Very sad and shocking

Yes,very shocking indeed!

The gunman was a South-Korean student-aged 23.

I seriously support many of your views that the U.S. should consider bringing about a control on possession of guns.It is considered a free citizens' right here to possess a gun and that is the reason for such crimes on a large scale.Children carry guns to school without the parent's knowledge,isn't that shameful?

Last year,I heard of some school shootings in our area too,but it never got reported since there were no casualities.It is very frightening to hear such things especially when you have a kid who goes to school...how can the parents sit peacefully at home without knowing whether the child is going to come back alive or not?

Recently,I heard about a guy returning home and finding his wife with her lover.He immediately took his gun and shot the lover.In another case,a car owner heard someone breaking into his car at night,he just took his gun and shot that guy.Is life so cheap?I am not saying that those two people who died are innocent,but who gave the killers the right to kill?

Sometimes,I am scared of even wearing a churidhar and walking around.What if someone thinks I am linked to some terrorist and kills me? Last year, an innocent Sardar was shot simply because he had his traditional attire and the killer thought he was a terrorist.

Now the news of an Asian being involved in this shooting,is surely not a good sign for any of us,since many Americans are incapable of differentiating between a Chinese,Hmong,Indian,Pakistani,Iraqi,anyone from the Middleeast etc.

Yes, It is very scary and shocking to hear that news.
It will be more scary to send our kids for higher education....

The news is very disturbing and sad:icon_frown: . I agree with you ladies that it affects we asians living here more.
And the scariest part is...these kind of incidents happening in educational institutions.....last year the Amish school and this incident now. I get scared thinking about the fact that I have to send my kid to school here. We come far away from our parents and close relatives to live here.....not for this.
Even now I am getting scared thinking about how safe is the daycare that I send my daughter everyday? oh my god.....the thought itself is making me shudder. Dear God please give these kind of insane people some sanity and some peace of mind.

-Sihi

Dear Kamla,

I am still devastated to hear this news as I have some close friends whose kids attend VT all in freshmen year. I have been trying to talk to them since yesterday and 3 out of 7 have not been in touch yet. My neighbor's daughter also attends VT.The lines are all jammed. I believe all kids are in a traumatic state, which I can understand. I am not able to come to grips since I live only some 200 miles away,so close to home. Let us all pray for these kids and the surviving kids and their families.
I think we need to have a strict gun control law,for it reaches the wrong hands especially kids. What has happened to this world, it worries me since my son will be in college in about three more years. How far do we have to go to protect them?????
Let us pray for each and every family of VT and also my friends kids since we have not heard from them yet. VT is a reputable school and hope this isolated incident does not tarnish their reputation.
Love,

Hi ,
It was really very shock to hear such terrible news...I can understand mind state of the parents in India,whose kids study over here...

I heard that he is from China, but not very sure...I join hands in prayers...lets pray for all the soul....


Regards,
USHA

Latest right off the press as of 2:06 pm eastern time...........

Notice: The Collegiate Times main server is down. CollegiateTimes.com is currently hosted upon College Publisher as a public service.

Tuesday, April 17th 2007 2:06PM
Cho's classroom colleague reacts to tragedy
T. Rees Shapiro, CT Staff Writer

Stephanie Derry, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, was in a 3000 level Playwriting class with Cho Seung-Hui this spring semester taught by acclaimed professor Ed Falco.

She described Seung-Hui's conduct in classes and how all the clues had been there, but could never imagine his bizarre behavior would ever materialize into these recent destructive events.

"Cho was really, really, quiet," Derry said. "I can't even remember one word he said the entire semester."

"We were in a playwriting class together, which is a workshop class, meaning you submit your plays to everyone in it and then we all review the play in class and talk about it," Derry said.

"His writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque," Derry noted. "I remember one of them very well. It was about a son who hated his stepfather. In the play the boy threw a chain saw around, and hammers at him. But the play ended with the boy violently suffocating the father with a rice krispy treat," Derry said.

"He even wrote one play about students being stalked by a teacher." Derry said.

"I mean, his kind of writing was pretty peculiar, but when we asked him if he had any comments after we'd reviewed his work, he would just shrug and say nothing," Derry described.

"We made jokes around the class about his work, because it was just so fictional, so surreal, we just had to laugh," Derry said, "We had to laugh because it couldn't ever be real or truthful, I mean who throws hammers or chainsaws around?"

"But we always joked we were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did," Derry said. "But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling."

"I kept having to tell myself there is no way we could have known this was coming," Derry described. "I was just so frustrated that we saw all the signs, but never thought this could happen."

When asked for comment, Falco noted he was unable to comment.

But his classroom participation, she noted, was absent.

"He was just there," Derry said. "I can't even describe it."

"He would just sit and watch us, but wouldn't say anything. It was his lack of behavior that really set him apart. He basically just kept to himself, very isolated," Derry said.

His mood, Derry described, was apparitional; no emotions whatsoever.

"I remember only once he smiled," Derry recalled. "But it wasn't very big."

When asked whether he had physical behaviors or dressed a certain way, Derry said he always wore a maroon Virginia Tech hat, but other than that usually wore jeans and a t-shirt; nothing out of the ordinary.

"When I heard the killer had been wearing a red hat," Derry said. "I immediately thought of Cho."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This brings to focus what happens when there is no social network to catch you when you are down. Here looks like the professor and the entire class failed to connect the dots (but again hind sight is 20/20 )

Pushpa

It is really shocking and sad that it was done by an asian. Really can't imagine a korean student doing such an act!!
Its getting scary to raise children!! Just imagine the minds of those parents who had so many dreams ,who came all this way in life raising their kids to be shot by some unknown lunatic!!!
I pray for their souls and their families to give them strength to survive through this tragedy...

in today's news,
A 75 year old israeli professor saved several students before he lost his own life in the institute shoot out spree..
Librescu was teaching when the gun man stormed the building. The professor apparently stayed behind to prevent the shooter from opening the door. He blocked the door while the students jumped out of the windows. They were waiting for him to follow. But he could not and fell victim to bullets...
my deepest condolence to such a soul, who as a teacher showed how much he loved them, not caring his own self....regards sunkan

Friends,

Here is a link where you can post condolence message for the family of Prof Loganathan if you wish to do so. Words cannot explain the grief that the family must be going thru right now. But let us all pray that the Lord Almighty gives his wife, children and the others in his family the strength to get thru this tough time.

G.V. Loganathan - News - Readers' Comments - New York Times Blog

Regards,
Jothi.

Friends,

Here is the link to post condolence messages for Minal Panchal another Indian victim of the VA tech incident. She had the whole world ahead of her. May God give her mother and family the strength to deal with the loss of her beloved daughter.

Minal Panchal - News - Readers' Comments - New York Times Blog

Regards,
Jothi.