33 Dead After Virginia Tech University Shooting

[Y2HH]

Let me begin by saying while I'm saddened for the families and loved ones of those lost, let's be honest about this -- in a few weeks time, after this event has passed through the media machine -- all will be forgotten by those not directly affected. Myself included. That is, until it happens again, or until the media or a politician mentions it for use of pushing their agendas. They'll probably blame video games, too, because issues like these are that "simple", things are that "black and white" that they will point to one medium and blame it for all of societys troubles. As it stands, the only reason most of us are even thinking about this horrid incident right now is because it's shoved down our throats every eight seconds by the media.

 

But let's call a spade a spade. The media has sensationalized a mass murderer. Again. They sensationalized the Comlombine incident, and in turn, helped *create* another murderer, who doesn't even deserve being mentioned by name. Written in this "manifesto", he mentions the names of the two other murderers from Comlombine, almost as if he idolized them. So he copied it, and depending on how you look at this, was even more successful. Now, perhaps, someone can write some books and make some movies out of it. After all, there is a lot of money to be made on the senseless murder of innocent people.

 

Now, yet another impressionable youth can become a carbon copy of his or her new hero, and just like their heroes before them, go down in media history, too!

 

The media (NBC) received a package and aired most of it, releasing a "manifesto" written by a complete antisocial clown -- again, a name not worth mentioning ever again. Congratulations, you've successfully made another mass murderer into a martyr, who will undoubtedly be copied. Perhaps not to me, or to most of those reading this...but to someone, some kid, somewhere in the world, is saying how ingenius this plan was, and how much he'd love to do it, too. And gun control will not prevent it, either. Drugs are illegal, too, yet it's easier to get drugs on the black market than it is to get guns legally -- so please, don't even go there.

 

When it happens, we will hear the same stories all over again. "He was such a nice boy...very quiet, barely spoke to anyone. I never saw him doing anything like this." People will mourn again, we will talk about it for a week, further sensationalizing these types of senseless events...and then move on until it happens again. And again.

 

CNN was reporting the bodycount while the incident unfolded, actually going so far as to claim, "CNN was the first to report 30 dead." Good. And f*** you, too, CNN. Nobody cares who was the first to report this. Nobody. The fact you tried to bolster your companies name via the use of a killing spree makes me absolutely sick.

 

This idiots "manefesto" should have been destroyed without even being looked at. It should have been a story of "a senseless idiot with a name not worth mentioning", and the focus of the story should have been on the innocent lives lost, not the murderer...who has successfully gone down in history, because our media made it so.

 

If the media made the stories about the victims, and not the murderers, perhaps the troubled youth watching wouldn't get the idea that there is an easy way of being remembered for years to come.

 

...and I'm sorry I feel this way.

 

-y2

Edited April 19, 2007 by Y2HH

[RockRaines]

Seriously, its tough for anyone to idolize such a moronic loser. His "manifesto" is the ramblings of about a 12 year old child with serious anti social behavior.

[Y2HH]

Seriously, its tough for anyone to idolize such a moronic loser. His "manifesto" is the ramblings of about a 12 year old child with serious anti social behavior.

 

While we may agree on that, trust me...there is some wacked idiot out there that WILL idolize this chump.

[whitesoxfan101]

Let me begin by saying while I'm saddened for the families and loved ones of those lost, let's be honest about this -- in a few weeks time, after this event has passed through the media machine -- all will be forgotten by those not directly affected. Myself included. That is, until it happens again, or until the media or a politician mentions it for use of pushing their agendas. They'll probably blame video games, too, because issues like these are that "simple", things are that "black and white" that they will point to one medium and blame it for all of societys troubles. As it stands, the only reason most of us are even thinking about this horrid incident right now is because it's shoved down our throats every eight seconds by the media.

