Apr22nd

Week in review, 22 April 2007

Posted at 8:13 am | Filed Under Uncategorized, Rants, Weekly reviews

What a week. Tragedy. Loss. Grief. Anger. Finger-pointing. Road to recovery. Hokie strength.

Pain: Thirty-two innocent lives lost.
Dignity: VT added a 33rd stone to the memorial in front of Burruss.
Awesome: community strength. The Hokie Nation certainly pulls together in times of crisis. This week, we’ve had the attention and the compassion of all our friends and rivals.
Remember

The wonder and joy and potential of the 32, not the despair and evil of the one.
Appalachian School of Law
Columbine High School
Oklahoma City

Must prevent: copycats. Find those who would attempt to copy this and stop them using all means necessary and available. No mercy, we say.
Resentment:

Overheard: “I’d be planning to sue the University if I were a student there, for not providing a secure environment.” The quick minded retort from a colleague: “Don’t you think that money would be better spent on improved warning and communication systems, rather than paying off people who just want some money?” Good job, Mr. E.
The media: “Why weren’t these students better protected?” “How was the killer able to get a gun in the first place?” “Why didn’t the University go on full lockdown after the first killing?” “Who’s to blame?” Blah, blah, blah. Bunch of stink-stirrers.

Toward the media, for repeatedly showing the killer’s video and photos. The families of the victims don’t need to have this pushed into their faces over and over. Nor do the rest of us. And for goodness’ sake, leave the killer’s family alone. They didn’t do this — HE DID. ALONE. Don’t take this out on his sister and parents, making their lives tougher than they are right now.
Toward the media, for attempting to infuse its own bias into the reporting done. Give us the facts, and keep your opinions. And when you prod us for a statement and then find it doesn’t align with your views, publish it anyway. Isn’t that part of “fair and balanced?”
Toward those who have turned the attention toward their own personal causes — mental health issues, gun control issues, blamestorming — instead of making a positive contribution toward the recovery.

Anger: toward the killer. And only toward the killer. No one else is to blame here.
Kudos:

To the restaurants and other businesses who set their televisions to ESPN sporting events rather than to the stations airing the killer’s video.
To the restaurants and other businesses supplying goods and services directly to the emergency responders, investigators, and others working to sort this mess out.
To the vendors who decided to sell VT logo goods not for profit, but simply because people want to buy them in their own shows of support. You’re not a money-grubbing opportunist? Good for you.
To those who are in town as genuine counselors and supporters. Thank you for sharing your strength.

President Bush, for wearing an orange and maroon tie in observance.
Seth Meyers, of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, for wearing an orange and maroon tie during this weekend’s show.
The “Hoos for Hokies” message painted on a bridge in Charlottesville. (Anyone have a photo of this? Please forward it to us.)
Nikki Giovanni — “We will prevail!” (transcript of Ms. Giovanni’s address)
Dr. Charles Steger, for maintaining a dignified posture when addressing the media and dealing with its constant presence.
Virginia Tech Police and Virginia State Police, for attaching maroon and orange ribbons to vehicle antennas. (Photos coming)

The Today Show cast did not bother to wear the orange and maroon on Friday’s show.

The student (an Eagle Scout) who used an electrical cord as a tourniquet on his own leg, likely saving his life.
Dr. Librescu, for barricading the door so that his students could exit through windows. Thank you, sir, for your sacrifice. We cannot thank you enough, and we are in despair that you were taken from us.

They’re all here: saw vehicles on campus today from all agencies — Virginia Tech Police, Blacksburg Police, Radford Police, Christiansburg Police, Virginia State Police, ATF, US Marshals Service. Plus a boatload of unmarked vehicles.
Time to go home:

The media. Classes resume tomorrow, and it’s time for the media to go back to their offices. The campus, the town, and the community need to get back to life’s “normal” status, and we don’t need you in our faces while we get there. You’ve been here long enough. Thank you for coming, now go home. (photo)
The Scientologists. Just because we think it’s time for you to go.

Proof that the media and the politicians don’t always really know what they’re talking about:

“gun magazine clips” — CNN.
“barrel shrouds” — Carolyn McCarthy (Link to hotair.com for video clip) doesn’t understand her own legislation.
“She shot him in the back with a pump-action .22-caliber shotgun.” — Nancy Grace. (transcript link) A .22-caliber shotgun? Um, yeah. We’d like to have a look at that one.

Interesting question: do things like this happen more often in small towns than large ones? Are there statistics on that? This question was asked on last night’s Glenn Beck show, and now we’re curious about it.
Links:

For the victims and their families.
For the killer. For the killer’s family, that they might find peace and be safe.
For the emergency workers, witnesses, and bystanders present during the early moments of this tragedy, and that their families will help them deal with that trauma/stress.
For the investigators tasked with sorting this out.
For those for whom this tragedy brings up painful memories of events past.
That we can all pull together to help one another as has been seen this week. Preferably without a disaster as the cause.

There’ll be more. Stay tuned.

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