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Today's most e-mailed
Prior days' news: By date | Search This week's print issue Back issues: By date | Search April 19, 2007Waleed ShaalanWaleed Shaalan, 32, was close to finishing his Ph.D. in civil engineering at Zagazig University, in Egypt, when Virginia Tech offered him a teaching assistantship for the fall of 2006. He arrived in Blacksburg in August. His wife of three years, Amira, remained in Zagazig with their 1-year old son, Khaled. At 4 a.m. on April 16, Mr. Shaalan was still up, studying for an exam in advanced hydraulics. Fahad Pasha, a junior in electrical engineering and Mr. Shaalan’s roommate, sat with him for awhile.  muslimmatters.org “He was talking about bringing his wife and kid over for the fall semester,” says Mr. Pasha. “He couldn’t do it anymore, with them being so far away.” The two friends had met in January. They hit it off right away. “He just came off as the simplest and nicest guy I ever met,” Mr. Pasha says. Although Mr. Shaalan kept very busy, Mr. Pasha says his friend always made time to advise him and their other roommate, as well as serve them cake and tea when they were studying for exams. In his final moments, Mr. Shaalan performed one more act of selflessness. On the morning of the attack, the gunman came back to Mr. Shaalan’s classroom twice. On one return, he noticed an unharmed student lying next to Mr. Shaalan, who had been hit and was badly injured. As the gunman approached that student, Mr. Shaalan moved to distract him and was shot again. Virginia Tech’s tight-knit Muslim community has rallied to remember Mr. Shaalan and support his family. The national office of the Muslim Student Association has begun a collection for Mr. Shaalan’s family, with a goal of raising $25,000. “Everyone in the community is helping in their own way,” says Ahmed Sidky, a Ph.D. student in computer science and a friend of Mr. Shaalan’s. “Waleed had a huge family here in Blacksburg.” —Marisa López-Rivera Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:41 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [6]Mary Karen ReadMary Karen Read was just getting her bearings at Virginia Tech, making friends and finding her niche on the campus. She worked in a dining hall, joined the concert band, and was considering a sorority. She was a 19-year-old freshman who did not get a chance to declare a major. Ms. Read’s profile on MySpace paints a picture of a popular teenager from Annandale, Va., who was considering a career as a teacher. She played lacrosse in high school and loved chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream and watching Dawson’s Creek reruns on television. Several memorial sites were created in her honor on Facebook, where many friends remembered a kind, talented, and caring young woman.  Facebook.com “Everyone mattered to you,” one person wrote. “Your face would just light up and you’d smile at everyone.” At Virginia Tech she had joined Campus Crusade for Christ and a Bible-study group. Will Peterson, director of the University Campus Band, knew Ms. Read from her first days there. She played the clarinet and was diligent about attending Monday-night rehearsals. “I’m just glad that she had that involvement in music, because I know she loved it in high school,” Mr. Peterson says. Born in South Korea to an Air Force family, she lived in Texas and California before ending up in northern Virginia, where she flourished as a student. According to the Annandale High School newspaper, Ms. Read was a member of the National Honor Society and the French Honor Society. In the newspaper’s report of her death, John Ponton, the school’s principal, remembered Ms. Read for her “ability to befriend everyone she met.” —Erin Strout Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:34 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memoriesJulia PrydeJulia Pryde, 23, was so passionate about her studies in biological-systems engineering that she often dragged prospective high-school students and their parents to the department chairman. “Quite often I’d come back to my office to find her and a family she recruited waiting for me,” says the chairman, Saied Mostaghimi. Ms. Pryde had earned her bachelor’s degree in May and stayed at Virginia Tech to work on her master’s. Mr. Mostaghimi suspects that one day she would have returned for a Ph.D. as well, but probably not before she headed to Africa or South America to put her skills to use. Her goal was to help underdeveloped regions of the world create clean-water systems.  Facebook.com “She was realistic enough to know how to take action on the issues she cared about,” says Mary Leigh Wolfe, her adviser. Ms. Pryde had developed a plan for the university to compost food waste generated in the dining halls, instead of sending it to landfills. “She didn’t just sit back and say that something should be done,” Ms. Wolfe says. “She would figure out a way to do it.” Originally from Middletown, N.J., Ms. Pryde was a competitive swimmer growing up and played on community softball teams. Beyond the classroom, she was active in a Blacksburg community nonprofit organization called Seek Education, Explore, DiScover, a youth-education organization that allowed her to share her love of science, nature, and the outdoors with children. But it was her distinctive laugh that most people will find hard to forget. “It was a booming belly laugh,” Ms. Wolfe says. “She felt things fully.” —Erin Strout Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:30 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [1]Minal PanchalAmong the American things Minal Panchal loved was Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes its name from the young narrator’s lesson that it is a sin to take the life of an innocent being. Ms. Panchal, 26, is being remembered in her native Mumbai, India, and at Virginia Tech for her gentleness, dry wit, and willingness to help people. Friends affectionately called her “Minu,” and children from her Mumbai neighborhood saw her as someone they could turn to for help with their schoolwork, according to news reports.  