Collegiate Times

Learning is excellent, so let's review what we've learned in the past few years: 1. NO alert can save those in immediate danger; 2. VT Police are excellent and very fast, but can't save those in immediate danger; 3. Prevention is great, but is impossible to achieve absolutely; 4. VT is not an island of safety, we are susceptible to danger just like the rest of the world. The conclusion: everyone is responsible for their own personal safety. Take measures to protect yourself and prepare for the worst. Oh, learning lesson 5: the CT Editorial Board is not very good at scrutinizing anything, especially VT Alerts.

Wednesday's murder was only one person as compared to the April 16th massacre. So of course the new system will work.

Since VT can not assure my safety, emergency messages won't be received until 30 minutes after the danger occurs, and police aren't issued one-per-person, I will always be armed for my self-protection if I must enter the VT campus. If they wish to violate my civil rights, I will take possesion of them through the courts. "We still feel safe here and have the utmost confidence in the administration, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg police to keep us out of harm's way." Then you are fools, and your parents should demand a refund of your tuition fees as VT has patently failed to teach you how to think critically. Cranio-rectal inversion syndrome at its' most blatent.

Since VT can not assure my safety, emergency messages won't be received until 30 minutes after the danger occurs, and police aren't issued one-per-person, I will always be armed for my self-protection if I must enter the VT campus. If they wish to violate my civil rights, I will take possesion of them through the courts. "We still feel safe here and have the utmost confidence in the administration, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg police to keep us out of harm's way." Then you are fools, and your parents should demand a refund of your tuition fees as VT has patently failed to teach you how to think critically. Cranio-rectal inversion syndrome at its' most blatent.

I'm very surprised at the critical responses drawn from this piece by fellow students. No one ever said that Tech was 'an island of safety' or that prevention and safety are absolute. I'm not sure absolute in that way exists, and to criticize the feelings of safety and confidence inspired by the capability of the university and the police in the area that the students comprising the editorial board of this paper have is uncalled for. To say that feeling safe makes someone a fool is just absolutely ridiculous. These students saying they have confidence in the university’s system does not mean they are not going to be cautious; saying that they have not learned how to think critically and that Tech hasn’t taught them to was also completely unreasonable. No one ever said that harm wouldn’t ever come our way, but the fact of the matter is that the university is doing all it can to protect us in every way possible.

cont...The police arrived as soon as possible, and a response time of approximately one minute is something to be commended for. The alerts system may still have its faults, but we here at Tech at least have such a system that will alert us of danger. Would you rather not know or not even have them try? You would rather criticize the measures being taken to keep us safe than look at it in the way it’s meant to be taken: as an effort to do all they can? Of course everyone should take measures to protect him/herself; that’s a given. Your argument to me just seems like you’re trying to find fault where everything that can be done is being done. If you have suggestions, I’m sure the university administrators would be glad to hear them. But until you can offer anything worthwhile as opposed to ridiculous accusations and empty threats, I’d suggest you keep your thoughts and spelling errors to yourself.

I think that it is good that the police got there so fast but I definitely would not consider it "effective" when the intended victim ended up dead. Also in this case no one is placing blame on the knife. Had this atrocity been committed with a gun people would be blaming the gun.

@PavePusher. I hear you about carrying on campus. Just remember those same parents will turn on you in the courts if a situation heads south and their kids are hurt (think of them as Ferraris). So also "carry" a lot of liability insurance.

Anne, you say that all the critical responses are uncalled for and that people should still feel safe with the actions and pre-emptions that VT and the police have taken.......do you think Xin Yang felt that way also?

Let's see if we can work this out: When seconds count, the Police are only a phone call away. 1. By the time the phone was dialed, the young lady had been stabbed. 2. By the time the 911 Operator Answered, the young lady had been stabbed several more times. 3. By the time the Operator dispatced an Officer, there had been more stabbing. An Officer was only a minute away. 4. By the time the Officer arrived, the young Lady was dead. Life is precious, and, we have only one. When seconds count, and, you are counting on someone else...more than likely, you will die.

Pavepusher, if you are armed and come into any classroom that I teach in, I will call VT police to have you promptly removed and hopefully charged.

gadi, you are demonstrating your ignorance. How will you know who "Pavepusher" is, and if he happens to be carrying at the time he walks into your classroom? I'd be willing to bet Pavepusher is not only concerned for his own safety, but has also obeyed every law concerning CCW. You, however, would apprently rather cower in a corner with your cell phone if someone came in with hostile intent.

DKSuddeth: What a question. No I don't think that. My point was that I don't think it's fair to criticize people for feeling safe on campus when everything that can be done is being done. I just don't understand why some people think the university or police can absolutely prevent such a thing from happening. How are they supposed to do that? Are they supposed to be able to read people’s minds and step in the way? It’s an impossibility that I think some people are expecting, and that’s what I’m saying is unreasonable. The problem isn't those who are charged with trying to protect us and doing all they can to do so--it's the people who have problems and don't have any moral base or control over themselves that are the problem. This is a horrible, horrible tragedy, and I was just disappointed when I read posts criticizing the fact that some students on campus felt a sense of safety and confidence in the university and police at how it was handled. It was also disheartening that some people criticized the police and admins; what more would you have them do? I find that unfounded allegations of failure without suggestions on how to improve don't help the situation in any way and are unnecessary.

Ed,it's not ignorance, but intelligence. I tell every student in my classes at the beginning of the term no guns are allowed. I've had a few tell me they have a permit and ask "so is it OK"? My response in the past is no. Now my response will be to dial 911 if I find a gun on a student in my classroom.

