taken on Monday, August 20, 2007, the first day of Fall 2007 classes. The memorial had been dedicated the day before. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
On the morning of Monday, August 20 - the first day of Fall 2007 classes - an unidentified visitor places a white daisy next to each victim's hokie stone at the intermediate memorial. The memorial had been formally dedicated the previous day. Many new flowers and mementos continue to be added to the site, while old items are gradually disposed of or put in storage. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
Commentary By Eric Quach On Monday, April 16, the nation was shocked by the cowardly acts of a student at Virginia Tech University. As the day ended, the death toll rose to 33, including the shooter. Most Americans and the media looked back to the last tragedy most similar to this, the shootings at Columbine High School. But then, the next morning, authorities released a picture of the culprit. As I looked at the picture, I looked at the face of someone familiar. He was someone who looked a lot like me, more than I would have ever expected after hearing the news. A chill went down my spine. The same stories spread like wildfire on the news. News of "a troubled teen," "a loner," "a sick, demented person," "someone with a me-against-the-world attitude" and "someone in imminent danger to himself and others" followed in succession, one after another. Through all the news, I had questions like everyone else. What would make him kill? Couldn't this have been prevented? There are a lot of "what-ifs" that come from a tragedy like this. When NBC released excerpts of the DVD they were sent by Seung-Hui Cho on Wednesday morning, I grew more interested in the subject. Since we are on a campus with a primarily Asian population, I wondered if it could happen here. I began to think about his motives, his life and what it might have been like. Every news article and report paints a picture of the profile of a typical school shooter. He was "a loner," rationalized his acts by making himself a victim, had many "red flags" in his past and played violent video games. Whether any of that was relevant or not, you have to decide. What led to the development of these characteristics in Cho? How far back must we go to see where this could've been stopped? It was a scary thought that I could somehow remotely relate to someone who killed 32 people at his school. Aside from his apparent mental instability, he was just another quiet Asian kid at the school trying to get by. His inability to connect with others and his lack of emotion are characteristic of many Asians brought up in traditional Asian households. It is possible that he was brought up in a household where his parents didn't talk to him unless they needed to scold him. Maybe the Kobe Bryant approach was needed; maybe "he wasn't hugged enough as a child." Maybe he was programmed to never question his parents, to always hold back and keep his thoughts and emotions in. Perhaps he was never taught how to deal with his emotions like many raised in this type of household. In a traditional Asian household, children are never taught how to deal with the opposite sex. Cho had been reported as a stalker on two separate occasions by fellow students. Maybe it was something in his approach to girls that scared them enough to call the police, but whatever it was, there were at least two obvious strikeouts for Cho in that department. Cho was an English major, but told everyone who asked that he was a business/economics major. His older sister is a successful graduate of Princeton University, one of the top universities in the nation. Perhaps there was immense pressure from his parents and family to be successful, to make a lot of money. Of course, most people don't see much money in English and creative writing. He was also a great student in high school. He got good grades, and probably was teased for being a "geek" or "nerd" in his younger years. Maybe that's another thing that helped drive him over the edge. Being from an immigrant family may have also had an impact on him. Growing up, his family's finances were tight. His parents worked as much as they could to get by and to give their children a good life. Maybe his parents were too busy with work to spend time with him. Their spending habits were probably to buy only things they needed, nothing in excess. He might have grown frustrated after living his whole life with nothing going his way. In one video clip, he poses questions to rich people: "You had everything that you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats? Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs?" I'm sure Cho spent many birthdays as a child wishing he had received a better gift. I certainly am not condoning his actions and I hope that a lot can be learned through this tragedy. There are kids still being raised in this country the same way Cho was and obviously, the way we are living, the way we are treating each other and the way we are raising kids isn't perfect. So maybe it's time we change. Cho's parents had equipped him well for success academically but not emotionally. Maybe the onus is on us to treat each other as we would like to be treated, with respect. Perhaps teachers and counselors should have reached out to him. We can speculate all we want at this point, but the only thing we can do now is change and hope this does not happen again. -- Original Source:New University - April 23, 2007
By: Editorial Board Posted: 4/19/07 With the tragedy that occurred on the Virginia Tech campus on Monday we are forced to ask hard questions about the safety of students here at UR. Surely, as statistics show, we live on a very safe campus, even given the large city to which we are adjacent. Students are kept safe by a very respected and well-trained team of Security officers and a very thorough Security system, which includes blue light phones, among other precautions. But given the recent violence, our placement as a University surrounded by a large city and our ever-expanding campus, which includes URMC and the Brooks Landing project in the 19th Ward among other areas, is the current level of security enough to protect the thousands at UR? Further, is the current level of training and certification that our Security officers have enough given the jobs we ask them to assume? Currently, Security officers are severely limited in the actions they can take by their current level of training and certification. They cannot make arrests, investigate crimes, set up traffic stops or access criminal records to check for warrants. They carry no offensive or defensive weapons with them, lethal or non-lethal - that means no guns, nightsticks, mace or stun guns. Rather, they are expected to carry out their duties with just handcuffs and possibly a flashlight. The jobs of Security officers often put them in harm's way. They deal with affiliated and non-affiliated people on the UR campus every day. This includes violent criminals at Strong Memorial Hospital along with other potentially violent people in all of their patrol areas, including Brooks Landing or even the Fraternity Quad on a normal social night. Yet, in the presence of violence, Security officers are expected to detain the person with just the handcuffs they carry and just wait for RPD to arrive. It is simply not safe for anyone affiliated with UR to have the first responders to any scene, violent or not, unprotected and severely limited in the actions they can take. No matter what RPD's response time is to the scene, having to wait for the police to arrive takes valuable minutes while people are potentially in severe danger. We cannot expect this system to keep the students, or the Security officers, safe any longer. -- Original Source:Campus Times - April 19, 2007