Orkut.com A determined and bright student, Ms. Panchal had made the long journey from India to Virginia Tech to train to be an architect, like her father. She enrolled last August as a first-year student in the university´s graduate program in architecture. In her blog, Ms. Panchal listed architecture and nature among her passions in life. She also enjoyed sketching, “talking to friends any place any time,” and reading, especially Harry Potter. Friends posted comments about Ms. Panchal on their bloggers’ network while she was alive. “She has a nice caring nature toward her friends and enjoys her life to the fullest,” said one. A longtime friend back in India wrote, “I really miss her, as she is quite far now.” —Peter Schmidt Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:23 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memoriesPartahi M.H. LumbantoruanPartahi M.H. Lumbantoruan worked hard all his life — first to get to Virginia Tech from his home in Indonesia, and then in hopes of returning to teach there. The son of a mid-level officer in the Indonesian army, Mr. Lumbantoruan, 34, was a dedicated student and a caring friend. Known as “Mora” around the civil-engineering department, he was a quiet man who spent more time in the library than in the bars. A fellow student in the department, Soonkie Nam, describes him as shy.  Family photo, AP Images “I am also a kind of shy guy and didn’t have many native friends here,” says Mr. Nam, who is Korean. “But he was really thoughtful and very kind, and he really knew how to listen, and how to make others comfortable.” Mr. Lumbantoruan, whose mother died when he was in elementary school, was “a nice, diligent kid,” says his brother, Bindu, who lives in Indonesia. Although he struggled in certain classes, he made up for it with a powerful work ethic. He wrote his master’s thesis on soil liquefaction during earthquakes, and last year decided to pursue a Ph.D. in hydrotechnology. “I tried to dissuade him from taking a Ph.D. because of the time it would take and all the effort,” says his thesis adviser, Marte S. Gutierrez. “But he told me, ‘Dr. Gutierrez, I really need this, this is what I want to do.’” On the day he was killed, Mr. Lumbantoruan was in an advanced hydraulics class. When he was shot, his adviser says, he had laid himself over another student, protecting that person from gunfire. — Erik Vance, Martha Ann Overland, David Cohen Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:14 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [2]Daniel Alejandro Pérez CuevaSeven years ago, Daniel Alejandro Pérez Cueva, 21, moved with his parents from Lima, Peru, to Woodbridge, Va., to pursue better opportunities than they had in their native country. While his parents worked multiple jobs, Mr. Pérez excelled in high school. A member of the National Honor Society, he went on to Miami Dade College before transferring to Northern Virginia Community College, and then to Virginia Tech. He had enough credits to be a junior this year, and he chose to major in international relations. Mr. Pérez’s relatives remember him as a doer.  Pérez family, AP Images “He was always moving, doing this or that,” says his cousin, Alejandro Albarracín Pérez. “If he wasn’t studying hard, then he was swimming. He was superactive and well rounded.” Back in Peru, Mr. Pérez was a member of the National Swimming Federation. His coach, Pedro Belleza, says he was “always the good-natured, friendly kid.” A high-school classmate recalls him the same way. “Daniel always had this megawatt smile that radiated wherever he was and made others around him smile,” Ashley Wheelock wrote in an e-mail message. “He was the type of person that would take the time to congratulate and encourage others.” Mr. Pérez’s father, Flavio Pérez Parra, had to keep in touch with his son from afar after being deported to Peru because of his undocumented status. “He was a real go-getter, a wonderful son,” says the elder Mr. Pérez. Though serious about his studies, the young Mr. Pérez enjoyed a good party and liked to dance, says his mother, Betty Cueva. “He was an extrovert,” she says. “That’s why he chose international relations.” Mr. Pérez spoke English, Spanish, and Italian, and he was learning French. He wanted to be a diplomat. He was in French class on the morning of the shooting. —Monica Campbell and Sara Lipka Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:09 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [2]Jocelyne Couture-NowakWhen Sue W. Farquhar, associate professor of French at Virginia Tech, interviewed Jocelyne Couture-Nowak for a position in the department, the candidate’s enthusiasm immediately made Ms. Farquhar break out in a “radiant smile,” even though the conversation took place over the phone. The department hired Ms. Couture-Nowak because of interest in cognitive approaches to how people learn languages, and her fervor for teaching. “She was a spark of energy in our department,” says Ms. Farquhar, “radiating joy of discovery, and always expressing dedication to her students.”  