<p>In many other cultures poets and poetry are important in people’s lives. Giovanni reminds us why that is.</p>
<p>IDMOM - could he be the ‘person of interest’ that we keep hearing about - who police have also said would still be a person of interest. Could he be the initial suspect??</p>
<p>SAX well said - I agree - I was also moved by the students when they reacted as they did.</p>
<p>I agree with your last post (I think it was) doubleplay.</p>
<p>And as to those who argue for the “rights” of the mentally ill, even in a free society the rights of the individual do not overtake the rights of the community at large, including that community’s safety. And while offering mental health services are not the same as requiring them, I continue to maintain that probably most campuses could do a better job of making that aspect of student services more visible, prominent, publicized, & promoted. That includes the casual aspects of mental health: drop-in support groups, whether for issues like depression or any other specific issue that needs a forum where it’s o.k. to “come out” about it. There should be a welcoming and a “chill” place where students do not feel intimidated or grilled, but which is accessible routinely. </p>
<p>Colleges could be a little proactive about being a terror-free zone. Steps taken to reduce anonymity & isolation are steps in the right direction. De-stigmatizing mental health via education & publicity is a step in the right direction. Even offering anonymous student feedback pre-enrollment, & prospective student feedback about “What health services or other community support would you like to see, or feel are important to your happiness here?”</p>
<p>I remember back last summer when attending the “preview” experience for my son’s college, they were talking to parents about what steps would be taken for students who were struggling with depression or other signs of mental illness. Of course, my eyes glazed over after 2 days and I don’t remember what exactly was said, but the one thing I do remember was how they stressed that without the student/parent privacy waiver, they COULD NOT and would not discuss any elements of a student’s problems- behavior, grades, even finances. This could explain how a student’s parents might be unaware of what’s really going on with their son.</p>
<p>The more I read about Choh Seung-Hui my anger is yeilding to a sense of sadness about the tormented, friendless and joyless life he seems to have led. Did he ever smile?</p>
<p>*This could explain how a student’s parents might be unaware of what’s really going on with their son.
*</p>
<p>apparently everyone who had contact seemed to speculate that he was going to go off at some point-
quite tragic, that we don’t seem to have many safety nets if students don’t sign a form allowing parents information</p>
<p>I am so sorry for all the lives lost on 4/16. I think it was disgusting for the college to try to keep the first initial shooting low key, which lead to the lost of 30 more lives. I think the principial should absolutely step down. Not blaming it on them…but if anything could have been changed, the school should have acted faster, even if it was an “isolated incident”. Is that assumption really worth what eventually took place? Did anyone else notice how the police were just standing around while the shootings were heard outside? I’m sorry, but if that happened in New York or the northeast, the police would already be in there, ready to shoot down the student. Obviously, it shows a lack of experience and courage in the virginia police department…SWAT only appearing after lives ended. The professor even sacrificed his own life so students could escape, which some did. God knows what would have happened if we had these police on Sept. 11.</p>
<p>originalong- your post makes me think- being happy, joyful, takes work. For some it takes a lot more work than for others. It’s like a successful marriage- it just doesn’t happen. People who wait for happiness to happen to them will never be happy. Unfortunately this man needed to work very hard to be happy. We’ll never know if he tried and was unsuccessful, if he didn’t try at all.</p>
<p>
Don’t know if this has been answered above, as I haven’t read all of the posts, but apparently the young woman slain in the dorm had a bf named Karl Thornhill. Since it was known that he kept firearms at his apt. or townhouse and someone has recently accompanied him to a shooting range, they police suspected that the first shootings were the result of a domestic violence situation and sought out this guy. While they were interviewing HIM, the shooting broke out in the engineering building, and they pretty much realized they had the wrong guy. I’ve heard that the police are saying that THAT is why they didn’t lockdown the entire campus. They thought they already HAD the shooter in Thornhill.</p>
<p>From today’s Chronicle of Higher Education.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>21 years ago a young Sylvia Seegrist walked into a mall on Halloween’s eve dressed in camo pants/black T and carrying an assault weapon. She began firing on the shoppers and killed/wounded a number of people.
She was well known to the police, mental health system and the community. Her mother never, ever gave up trying to get help for her. Everyone… everyone… knew she was capable of mass murder…most expected it. In spite of all this knowledge, all the forewarning, it happened anyway. No one could stop it.</p>
<p>“We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<pre><code>We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. WE are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are strong enough to know when to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again.
We are Virginia Tech.
We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did not deserve it but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, but neither do the invisible children walking the night to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory; neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.
We are Virginia Tech.
The Hokier Nation embraces our own with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think, not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility we will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness.
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail, we will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech. "
</code></pre>
<p>Thanks berurah. I was just going to ask if anyone had heard anything else about the person of interest the news keeps talking about, but your link above answered those questions.</p>
<p>TSDAD - that speech was such an amazing lift I think - for all the students, families and others present - such a strong voice had spoken. It brought that community to it’s feet in unity - it was just amazing to see that. It certainly showed the strength and solidarity thru out the VT community.</p>
<p>During the vigil last nite - as sad and difficult as it was - they also raised their voices in unison. What and where will these students and families go next - as they may be going their seperate ways. The power of what we see on the media regarding this community is amazing - sad - but amazing.</p>
<p>What outrages me is that this kid was reported to school authorities by a fellow student for stalking female students and then commented that maybe he should commit suicide. He was locked up in counseling (maybe that is where he got his psych meds from). Now this was awhile ago. Should not university police reported him to the local police? Maybe then the background check to get the handguns that he purchased legally would not have come out so “clean”.</p>
<p>Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this but may I be the first to say that this is a cold-blooded no good son of a ***** who is in Hell right now. If you’re that unhappy with your own life, commit suicide. Why mess with the lives of innocent students when even God himself doesn’t do that? Cho wasn’t a U.S. citizen. He had a greencard or something, right?</p>
<p>~<code>We are afraid that the incident could deal a serious blow to the national image and status as the worlds 11th largest economy, a ministry official said.</code>We are also trying to minimize the negative impacts on the general relations between the two countries.</p>
<p>South Korean politicians were quick to call for concrete government measures to prevent the tragedy from causing any damage to Koreans living in the U.S. and straining the alliance between the two countries.</p>
<p><code>I express my deep sorrow for the victims and their family members, said Chairman Kang Jae-sup of the main opposition Grand National Party.</code>I also hope the incident will not cause a crack in South Korea-U.S. ties.~</p>
<p>Korea Times: <a href=“http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1179&categoryCode=116[/url]”>http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1179&categoryCode=116</a></p>
<p>I agree that the focus should not be on blame. However, this article makes one think that a better awareness of certain behavioral characteristics may help prevent future tragedies. Have we gotten to be such a PC world that we are all afraid to intervene until it is too late? </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/18/vtech.shooting/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/18/vtech.shooting/index.html</a></p>
<p>Was there no background check on this guy when he bought the gun? Did the shop owner ask him why he was buying such a weapon, or was that too much of an intrusion on his privacy???</p>
<p>I think that unless a person states something like, “I am buying this to kill people,” shopowners must sell to whomever asks to buy. Seeming to be wierd wouldn’t be enough reason to turn someone away.</p>
<p>Apparently the shooter had no criminal record that would prevent his buying the gun.</p>