Alexander Moeller <amoeller@mail.rochester.edu>
Virginia Tech | History of major shootings on college campuses
By: Melanie Hicken Posted: 4/26/07 Aug. 1, 1966 - University of Texas at Austin From the top of a 27-story tower, Charles J. Whitman shot and killed 13 people and wounded 31 others before he was killed by police fire. July 12, 1976 - California State University at Fullerton A school custodian, Edward C. Allaway, shot and killed seven people and wounded two others in the basement of a library. Nov. 1, 1991 - University of Iowa Gang Lu, a graduate physics student, shot and killed five people and paralyzed another after he did not receive an award for his dissertation. Dec. 14, 1992 - Simon's Rock College of Bard Wayne Lo shot and killed two people and wounded four others before surrendering to police. Aug. 15, 1996 - San Diego State University A 36-year-old graduate student Frederick Davidson shot and killed three professors while defending his engineering thesis. Aug. 28, 2000 - University of Arkansas at Fayetteville A 36-year-old student shot and killed a professor after being dropped from a doctoral program, and then killed himself. Jan. 16, 2002 - Appalachian School of Law A 43-year-old law student Peter Odighizuwa shot and killed three people and injured three others. Oct. 28, 2002 - University of Arizona Nursing College A 40-year-old student who was failing academically shot and killed three people. Sept. 2, 2006 - Shepherd University Douglas Pennington shot and killed his two sons, who were students at the school, and then himself. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
VT aftermath continues; SU reflects with speak out
By: A.J. Donatoni Posted: 4/26/07 Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty in a senseless act of violence April 16. On Wednesday, 32 Syracuse University students and area residents came together in the Panasci Lounge at the Schine Student Center to participate in the Speak Out Against Violence in response to that act. The speak out, sponsored by the Greek Council and the Student Association, was a forum designed to commemorate the victims of the shootings and give those in attendance a chance to voice their opinions on what occurred that morning. One by one, several participants walked up to the podium located at the back of the lounge and addressed the rest of the group by either sharing a personal experience or simply giving their perspective on what transpired on the campus of Virginia Tech. Senior Amanda Torres helped organize the Speak Out and has coordinated several events around the campus in honor of the Virginia Tech community. "When I was in high school, 9/11 happened and I was going to school in New York City," said Torres, entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major. "That's the reason why I decided to become in involved in this." Torres spoke of her own personal experience in New York City when the World Trade Center was attacked but said that the shootings had a similar feel to them, which motivated her to do whatever she could to help out. "I was watching it on the big screen in Schine, and I stood there in disbelief, like I couldn't believe this was happening at a college that was comparable in size to us," said Torres of the shootings. "I can't imagine the fear that was going through the families and friends there." Junior Jacqueline Cho said the shootings touched her personally because she is Asian American. Because she shares the same last name of the shooter - Cho - she said the events have affected her on a deeper level. "My sister lives in London, and the day after it happened, when she went to work, she got backlash from her co-workers about being an American citizen," said Cho, television, radio and film major. She also said the workers joked to her sister about coming into work that day with guns to shoot them. Cho said she had not received any verbal backlash personally, but she has read blogs and other postings from student groups that have been "pretty upsetting." "As a student of color, my main concern was that when this happened, why would I have to carry the burden about how I or my (Asian Pacific American) community would be represented in the media because of one individual?" she said. "After the incident I became very self-aware." Roy Baker, director of fraternity and sorority affairs at SU, is originally from Richmond, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia. He said he has many ties to Virginia Tech and that the news hit home hard. "I saw the news and witnessed the things that were happening on that campus, and I started thinking about all the people that I knew that worked there," he said. "I wasn't sure if I should reach out to them or just leave them alone." Baker said he eventually contacted those whom he knew and that they were going through something "unimaginable" and "incomprehensible." "What if something like that could happen here?" he said. "I would hope that we as a community would appreciate what we have at this great institution, and come together and do the things that could have prevented this by supporting one another and making one another feel like we each matter." Once the open forum portion of the event was finished, the Speak Out concluded with a moment of silence by the 32 SU community members for the 32 victims, whose names were read by the event volunteers. -- Original Source: The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Virginia Tech | SU counseling center resources
By: Melanie Hicken Posted: 4/26/07 As more information rapidly becomes available through media reports, it has become quite clear Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho was deeply troubled. He had few friends. He had harassed several female students. A counselor had recommended involuntary commitment. A judge had ordered a mental evaluation. A doctor had declared him mentally ill. But he was not committed, and rather was to have outpatient mental health treatment, according to an article in The New York Times. It is unknown whether he ever attended. Though no one can know if treating Cho could have prevented the tragedy, Syracuse University officials say they urge anyone who feels they or a friend needs counseling of any kind to contact the Syracuse University Counseling Center at any time. The center offers a full range of mental health services, including regular counseling, a 24-hour crisis line and training to the campus community, said Rebecca Dayton, director of the counseling center. The center also offers consultations, in which anyone with concerns about an individual can be given advice on how to help them. "Dealing with someone who is emotionally distressed is often very difficult," said Dayton, who co-chairs the Critical Incident Management Team. "People often don't know what to do." Dayton said in the end, she believes counseling centers do the best they can. "We do out best," she said. "I think we do a really good job of listening to and attending to and giving people appropriate resources and intervening at the appropriate time." But even then, it may not always be enough, she said. "Nobody can predict human behavior," she said. "It's complex. Human behavior and human emotions are incredibly gray." -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Virginia Tech | How are classes canceled?
