VA - Virginia Tech Shooting, 32 murdered, 23 injured, 16 April 2007

[IrishMist]

I'm not to that point yet. Now, the Anna Nicole saga?? :doh:

What I am sick of is some of the news stations. Yesterday a local news station was doing their teaser all the way through the Oprah show.

"The VT shooter has TIES TO DETROIT!! Tune in at 5:00 for more!"

So I tune in at 5:00. The TIES TO DETROIT? The family came through here when they first came to the US. :doh: Give me a break.

 

[Buzz Mills]

I agree. He was a sick tick and you cant blame the countries. I feel like the people around him should have saw something and got the boy some help. I heard he was on anti-depressants ,he sure needed more than that.

Hopefully the outcome of this will be that more people understand mental illness, and not only the symptoms of mental illness, but everything that contributes to the development of an ongoing mental illness. As we know, this isn't something that just all of a sudden happened; this had been developing for a long period of time. There had to be a lot of individual factors over a long period of time.

A greater understanding may help prevent things like this from happening in the future.

From things coming out, for one, Virginia needs to change a few of their gun laws, as it is far too easy to walk out of a store with a gun.

 

[Shadow205]

Found this tidbit of info about Cho's family:

His father, Cho Seong-tae, 61, and other relatives are now in hiding.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21581504-661,00.html

 

[cynpat2000]

Its only been a couple of days. I dont think its exploitation at all. Now Anna Nicole Smith? Thats what im sick of and I was into that saga heavy at first but enough is enough.
As far as this tragedy I for one like the coverage, it shines light on what happened so maybe future tragedies can be prevented.
And for me I want to gain insight as to why it happened, if that can ever be answered.

 

[ljwf22]

I am confused about the shooter's name. In the press reports it's Cho Seung-Hui, but I noticed on his plays it is written as Seung Cho. Which name is his last name? My nephew is a Korean linguist in the Navy, I'd ask him but he's in the process of moving. Anyone know? :waitasec:

 

[ljwf22]

IPersonally, I almost feel like I should be watching these first few days afterwards. I feel like it's a form of respect to take time out of my life to listen to how those innocent people suffered. That may sound weird but that's how I feel. When I was watching the news last night and went to change the channel, I was overwhelmed with guilt. I felt bad that it was so easy for me to turn off the tragedy and go back to my somewhat normal life.

I agree, Shamrock. I want to know about the victims, their backgrounds, their hopes and dreams. I agree with the Harvard professor that was on PrimeTime last night who feels the media should stay away from trumpeting this as a record-breaking tragedy, even though it is. As soon as it's stated that way, someone will want to top it.

 

[MeoW333]

Maybe he filed the serial numbers off the gun so that it would not be traced to him if it was found before the shooting, which would have halted his plans. He must have been keeping the guns in his dorm or car.. if they were found prior, he would have denied it as his since the serials were gone.. maybe also since he didn't want to disgrace his family. Cho is a disgrace to the human race.. I don't understand how a person with so many obvious warning signs was not admitted inpatient to a psychiatric facility..

 

[Shadow205]

This is a huge tragedy that has affected the lives of so many people. It only happened two days ago and details are just coming out. I do not think that the media is giving it to much coverage. I want to try to understand why it happened. I want to pay my respects to the families of those affected by taking time out of my life to listen to their story. I have not seen any of the reporters treat anyone they were talking to with anything but respect and compassion. I think that they are doing an excellent job with their coverage.
I felt guilty last night because I switched the news off for an hour and watched American Idol. I'm sure there are a lot of families who wish they could change channels in their lives right now, back to a time when their loved one was with them.

 

[Nova]

I suppose I would be one of those professors that would disagree with you.

How about lecturing students to think out of the box,and teaching them "Yep,you're not in high school anymore,there are ways to express your thoughts,without resorting to the F word.If it must be used,it should be rarely." I think that would help students to think more creatively.

You can't encourage creativity by giving students a list of forbidden choices. And you can't engender creativity by "telling" students to be creative (or "think outside the box," as you put it).

You spark creativity by displaying it. Selectively using vulgar language in an elevated context is one small way that worked for me.

I never said I used the "F" word often, nor did I ever have a student who did so in class discussions or in non-fiction papers.

But in dramatic writing, again, one is writing for the character. If one is writing the type of character who would use profanity, then profanity is appropriate in the dramatization of the character.

ANY repetitive word choice may be questioned, certainly, but that is true of ALL words.