 

But let's call a spade a spade. The media has sensationalized a mass murderer. Again. They sensationalized the Comlombine incident, and in turn, helped *create* another murderer, who doesn't even deserve being mentioned by name. Written in this "manifesto", he mentions the names of the two other murderers from Comlombine, almost as if he idolized them. So he copied it, and depending on how you look at this, was even more successful. Now, perhaps, someone can write some books and make some movies out of it. After all, there is a lot of money to be made on the senseless murder of innocent people.

 

Now, yet another impressionable youth can become a carbon copy of his or her new hero, and just like their heroes before them, go down in media history, too!

 

The media (NBC) received a package and aired most of it, releasing a "manifesto" written by a complete antisocial clown -- again, a name not worth mentioning ever again. Congratulations, you've successfully made another mass murderer into a martyr, who will undoubtedly be copied. Perhaps not to me, or to most of those reading this...but to someone, some kid, somewhere in the world, is saying how ingenius this plan was, and how much he'd love to do it, too. And gun control will not prevent it, either. Drugs are illegal, too, yet it's easier to get drugs on the black market than it is to get guns legally -- so please, don't even go there.

 

When it happens, we will hear the same stories all over again. "He was such a nice boy...very quiet, barely spoke to anyone. I never saw him doing anything like this." People will mourn again, we will talk about it for a week, further sensationalizing these types of senseless events...and then move on until it happens again. And again.

 

CNN was reporting the bodycount while the incident unfolded, actually going so far as to claim, "CNN was the first to report 30 dead." Good. And f*** you, too, CNN. Nobody cares who was the first to report this. Nobody. The fact you tried to bolster your companies name via the use of a killing spree makes me absolutely sick.

 

This idiots "manefesto" should have been destroyed without even being looked at. It should have been a story of "a senseless idiot with a name not worth mentioning", and the focus of the story should have been on the innocent lives lost, not the murderer...who has successfully gone down in history, because our media made it so.

 

If the media made the stories about the victims, and not the murderers, perhaps the troubled youth watching wouldn't get the idea that there is an easy way of being remembered for years to come.

 

...and I'm sorry I feel this way.

 

-y2

 

Couldn't agree more. It's bad enough that the kids at Virginia Tech (including my friend down there) are being harassed non stop by the press for their story, often ending in kids literally running away crying, but this is even worse. The fact that they aired this pathetic and evil video proves the press will literally sell it's soul to satan if they think it will help ratings.

[IlliniKrush]

Don't know if this has been posted anywhere:

 

National Orange and Maroon Day

Nationwide Orange and Maroon Day has been established to encourage individuals to wear Virginia Tech colors this Friday (April 20).

[BigSqwert]

Good read. Scary:

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (CNN) -- Colin Goddard was mere inches from killer Cho Seung-Hui during Monday's massacre, and he heard the gunman end his own life after killing at least 30 people, Goddard's mother said.

 

After bullets had been fired all around him inside a classroom at Norris Hall, Goddard, a 21-year-old international studies major, played dead as the killer stood over him, said his mother, Ann Goddard. She told her wounded son's story Wednesday as he underwent surgery.

 

Goddard's ordeal began during French class, when he and fellow students first heard gunfire coming from a hallway, his mother said.

 

Professor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak told her students to dial 911, just seconds before Cho entered the room and sprayed bullets, wounding Colin in the leg. Cho "went first through one row of desks and started shooting just randomly," Ann Goddard said.

 

Cho then left the classroom, she said, and returned minutes later.

 

Colin lay on the classroom floor, playing dead. He "turned his head and actually saw the shooter's shoes come right up next to his body," Ann Goddard said. "The shooter was standing right next to him."

 

Her son was "absolutely scared to death," she said. "He kept his wits about him, but he was scared to death."

 

The gunman again shot Colin, hitting him in the shoulder and buttocks. Then he walked to the front of the classroom, she said.

 

Two gunshots were followed by silence.

 

Police broke that silence as they stormed the room, shouting, "shooter down! black tag!" Goddard said, which apparently are code words indicating deaths at the scene.

