<p>I have not heard about Rider, SJCM. But from the moment this story broke, I was concerned about copycats who see the attention Cho is getting. The story MUST be covered. However, the consequence can be that people of his “type” who might want the same “glory”, carry out something of this sort to gain similar notoriety.</p>
<p>exactly soozie, and I called my kids and said to take everything seriously, even if they believe it may be unfounded.</p>
<p>Just got this off the Rider website. Bomb threat at U of Min is confirmed on their website</p>
<p>Dear Rider University Community,</p>
<p>In this difficult time following the Virginia Tech tragedy, misinformation is often quoted and rumors sometimes circulate without substantiation. Such is the case today with false rumors regarding an incident at Rider University.</p>
<p>Please be advised that the rumors and reports that circulated on campus and in the media today are false. The Lawrence Police Department and our Office of Public Safety have checked our campus and have deemed it safe and secure. There is no threat to our campus community.</p>
<p>If you have questions or concerns, please call the Dean of Students office at (609) 896-5101.</p>
<p>Sincerely,
Mordechai Rozanski</p>
<p>You know who I admire, the Holocaust survivor who saved his students and gave his life for them. I wish, and I’m assumin most of us do as well, I could be like that!</p>
<p>thanks toneranger-husband heard it on news, and I googled it unsuccessfully- dahhhhhhhhhhh should have gone to schools site . (sheepishly steps out )</p>
<p>SJCM…that is a good idea to tell our kids to take all alerts and alarms seriously. I recall in high school a lot of fire alarms going off and so people don’t take them seriously a lot of the times. In fact, just last week, when I was on the phone with my D at her college, the call got spotty and we got disconnected and I called her back and she was evacuating her dorm because of an alarm but she said she didn’t think it was the real thing but spoke to me at that point from outside. I think this is a good time to remind them to take all such alerts and alarms as serious. Best to err on the side of caution.</p>
<p>PS…come to think of it, my OTHER D called me once this year from her college in a bit of a panic because the alarm was going off in her building and she was in the basement doing the laundry and she could not find an exit to get out for quite some time. Then I had to wait and wait to see if she would call back eventually and I reached her after she finally made a way out of the building.</p>
<p>I think we should take all alarms seriously, but when an alarm is at 3 AM and we know it’s been coming, we tend to take them jokingly… especially when they’ve woken us up from our already-too-short slumber. Here it’s worse, because the school doesn’t notify us when actual things have gone wrong. For instance, the 2000 rounds of ammunition and weapons (a handgun, shotgun, rifle, magazines, over 2,000 rounds of various types of ammunition, a knife and a Samurai sword) found in a parked car on campus last month-- that information only surface after the VA Tech shootings happened. Furthermore, the case is still open and as to not scare us, they refuse to release any more information. </p>
<p>When nighttime fire drills happen here (during the winter), my friends and I rush to the another dorm and go inside (since all dorm fire drills are at different times/on different days) and I’m sensitive to the cold. We really don’t take them seriously, and it’s sad, but it’s because of how predictable and badly scheduled they are. It’s not as if fires only happen when people are sleeping… :</p>
<p>Eeek this thread is huge. I can’t find the poster that commented on the size of the gun clips. With the expiration of the assault weapons ban (which did not affect the type of gun the shooter used, that was legal) what was affected was the size of the clips. The ban prohibited civilians from purchasing clips with more than ten rounds. I don’t know that it prohibited how many you could purchase however With the expiration of the ban, civilians have been allowed to legally purchase the larger clips.</p>
<p>Regardless, the weapon itself is very destructive because the clips can be replaced in seconds.</p>
<p>This story is getting crazier. Now, NBC has received a package from Cho which was sent between the 2 shootings.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776</a></p>
<p>notre dame al,
Well of course parents keep trying. But parents are intimates, and there are many kinds of personalities, including those <em>close</em> to parents (and some of them even <em>because</em> they are close), who believe they need to confide first in someone(s) other than parents. I don’t think it’s rocket science, either, for colleges to provide this. (I don’t think it needs to take a lot of time.) It’s about merely the availability first of all, and the college’s encouragement of the students who can get behind this, which should include peer counseling, peer support groups for starters. These are not new ideas & have been around & operative for some time.
And as to the “other” adults, they can often pick up on “important” facts just as soon as a parent would.
:)</p>
<p>On the afternoon news - it was reported that there had been a dozen or so bomb threats across country at schools - this after the threat at VT again this morning - there has been an arrest in Boston of a college student who make threats - and the arrest of a student in Colorado - and the evacuation of several buildings at another college - very busy news day. Thanks to our modern media - we have instant news - where it used to not be that way - and as a society - we also want instant recourse for actions taken against our society - not like the old days at all.</p>
<p>Locally there are reports of school systems not allowing back packs into schools on the anniversary of Columbine. It is truly sad that our citizens and youth have to live under clouds like this.</p>
<p>I heard on NPR that in Virginia, gun purchasers are asked if they have ever been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Cho had been involuntarily committed and lied on the form when he bought the gun. There should be some way to check with authorities as to the truth of such information allowing the gun purchase. Apparently, there is no waiting period for buying a gun in Virginia.</p>
<p>MofT - according to the police - it was voluntary - tho the police had a detention order - he apparently agreed to go to the mental health center/agency for an evaluation.</p>
<p>The Boston College student arrested today - was taken to a hospital for evaluation - while the police obtained his arrest warrant - he will be bye bye for a bit - and is forbiden to step foot on campus.</p>
<p>I think this is a newer story with more details. Here is the link and some excerpts:</p>
<p><a href=“Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday”>Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday;
<p>“The detention order, dated Dec. 13, 2005, states that officials have “probable cause to believe … [that Cho] is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness, or is seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for” himself.”</p>
<p>"More troubling to this campus, still reeling under the trauma of Monday’s shootings and the days of mourning and stress, is that Cho’s past battles with mental illness raise questions about how the university and its campus police dealt with him and whether they properly recognized the potential for violence.</p>
<p>Campus police said at a Wednesday news conference that school authorities for the first time acknowledged any contact with Cho for anything other than normal student activities.</p>
<p>Asked why Cho was not more closely monitored or asked to leave school after being suspected of stalking women, university Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said Cho had made no threats and was not violent.</p>
<p>The certification for his involuntary admission states that Cho “presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness.”</p>
<p>Cho was released on Dec. 14, 2005."</p>
<p>MOT it was a detention order - to detain him - not to arrest him - to have him evaluated - from which he was taken to a mental health center - voluntarily on his part - vs other choice is involuntary/forced - goes on ones legal record - he was then evaluated - found not suicidal - and released the next day - not a 3 day hold - just evaluated.</p>
<p>OK, I guess that the part of the radio news story about him lying on his application to buy a gun may not have been accurate. I was just relaying what I heard on the radio - it was their conclusion, not mine.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/issues/?page=waitxstate[/url]”>http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/issues/?page=waitxstate</a></p>
<p>Gives chart with state requirements for gun purchases. It does appear that VA has no waiting period.</p>
<p>Though with the planning this guy did over a long period of time, the waiting period wouldn’t have mattered.</p>
<p>MOT - not sure if I said that the right way - sorry - some understand it that because he was taken by the police to the original eval as the result of a detention order - which was a temporary one BTW - that it is considered involuntary - it is a word thing</p>
<p>From what I just saw on NBC news - there is no doubt in my mind that he would done this - no matter what - how scary and sick Cho was - just astounded at what they received - and the was the mild stuff.</p>