CT Opinions
Thursday, April 19th 2007Column: Coming to terms with profound loss and tragedy
Having just graduated from Virginia Tech in December, I have known just about every emotion a college student can encounter, but Monday's mass shootings have added one more emotion to a list I thought I had completed along with my bachelor's degree: a sense of loss. Blacksburg, Virginia is a stranger to losing; its alumni refuse to forget its charm, its sports teams find pride in success, and its students even sometimes find it difficult to cross the stage as I did just a few short months ago. Blacksburg is a town that gives birth to success...
Editorial: Deciding who should take the blame
Virginia Tech is facing excruciating grief and tragedy. In the aftermath of Monday's events the pain is still very much raw and real. Cho Seung-Hui, selfishly took the lives of thirty-two innocent victims, and injured a number of others, before taking his own. His actions have inflicted unimaginable pain and grief on so many, and the outcome of Monday's events is no one's fault but his own.
In the wake of such a tragedy, we are impressed by how our community has banded together in such solidarity to show the world that we are Virginia Tech, and we will overcome this. So many of us are left with unanswered questions...
Letter: Blacksburg tragedy breaks hearts
My heart aches for the senseless and mind-numbing loss in Blacksburg. Given that I'm suffering so badly even across a complete degree of separation (I lived in West Ambler Johnston years ago, spent countless hours in Norris, and took classes from Dr Loganathan), I can't fathom the shock on campus, let alone for the families, friends, and community members of the victims-these dear precious people were shining lights in others' lives and now they have been extinguished!
Letter: Prayers for Virginia Tech
To the students and faculty at Virginia Tech University:
I am writing this letter to you in hopes that my words may bring you some comfort, much the way your support brought my family comfort in the aftermath of my brother's untimely passing in March of 2001. (Michael C. Ziegler, Class of 2001)
The two events are vastly different, of course. But as time passes, I have learned, there will be many similarities. When the dust begins to settle out of the horrific event you have just shared, you will continue to ask questions. As time goes by, certain memories will not be able to be erased from your minds. My hope and advice is for you to focus on the good that will come from this infamous event...
Letter: Blacksburg tragedy shocks students and community
I find myself in a state of shock, and so many emotions are coming to the surface that I can't distinguish one from another. I'm left feeling empty and I believe many of us feel this way. We are searching for emotion so we can begin to make sense of what has happened, but as we attempt to figure this out we must stay strong and united to avoid despair.
I worry many people have lost faith in humanity or that their ability to trust was damaged. However, we must step back to see that in the face of the worst side of humanity, the best is allowed to blossom. The most impressive human traits push through, and we choose love in response to hate. We cherish life in the face of death...
Letter: We all need time to heal
One of the worst parts about all this is the effect it will have on Virginia Tech's image. I can't really blame people who are applying for colleges if they take Tech off of their lists now, because I probably would have also. It's not because I am afraid of a gunman, I know fearing bizarre and uncommon episodes like this is illogical and won't solve anything; it's because I'm worried Tech will never be the same place again, won't offer the same level of education it used to...
Wednesday, April 18th 2007
Column: Moving forward from devastating tragedy
Columbine, Nickel Mines and Bailey are all famous for conjuring up images of school violence. Now our own Blacksburg joins that list as the greatest of them all with 33 of our fellow colleagues dead, including the gunman. We were all present that fateful day and there is no question the memory will stay with us for the rest of our lives. As witnesses to the greatest mass murder in American history, we were all humbled by what happened on the morning of April 16, 2007...
Column: Students struggle for understanding and meaning
As roughly 32 of my peers lay deceased in Norris and West Ambler-Johnston Halls, I struggle for the words to describe how I feel. As eager, ambitious students, we all want to make history and leave our mark on the world, none of us wanted to be a part of the history that unfolded on campus Monday morning. We now share the burden of having been unwilling participants in one of our nation's worst tragedies...
Editorial: Convocation brings hope to students
The day after the deadliest shooting spree in United States history, Virginia Tech students, Blacksburg residents, and supporters from far and wide came out to pay tribute to the thirty-one fallen victims. At the core of the media spectacle, taking place in the humble town of Blacksburg, is a complete tragedy, affecting each and every one of us in our own ways. After the events of Monday, so many of us were left with feelings of helplessness, despair, unsure of who to turn to or how to grieve...
Letter: Sorrow pervades entire VT community
This note is addressed to the students of Virginia Tech. Never in one day have I been so stricken with grief and sorrow for my fellow Hokies, while at the same time been so proud to be part of the Virginia Tech community. As an alumnus and a very proud Hokie, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the students and student body of Virginia Tech during this time of crisis and subsequent mourning. I do not need to belabor the point of what each and every one of you, your parents and loved ones have had to endure in the past hours. But the manner with which each of you individually and as a collective whole have carried yourselves through this tragedy has struck me...
Letter: Media unfairly exploits VT tragedy
I am a student here at Virginia Tech, and like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened by Monday's events. I am also angered at the national media's coverage of our tragedy. The constant assumption of the incompetence of our school officials is unfair and uncalled for. We at Virginia Tech know that our school cares deeply for our safety and would never knowingly put our lives in danger...
Letter: Blacksburg tragedy has far-reaching effects
I am a Virginia Tech alumna and a former copy editor for the Collegiate Times. I just want to express my condolences to the entire campus, the CT staff, President Steger and the Blacksburg Police Department. It's hard for those of us who are no longer in Blacksburg to sit here and do nothing as the news stations run their little tickers counting names and numbers, but it must be even harder for those still on campus who are sitting there feeling just as helpless, right in the thick of the disaster...
Tuesday, April 17th 2007
Column: The culture of violence
First, I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to those affected by yesterday's tragedy. No words can describe it. I never thought I would be attending a school with the record for deadliest school shooting in history.
The only personal account of the tragedy that I have is the following: Upon returning from working at my job in the morning I checked my e-mail. The only message sent out at that time was the news of the first shooting at the dorm. I didn't think much of it, so I got ready to attend my first class at 10:10. When I was walking across the Drillfield, I noticed something was wrong...
Column: Focus on the victims, not the recriminations
Yesterday's events are still difficult to sort out and the exact scenario that unfolded yesterday morning is still murky amid the chaos, sensational and contradictory news reports, and second and third hand accounts. The situation is so horrible it's difficult to even admit it has occurred, much less comprehend the magnitude of events; at least 30 people are dead, their lives taken without any reason, or any remorse in what appears to be the single most outrageous indiscriminant act of violence in the nation's history. Others are wounded, and we cannot begin to imagine or even speculate about the horrors they experienced...
Column: What I want Virginia Tech to be remembered for
Last Monday was a very sad day. That preceding sentence was an understatement, yesterday was far worse. Waking up to the sounds of police sirens and ambulances was an alarm with no snooze button. There was only so much we could learn from sitting in front of a television screen, trying to find the most up to date news. It would take a couple hours for the magnitude of the event to finally sink in.
When I came to Virginia Tech as a freshman, life wasn't anywhere near as crazy. It was a college town, just like any other, except we had better football and a quality academic reputation with which other schools could not compare...
Editorial: A tragic day undeserved
Yesterday's events escalated far beyond what any of us ever imagined when the campus community received e-mail at 9:26 a.m. indicating that there had been a shooting in West Ambler-Johnston Hall. That in and of itself was a tragedy. What transcended after that was an inconceivable disaster. With 31 deaths in Norris Hall, and two more in the dormitory, the pain and heartache blanketing the entire campus community is very much alive. All 33 deaths that occurred on campus yesterday were senseless...