 

Police checked bodies throughout the classroom, she said. Couture-Nowak did not survive.

 

As surgeons worked to heal her son, Goddard said she didn't want the ordeal to become "the defining moment in my son's life."

 

Instead, she wants his defining moment "to be something positive, some great celebration of his life."

 

Colin, whose surgery was successful, was among 12 people wounded in the attacks who remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon.

 

Read the entire article: LINK

Edited April 19, 2007 by BigSqwert

[RockRaines]

Ozzie Guillen's perspective on the VT shootings. Amen.

 

'It was something that I looked at and said: 'I have three kids. Two are in college -- well, one is in college, and the other I think is in college; I hope he's still going to class -- and one in high school,''' Guillen said. ''You look at yourself, and it makes you worry about what kind of life we're living. And not just here -- everywhere in the world.

 

''To me, if you don't like your life, do yourself. Don't kill people that don't have anything to do with your miserable life. I have kids that go to school, I have friends with kids that go to school, and I feel for the parents. I feel for the families.''

[whitesoxfan101]

Yeah, Ozzie and Mark wearing the Tech hats after the no hitter made me as proud as ever to be a Sox fan.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Ozzie Guillen's perspective on the VT shootings. Amen.

 

lol@do yourself. I love Ozzie.

[OfficerPat35]

First, no one should idolize this guy. And while he did a heinous thing, I dont understand all this hatred for him or his family. Do you people realize how f***ed up in the head someone would have to be to do something like this? This wasnt the result of boredom. It was the result of insanity. Let his family grieve in peace. They lost a loved one too.

 

Second, can someone explain to me what exactly wearing maroon and orange for a day is supposed to mean? Or holding candlelight vigils? Or putting that bow up as a profile picture on facebook? Or that now god-awful pop culture phrase "We are all Hokies for today"? What does this mean? Is this our way of showing sympathy? If my school were to get shot up, and people insisted on wearing our colors the next day, and the day after that and so on, it wouldnt mean a damn thing to me. Neither would a candlelight vigil. Do something productive! Collect donations and start scholarships or something. Change the world. But burning candles, and spending a crapload of money to make tshirts so that people can wear them all over town, that accomplishes nothing.

 

Another thing I hate that I see mainly on facebook, is that people seem to be FIGHTING for pride on this topic. Ive seen several groups that are, to paraphrase, "The OFFICIAL Tech Memorial Group". Yes, with "official" in all caps. As though this person wanted to make sure his group was the greatest and most important. And then other people are just joining fifty different groups all saying the same thing, and posting their status as some sort of memorial to Tech. I dont know about the rest of you, but to me, this just shouts "LOOK AT ME IM AWESOME IM PRAYING FOR TECH!" Its pretentious.

 

I am not a Christian, but the Bible tells us to retreat into privacy for prayer. Dont do it in the open, as though to call attention to yourself. Do it on your own time, away from others. Charity and consolation should be the same. Talk to your friends at Tech, and console them if need be, but do not attempt to glorify yourself or even bring attention to yourself. This detracts from the main focus, which is the victims who need consoling.

 

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I hate the idea of funerals, and will vomit posthumously if one is held for me.

 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/...?ltl=1176760812

 

This is about the worst thing Ive seen. Are they freakin serious? A prayer petition? Like thats going to cheer these people up.

 

Not to mention it has a freakin goal of 100,000 or something like that. A goal?

 

"Lets see how many prayers we can get. Lets see how great we can be."

 

Pretentiousness.

[Texsox]

I agree with almost every thing you wrote.

 

I do believe that many, many people are comforted to know that others are praying for them, keeping them in their thoughts, sending Karma their way, or whatever you want to call it. Shouldering the anguish alone is about the most difficult thing I could imagine. I would take comfort, and have during trying times, in knowing that others are there and doing whatever little they can. People try to help in different ways.