By: Melanie Hicken Posted: 4/26/07 The first shooting at Virginia Tech happened at about 7:15 a.m., yet classes continued - a decision questioned by many in the last week. Right or wrong, it has led many Syracuse University students to ask: Who would make such a decision at SU? At SU, the decision would be a group effort made by Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Vice Chancellor Eric Spina and the Logistics Committee, which is headed up by SU Chief Financial Officer Louis Marcoccia and made up of representatives from various university departments (see: "What is the Logistics Committee?"). "Clearly what we have on the committee is broad representation from across campus," Marcoccia said. "It's a group that we hope can provide us the right kind of advice on any decision we would have to make." Cantor said she had little doubt classes could be canceled and students notified of this "very quickly" in the case of an immediate threat situation. The most recent cancellation of classes - a half-day cancellation due to snow - worked as a good practice for the system, Cantor said. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Virginia Tech coverage not lacking when D.O.'s resources considered
By: Shannon Pittman-Price Posted: 4/26/07 Last week, the worst school shooting in American history happened on the campus of Virginia Tech. The day after the shooting, most students went to The Daily Orange to read the coverage on the shootings. Some students were disappointed with how much coverage was shown in the student newspaper. D.O. reader Alisa Lopano wrote, "I'm very disappointed in the minimal story coverage in Tuesday's Daily Orange of the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech ... Rubin stepping down as dean of Newhouse and the inadequate condition of South Campus are important, but not as important as one of the most memorable and horrific days of recent years." Ashley Tabor, sophomore English and textual studies and political science major, and Sydney Axson, sophomore political science and biology major, wrote, "It is a shame to admit, but for some students, The D.O. is their primary source of information. It's the paper they pick up first in the morning before anything else. There is no excuse for making an article about something as infinitesimal as housing woes... out to be a bigger issue than an event that has shattered the lives of so many." Last week's editions may not have seemed to reflect much coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy to some readers, but with the resources The D.O. had, it did provide as much information as it could have at the time. "What goes on the front page is a decision made by all head editors of each section," said Melanie Hicken, The D.O.'s news editor. "We did try to get in contact with people down there, but we did not get a hold of anyone." As a campus newspaper, there are only so many resources that are available. There are not any reporters or photographers that would have been at the scene to provide stories and photos. The paper also has a policy of not running stories that are not written by staff. That would rule out any wire photos and stories. Hicken said The D.O. tries to take stories like this particular one and see how it can be told by the way it affects the SU community. They wanted to provide information that was not available anywhere else to the community. That is exactly what a newspaper is supposed to do. "We wanted to look at how the SU safety was, and how safe SU was. We have not forgotten about the VT victims. We just did not have resources to provide news that has not already been told, especially when on this campus you can go and get The New York Times and The Post-Standard," Hicken said. The D.O. did provide stories that covered the Virginia Tech tragedy. They did not ignore the magnitude of the event, and the decisions they made were good. There were still stories above the fold that dealt with the tragedy even on Tuesday. They had a story about SU's mourning and vigil, and about how the SU community reacted to the tragedy. The paper did its job as a campus newspaper with the resources that were available. Shannon Pittman-Price is the public editor for The Daily Orange. E-mail her at publiceditor@dailyorange.com. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Virginia Tech | Too close for comfort: Students cope with shootings on campus
By: Melanie Hicken Posted: 4/26/07 Oklahoma City. Columbine. 9/11. For a generation that came of age during such memorable acts of violence, tragedy is not new. But for the largest fatal shooting in U.S. history to occur on a college campus may hit a little too close to home. "I was shocked," said sophomore Catherine Long of her initial reaction to the Virginia Tech shooting. "But mostly I was shocked to hear it was a student. You don't think of any of us doing that to other students." Long said she couldn't help but have thoughts run through her head about what she would do in a similar situation. "What if you were sitting in class and all of a sudden that happened to us," said Long, advertising major. "What would I do?" Such scattered emotions ranged through campus last week as various members of the campus community explored their own feelings and connections to the incident. "The higher education world is a very interconnected world," said Dean of Hendricks Chapel Thomas Wolfe, who co-chairs the Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT). Faculty research with faculty from other campuses, students have friends from high school at schools across the country, and the connections continue, he said. "It's rare that you're not going to have had contact with or know someone at another campus," said Chancellor Nancy Cantor, comparing it to the "six degrees of separation" theory. And indeed, as more information became available, direct Syracuse University connections to Virginia Tech began to come to light, Wolfe said, including a student who lost a friend to the shooter. But even those not directly affected by the tragedy felt connected. "Some may argue that it is hard to truly grieve or relate in a situation that we are so 'far removed from.' I beg to differ," wrote Student Association President Ryan Kelly in a letter published in The Daily Orange on April 18. "We are very close to this situation. Virginia Tech is a peer institution, with students that come from near and far to make that university their home, just like many of us at Syracuse University," Kelly said. "To have such a tragedy occur at a place that most call home for four years is truly devastating. This tragedy could have happened just as easily on our campus as any other in the United States." More than 400 students and members of the SU community expressed their emotions at a candlelight vigil held in Hendricks on April 17. Hundreds more signed blank white sheets with messages of sympathy and condolences. The sheets were recently sent to the Virginia Tech campus. Such events and activities were organized by the CIMT to help the campus cope with the tragedy. Wolfe compared events like the vigil to an outreached hand open to take in everyone's scattered emotions after an earth-shattering event like Virginia Tech. "The point is that's OK to feel this way," he said. "We are going to sort this stuff out over time, but right now this is the need and we will take our confusions, we'll take our fears, we'll take our anxieties, all those mixture of feelings and put them right here. And for today, that's enough." -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Virginia Tech | In case of emergency: VT tragedy spurs analysis of SU's safety procedures
