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One of the problems with writing for a weekly newspaper is time. Not necessarily the time that it takes to write the article, but with writing about things that are timely. If I choose to write about a topic that is still ongoing the chances are that by the time you read it the facts will have already changed.
Such was the case last week when I wrote about the firestorm surrounding Don Imus and his poorly chosen words. With my deadline being Wednesday, I start researching and writing on Monday or Tuesday. So by the time I had finished the article Imus was only looking at a two-week suspension. Well, as we all know, by Thursday morning he was fired which meant that by the time you read my article on Friday, you were probably thinking “What in the hell is he talking about, is he in some kind of time warp?”
I did find it gratifying that a week later I was not the only one thinking that rap artists should be held accountable for their words, but I still felt like a dope about the beginning of the article. I hate feeling like I let down you loyal readers.
We all have a tendency to wallow in our own problems and I personally am one of the worst about making mountains out of molehills. Then something comes along to put all of our petty little problems into perspective. Something that makes every grievous thing you stress about on a daily basis seem like nothing. Those worries about what is being built where and how your coworkers and neighbors are a bunch of rude morons really don’t seem so important anymore.
I am, of course, referring to the massacre that took place on April 16th at Virginia Tech. Unless you have been in a coma during the last week, you know that 32 people and one mass murderer died in a pointless display of violence never seen before in this country.
We all ask ourselves during the evening news “has the world gone mad?” Then, when a day like Monday the 16th is thrust in our faces, we know that it has. Not since 9/11 happened have I felt such dread and worry about the world as a whole. If one unbalanced student is capable of such carnage on a whim, where will it happen next?
Maybe my amplified fear is due to the fact that my daughter is going off to college in the fall. I already have enough stress over her being on her own for the first time without dwelling on the extra added stress of what could happen if somebody at her school snaps and decides to have target practice on her campus. Sure, it could have happened at her high school, as we saw at Columbine, but now that has taken a backseat, at least in my mind, to my concerns about the college lifestyle.
One of the things that the massacre at Virginia Tech brought to the forefront is that despite the presence of campus police, college campuses are open. Most being the size of small cities, and wanting students to feel that openness to express themselves and their ideas, there is really no way that you can police the entire campus. Even a police force that has 85 members and is nationally accredited as Virginia Techs is cannot handle that demand.
This of course makes it an easier target than a high school, especially since Columbine. Now most high schools have very strict policies about who is allowed on campus, some even having metal detectors at their entrances. To be honest, they should all have them.
The man responsible, and I use the word “man” very loosely, was a 23-year-old English student at Virginia Tech named Cho Seung-Hui. He was a citizen of South Korea living in the United States with a green card. As the minutes tick by, the flood of information about him pours in. At first all we heard was that he was a loner, shy, and may have been depressed and suicidal. The portrait that was being painted was that of a troubled young man who just snapped.
That was until late in the day on Wednesday, when NBC News received what was described by Brian Williams as a “multimedia manifesto”. This “manifesto” or press release was compiled and mailed by him during the two-hour window in between the first two shootings and the rest. Some of the material appears to have been put together during the week before his killing spree. It included photographs of him posing with the weapons that he would later use to murder and wound all of his victims.
It also contained a video where he blames everyone but himself for his actions and an 1800 word written diatribe. Considering he was a senior English major, it’s surprising that his words were nothing more than nonsensical babbling in which he refers to the two killers of the Columbine killings as martyrs, which he also likened himself to. He went from being a troubled youth to a narcissistic madman, a cold-blooded killer, who wanted to be a part of the serial killers club. He was seeking the fame and attention he felt he wasn’t receiving in life.
The most disturbing part of this equation is that there were numerous warning signs leading up to his rampage. He was reported to have been harassing two female students in 2005 at which point the police intervened, but could do nothing. Then after submitting two screenplays for a project in one of his classes his professor was so disturbed by what he had written that she had him removed from her class.
After that, one of his roommates reported him to the police after Cho told him that he was going to commit suicide. The police at this point put him in a mental institution for a couple of days, where their diagnosis was that he was “an imminent danger to self and others”. Again he was released, a ticking time bomb that went out and purchased two automatic handguns and waited weeks to unleash his delusional fury.
Every one of the psychologist talking heads on the news, when posed the question “Given the warning signs, was there anything that could have been done?” Everyone, without exception responded “Yes”. Citing solutions ranging from hospitalization to medication to being removed from the campus altogether. To be frank, they should have done all three and this probably wouldn’t have happened. I personally would have deported him back to South Korea, but that’s just my opinion.
But enough about that scumbag. Over the next year or so we will hear far too much about him as the FBI and the news media dissect him and his murderous fantasies. The people who should be receiving the news coverage and whose names should be remembered are his victims, one in particular.
While the majority of the deceased were students, the majority of those freshmen, one true hero emerged, Professor Liviu Librescu. Librescu was a 76-year-old Romanian-born engineering professor, and Holocaust survivor. Add to that list Hero.
When Cho approached the professor’s classroom, Librescu blocked the door with his body as the gunman fired shots through the door. His actions were designed to help his students escape through the second story windows. The students made it out unharmed thanks to his selfless act. Unfortunately, the professor did not. The madman killed him. It is a particularly sad footnote that on that day it was Holocaust Remembrance Day.
So in this tragedy, let us not remember the name of the extinguisher of innocent lives, let us remember those whose dreams will never be fulfilled.
They are: Liviu Librescu, Ross Alameddine, Jamie Bishop, Brian Bluhm, Ryan Clark, Austin Cloyd, Jocelyne Nowak, Daniel Perez Cueva, Kevin Granata, Matthew Gwaltney, Caitlin Hammaren, Jeremy Herstritt, Rachael Hill, Emily Hilscher, Jarrett Lane, Partahi Lombantoruan, Matt La Porte, Henry Lee, G.V. Loganathan, Lauren McCain, Daniel O’Neil, Juan Ortiz, Minal Panchal, Erin Peterson, Michael Pohle, Julia Pryde, Mary Read, Reema Samaha, Leslie Sherman, Maxine Turner, Nicole White, and Waleed Shaalan.
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