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Virginia Tech Tragedy

April 17, 2007 by Kurt


I’m not going to go on a long rant about what happened yesterday, because I have no words that could adequately describe my sadness.

But for those that don’t know this, brilliant Lakers writer Roland Lazenby’s day job is as a professor at Virginia Tech (thanks to True Hoop for reminding me). He nor his class were physically injured in the terrible events.

Lazenby was instrumental in setting up a Web site about news from the campus (long before this event) that you may want to check out, Planet Blacksburg. In addition to the latest on what happened, this site is an example of how the world of information and media is changing, with first hand accounts and comments that provide a detailed and personal version of the story that CNN or Fox News could never do.


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Comments

  1. ian says

    April 17, 2007 at 11:36 am

    Because normally FOX news is so careful about getting all the details right.

  2. CTDeLude says

    April 17, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    Oh please let’s leave out our biases towards news stations out of this kind of thing. They’re all quick in the trigger or have we forgotten Dan Rather no longer works at CBS.

    Regardless this is a terrible event that had me nearly shaking in anger when I heard the students on the way home yesterday. I know there will be many questions about how this could happen or what can be done to prevent it in the future and the unfortunate answer is it cannot. If things of this nature were preventable they would have ceased to happen a long long time ago. I can only hope the indiviuals who experience such terror are able to take solace in one another and that the person who committed these acts has a special place in the afterlife devoted to them. One of a none to pleseant variety.

  3. Craig W. says

    April 17, 2007 at 1:08 pm

    I personally am NOT going to follow up on all the details in this tragedy. It is enough to know that so many innocent students died as the hands of one crazy person.

    My heart and thoughts go out to the relatives of all the students affected – not just the ones who died – and I hope we can all give them the privacy they may need to work through this tragedy.

    I, too, believe we are periodically going to experience these types of events. It is a price for living in a free society. We should do our best, but let’s not delude ourselves that we can prevents these things. We can only try to minimize them. I do not own a gun and am not an NRA supporter, but this should not be equated with gun owners.

  4. ca-born says

    April 17, 2007 at 6:06 pm

    A terrible, terrible incident. It angers me how a person can be so selfish and cruel. My prayers are with the families of the deceased, and the injured.

    Craig, I agree, this should not be equated with gun owners. A psycho like him would have still killed people regardless.

    “An English professor said Cho’s creative-writing work was so disturbing that he had been referred to on-campus counseling services.

    In one class, he refused to speak and signed his name using a question mark. Fellow pupils called him “The Question Mark Kid.”

    There were also reports that Cho, a senior majoring in English from Centreville, Va., had been taking medication for depression, and had also recently set fire to a dorm room and stalked women.”

    Signs.

  5. skigi says

    April 17, 2007 at 6:24 pm

    Signs of a troubled kid, yes. But nobody could have seen this coming or prepared for it

  6. warren (philippines) says

    April 17, 2007 at 9:56 pm

    Though I must admit I don’t know anything of this news, I’ll be checking it shortly…
    This topic is too bleak. Lets stick with the Lakers…

    Trade Proposals for discussion anyone? It’ll be fun.

  7. Muddywood says

    April 17, 2007 at 11:42 pm

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122137

    We throw around a word like HERO. This man was a real hero. Someone that risks his life to protect or save another. He saved the people in his classroom. That is a hero.

  8. Zibignu says

    April 18, 2007 at 8:12 am

    With everyone looking for answers to prevent or minimize such incidents, I thought I would apply myself to come up with some suggestions.

    1. Although its true people like this will kill regardless of loose gun laws, I do believe such incidents would be lessened in severity and frequency with stricter legislation.

    2. Have a pole in every school that votes a person most likely to commit such a crime. The person or persons with the most or many votes will be forced to undergo a program with the school counselors and to access the risk.

    Although I can think of many arguments against something such as suggested in #2, I believe any embarrassment individuals may experience being named so, would far outweigh the benefits of bringing to attention possible risks the student body and general public will face leaving them unchecked.

  9. Craig W. says

    April 18, 2007 at 9:30 am

    Zibignu,
    Be careful what you ask for/suggest. You may get your wish. The current problems at the highest levels of our government show that we can trust government very little more than we can trust business.

    It is us who must be constantly wary, make intelligent inquiries of our candidates, and vote each and every election for people based on a broad review of their history and stands. It is our country, not the government’s.

    Unfortunately, this means we must be prepared to deal with some tragic situations. We must do our best to minimize them, but we shouldn’t pretend we can eliminate them completely.

  10. Jason says

    April 18, 2007 at 10:41 am

    8 – “The person or persons with the most or many votes will be forced to undergo a program with the school counselors and to access the risk.”

    I’m not an expert by any means, and this response is clearly out of my own guesswork and common sense, but I feel like that might make the situation worse. Ignoring the civil liberties issue it would raise, you’re putting someone who already feels powerless and at the mercy of people he/she wants power over. And that’s if the RIGHT person is identified by the system. Additionally, it is giving kids or young adults responsibilities that they should have, and are not qualified to have.

    The way these people are identified is through better identification and attention to the signs listed in post 4. Seems like he was crying for attention.

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