I do not understand why any one would consider VT's response ineffective in this case. When the student started stabbing, then only 911 was called, and the response was within a minute. I think VT Police did a tremendous job. Also, it is not bad that VT alert went out a bit later. In most cases, the person in charge of sending alert must take little time to assess the threat, otherwise after a few false alarms, no one will take VT alert seriously. In any case, I do not see how any one could prevent this kind of situations, if one rabid student decides to kill? If he tried to kill more, then that has been prevented in this case, as the police responded within one minute? What more do you want? And using such tragedies as excuses to carry weapon on campus is just making bad excuses to create trouble.

It's a problem because people have sold the VT Alert system as a "life-saving tool" which it simply cannot do. The Police response was great, but that is completely separate from the Alerts. Also, this comment: "using such tragedies as excuses to carry weapon on campus is just making bad excuses to create trouble." First, "using" is an emotion word which really means "you are learning from the past, but I disagree with you." Events like this remind us that VT is not a perfectly safe place, and we should learn from that. Second, why do you call responsible gun owners out for "creating trouble"? How many of your friends have clean criminal backgrounds? Do you know? Guess what, every permit holder does... so who's the real troublemakers, your friends or law-abiding permit holders? Use some perspective man... you've been fed the "guns make good people bad" crap by the media for too long.

Your decision making better be as good as your aim. If you kill my only daughter in a classroom, you have just become what you have feared.

I suppose you would rather she were executed by a mass murderer, along with all of her classmates, than to allow responsible people the chance to STOP such a massacre? This 'caught in the crossfire' crap has got to stop. It almost never happens in real life, as people don't run AT an attacker where they are likely to get hit by a stray bullet. Think about it for 30 seconds and do some research, and stop making such ignorant assertions.

Interesting that anti self-defense folk like Gadi have no logical argument to offer for their bizarre insecurities. It seems that an irrational viewpoint has no recourse but to rely on threats.

How fortunate for Xin Yang that the university response to her murder was effective. I mean.... Can you imagine the outcome if it hadn't been? *ahem*

It's great that the police showed up with in a minute, too bad seconds counted. Why don't people ask the seven cowards that ran from the seen how they could let a fellow human being die like that? Had the murderer been intent on killing more people, how many more could he have killed in the 45 minutes that it took for the well touted notification system to send out notices? All the anti-gun and Anti-American media outlets have taught people to not get involved. I really hope that the seven running cowards never have a decent nights sleep for the remainder of their lives.

In police shootings, innocent bystanders are killed 17% of the time. In citizen shootings, innocent bystanders are killed 2% of the time. Any innocent death is a tragedy but I know who I would rather be shooting if I'm in the area.

I'm glad to see that so many people are finally waking up to the fact that the police can't be everywhere to protect everyone. In fact, the courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that the police are under no obligation to protect any citizen unless they have specifically taken that citizen into custody to protect. It bothers me that many people are still saying that the University has done everything they can to protect students and faculty. They have infringed on one of the most basic rights that a free people has, the right of self-defense with a firearm. There are universities that allow concealed carry and there hasn't been the blood running like rivers that all the anti-Liberty people have predicted. In fact, I'm not aware of a single instance of misuse by an person with a CCW permit on campus. Virginia allows concealed carry and I'm sure many of the people that complain about those that carry have been in line at the grocery store or set in a movie with a person that was carrying and they didn't even know. The fear of armed citizens is a fear brought on by ignorant teachers such as gadi below, a biased media or just the general misinformation that is spread by anti-gun groups. I guess it could also be classified as a mental disorder.

Gadi, how will you find a gun on one of your students? Are you going to frisk everyone of them that comes through the door? It is ignorant people like you that are destroying the Freedoms and Liberty that this country was founded on. You may be highly educated but you don't have a bit of common sense. As Sam Jones pointed out, you have probably been next to people that were carrying and you didn't even know it and nothing bad happened. The firearm didn't leap out of the carriers holster on it's own and start a shooting rampage. When are you going to start telling your students that they can't bring knives to class? I don't know what you teach, but there are probably many things in the classroom or lab that could be used as a weapon as easily as a firearm or knife.

You guys are doing a fine job of bringing people to your side. Insult them, belittle them (@theaton)...keep up the good work!

First of all, I think VT did a wonderful job with the alert system and I praise them for the good work. Secondly, I just want to respond to pavepushers comment. "I will always be armed for my self-protection if I must enter the VT campus." Really? Only when you enter VT campus? What happened on the day of April 16, 2007 was a tragedy, but it was also very rare. These things obviously don't happen everyday. It could have happened down the street at Radford University or across the country at USC. Some people are acting like VT and Blacksburg is just a violent and scary place to be and we need to be armed at all times, fear everyone, hire more police officers... etc. I feel it's ridiculous. When you leave your house in the morning, no matter where you live, you take a chance of something happening to you. It's called life and living in fear gets you nowhere!

To gadi. Firstly, if I choose to carry a gun into your classroom, you will not know because it will be concealed as my permit allows. Second, I would not be breaking the law, so a 911 call will achieve nothing. I would only be in violation of an outdated Virginia Tech rule. Finally, almost noone knows I carry... why? Because I, like other permit holders do not advertise the fact though some seem to believe that I would be showing off my "heat" to fellow classmates. How absurd.

If we equipped all students with batarangs, like I've been saying for the last 4 years, maybe the 7 students who witnessed it wouldn't have run like cowards, but would have instead fought, and been stabbed, and possibly died, in the name of bravery. Or maybe they should have just called me in the first place. Because I'm the goddamn batman.

Photoshop is an amazing tool for altering images, but it's only really great when you're aware of its effects. There are several tools existing to help people detect Photoshopped images. Of them site <a href="http://www.pskiller.com/">Photoshopped Image Killer</a> offers the best result. Unlike other forensic analysis tool, pskiller.com analyzes image integrity in the content level, which is more accurate and reliable.