next »

[madvi]

This is so horrible.  And I wish CNN and all the other news outlets would stop airing the tape...

Stop watching the network news on this.  Stop now, especially Fox and CNN.  It is not good for anyone to see horrible things replayed over and over.  It doesn't help, it only helps to hypnotize and eventually anesthetize us to the horror of it all after a while.  The news folks will not be saying anything new with any intelligence, they will only try to be the first with the next sensational revelation that will just be proved wrong in time.  They will start to shove microphones into the faces of the grieving families and do what they can to play on our emotions, all in the name of ratings.  This media travesty will be our fault if we continue to watch and boost their ratings. 

IMHO, the replaying of the 9/11 plane crashes over and over and over helped to turn our country into zombies and led us to the place we are now, involved in an never-ending, lose-lose situation in Iraq.  It's a form of mind control.  Save your sanity and stop watching.  Read about it on the news websites but don't watch the talking heads in times like this. 

This is the smartest thing said on this thread.  I thought something similar every time I read a complaint about the reporters' stupid questions or Paula Zahn's fear-mongering.

Don't watch.  Your watching is why they do that.  They need every irrelevant dribble of detail to keep people glued to their televisions.  So they do these ridiculous things.

Just read about it in the paper tomorrow.  It'll be there.

[case_insensitive]

It's simple. During apologies and expressing condolences you just do NOT use EVER the word BUT. It's v. tacky. and in super poor taste.

Where is this written?

"but" is not always a tacky word...

<insert acknowledgement of tragedy here>, but we must not forget X and Y. Or... but we must continue to fight for the cause.  Or.... but we must not give into hopelessness (or whatever).

I've heard this word used in a eulogy to great effect, in fact.

Let's stop being PC police and let people mourn in their own way.

[anthroid]

It's simple. During apologies and expressing condolences you just do NOT use EVER the word BUT. It's v. tacky. and in super poor taste.

Where is this written?

"but" is not always a tacky word...

<insert acknowledgement of tragedy here>, but we must not forget X and Y. Or... but we must continue to fight for the cause.  Or.... but we must not give into hopelessness (or whatever).

I've heard this word used in a eulogy to great effect, in fact.

Let's stop being PC police and let people mourn in their own way.

I agree with merce.  That "but" infuriated lots of folks (as is evident on that thread) and does in fact take away from the expression of sorrow.  Why do expressions of sorrow have to be qualified?  It's like the celebrity yahoos who "apologize" by saying "if I offended anyone."  As we discuss the ramifications of this event, the "but" can appear.  It was entirely inappropriate and in fact stunningly insensitive yesterday.

[stuaffairsdean]

I was at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Just two weeks ago. The people there are extremely friendly. The campus is absolutely beautiful. I am heartbroken over this news.

Today, I'm wearing orange and maroon, the school's colors, to honor the victims, survivors, and institution. I think we should all consider ourselves members of the Hokie Nation today...

[minor_t]

as the non-citizen student  

He was a resident alien, had a green card as I understand, and graduated HS in this country.  Although not a citizen, he did have certain rights (not voting but others, trying to avoid the "g" word here.)

I am just heartsick  Four faculty members - just setting up notes, collecting homework, talking with students, drinking coffee, facing the little challenges that each day brings - and then someone comes in to kill them, to kill their students.  Maybe they were thinking about finals, maybe the grad student was handing back quizzes, maybe they were energized by a particularly bright student, or puzzled by a withdrawn student.  Maybe they were troubled by a tenure decision, or laughing because they wore mismatched socks that day, or figuring out how to get out of a committee meeting, or delighted that a paper had just been accepted, or thinking about how much each loved his wife.

And the students.  Maybe they were worried about finals, or in the wonderful stages of a first love, or excited about mastering some German verbs, or waiting for a job offer, or bored, or happy, or just glad to be alive.  And then they were dead.

I am just heartsick.

[aandsdean]

I was at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Just two weeks ago. The people there are extremely friendly. The campus is absolutely beautiful. I am heartbroken over this news.

Today, I'm wearing orange and maroon, the school's colors, to honor the victims, survivors, and institution. I think we should all consider ourselves members of the Hokie Nation today...

Yes.  I'm a graduate of UVa and I know that, with all my friends and colleagues, we're all Hokies now.

[helpful]

I was at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Just two weeks ago. The people there are extremely friendly. The campus is absolutely beautiful. I am heartbroken over this news.

Today, I'm wearing orange and maroon, the school's colors, to honor the victims, survivors, and institution. I think we should all consider ourselves members of the Hokie Nation today...

Isn't Hokie meaning a member of their athletic team? I don't think anyone who is a student or faculty say they are a Hokie. I would think they would say they are Virginia Tech student, staff or faculty.

So, we are all Virginia Tech now.

Yes.  I'm a graduate of UVa and I know that, with all my friends and colleagues, we're all Hokies now.

[helpful]

I think the misreading might be the assumption that GWB's spokesperson's mention of the 2nd amendment is some sort of lobbying attempt during a tragedy.  Surely the media's first question to a President who supports 2nd amendment protetions might be something about gun control legislation, and that there is a need to separate the issue from the tragedy: "Yes, I'm a supporter of 2nd amendment protections, but this is a national tragedy that we all feel, no matter where you are on that issue." 

Trust me, I understand the desire to blame our Contractor-in-Chief for everything, but not necessarily here.