 

The attention grabbing, over the top, stuff seems lame to me.

[DrunkBomber]

First, no one should idolize this guy. And while he did a heinous thing, I dont understand all this hatred for him or his family. Do you people realize how f***ed up in the head someone would have to be to do something like this? This wasnt the result of boredom. It was the result of insanity. Let his family grieve in peace. They lost a loved one too.

 

Second, can someone explain to me what exactly wearing maroon and orange for a day is supposed to mean? Or holding candlelight vigils? Or putting that bow up as a profile picture on facebook? Or that now god-awful pop culture phrase "We are all Hokies for today"? What does this mean? Is this our way of showing sympathy? If my school were to get shot up, and people insisted on wearing our colors the next day, and the day after that and so on, it wouldnt mean a damn thing to me. Neither would a candlelight vigil. Do something productive! Collect donations and start scholarships or something. Change the world. But burning candles, and spending a crapload of money to make tshirts so that people can wear them all over town, that accomplishes nothing.

 

Another thing I hate that I see mainly on facebook, is that people seem to be FIGHTING for pride on this topic. Ive seen several groups that are, to paraphrase, "The OFFICIAL Tech Memorial Group". Yes, with "official" in all caps. As though this person wanted to make sure his group was the greatest and most important. And then other people are just joining fifty different groups all saying the same thing, and posting their status as some sort of memorial to Tech. I dont know about the rest of you, but to me, this just shouts "LOOK AT ME IM AWESOME IM PRAYING FOR TECH!" Its pretentious.

 

I am not a Christian, but the Bible tells us to retreat into privacy for prayer. Dont do it in the open, as though to call attention to yourself. Do it on your own time, away from others. Charity and consolation should be the same. Talk to your friends at Tech, and console them if need be, but do not attempt to glorify yourself or even bring attention to yourself. This detracts from the main focus, which is the victims who need consoling.

 

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I hate the idea of funerals, and will vomit posthumously if one is held for me.

 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/...?ltl=1176760812

 

This is about the worst thing Ive seen. Are they freakin serious? A prayer petition? Like thats going to cheer these people up.

 

Not to mention it has a freakin goal of 100,000 or something like that. A goal?

 

"Lets see how many prayers we can get. Lets see how great we can be."

 

Pretentiousness.

These are your opinions and you obviously have the right to have them, but what gives you the right to judge what other people are doing. Even if other peoples reasons are pretentious or selfish or even glorified what business is it of yours to judge how anybody mourns?

 

When you see people wearing VT colors, or using the pins as avatars, it may not do anything financially like raising scholarships but it shows the families and friends of the victims that the country is behind them. Is that so bad? Even if some people are doing it for their own reasoning, which Im sure in many examples is the case, is it so bad for family/friends or even students and faculty of VT to think people are mourning with them and behind them or in their prayers? I mean, what is your issue with this?

 

You ask if these petitions are gonna cheer people up or make them feel better and maybe it wont for most people, but even if it makes one person or family feel better and these people want to do it isnt it worth it?

 

Then you go on to mention the family of the shooter and say you dont understand the hatred for him. Sure, he may have been picked on, or didnt have any friends but was that the people he shots fault?

 

There are so many other problems in the world and other things to be concerned about...how and why people mourn shouldnt be one of them.

[OfficerPat35]

I just find mourning to be pointless.

 

Lets say I die. So atleast a few people are gonna be pretty sad, like my mother. But why? Im dead. Its not like Im feeling any pain or anything. I will probably be in a better place (ok, maybe Im a bad example haha). So why mourn? Honest to God, when I die, I want those who would be mourning to throw a party instead. My ride just friggin ended, so Im pissed enough for the whole block. I want my life to be remembered as a happy one, so throw a huge party and have a good time. I think that would be the best way to honor a persons memory, instead of having a funeral where everything is gloomy and depressing and everybody cries. Thats not any fun.

