The American Centurians
04-21-2007, 07:15 PM
If you are not aware of the killing field called Virginia Tech, you must be either dead or living in a cave without communication with the outside world. The tragedy of this event is totally unexplanable in magnitude and emotion. I will not recalculate the statistics provided by my partner above just because there is only one number that means anything; that number is 32. There were 32 innocent people, students and professors savagely gunned down in cold blood at the hands of a 22 year old evil man or "kid" (the way some news reporters refer to him). The act is beyond description and I don't need to ramble on about the impact that it has on all the surviving families and friends, to include the shocked family of the shooter. The university will never fully recover and will never forget the turmoil of that day. I have walked the campus many times since my youngest daughter spent 4 years going to school there. It is a great place and a safe place. Those two descriptions will not be chnaged by 2 hours of wickedness. High school graduates from all over the country will continue to apply to become a member of the "Hokie Nation" because of how the administration, faculty, and student body have come together following the event itself. I would be proud to send my son there when he graduates from high school in 2008.
But there does remain some unanswered questions regarding the incident and the response by the university president, the university police, and local law enforcement. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, which you can read in upcoming Time or Newsweek magazines, I have to question the initial judgment made by the university (administration and police) after they received the initial "911" call from the dormitory, where they found the first 2 dead bodies; one a student and the other, a residence hall assistant, also a student. According to press conferences and the words of the university police chief, they "assumed" that the incident was a domestic lovers dispute and the shooter (not in custody and whereabouts unknown) had left campus. Given this assumption, the university president decided that classes would continue as normal while the investigation of the 2 homicides was isolated to the one dorm (Johnston Hall).
Remember the old adage about assuming anything--"it makes an ASS out of U and ME. Clearly this adage would come back to haunt the decision that had been made. It was a terrible decision and reflects very poor judgment on the part of all participants in this decision not to lock down the entire campus and cancel classes until all the facts were collected. When in doubt, you must err on the conservative side of not taking chances. You have 2 dead bodies in a dorm on campus; I am sorry, but it is not a "routine day" of classes at Virginia Tech. That is a no brainer. How could anyone think it was. Why was it so important that classes continue as normal. According to the university president, a decent and well respected man, they had thousands of people commuting to campus and would not be able to notify them in time. Here is a thought...why not send police to block the major throughfares to the university (there are not that many, trust me, I have been there) and reroute inbound students away. Yes, could it create major traffic jams in Blacksburg (where the university is located), for sure, but who cares. The university has a great traffic plan for getting 80,000 football fans to and from the stadium during Fall games. There is a killer on the loose and police have no idea where he may be. Poor judgments and bad decisions can and will get people killed and injured (ie. Iraq - no I am not going on a tirad about that today).
A board of review has been established by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to explore this historical crime and to set the facts straight in regards to decision-making. Given time, those who made decisions, seemingly proper at the moment of impact, will now be second guessed by reviewers. I don't need to get into all the names of the panel, however, it does include former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. The panel is headed by a retired former Chief of the Virginia State Police. There is plenty of diversity and experience on the panel to do an excellent job. Upon conclusion of their efforts, there is no doubt that they will be critical of the judgments made during the critical hours between the 911 call and the suicide of the shooter. There will be criticism for the lack of a "satisfactory" emergency plan for such incidents which require campus lockdown. The initial decision to hold classes will be found to be a major misjudgment which will lead the university police chief to resign or retire. The university president, Mr. Steger, an educational professional who deserves a better fate, will also step aside to help the healing process (and to calm law suits against the university and the State of Virginia).
No matter where the fingers end of pointing, a thorough review of the matter is necessary for the healing process. We must know what happened and why. We will never know why the shooter did what he did. Was it family, environment, being bullied in high school, not being able to assimulate into his age group of peers, materialistic jealousy, or whatever. But we must search for the facts that do have ground truth, so we can learn and hopefully prevent the next Virginia Tech.
This was a depressing week and this was not fun to write. However, the "Hokie Nation" has responded with energy and will discover new things about themselves that events like this teach us all. Stand tall you Hokies, America is with you!
Kevin
www.theamericancenturians.com
(please sign the guest book)
But there does remain some unanswered questions regarding the incident and the response by the university president, the university police, and local law enforcement. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, which you can read in upcoming Time or Newsweek magazines, I have to question the initial judgment made by the university (administration and police) after they received the initial "911" call from the dormitory, where they found the first 2 dead bodies; one a student and the other, a residence hall assistant, also a student. According to press conferences and the words of the university police chief, they "assumed" that the incident was a domestic lovers dispute and the shooter (not in custody and whereabouts unknown) had left campus. Given this assumption, the university president decided that classes would continue as normal while the investigation of the 2 homicides was isolated to the one dorm (Johnston Hall).
Remember the old adage about assuming anything--"it makes an ASS out of U and ME. Clearly this adage would come back to haunt the decision that had been made. It was a terrible decision and reflects very poor judgment on the part of all participants in this decision not to lock down the entire campus and cancel classes until all the facts were collected. When in doubt, you must err on the conservative side of not taking chances. You have 2 dead bodies in a dorm on campus; I am sorry, but it is not a "routine day" of classes at Virginia Tech. That is a no brainer. How could anyone think it was. Why was it so important that classes continue as normal. According to the university president, a decent and well respected man, they had thousands of people commuting to campus and would not be able to notify them in time. Here is a thought...why not send police to block the major throughfares to the university (there are not that many, trust me, I have been there) and reroute inbound students away. Yes, could it create major traffic jams in Blacksburg (where the university is located), for sure, but who cares. The university has a great traffic plan for getting 80,000 football fans to and from the stadium during Fall games. There is a killer on the loose and police have no idea where he may be. Poor judgments and bad decisions can and will get people killed and injured (ie. Iraq - no I am not going on a tirad about that today).
A board of review has been established by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to explore this historical crime and to set the facts straight in regards to decision-making. Given time, those who made decisions, seemingly proper at the moment of impact, will now be second guessed by reviewers. I don't need to get into all the names of the panel, however, it does include former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. The panel is headed by a retired former Chief of the Virginia State Police. There is plenty of diversity and experience on the panel to do an excellent job. Upon conclusion of their efforts, there is no doubt that they will be critical of the judgments made during the critical hours between the 911 call and the suicide of the shooter. There will be criticism for the lack of a "satisfactory" emergency plan for such incidents which require campus lockdown. The initial decision to hold classes will be found to be a major misjudgment which will lead the university police chief to resign or retire. The university president, Mr. Steger, an educational professional who deserves a better fate, will also step aside to help the healing process (and to calm law suits against the university and the State of Virginia).
No matter where the fingers end of pointing, a thorough review of the matter is necessary for the healing process. We must know what happened and why. We will never know why the shooter did what he did. Was it family, environment, being bullied in high school, not being able to assimulate into his age group of peers, materialistic jealousy, or whatever. But we must search for the facts that do have ground truth, so we can learn and hopefully prevent the next Virginia Tech.
This was a depressing week and this was not fun to write. However, the "Hokie Nation" has responded with energy and will discover new things about themselves that events like this teach us all. Stand tall you Hokies, America is with you!
Kevin
www.theamericancenturians.com
(please sign the guest book)