 

[Buzz Mills]

To clear up any confusion, the following was submitted under the: VT: tragic - but enough already! thread, which has now been merged into this thread:

The national media will do everything in their power to keep adding new spins into the story; even to the point of creating controversy where none previously existed; whatever it takes to one-up the other stations.

I have complete compassion and sympathy for all involved.

There were at least 170 people killed in Baghdad just this morning. They all have families, friends, and acquaintances too.

 

[Nova]

The professor stated tonight that other staff had asked her to do something with him as he was making others in the class uncomfortable by taking pictures ("especially under the desks") of other students w/o their permission. She decided to remove him from the classroom so the others wouldn't have to put up with him. She reported his actions to campus police, and other appropriate depts but nobody could require him to get counseling. His "violent" papers seemed a secondary concern in all this (IMO).

That makes a LOT more sense to me. Thanks. I wouldn't have allowed any student take unauthorized photos in my class and particularly not "under the desk."

 

[Lesleegp]

I am confused about the shooter's name. In the press reports it's Cho Seung-Hui, but I noticed on his plays it is written as Seung Cho. Which name is his last name? My nephew is a Korean linguist in the Navy, I'd ask him but he's in the process of moving. Anyone know? :waitasec:

My roomie my sophomore year in college was from China....arrived here the day we moved in the dorm. Her name was written on forms, etc with the last name first. Her last name happened to be Ho, so everything said "Ho XXXXXXXX" but when we spoke to her, we addressed her the other way around "XXXXXXXX Ho".

 

[englishleigh]

This tragedy surpassed Columbine in the number of victims...so don't think this story will go away anytime soon. They still talk a lot about Columbine when there is news about it.

I, too, want to know about the victims here. I'm sick of hearing about the killer, though.

 

[Shadow205]

The national media will do everything in their power to keep adding new spins into the story; even to the point of creating controversy where none previously existed; whatever it takes to one-up the other stations.

I have complete compassion and sympathy for all involved.

There were at least 170 people killed in Baghdad just this morning. They all have families, friends, and acquaintances too.

And I pray for them each and every day too.

 

[Shadow205]

:laugh:

Be careful - Imus got fired for that.

good one adnoid!

 

[Buzz Mills]

This tragedy surpassed Columbine in the number of victims...so don't think this story will go away anytime soon. They still talk a lot about Columbine when there is news about it.

I, too, want to know about the victims here. I'm sick of hearing about the killer, though.

Unfortunately the killer chose this way to finally be heard. If we are going to learn how to possibly prevent this from happening again, it will behoove us to know as much about the shooter as we possibly can. I want to know when his abhorent(sp?) behavior first became noticeable. His illness had been growing for quite a long time. If we are to learn anything from this, we are forced to know, and try to understand, more about him. His "success" in this massacre has pointed out failures throughout the various systems.

 

[MeoW333]

I'm surprised that the teacher let him hand in those two stories at all. Thinking outside the box would include thinking up metaphors instead of using the "f" word all over the place..
As for video games and television being scapegoats; that is ridiculous. All it takes is good parenting to turn off the tv and games, and incourage reading and imaginative play from a young age. I've known alot of different people; some played video games, some not. IMO i think how the children turn out has to do with the parenting than anything else.

 

[IrishMist]

I'm surprised that the teacher let him hand in those two stories at all. Thinking outside the box would include thinking up metaphors instead of using the "f" word all over the place..
As for video games and television being scapegoats; that is ridiculous. All it takes is good parenting to turn off the tv and games, and incourage reading and imaginative play from a young age. I've known alot of different people; some played video games, some not. IMO i think how the children turn out has to do with the parenting than anything else.

I could not disagree with this more. I don't know about you, but I've seen, time and again, "good" parents that end up with "bad" kids, and "bad" parents that end up with "good" kids.

Or the many instances of one kid out of a family that goes "bad." How does your explanation cover that?

As a parent, you do the best you can do. Greater minds than mine have been trying to find the answer to the question of Nature vs. Nurture for a long time. Last I knew, it still hasn't been solved. All I can base it on is what I've learned and witnessed with my own eyes.

 

[Nova]

Thinking outside the box would include thinking up metaphors instead of using the "f" word all over the place.

Once again, not all plays are "realistic" but Realism is the dominant form of our culture. In a Realistic play, the characters speak as people do in real life. In real life, some people use the "F" word "all over the place."

While I certainly question whether that is an interesting choice, it isn't an unprecedented choice. It isn't even unusual.

 

[Buzz Mills]

As a memorial to the students, I would create a walk through rock garden, on campus, with 32 sizeable rocks, surrounded by flowers. Each of the 32 rocks would have a 6" X 9" plaque with an individual biography of the student that died.