By: Melanie Hicken Posted: 4/26/07 April 16, 2007. Another day to mourn. Another day Americans will never forget. But while the Virginia Tech community begins the healing process after the largest massacre in U.S. history, college campuses across the country are beginning a process as well - a reevaluation of protocols and procedures in place to help prevent or minimize such a tragedy. "Monday's incident changes everything for universities around the country," said Interim Chief Tony Callisto, of Syracuse University's Public Safety. It's been a busy 10 days for Callisto. Interviews. Meetings. Phone calls. E-mails. All asking: What would we do if it happened here? SU was one of many college communities across the nation that were jarred by this scary realization - that something so violent, so tragic could occur on a campus just like its own. "I think we all know that this could have happened anywhere," said Dean of Hendricks Chapel Thomas Wolfe, who co-chairs the Critical Incident Management Team (CMIT). Within hours of the breaking news of the shootings, the SU Logistics Committee and the CIMT, two university bodies that help manage emergency and crisis situations, convened to discuss what this tragedy meant for SU and how the campus should respond. The Logistics Committee handles technical and physical needs in an emergency situation, while the CIMT manages all human responses. The CIMT and Public Safety will study the Virginia Tech incident to help enhance SU's year of task force examinations dedicated to keeping the school continuously up to date in various areas including campus safety and communication in the case of an emergency, said Chancellor Nancy Cantor in an interview. "I have asked the CIMT and the Department of Public Safety to quickly analyze what we currently know about the Virginia Tech incident," said Cantor in an e-mail sent to the campus community on April 17. "That team will continue to meet with me and the University's leadership in the coming days to examine our policies and protocols, and determine how we can learn from this tragedy." Safety first The Virginia Tech shootings exposed the vulnerability of college campuses as opposed to the more contained high school setting. The Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, led to the idea of a lockdown procedure in case of such an emergency. And many Virginia Tech students and families questioned why their campus was not locked down after the first shooting. But for an open campus community - as opposed to a contained high school building - a lockdown is easier said than done, Callisto said. "I think any open university probably doesn't have a solid procedure for a lockdown because it's a community environment," he said. "It's a community of buildings, so we need to come up with a community response to this kind of a challenge instead of a single institutional response." Currently, Callisto said, SU has two main procedures to be used in the case of emergency depending on the situation: to have people evacuate or to tell people to stay in their buildings. Additionally, all Public Safety officers are trained in "active shooter protocol," a procedure developed nationwide in 2003 partly as a result of the Columbine shootings, Callisto said. Prior to this training, officers would have to create a perimeter and wait for SWAT officers before entering a building with an active shooter, which could take more than an hour. Now, the first four arriving officers at the scene do an immediate assessment of the situation and enter the building. Immediately. "A few years ago, the Department of Public Safety was an unarmed, primarily security force that had limited ability to really manage a problem of this magnitude," Callisto said. "And today, with the active shooter training and the police academy, today within seconds you have eight to 10 Public Safety officers working any shift. Four of them can be there within seconds." In October 2003, New York Gov. George Pataki signed legislation that allowed SU to upgrade Public Safety officers to peace officer status. In February 2004, the University Senate made a recommendation to begin the training program, which then-Chancellor Kenneth Shaw accepted. This training program was completed in December, so all officers can now carry a weapon and use force if necessary. Prior to peace status, they could carry only batons and pepper spray. Although he said he is confident SU is prepared to react in the case of emergency, Callisto added the university is currently examining additional safety and communication measures as a part of a comprehensive plan to increase safety capabilities. Some things being looked into include: surveillance systems, turning the campus blue lights into loudspeaker-like devices and the ability to simulcast emergency notification to all university radio channels. Other processes are also being considered. As early as Monday afternoon, Callisto had joined an e-mail listserv of law enforcement administrators to discuss the Virginia Tech incident and what can be learned from it. "This is an opportunity," Callisto said. "It's a tragic event, but it will be an opportunity for campus law enforcement to improve our ability to respond to these kinds of things." To text, or not to text One of the most controversial issues to come out of the Virginia Tech incident is how and when universities choose to notify students of a shooting or similar violent incident on campus. Although the Virginia Tech Police Department received a 911 call about shootings in a residence hall at 7:15 a.m., e-mail notification was not sent to students and faculty until 9:26 a.m. A second 911 call was phoned in at 9:45 a.m. Another shooting had occurred. This time, e-mail notification was sent within five minutes. Campus officials told the media they had reason to believe the first incident was an isolated domestic dispute, but many have still questioned why notification was not sent out earlier and why classes were not canceled. "I don't understand their logic behind that," a Virginia Tech sophomore told The Los Angeles Times. "It does bother me. I feel like a lot of lives could have been saved and a lot fewer injuries." SU currently sends out e-mails to the campus community about campus safety incidents or important information within the hour, in accordance with the national Clery Act, Callisto said. The Clery Act was passed in Congress in 1990 and requires colleges and universities to issue annual reports on crime on campus as well as on security procedures. The law also requires that campuses provide "timely warning" when a crime poses a serious threat to students and employees. The law does not, however, provide a specific time frame that must be followed. At SU, "typically, the current process is when we know about an incident, usually within an hour, you know about it," Callisto said. But Virginia Tech has shown, he said, that even an hour may not be soon enough, and that this should perhaps be modified in extreme cases. Additionally, the university realizes e-mail notification may not be the most efficient method - especially in the case of an immediate threat to campus, Callisto said. For the past few weeks - before the Virginia Tech incident even occurred - a university task force has been looking into the possibility of a text message notification program. Students and faculty would be able to register their cell phone number and SU officials would be able to send out a notification blast to all registered phones. Cell phone notification is "the model that really works for technology today" since many students are much more likely to instantly receive a text than an e-mail, Callisto said. Many schools are looking into these text message notification programs, as reported in the April 27 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Schools such as University of Maryland-Easter Shore, Monmouth University in New Jersey and Butler University, among others, already use such programs. SU sophomore Catherine Long said she thought a text message notification program would be a much better way to immediately contact students. "Not all people check their e-mail at all times. I could go days without checking my e-mail," said Long, advertising major. "But everyone has their cell phone with them on most of the time. And they are checking it all the time." Finding a balance In the light of such a tragedy, people often look to tightened security measures, and safety at SU will of course be examined, officials said. But many SU officials expressed a need for a balance between security and the openness that college campuses pride themselves on. "Are we going to choose to live in fear constantly and build walls? Or are we going to live in an open society?" Wolfe said. "But how do we live smart in that open society? I think that is going to be one of the big challenges in higher education because one of the values of higher education is it is an accessible community." Cantor echoed Wolfe's thoughts. "At the heart of what makes colleges and universities great is their openness and their engagement with the world and with each other," she said. "You don't want something that isolates the campus from that flow of information, the flow of interaction and the flow of people ... On the other hand, you obviously want to create a community that feels safe and comfortable so it can do its best work." Thus looking for a balance is key, said many SU officials. As SU officials at administrators at campuses across the country strive for that balance in the aftermath of this national tragedy, the Virginia Tech campus will simply strive for normalcy - to be the way it was before. The way it was before April 16, 2007. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007