Nova Scotia Agriculture College In addition to teaching, Ms. Couture-Nowak was the faculty adviser to two French clubs. On the Web site Rate VT Teachers, she received five stars, the highest mark possible, from each former student. She was a proud French Canadian, originally from Montreal. She played an instrumental role in helping to found L’École acadienne de Truro in 1997, the first French-language elementary and secondary school in Truro, Nova Scotia, where she lived in the 1990s with her husband, Jerzy Nowak, now head of the horticulture department at Virginia Tech. In Nova Scotia she was known as one of three “mothers” of the school. “French culture, especially French-Canadian culture, animated her teaching and was the key to inspiring her students to love French,” says Ms. Farquhar. Ms. Couture-Nowak also spent plenty of time in the pool, where she was a fierce competitor and used to win so many medals, she clanked when she walked by, friends say. She often brought her two daughters to swimming lessons or dropped off treats for the lifeguards. She loved gardening, dancing, and taking long hikes. Friends say they admired the life she lived, and her verve. “Not once did she seem downcast or discouraged by a hard day,” says Ms. Farquhar. —Lauren Smith Posted on Thu Apr 19, 07:01 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [1]Ross Abdallah AlameddineRoss Abdallah Alameddine, a sophomore at Virginia Tech, always gave people a lift with his quick wit. He was the only reason Alexander Bailey, a classmate at Austin Preparatory School, in Reading, Mass., says he survived honors-English their junior year. “His sense of humor and the jokes that were shared got me through the class I despised so much,” says Mr. Bailey, whose locker was three down from Mr. Alameddine’s. “He was one of the funniest and kindest people I’ve met.”  Facebook.com Two years after graduating with Mr. Alameddine, the comments he had written in friends’ yearbooks still make them laugh, they say. The headmaster at Austin Prep, Paul J. Morgan, called Mr. Alameddine “a bright and engaged student, and a truly fine young man.” The 20-year-old from Saugus, Mass., had just declared English as his major, and also enjoyed music. The jazz connoisseur took music theory for fun, one of only two students in the class who was a not a music major. “If you were only here to read this, Ross,” read a message on Mr. Alameddine’s MySpace page from a friend who worked with him last summer, selling computers at Best Buy, “you’d know what an imaginative, intelligent, compassionate, and most of all hysterically funny human being you were.” —Lauren Smith Posted on Thu Apr 19, 06:49 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [3]Emily Jane HilscherEmily Jane Hilscher, 18, thought of herself as a pixie, and she had a bright smile and a twinkle in her eyes to match. She hailed from the tiny town of Woodville, Va., not far from Shenandoah National Park. After graduating from Rappahannock County High School last year, she spent the summer working around the corner at a veterinary practice.  Facebook.com A veterinarian there told the local newspaper, the Culpepper Star Exponent, that many young assistants come in loving animals, but are put off by the hard reality of caring for sick and injured creatures. Not Ms. Hilscher. “To do that with happiness and stay positive makes her very special,” said the veterinarian, Betty Meyers. Ms. Hilscher went to Virginia Tech to study animal and poultry sciences, with a focus in equine science. She also rode with the university’s equestrian club. “Emily Hilscher was a wonderful student to have in class — bright, cheerful, thoughtful,” her freshman composition instructor, Nick Kocz, writes in an e-mail message. One day, to demonstrate interview techniques, he asked her questions in front of the class. She made it seem fun, he says: It was the moment the students “really began to gel as a class.” “Emily taught me to have faith in in-class unstructured student demonstrations,” Mr. Kocz said. “Since then, I have allowed students to become more involved in forming individual lessons, which has helped me grow as a teacher.” Ms. Hilscher had spent the weekend with her boyfriend, a student at nearby Radford University, before returning to her dormitory on the morning of April 16. She and her resident assistant, Ryan Clark, were shot to death there. Police initially trailed Ms. Hilscher’s boyfriend, Karl Thornhill, because her roommate said they had all gone to a shooting range recently — not an unusual activity in rural Virginia. Then false rumors spread about a relationship between Ms. Hilscher and the killer. No such relationship existed, her friends insist. In online postings, they express frustration and anguish over the lies they say have dishonored their friend’s memory and compounded their grief. What is important, they say, is remembering Ms. Hilscher. “I’d feel grateful if even one of my children grew up to be the person she was,” says Mr. Kocz, a father of three. “We’re all deeply saddened at the loss. —Sara Lipka Posted on Thu Apr 19, 06:36 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [1]Reema SamahaReema Samaha, 18, danced through life. She had trained in ballet since elementary school and was a member of the Contemporary Dance Ensemble at Virginia Tech. Recently, she had taken up belly dancing, a nod to her Lebanese roots. And the day before she was killed, Ms. Samaha performed in a street fair in Blacksburg. But more than that, Ms. Samaha carried herself like a dancer: light, vibrant, and energetic.  Facebook.com “Reema had the most fantastic aura,” says Lauren B. Walters, Ms. Samaha’s longtime friend and a student at Clemson University. “You couldn’t help but want to be around her. ... She lit up a room when she walked in.” Ms. Samaha, from Centreville, Va., was a freshman at Virginia Tech. She and another victim of the shootings, Erin Peterson, graduated in 2006 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., the same high school that the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, had graduated from three years earlier. In 2005, while at Westfield High, Ms. Samaha won an award for her work in Fiddler on the Roof. The next year, she was a dance captain for a production of Oklahoma! and played an eccentric woman in Arsenic and Old Lace. “She always wanted to be unique. Always wanted to be different. Always had a unique flair,” Ms. Samaha’s brother, Omar, said in an interview with CBS News. —Elyse Ashburn Posted on Thu Apr 19, 06:25 PM | Permalink | Share thoughts and memories [5] |