Unfortunately I think you're right.

 

I disagree. I think there may be a relationship. We've come to see killing as a solution. In Iraq as in Vietnam body counts justify everything. The administration and the media talk of how many we've killed and how many of us they've killed. Progress is measured in bodies. Life has always been cheap in some parts of the world, but now it's become cheaper in our eyes too. That filters down and has an effect on people who are at the edge anyway.

More guns would only make the problem worse. We need to move away from guns not towards more.

 

but I cannot imagine how anyone could be trained or prepared for such a random act of violence. +1 and I have often been on the beautiful laid back campus of Tech for meetings, etc. No one could have ever believed that such horror could be visited on such a lovely place for kids to go and learn. I'm a little disgusted by the "talking heads" wagging fingers at the police and school administration in this matter. This place wasn't a war zone, it is a college campus. How on earth could anyone imagine such a thing as this happening. Are we going to have to station tanks and armed guards in our classrooms now?

 

^^^I agree, Val. The news people are disgusting when they scour their little brains for ways to keep the speech stream going. I don't look at this as a time for the amateur detectives to be assigning blame based on snippets of information. I was impressed by the candor and poise of some of the students interviewed. You could tell no one would ever have thought that this kind of event would come to such a peaceful, contemplative environment. I think it is necessary for everyone to be patient -- not prejudge the police and the VTech administration -- and wait for the information about what really happened.

 

[QUOTE=ralper,Apr 17 2007, 03:28 AM] I disagree.

 

Another place that Jim and I love to visit is UVA. We often go up and have a picnic lunch on the campus and visit the lovely museums, walk through the lovely campus and enjoy seeing the young students go about their day to day activities. I'm horribly saddened and brokenhearted that someone who obviously was deranged can steal the joy of being a student. I remember so well how excited my daughter's friends were at being accepted at Tech (particularly the engineering students). I grieve for the loss of these bright young minds and for their parents. I have no words to describe my thoughts.

 

Val,

I mostly agree with you. I too am disgusted by the suggestion that the police and campus security should have done something sooner. I think this is simply a question of Monday morning quarterbacking. An attempt to make a story when in fact there is no story to report.

I do think that an e-mail should have gone out immediately after the first shootings just for the sake of notifying the students, but I don't think it would have made any difference. The students would have gone to class anyway. If I were a student, I would have.

Who would ever have thought that an act as horrific as this could take place on a college campus? I think that after houses of worship and cemetaries, we in America consider librarys and college campus' as sacred ground. This kind of thing shouldn't happen anywhere, but especially in a school or college campus. My first thoughts went back to the shooting at the Amish schoolhouse a year ago. We have become such a violent and disrespectful society that there is no safe or sacred ground anymore.

 

My heart bleeds for the families of the victims. It's every parent's worst nightmare. I will be in prayer and mourning for the rest day if not week. Truly a sad day for America.

 

Very, very sad...it is easy to second guess the decisions that were made there when it isn't you making them. I'm sure the president of the school and the head of the police department are going to have to deal with the ramifications of this tragedy for a long time. Not to mention the families of the students killed and those who remain.

It is a shame this young man (I think he was 19) couldn't resolve his anger at his girlfriend (or whatever relationship it was) and leave it in that dorm room.

 

Liz and I think about this all of the time. If it can happen at Virginia Tech, it can happen at Rutgers, or anywhere.