Pundits wrong to blame society's woes on entertainment industry
By: Dave Arey Posted: 4/25/07 Hours after the Virginia Tech shootings, people were already looking for something to blame. Fox News had on lawyer and "school shootings expert" Jack Thompson, an infamous critic of video games. He gave the dubious statement that when looking at most school shootings there was a common thread, that being "the immersion of the perpetrators in incredibly violent entertainment, most notably violent videogames." This was before the killer had even been named. When it was found out that Seung-Hui Cho had little contact with violent videogames, other possible explanations were discussed. In a video sent to NBC, Cho can be seen holding a hammer in a pose reminiscent of the movie "Oldboy." As a result, many began wondering if the killings were influenced by that. In reporting on the story, Jake Coyle of the Associated Press wrote that, "Notorious killers are commonly linked to movies or music." Such an assumption is very dangerous, but sadly, it is also common. It is true that John Lennon's killer read "The Catcher in the Rye." It is also true that Charles Manson loved The Beach Boys and The Beatles. But they were very troubled people who did not need entertainment to inspire their actions. The killings at Virginia Tech have followed a never-ending string of cases where entertainment has been blamed for the actions of an individual. One of the more ludicrous recent examples was Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. Ever since, many people in the media have blamed rap music as much as they have blamed Imus himself. Imus started the conversation by mentioning on his show that he was simply repeating the vernacular of rappers. Many others in the media picked up on this. In a column printed April 11, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star wrote that, "I'm sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent's or Snoop Dogg's or Young Jeezy's latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos." Days later, he was on Oprah. I am not suggesting that violent videogames or rap music should necessarily get a free pass. There is certainly a time to talk about the role each has in society. However, in each of these cases, the people using these situations to advance their own views are opportunistic and wrong. Artists (and yes, I did just call rappers and videogame makers "artists") need to be given room to create. Both rap and violent videogames are representations of the society they come out of - a society prone to violence, racism and sexism. Using the misfortune of others to get on television is no way to make that society better. Dave Arey is a contributing columnist whose columns appear biweekly in The Daily Orange. E-mail him at dwarey@syr.edu. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 25, 2007
SU must bolster security efforts in light of shootings at Virginia Tech
By: Kris Miller Posted: 4/19/07 How do you think Syracuse University would respond to a shooting like the one at Virginia Tech? What could we do differently to make ourselves safer? These questions must be addressed immediately. The university is working diligently to strengthen campus security. Nevertheless, students must sustain pressure on Chancellor Nancy Cantor until emergency response systems are more robust and better integrated. To that end, technology is critical, especially when fewer than 20 public safety officers are on patrol at any time. These officers are responsible for the safety of more than 19,000 students. The chancellor wants SU's endowment to reach $2 billion. Awesome. But I say a significant portion of SU's budget should fund technologies including closed circuit cameras (CCTV) and mass-alert communications systems. As a law student senator, I was concerned when I learned last fall that CCTV systems were not prevalent on campus. Public Safety was also concerned, and to its credit, a vigorous effort is under way to overhaul security technologies on campus. Tony Callisto, the Interim Director of Public Safety, informed me that SU recently hired Mike Kearns to be Manager of Technology and Security Services, which is a new position. Mr. Kearns is a 12-year veteran of the Oswego police force and holds a masters degree in information technology. The chancellor also formed a CCTV committee, which recently examined IT security practices at similarly situated universities. The committee identified 14 priorities for upgrading security technology on campus, but details have not been released yet. SU's challenge is to fully integrate existing CCTV systems. Concurrently, SU is working to expand its network and ensure that all systems are managed from its central monitoring station. The ultimate goal is to share this data with other emergency services like the Syracuse Police Department. This raises another key issue: interoperability. Anyone who has participated in a mass-casualty exercise confesses that interagency communication is a challenge, and it always needs improvement. Public Safety, SUNY ESF, SUNY Medical Center, VA Security and the Syracuse Police Department share a joint communications frequency called "Hill Net." Callisto said Public Safety intends to add three more joint communications channels to improve cooperation. Would any of this matter? In Monday's tragedy, thermal and infrared CCTV systems (which are not expensive) could have identified the shooter and his actions. He entered the dorm at a low-traffic hour. When he departed, the heat signature from his pistol might have disclosed his M.O. With this information, emergency responders could have reacted more quickly and tracked him, preventing the massacre three hours later. On 9/11 I became the force protection/anti-terrorism officer for one of Southern Germany's largest and least-secured military housing areas. Initially, I had 12 soldiers per shift to protect thousands of residents and a large infrastructure. We used CCTV, including thermal and infra-red imaging, to identify threats. This technology was extremely valuable. Could a shooting happen here? This campus abuts one of Syracuse's most economically depressed and dangerous neighborhoods. Students face multiple armed robberies and assaults each month. Even our own students appear capable of violence. Brian Shaw was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, and Timothy Ginocchetti is charged with second-degree murder. The chancellor deserves credit for initiating campus security upgrades. It is our duty as students to make sure she follows through. Kris Miller is a contributing columnist whose columns appear biweekly in The Daily Orange. E-mail him at kimill01@syr.edu. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 19, 2007
Remove cause of violence by ending social divide
