<p>I would just like to respond to the comment that "this could have happened anywhere."</p>
<p>No, it probably would not have..</p>
<p>VTech administration is now being criticized for ignoring Cho's parents' and teachers' suggestions that Cho needed to be put in a mental institution; it was evident under many cases that he had a mental illness. Suffice it to say I don't think this mistake would've been made at many schools.</p>
<p>I agree with those who have pointed out that VT will probably be the safest campus to attend after this. I flew (on a basically empty plane) on 9/23/01, I went to NYC 3-4 weeks after 9/11/01 for a weekend. It's part of the healing. Unfortunately, it's a reality that became painfully clear after Columbine, all the subsequent school tragedies, and then 9/11. Bad, evil people exist. They will do awful things. You can either cower and live your life in fear, or you can move on. As much as we try, we can't put our kids in a bubble and be sure nothing bad will happen. I have always felt strongly that we need tighter gun controls, and this incident helps support my arguments on that; I believe all college campuses will re-think and re-work their security programs as a result of this travesty.</p>
<p>I have a hard time understanding what a college should do to prevent an incident like this. Is is feasible and reasonable to secure every campus entrance and every building with guards, xray machines and metal detectors? What stops the next lunatic from driving through campus with a car bomb or adding poison to the dorm food or any one of a hundred other possibilities?</p>
<p>And why would any of these crazy possibilities be any more or less likely at VTech? Unfortunately, public opinion will demand some action. We also need someone to blame besides the dead perp.</p>
<p>kryptonsa - It was clear that this student was mentally ill, but many law-abiding students have mental illnesses. The litmus test for involuntary commitment to a mental institution is that the threat posed by the individual must be apparent and imminent. Hostile ramblings and violent fiction in the absence of those factors just aren't sufficient in our society to lock people up. Consider that the last time something of this magnitude happened was in 1966 at the U. of Texas. That's 40 years of disturbed or disturbing students at 2500 campuses nationwide - literally millions of students with mental problems, the vast majority of whom posed no legitimate threat to themselves or others. Society can't lock all of them up in hopes of catching the two who would do this over a span of 40 years.</p>
<p>I would advise my child of the tremendous period of mourning, transition, and recovery that will present at VT in the years to come. Incoming students need to be prepared to face the aftermath. I do not have concerns about future safety at the school, besides "copy cat" incidences that can happen anywhere. I see it in a similar way to sending your son or daughter to Tulane after Katrina. (I flew about a week, maybe sooner, after 09/11. I was in the seventh grade, but my family and I did not even consider postponing our plans, though many people encouraged us to.)</p>
<p>kryptonsa 36.....I echo your comments. I am sure there are many, many, incredibly talented and wonderful students attending Va. Tech and the area of Blacksburg, Va. is beautiful and is being very supportive in light of this tragedy, but I do not believe in my heart that the school did everything possible to prevent something like this happening. Our daughter will be going away to college in a little over a year and I now know what to ask in addition to the basic questions about campus safety. Va. Tech. is not a school that is on our daughter's list but if it were, we would be crossing it off due to the fact that they obviously did not take the necessary steps and remove this troubled student from the campus. I think the statement that the school keeps making that he "only wrote about violence but never acted out so nothing could be done" is a cop out.</p>
<p>I realize that there is no way the college admissions process can include a psychiatric analysis of each incoming student but at the very least I would expect the college to do more than what was done at Va. Tech, especially when one or more of the professors expressed their own personal concerns about this student. It's like the former F.B.I. SWAT team officer said the other night on the news...."When the SWAT team has been called it is already too late"....some earlier action needs to be taken by the school to ensure a situation doesn't get to the point of depending on a SWAT team to hunt down a shooter. </p>
<p>At the first of this year our daughter was being stalked by a boy that was obsessed with her and he had graduated last year so he was not even supposed to be on campus, let alone inside the school. It was the first week of school when he walked into the school, into the cafeteria and tried to talk to her but she ignored him. Later on he appeared in the hallway and tried to follow her to class but disappeared when she spotted him. He was also waiting in the school parking lot when school was over that day but did not approach her. She told me about this as soon as she got home from school so I called the principal and he immediately alerted the school safety officers, the other admin, and then called the boys parents and told them because he was no longer a student there he would be arrested for tresspassing if he returned. They placed several school safety officers out in the parking lot for a few days just in case he was bold enough to sit in the parking lot waiting on her. We were also told to send the boy a written certified letter stating he was not to contact our daughter by phone, email, text, or in person and if he did we would take out a restraining order on him. May sound extreme to some, but we felt like we had to do whatever WE could do as parents to protect our daughter and the school did everything THEY could to ensure her safety. That is all we ask as parents....do everything you can do to keep our kids safe.</p>
<p>SharonD,</p>
<p>I've now attended two schools, and I've found that both don't always find it easy to balance between the individual's right to access to the university and the other students' safety. VA Tech did pretty much everything it should have done, considering the fact that students are adults. It's a hard balance that schools have to strike.</p>
<p>(Re Corranged's post #25) --I don't see it as being similar to Tulane after Katrina. The Va Tech situation is probably not likely to be replicated there, although it is highly likely to happen somewhere else, though not necessarily a college or university. It's one nut case and there will continue to be similar nut cases, but they are not tied to geography. There is no school and no state that is immune -- and it happens at work places as well as schools, and at elementary schools as well as high schools and universities. </p>
