Collegiate Times

As a general consensus, students across campus were unaware that Governor Kaine's investigative panel report on the tragic events of April 16 was released to the public yesterday.

One of the issues that the panel focused on at the press conference was the way Steger and the university handled the immediate aftermath of the shootings. The report stated that there were flaws in the campus' notification system.

Most students were unaware of the report's release, but upon hearing of the findings and analyses of April 16, believed that the events of that day could not have been foreseen or handled differently.

Dani Bernabe, freshman math education major, agreed.

"It can happen at any college," she said. "You can write so many reports, but it already happened and you can't change that."

Prior to being approached on the matter, Daniel Hwung, sophomore human, nutrition, food and exercise major, had not heard of the report. "I totally had no idea about the report," he said.

When asked about his view on how the university handled the situation, he said that he didn't think anything more could have been done, and he believed that Steger and the administrators should not be fired.

Lilian Tetteh, junior international studies major, agreed with Hwung.

"We're all human," she said. "You do the best you can and try to think rationally and quickly, but it all happens so fast."

Some students were displeased with the political scene following the shootings.

"I think the aftermath of the shootings has been one of shifting blame," said Jonathan Jones, freshman communication major. "I think the report is another example of this."

Selena Stewart, sophomore English major, agreed on this point.

"I think hindsight is always 20/20," she said.

However, Stewart also believed that more could have been done and can be done in the future. She said that after the first shooting incident, more action should have been taken.

Stewart too believed the assumption that the incident was an isolated one was a "huge assumption."

"They should tell the students right away and close down the university," she said.

"After the first shootings, the university called the incident isolated and that situation should have been handled better," Tetteh said. "A single lockdown doesn't cut it."

The report also brought up the issue of Seung-Hui Cho's mental state, saying that there were "red flags" that indicated that "Cho was mentally unstable, and that the shootings could have been averted," according to a Collegiate Times news brief posted after the press conference yesterday.

Stewart said that she thought the university should consider doing mental health screenings. She stressed that students should not be rejected on that basis, but someone who may be a threat to themselves or others should be more seriously considered.

"(The university) should step out of the Privacy Act regarding people who may be a danger," she said.