By: Katherine Paster Posted: 4/18/07 Another school shooting has claimed the lives of more young victims, and we are left wondering why so many of our peers had to die. In all, 33 people were killed at Virginia Tech on Monday in what officials are calling the most deadly school attack in U.S. history. As we begin to grieve this substantial loss, college campuses around the nation are struggling to figure out how to prevent such senseless acts of violence from occurring in the future. While some students are looking to their university administrators to address safety concerns, it may not occur to them that they could also play some role in keeping tragedies of this nature from reoccurring. The most alarming part of the tragedy is not the record-breaking number of casualties, the warning signs leading up to it, or the university's unprepared response. It is that the gunman was neither a misguided Marilyn Manson protégé nor a terrorist as we may have assumed. Instead, Cho Seung-hui was a 23-year-old English major who lived in the dorms on campus like countless other undergraduate students around the nation. "He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," said Larry Hincker, Virginia Tech's associate vice president for university relations, in a press release. From the little information available, it appears as though Cho was not unlike many college students who struggle to fit in with the white, upper-middle class group of elite students who often dominate the social scenes of universities around the country. Cho poured his hatred and resentment for this exclusive group of socialites into a lengthy note found in his dorm room on Tuesday morning. His passionate disdain for the "in" crowd calls attention to the dangerous divide that exists between the popular students and social outcasts. As we walk carelessly around campus, Syracuse University students never expect to encounter an armed gunman in our classrooms or dormitories. Yet the underlying social conflict that appears to have ignited the tragedy at Virginia Tech exists right here at SU. College students must reconsider the way we treat one another and recognize that we may be partially responsible for the insecurities and depression that drive individuals to such extreme resentment. It shouldn't matter whether or not isolated individuals fit into our precious social hierarchy. In order to bridge the divide between loners and the "in" crowd, we must reach out to all fellow students. Small acts of kindness that require students to descend from their pedestals could make individuals feel less alone and could even prevent them from acting out in violence. -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 18, 2007
SU community reacts to Virginia Tech massacre
By: Melissa Daniels Posted: 4/17/07 The doors to Hendricks Chapel remained open on Monday, with a candle lit at the end of an aisle. Chaplains were available throughout the day, willing to talk to anyone who wished to enter. The Virginia Tech shooting on Monday caused widespread raw emotion throughout the country, and Syracuse University was not exempt. "Everybody's hearts are going out to Virginia Tech today," said Dean of Hendricks Chapel Thomas Wolfe. "This is a monumental disaster, a tragedy that has befallen them." An unidentified gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm in the morning, beginning the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. By the end of the day, the death toll reached 33, including the death of the gunman himself. Sources had varying reports throughout the day about whether the gunman committed suicide or if he was killed by police. A two-hour gap between shootings raised the possibility of more than one shooter. Wolfe is also co-chair of the Critical Incident Management Team. The group touched base this morning after hearing about the shootings. The team, which focuses on human response in tragic events, encouraged contacting the counseling center and reflecting in Hendricks for students who may have been affected emotionally by the shooting. "When something like this happens," he said, "the whole university community feels it." Chancellor Nancy Cantor sent a letter to the president of Virginia Tech, extending Syracuse University's sympathies. Wolfe described the letter as "a very genuine gesture." "The higher education world is a very connected world," he said. Interim Chief of Public Safety Tony Callisto said SU is prepared for unexpected violent incidents like Monday's events at Virginia Tech as best as it can be. "Every incident results in learning for the next time," he said. Public Safety officers are trained in active shooting scenarios in case they would ever need to go after an armed suspect, Callisto said. They are also all trained as peace officers, meaning they are armed. Active shooting scenario training was created a year after the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., which resulted in 15 fatalities. "Officers are very proactive," Callisto said. "There are eight to 10 officers that patrol Syracuse University grounds 24 hours a day." SU has close ties with the Syracuse Police Department, he said. "Response is relatively immediate," said Callisto about reaction in a crisis situation. Public Safety also has in-service training with the Office of Residence Life in the case of an assailant entering a dorm. On-duty resident advisers and residential security aides (RSAs) are instructed to call Public Safety if they see anything suspicious. RSAs have hand-held radios that are connected to Public Safety and Syracuse police lines. "Prevention is the best tool," Callisto said. "If you see something that's unusual, call us. If you see something that doesn't look right, call us. If something looks suspicious in any way, call us." Student response to the event is widespread. The constant television news coverage and Internet postings let the word spread about the event as updates came in. Anna Hadingham, president of the Student Peace Action Network at SU, expressed her concern about the recent violence. "It worries me that a student would have a reason or feel a need to unleash that," she said. "We are looking and exposing ourselves to chaos and carnage." -- Original Source:The Daily Orange - April 17, 2007
By: EDDIE LEE Posted: 8/6/07 I recently received an e-mail from a graduate student at Virginia Tech. She asked me if I would be willing to release any articles that The California Aggie had written on the school's tragedy in April to be part of a larger database that is working to preserve and present stories from around the country. When I read the e-mail, it quickly reminded me of that terrible day on Apr. 16, when a lone student went on a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus leaving 33 people dead, 25 injured and scores more scarred for life. College campuses across the country, including UC Davis, began reviewing and reevaluating their emergency response services in the case a similar attack should happen. Schools were no longer safe and seemingly anyone was capable of committing such a horrific act. Eventually, though, these thoughts became memories. Students here at UC Davis were able to continue to attend class, eat at the Coho and play intramural sports without worry. Of course, that's how it should be, and not just here, but everywhere. We should never have to live in a world of constant fear and trepidation, and should instead strive to live our lives as normally as possible. However, it is clear that normalcy is a status that many students in Blacksburg, Va. understandably continue to seek. Virginia Tech is not so different from UC Davis. It is a public institution with an undergraduate population of nearly 22,000. Blacksburg, like Davis, is also dominated largely by the local university. The population of the town is nearly 40,000 citizens, 60 percent of which is college students. Compare that to Davis, with a population around 60,000, about 50 percent of which is comprised of students. If you think that it can't happen here in quiet Davis, you are sorely mistaken. That being said, however, this is not a column trying to scare the population here on campus or the city at large that an attack is imminent. Instead, it is to serve as a reminder of how fortunate we are that we have been able to avoid a tragedy of such magnitude, and how easily we can undervalue every day that we walk on campus. In addition, we should not forget our brethren in Virginia. While many of us may not know any students over in Blacksburg personally, we can nonetheless imagine the pain and shock they continue to go through and the ongoing healing process. Last week the first football practice of the season for the Virginia Tech football team took place. The Hokies are the pride of Blacksburg and will once again be a top-25 team. But much more importantly, on that first game of the season when the team runs out of the tunnel and onto the field, the cheering students and fans can remember what it is to be normal again - for at least four quarters of football. Here at UC Davis, we as students should never take normal for granted. -- Original Source:The California Aggie - April 6, 2007