Suppose he was known for his support of foriegn exchange student programs, and had campagined heavily on that issue his whole life.  It would be like saying: "This is a national tragedy, but the President still believes that some good can come from foreign exchange student programs."

I think we need to be cautious here.  After 9/11 we couldn't wait to give the government new powers of control over our lives.  In fact, we demanded that they take away our privacy rights.  Once you give rights away, the government never gives them back.  We're stuck now with secret wiretaps, and FISA courts, and library monitoring, and elderly women and toddlers taking off their shoes and belts at the airport. 

Before we now demand the repeal of the 2nd amendment, let's just be careful what we wish for.  There is a middle ground between "I want every student to carry an Uzi at all times" and "Please, O my kindly government, please don't ever let me have a gun in my house again.  I trust you."

By the way--for those who argue that the 2nd amendment only provides the right for militias:  you mean the state-run militias that a President can federalize any time Hu wants?

Foreign language programs don't kill people. Bullets do.

[aandsdean]

I was at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Just two weeks ago. The people there are extremely friendly. The campus is absolutely beautiful. I am heartbroken over this news.

Today, I'm wearing orange and maroon, the school's colors, to honor the victims, survivors, and institution. I think we should all consider ourselves members of the Hokie Nation today...

Isn't Hokie meaning a member of their athletic team? I don't think anyone who is a student or faculty say they are a Hokie. I would think they would say they are Virginia Tech student, staff or faculty.

So, we are all Virginia Tech now.

Yes.  I'm a graduate of UVa and I know that, with all my friends and colleagues, we're all Hokies now.

Generally speaking, the people I know with VT associations refer to themselves as Hokies.  That said, we are all Virginia Tech now, as you say.

[helpful]

By the way--for those who argue that the 2nd amendment only provides the right for militias:  you mean the state-run militias that a President can federalize any time Hu wants?

Exactly. What is wrong with that?

[dundee]

I think we need to be cautious here.  After 9/11 we couldn't wait to give the government new powers of control over our lives.  In fact, we demanded that they take away our privacy rights.  Once you give rights away, the government never gives them back.  We're stuck now with secret wiretaps, and FISA courts, and library monitoring, and elderly women and toddlers taking off their shoes and belts at the airport.  

Let's be careful with the use of the first person plural. When you write "we," you imply that all residents of the United States were eager "to give the government new powers" etc, etc. I certainly was not eager to do so, and neither were any people I know. The media also love to indiscriminately use "we," saying things like, "we all fell for the weapons of mass destruction rationale ... we were all fooled." What a load of BS. Millions of us were not fooled and saw through it form the start.

Another poster earlier asked what each of us would do if a gunman burst into our classroom. Well, I certainly wouldn't try and whip out a loaded gun and shoot him, since I would probably be shot before I could pull the trigger, plus I will never own a gun and certainly will not carry one while teaching!!! I'd like to think that I would attempt to tackle/smother the gunman and prevent him from killing my students, even if I died in the attempt. I know I wouldn't have time to think it through, I'd just act. I know that I would try to stop someone from shooting my wife and daughter, and believe that I'd do the same for my students.

[draco]

It's always been elsewhere before.  Always in some far off place so it didn't really hit home. 

This time, school violence has come closer to home than ever before.  To see on TV places that you know so well....

No I'm not a alumnus of Tech, though my father is and my mother taught there for a few years.  I did live in Blacksburg for several years so I know all the places they are talking about.  Even if it was back in the 80s and I was still in secondary school and I haven't been back in the longest time, I still consider Blacksburg to be (one of) my homes. 

I used to have clarinet lessons in a building right next to Norris.  Near AJ, there was a great spot to go skateboarding.  My parents used to drag me to plays and concerts put on in the auditorium in Burruss Hall (the one that has a castle-like tower).  My first job ever was selling Cokes at Virginia Tech football games.  I could go on.

My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered in these tragic events.  All of this seems so random and just shows how life is so vulnerable.  So much of this is unfathomable.

I plan to weigh in with my political opinion after a reasonable time I wish y'all could do the same.

[ladygrey]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone associated with Virginia Tech and especially the family and friends of the victims.  In addition to the 20 reported dead, they are saying another 17 have been wounded.  How could one person cause that much carnage?

I heartily echo the condolences of notaprof and the other kind posters on this thread. 
In reading the thread, I see that a number of college shootings were prompted by disappointments related to academic performance, so my comment below may not be relevant to a university setting.

Before returning to grad school again, I did critical incident stress debriefings at workplace locations where there were shootings. In every situation I served, despite much press about workplace hostility and conflicted labor-management relations, the tipping point was a workplace romantic relationship that collapsed for the perpetrator. (All of these incidents involved males as perpetrators; I can't speak about women perpetrators.)   

From my experience, a failed romantic relationship culminating in a shooting is extremely dangerous. The shooter rarely cares if he lives; in fact, he seems to be motivated by a need to overcome a sense of humiliation by being noticed and respected, even in a horrific way, through more killings and suicide, either directly or suicide-by-cop.

My word of caution is that a failed romantic relationship that involves violence is dangerous for the broader community.  Dismissing such violent incidents as private matters between two individuals and their immediate families can be disastrous.   

[cslacker]

For those of you against racial profiling, do you think that the police were hindered by their ability to capture the murder at VT because they only description they had (after the first shooting) was that it was an "asian guy"   If the police stopped someone for being asian, is this racial profiling?

[angel]

I have an idea, cslacker. Why don't you start a new thread on racial profiling, or diversity, or whatever else you want to get everyone riled up about?