<p>With Tulane, it's got more to do with geography and overall disaster preparedness of the city. There WILL be future hurricanes: we can't stop them. So the question turns into: are you comfortable with the risk? are you satisfied with the level of disaster preparedness of the school and/or city for future hurricane seasons? (You could ask the same questions about colleges located on or near earthquake fault lines in California, such as Berkeley or Stanford).</p>
<p>SharonD: your comments do indeed reflect my concern that when we are angry we naturally look for someone to blame. It is a wonderful defense mechanisn. If someone was to blame, then the problem should not have occurred and should not occur again.</p>
<p>Sorry, but there is no copout and probably very little that VTech could have done. There are laws that protect individual rights, including individuals who are suspected of being mentally unsound. One or more professors with concerns would not be sufficient to permit action. This is not analogous to your situation where a stalker could be removed for trespassing.</p>
<p>Because many people react as you do, the administration will have to do something. I am sure they will consider, an hopefully reject, a plan to arm the security forces and maybe even train their own swat team. They will almost certainly look at airport type security screening. That might help make the campus safer but at a horrible cost, both financially and due to the impact on the campus environment. Since this was a crazy, isolated incident it will do nothing to protect people on other campuses, in malls, office buildings or any other location where people congregate.</p>
<p>This could happen anywhere anytime: a sporting event, on a subway... (the expression "going postal"). He happened to be a student at VT so that's where it occurred. Eventually VT ought to be one of the safest campuses in the US. More attention should be given to identifying potentially dangerous individuals, then taking appropriate action, whatever that may be.</p>
<p>My son works in a high rise office building in Manhattan. If you'd told me in October 2001 he'd be doing this after graduation I'd say no way. But NYC today is probably one of the safest cities around (at least I gotta hope so!).</p>
<p>Calmom, the risk of a tragic storm is roughly the same before and after Katrina (no idea about any specific meteorological factors that could, in fact, change), in the same way the risk of a tragic shooting is roughly the same before and after this one (factoring in the national risk of copycat shootings). If already considering one of these schools, the focus on whether or not to drop it from the list should be primarily based on the applicant's feelings about going through a recovery and transition period with the school.</p>
<p>This has been a life-altering event for everyone at VT. They will be better human beings for it. The answer is YES.</p>
<p>I think all colleges will be examining their security policies and how they handle apparently disturbed students in the coming months. VT will no doubt be one of the safest campuses in the nation for years to come.</p>
<p>I do expect they'll see a small decline in apps, only because of irrational fears by a small percentage of potential applicants. Whether it's not flying after a plane crash somewhere or deciding to bet on "red" on the roulette wheel, some people tend to adjust their future actions based on past events that are essentially random in nature and in no way predict the future.</p>
<p>Why do you believe that NYC is one of the safest cities?</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of cars and trucks go in and out of the city daily. Any one of them could carry a car bomb, or armed gunmen, or anthrax or nerve gas or.....</p>
<p>NYC will always be a prime target for any terrorist and is as likely as anywhere else to be the site of an attack by some deranged individual.</p>
<p>"I have always felt strongly that we need tighter gun controls, and this incident helps support my arguments on that"</p>
<p>I personally don't think tighter gun control would do anything. The psychotic prick at VT would have found a way to get a gun, bc he obviously had the intention to kill as many people as possible. </p>
<p>I think professors and teachers should go through a type of firearm training, and they should be allowed to have guns in their classroom. Maybe if one of the professors had a gun with them, they could have knocked that psycho ***** out.</p>
<p>Yes, without hesitation. I learned a lot about Virginia Tech this week, and my opinion of it went up substantially.</p>
<p>It doesn't surprise me that some families are uncomfortable. Everyone has to find the right balance.</p>
<p>I do wish, though, that we as a nation did a better job at taking quiet, subtle risks more seriously. The number one enemy of American college students is car accidents, which cost us far more than 33 young lives each year, but it's a rare family that considers car-dependent campuses or towns unsafe because of this additional risk. Since this scourge usually kills students one or two at a time, it rarely makes the news.</p>
<p>
[quote]
**but it's a rare family that considers car-dependent campuses or towns unsafe because of this additional risk.
[/quote]
**
I think I disagree with this. I think one reason urban campuses are so popular is this very reason. Lots to do and no need for a car. Drunk driving by students much less an issue for urban life students. I know plenty of kids who were guided away from suburban and rural campus due to propensity to have cars and drive toward the fun.</p>
<p>SharonD- I do not believe you will be able to send your D away to college if you want every "strange person" removed. Everywhere I ever worked or went to school had individuals that I would not have been surprised if they committed some violent act/outburst. No one ever did. Brian Williams from NBC discussed this on MSNBC tonight- he talked about the coworker that everyone says is going to kill us all one day. The blame rests with the nut not VATECH.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think professors and teachers should go through a type of firearm training, and they should be allowed to have guns in their classroom.
[/quote]
Because teachers and professors are immune to wanting to commit mass murder? I don't think so. They have background checks, so they are safer than the general population, but all that means is they haven't been convicted or committing crimes before--not that they never will. I think that's asking for a bunch of dead third graders.</p>
<p>Personally, I just don't see a reason to live in constant fear of the boogeyman of unpreventable tragedy. Yes, it's awful when these things happen, but we also need to carry on with our lives and be normal people in the long run.</p>