UNLV proposes arming faculty, staff to increase campus security
By: Teresa Pham Posted: 5/14/07 In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, some universities are looking into tightening security measures on campus. In Nevada, one man is proposing a reserve police officer program that would allow employees at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to carry guns. Regent Stavros Anthony, also a Las Vegas police captain, said the program would allow normal employees at the university, such as faculty members, to be trained as reserve police officers. "The way it works is that an employee would apply with the police department to become a reserve police officer," he said. "They would have to go through the same selection process as their police officers." That selection process, he added, is very thorough and covers all the basic training that regular police officers go through. "They'd take a written test, a psychological exam, a polygraph and a background check," he said. "Then they would go through the same police academy that the police officers go through, which is about four or five months. Then, once they graduate, they're considered city reserve police officers and have to go through the renewal training just like police officers for as long as they want to keep their certification. It's a pretty stringent program." However, there are some groups that oppose letting schools control firearm possession rules on campus. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence released a press release May 3 regarding the risk of guns on college campuses. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center, stated in the press release that guns should be either carefully monitored or banned on campus. "Our schools should be sanctuaries, not armed camps," Helmke said. "Institutions of higher education already have chosen policies either banning or tightly controlling guns on campus. That is as it should be." Other schools have chosen to reevaluate security measures after Virginia Tech, but have not taken the same measures that UNLV is proposing. Paul Browning, California State University spokesperson, said the CSU schools have security measures in place in order to respond in the event of a situation such as the Virginia Tech tragedy. "CSU is granted authority to maintain police officers on all 23 campuses, and they receive full police-academy training," he said. "Everyone has looked at their procedures. They have developed really extensive plans in order to handle all kinds of situations." However, he said CSU schools probably wouldn't be implementing a program to adopt regular university employees as reserve police officers. "Well, I can't really see a CSU adopting a plan where regular employees would act as undercover officers in any way," he said. "Each campus has a really high-quality, well-trained police force. We believe that they are very capable of handling any type of situation that comes up." At UC Davis, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in an Apr. 23 statement that the campus is revitalizing its emergency-response network and investigating the possibility of improving cell phone reception in the event of an emergency. After several calls, no one from the UC Davis Police Department was available by press time to comment on adopting a police-faculty program. Anthony said his program, which he proposed at UNLV, is a fairly new program and will come before the University of California Board of Regents for consideration soon. "My idea is pretty new as far as allowing employees to become police officers, but the reserve officer program has been successful all over the country," he said. "I'm presenting it to the board of regents in June for complete discussion. The board will vote, and if the majority wants this, then the police department will put the process together." Despite critics who question whether Anthony's program is necessary, he said his program is important because of the rise in shooter violence. "We're seeing an increase in shooter situations," he said. "They've occurred at shopping malls and obviously with the Virginia Tech tragedy, and we're starting to see more of these active shooter situations. They're not going to go away. They're going to continue, and we're going to have more in the future. We have to be in a position to defend ourselves, which we're having a hard time doing today." -- Original Source:The California Aggie - May 14, 2007
UC Davis examines emergency services, notification systems
Chancellor urges students in need to seek assistance By: Talia Kennedy Posted: 4/24/07 In the wake of the Apr. 16 shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, students across the nation are asking, "Could something similar happen at my school?" The implications of the query, posed by many at UC Davis, can be difficult to comprehend. But in an e-mail sent Monday to the entire campus community, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said it is a question he is trying to answer. "I know from some of the questions you've asked this past week that it's hard for us all not to feel more vulnerable now," he wrote. "You've asked about our preparedness for such a circumstance, about how you would be kept informed, and about how such a tragedy might be prevented. The campus is doing lots, but that's not to say there isn't more to do." Vanderhoef went on to say the UC Davis Police Department and the UC Davis Fire Department have been trained in rapid response to emergency situations such as the one that unfolded last week at Virginia Tech, when senior English major Cho Seung-Hui, 23, went on two shooting rampages, killing 32 students and faculty members before turning a gun on himself. Vanderhoef said the UCDPD is developing a new community-response program to help inform locals "what to do in the event of a critical incident like Virginia Tech's." The way students, faculty and staff are informed of campus emergencies may also soon be changing. In an interview last week, Lisa Lapin, the assistant vice chancellor for university communications, said UC Davis' current emergency-notification systems are less than ideal. "We have a system that can dial all campus phone numbers, but it takes three hours," she said. "We can also send e-mails to everyone, but it also takes three hours." In today's age of high-speed technology, many may wonder why some of the top universities in the nation can't immediately notify their students of a threat on campus. At Virginia Tech, it took hours for students to receive e-mails informing them of the events that had transpired the morning of Apr. 16, when Seung-Hui killed two students in a residence hall. By the time many had opened their e-mails, 31 more people were dead. In his e-mail to the UC Davis campus community, Vanderhoef said the way UC Davis affiliates learn of emergency situations will improve. "We currently can deliver urgent notices to you via e-mail, campus telephones, an emergency telephone hotline (530-752-1011), the [World Wide] Web (ucdavis.edu), our KDVS 90.3 FM radio station, and cars equipped with bullhorns," he wrote. "We are revitalizing a network of emergency-response coordinators for every campus building, and investigating the possibility of improving cell phone reception in several high-traffic campus buildings. We are also exploring a system for automatically sending text, voice and e-mail messages, and investigating the possibility of installing sirens and of engaging amateur radio operators to assist in emergencies." In addition to emergency-notification improvements, Vanderhoef reminded students that counseling services are available on campus. UC Davis' Counseling and Psychological Services in 219 North Hall provides mental- and emotional-health services; the Student Crisis Response Team, a university organization, meets regularly to assist in deescalating potential crisis situations. Similar services are also available for faculty and staff, Vanderhoef said. The Campus Violence Prevention Program, a subunit of the UCDPD, provides victim advocacy and information to students. Its office is located near Hutchison Field adjacent to the Transportation and Parking Services office. Vanderhoef urged students to seek counseling or other services should they need assistance. "[I]t's important that we take care of one another and of ourselves, especially at times of major tragic events," his e-mail said. "We've had such a trauma this past week and, for some, it may be a while before its full, sad impact is felt. If you'd find it helpful to talk with a counselor, or are concerned about a friend or colleague, don't hesitate to be in touch with CAPS.... They very much want to help." -- Original Source:The California Aggie - April 24, 2007
