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[felix_unger]

Here's a crazy idea:

How bout we try to get 24 hours, or at least have enough respect to let the body count get finished, before we turn this into a political debate - pro or con gun control or pro or con fill-in-political-figure's-name?

Trust me, they'll be time tomorrow.

JP, I expect this little reprimand of your is directed to our commander-in-chief, no?

People need to proces this, and one way of doing that is doing what we do: having intellectual (or not) debates. Plus the issue of gun control seems very, very, very, very germane to this terrible episode, regardless of which side you're on.

So be gentle with us.

[sikora]

I work in a tiny college.  If something were to happen here, the place would be devastated. As annoyed and out of place I feel here,  for the most part, one of the great strengths of this place is community (even if some of its members have a narrower idea of who should be a member of the community).  We'd be taking students and colleagues into our homes, the monastery, church, and abbey would be open for prayer, the brothers from the abbey and the sisters from the monastery would be available to anyone, the counselor would be available and would call in reinforcements.  Ideological and religious differences would be cast aside, at least for a while.

When I was sick last spring, the faculty raised $2400 for my bills.  This semester, a department's administrative assistant had surgery complicated with a severe infection that spread to her nervous system.  She is now in a persistant vegetative state.  Colleagues have raised about $4000 so far to help the family out. 

Given all this, the VT horror, I feel I need to apologize to my college and others for my complaining and b*tching about my job.  Obviously, this is not the right job for me.  But sometimes tragedy tells us to look closer at what we have.

Pray for peace

Obscure, but still the first dog in space

[historywoman]

Lifting up prayers for comfort and healing for all those at VT and their families on this shocking and sad day.

HW

[bio_prof_]

Ditto, HW.

[john_proctor]

Here's a crazy idea:

How bout we try to get 24 hours, or at least have enough respect to let the body count get finished, before we turn this into a political debate - pro or con gun control or pro or con fill-in-political-figure's-name?

Trust me, they'll be time tomorrow.

JP, I expect this little reprimand of your is directed to our commander-in-chief, no?

People need to proces this, and one way of doing that is doing what we do: having intellectual (or not) debates. Plus the issue of gun control seems very, very, very, very germane to this terrible episode, regardless of which side you're on.

So be gentle with us.

It is directed to where it is pertinant.

My grammar sucks today.

I keep looking out the window and thinking how unusually quiet my campus seems to be today.

Then I think of how I just thought "unusually."

When did "ordinarily" become "unusually?"

I'm going home.

[spork]

What will you do if someone like this ever walks into your classroom? 

So, what will you do?

Try to take the person out by any means possible; doing so could at least give others the chance of escaping injury or death.

[bibliothecula]

I'm not usually a media-basher, but the ridiculous questions and insane declamations I'm hearing on the TV news are disgusting. Wolf Blitzer and others discussing how fast medics need to respond to save a person who's been shot; how fast you can re-load a 9mm; why the school doesn't have a school-wide PA system; some of it is just egregious and sensationalistic.

Mosaic, glad your brother is okay--at least physically.

[magimax]

News briefing from a rep from VT and the police (not sure if campus or city)...

Sheesh these reporterss are idiotic!
"Can you tell us if one of the dead from the dorm was the shooter's girlfriend?"
"Was the shooter running in the hallways, shooting randomly?"
"How many weapons did he have?"
"What location did the shooter die?"

I'm waiting for one to ask if they think the shooter believed in Santa Claus.  

A student reporter from a school down the road asked the best question "What can we do to react in the future to these kinds of events?"  Unfortunately, no clear answer to that...

The VT rep and the police officer have given good answers regarding the first shooting.  They acted in good faith and were active in trying to figure out what was going on.

The student reporter again: "Was there any indication that the students attempted to fight back? If it were me, I'd die fighting..."  No comment from the officer.  

[zarathustra]

What will you do if someone like this ever walks into your classroom? 

So, what will you do?

Try to take the person out by any means possible; doing so could at least give others the chance of escaping injury or death.

Unless I knew the person and though I had a chance to talk to him/her, I'd do the same.  I know it's impossible to know how I'd react, but ever since 9/11 I've decided I would seriously consider aggressive defense.

[zarathustra]

How the heck would any university campus manage a "lock down?"  It would be absolutely impossible at mine, I think.  Short of calling in the military.  When reporters keep bleating about that, aren't they just trying to incite viewers?

[bibliothecula]

News briefing from a rep from VT and the police (not sure if campus or city)...

Sheesh these reporterss are idiotic!
"Can you tell us if one of the dead from the dorm was the shooter's girlfriend?"
"Was the shooter running in the hallways, shooting randomly?"
"How many weapons did he have?"
"What location did the shooter die?"

I'm waiting for one to ask if they think the shooter believed in Santa Claus. 

A student reporter from a school down the road asked the best question "What can we do to react in the future to these kinds of events?"  Unfortunately, no clear answer to that...

The VT rep and the police officer have given good answers regarding the first shooting.  They acted in good faith and were active in trying to figure out what was going on.

The student reporter again: "Was there any indication that the students attempted to fight back? If it were me, I'd die fighting..."  No comment from the officer. 

Yeah, the idiocy of the questions is infuriating. One reporter asked the VT president how he was going to prevent this in the future. I shut off the TV and am listening to NPR.

[bio_prof_]

I don't think my CC could do a lockdown, either. None of the faculty have keys to the building. (I'm not kidding.) Our campus police would be racing all over in the little golf cart.

We're not set up to handle a situation like this.

[spork]

How the heck would any university campus manage a "lock down?"  It would be absolutely impossible at mine, I think.  Short of calling in the military.  When reporters keep bleating about that, aren't they just trying to incite viewers?

Phone tree.  One or more people in every building -- presumably staff -- who go down the halls from room to room telling everyone to stay in place, lock doors, flee to a safe location, or whatever.  The tree is activated by campus security.  It's similar to an evacuation plan for a very large building.

[magimax]

How the heck would any university campus manage a "lock down?"  It would be absolutely impossible at mine, I think.  Short of calling in the military.  When reporters keep bleating about that, aren't they just trying to incite viewers?

YES!  Media skwak about protection! protection! in a completely ignorant way.  "Why weren't students on their way to classes stopped and told, personally???"

You know that if by some amazing feat people had been alerted and it had been a FALSE alarm, the reporters would then be freaking out over "why did you raise the alarm and scare us all?"

C'mon people, let's get *real*.  

[extinct]

This is so sad. I agree with JP that we need to pay our respects and give our thoughts over to the dead, the injured, the families, and the communities that are affected.

This NPR story has an interview of a professor who was on campus at the time. At least two faculty were shot.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9604204