 

As for Cho, what he did was heinous, no doubt, and hes rotting in hell for it. I just dont get all the facebook groups that have popped up to state that fact. If you look, most of them are from other schools not even close to Tech. The Hokies havent even gotten around to hating him yet, so why is everybody else? Seems like a misplacement of energy to me.

 

And think of his family too. Im really ashamed to say they are probably living in constant fear right now. That is needless. They are devastated by this as well, probably even more so in the horror that it was their son who caused this. Leave the poor people alone.

[whitesoxfan101]

I disagree with Officer Pat's thoughts on mourning, however I agree that that petition thing is stupid. I have spent this whole week asking friends and family to pray for VT in general and my friend and his close people down there specific, probably have gotten to 100 people that listened enough to pray for them, and this is the first time I've even mentioned it (and only for the sake of this debate). Prayers and thoughts are a good thing and it helps people to know they are not alone, but it is not something that should be publicized, at all.

[Gregory Pratt]

Isn't Officer Pat the one who threatened to "pull a Cho"?

[Texsox]

Isn't Officer Pat the banned poster who threatened to "pull a Cho"?

 

Fixed, and yes

[DrunkBomber]

I just find mourning to be pointless.

 

Lets say I die. So atleast a few people are gonna be pretty sad, like my mother. But why? Im dead. Its not like Im feeling any pain or anything. I will probably be in a better place (ok, maybe Im a bad example haha). So why mourn? Honest to God, when I die, I want those who would be mourning to throw a party instead. My ride just friggin ended, so Im pissed enough for the whole block. I want my life to be remembered as a happy one, so throw a huge party and have a good time. I think that would be the best way to honor a persons memory, instead of having a funeral where everything is gloomy and depressing and everybody cries. Thats not any fun.

 

As for Cho, what he did was heinous, no doubt, and hes rotting in hell for it. I just dont get all the facebook groups that have popped up to state that fact. If you look, most of them are from other schools not even close to Tech. The Hokies havent even gotten around to hating him yet, so why is everybody else? Seems like a misplacement of energy to me.

 

And think of his family too. Im really ashamed to say they are probably living in constant fear right now. That is needless. They are devastated by this as well, probably even more so in the horror that it was their son who caused this. Leave the poor people alone.

you find it to be pointless...

[EvilMonkey]

At least someone at the campus is ready to move on with life, and wants the medial jackals to leave.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0407/416648.html

Student Government Asks Reporters to Leave by Monday

Blacksburg, VA - Sunday April 22, 2007 5:55 pm

 

You've seen the news coverage from Blacksburg, complete with prominent network anchors reporting from the scene.

 

And now, the student government at Virginia Tech is asking for all of that to end. It's calling on hundreds of reporters to leave campus by Monday morning, when students are supposed to return toclasses.

 

A spokeswoman for the student government says the campus appreciates the reporting on the story, but that students are ready to move forward.

 

Liz Hart says "The best way to know how to do that is get the campus back to normal."

 

She says students need to be able to get back to class and back into a "normal routine as much as possible" without any reminders of what a "difficult road" it will be.

 

In her words ... "We already know it."

[southsider2k5]

At least someone at the campus is ready to move on with life, and wants the medial jackals to leave.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0407/416648.html

 

Good for them. Hopefully the press listens to them, and respects their wishes.

[Texsox]

Good for them. Hopefully the press listens to them, and respects their wishes.

 

Of course there will then be some who say the media never follows up. They exploit the tragedy, then leave when the blood dries and never think about the after math.

 

But hey, we've lost interest, who wants to hear anything more about VT? Take down the VT avatars and move on.

[Texsox]

I was thinking about my post later today and should clarify. The nation has been mourning for that community. We've shared all the grief that the media has reported and in a sense are looking for closure or at least following towards a conclusion. I understand they want America out of their lives, but shouldn't we have a few stories of life going on. Sharing a bit of the healing?