Glendon Y. McCreary: Discussing a tragedy
By: Glendon Y. McCreary Posted: 4/24/07 It can be difficult to cover politics in the aftermath of a nationally felt tragedy like the one at Virginia Tech last week. And as we all remember the victims and reflect on the events that transpired, we are also on high alert to make sure we don't unduly "politicize" anything, because nobody wants to be seen as politically benefiting from someone else's tragedy. As a result, we often temper any discussions we have on the issues related to such incidents. Case in point, despite the fact that his unbelievably easy access to guns was one of the primary reasons the mentally unstable gunman, Cho Seung-hui, had the means to go on this rampage, our politicians all seem to be scrambling to avoid the issue of gun control. Unfortunately, we seem to be becoming so wary of courting sensitive topics in these situations that we end up not having the thorough debates we need to have in order to prevent a recurrence. As sad as it may be, it often takes a tragedy to grab our attention and put a much-needed spotlight on a particular issue. But that attention is fleeting. Remember Hurricane Katrina? As New Orleans was inundated with water and many thousands of impoverished residents languished in third-world conditions at the Superdome, politicians from Bill Clinton to George Bush told us that now was not the time to blame anybody or anything, and worked to assure us that there would "be a time" for that. We were told that eventually, Hurricane Katrina would open up a dialogue about race and poverty in America that had been long overdue. But that dialogue never materialized, because as time passed our attention focused on more mundane matters. As a result, the lofty goals of readdressing these issues have gone largely unfulfilled. Perhaps, had we gotten some answers sooner, we might have made more progress in rectifying mistakes made. Thus, an event even on the scale of Hurricane Katrina can manage to slip from our collective radar into the abyss that is yesterday's news, as the relevant issues are put on the back burner. But it is more complicated than a matter of trivial issues trumping relevant ones. Sometimes it's a legitimate and important story that draws our limited attention spans away from another important issue. Don Imus' firing, overkill or not, over racist and sexist remarks was welcomed by members of the African American community as a chance to have a broader discussion about race relations and tolerance in America. But then Cho Seung-hui went on a rampage, and suddenly nobody is talking about race relations and Imus anymore. All of this highlights the simple fact that we do not necessarily have the luxury of time when discussing how to best respond to an important news event. In the age of youtube.com, blogs and 24-hour cable news, we simply don't have time to wait for a politically calm moment to discuss important and controversial issues facing our society. So when an issue surfaces to the forefront of people's minds, it should be discussed thoroughly while the public is still focused on it. While we should certainly avoid needlessly aggravating those who have been hurt so badly by the events at Virginia Tech, we shouldn't allow the fear of politicizing an issue to subdue discussion of important issues like gun control. If we don't talk about these issues now, while the events at Virginia Tech are still fresh in our minds, they may never get talked about until the next tragedy. If we wait a month for everything to settle down and for the nation to go back to business as usual, then we will have lost our chance. By then we will have moved on to discuss the next fleeting issue. What will these 32 individuals have died for then? The shock we feel over the 32 lost lives at Virginia Tech will eventually pass for most of the country. But as we mourn the victims, let's not squander this brief moment of collective focus. -- Original Source:The California Aggie - April 24, 2007
Guest Opinion: Leigh A. Needleman and Andrew Freshman
Advocating presence of more guns will not prevent another Virginia Tech By: Leigh A. Needleman and Andrew Freshman Posted: 4/24/07 Like so many of the other members of the Davis community, since I first heard about the shootings at Virginia Tech on Monday morning, I have been seeking answers. However, the more that I scour the Web and listen to the news, the more questions I have: Why? What was the motivation? How could this have been prevented? How can this be prevented from happening ever again? How could this be prevented here? On Tuesday, Apr. 17, I read the article "UC Davis responds to Virginia Tech shootings." I wanted to share my fellow Aggies' reaction to the news. To my horror, I read sophomore McKenzie Bryan's quote: "I really believe that if we did not have 'gun-free zones' or really strict gun control, there could have been people on that campus that could have stopped the shooter right after he got started, way before the SWAT teams got there." I had to reread this quote several times. Bryan seems to be advocating that members of university communities carry around guns, prepared for armed assault at any time. This very idea causes me to feel profoundly physically ill. (Leaving aside for a moment the idea of the typical college drinking party with the incendiary addition of guns....) I try to imagine how events might have transpired at Virginia Tech on Monday if members of the community had been armed: One day students are in class when a gunman suddenly enters and begins indiscriminately shooting. Some of the students in the class pull out their guns and fire back. Panic and confusion ensues - who is shooting whom and for what reason? Faculty and staff as well as students are drawn by the noise and join the skirmish. Innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. Half an hour later, the SWAT team enters. Several students have their weapons drawn and are shooting. The SWAT team, unable to determine deranged psychopath from righteous Samaritan, makes the logical decision to "take out" all individuals with a gun. How is this a better outcome than the one in Virginia? Being an open-minded person, I have wracked my brain to try to understand the suggestion that more guns on campus would lead to a safer community. The declaration of a "gun-free zone" has little to no bearing on whether people are actually able to carry weapons. I am furthermore unaware of any colleges or universities that have implemented any sort of metal detectors or other devices to actively detect and deprive university community members from carrying guns. It therefore seems irrelevant to raise this point in relation to this situation. I would advocate for the complete opposite of Bryan. Suppose that easily concealed semiautomatic pistols and ammunition could not be easily obtained by the general public? The likelihood of a delusional and depressed student with homicidal tendencies being able to successfully carry out a massacre on the scale of the incident at Virginia Tech without such weapons would be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, Bryan and other un-pragmatic gun extremists such as the National Rifle Association continue to advocate for the easy availability of guns that indirectly create the possibility for similar incidents. What is the benefit to society of the proliferation of these weapons in the community? Our hearts and minds go out to all who have been affected by this senseless, nightmarish and terrible act. The last thing that they (or any of the rest of us) need to read at a time like this is someone advocating the presence of more guns on college campuses. -- Original Source:The California Aggie - April 24, 2007