Americans’ reactions to killing spree on Virginia Tech campus
In light of recent events at Virginia Tech, I wanted to offer my comments to those trying to make sense of this horrible tragedy. Being only four days away from the eight-year anniversary of the Columbine incident, where I was a senior (class of ’99), it’s a tough time and a time to heal for those trying to comprehend how this could happen.
The message I share is: Always remember, never forget, and live for those who are not here with us. I realized, after what I witnessed eight years ago in my hometown in Littleton, that tragic events are not going to subside, but families and communities can grow and learn from these lessons. Make a promise to make your actions the best they can be and live life to the fullest. My heart and condolences go out to those impacted and lost in Monday’s events.
Alex Dudik, Denver
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I am out here in Denver on business. My home is Blacksburg, Va., and my school is Virginia Tech. This week I will go to Littleton to reflect on what happened in Blacksburg, Littleton, and at other schools in our country. I know in my heart that right now we are all Virginia Tech Hokies, and our prayers are for those parents who are waiting for a phone call they never expected.
Steve Critchfield, Blacksburg, Va.
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I, like everyone else, was shocked by Monday’s tragic events at Virginia Tech. How many more times do we need to get hit with these random acts of violence before we listen and act? Emily Keyes gave us one key: Practice random acts of kindness. Craig Scott, whose sister Rachel was killed at Columbine, echoed this last October when he said the antidote to violence is kindness.
How about setting aside April 20 or Sept. 27 as a National Practice Random Acts of Kindness Day and hosting events like on Earth Day to raise awareness? Beyond that, we need to change the culture of violence that has arisen in this country.
The time has come for Congress to pass legislation creating a Department of Peace, which was first introduced by Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in 2001. The department would address the root causes of violence and would foster the spread and use of the programs and practices that already exist which are needed to resolve conflict before it escalates into violence.
Contact your congressman to support the Department of Peace legislation, and while you are at it, suggest that they sponsor a bill to create the Kindness Day. Let us not await another tragedy before acting.
Bonnie S. Mandell-Rice, Broomfield
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Perhaps no reaction to the Virginia Tech tragedy is more telling of the blinders on American eyes than that of our president: “We are shocked and saddened.” Saddened? He should be outraged, as should we all. It is outrageous that the “freedom” freaks and gun-ownership-rights folks aren’t getting it: that the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries are long past, and what worked then doesn’t necessarily work now. When literally millions have access to guns, what do we expect? In a culture that thrives on quick bytes of violence and has access to dangerous weapons, what do we expect?
It is time for America to grow up and solve 21st century problems with 21st century solutions.
Anne Culver, Denver
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The first pop massacre to burn itself into my conscious remembrance was the San Ysidro McDonald’s shooting by James Huberty, who had told his wife he was going out to “hunt humans.” In the aftermath of that event, there was much haranguing and breast- thumping about gun violence and the violent American culture. The McDonald’s was demolished and replaced by a community college. Nothing else came of it.
Since that time, we have had spates of school shootings, Columbine the worst, the Amish schoolhouse perhaps the most depraved. Again, after much public and media circus, nothing.
Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas: Came and went, without much lasting consequence.
Now, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., down there in the Shenandoah Mountains. A great engineering school also known for its Christian religious fervor and its military tradition. Again, the same media circus, the same editorials, the same predictable propaganda from organs on the right and on the left.
In the end, nothing will happen. Nothing ever does. Oh, sure, some will compare a day in Blacksburg to any day of hundreds in Baghdad. Some will cry for more gun control, others for less. Pat Robertson, et al, will blame it on the “abortionists and homosexuals.” Etc., etc. The stultifying, predictable responses will issue forth, Americans will become even more inured to ongoing violence, but in the end, nothing will change.
One last thought: One brave student or professor, armed with a personal weapon, could have stopped this carnage before it escalated to be the “worst yet.”
Marc Austin Neville, Dauphin, Pa.
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Re: “Campus heartache, haunting questions,” April 17 editorial.
Your editorial about about the Virginia Tech shootings is right on target. One of the haunting questions is how we can prevent such a tragedy from occurring here in Colorado.
I work in the Auraria Library on the Auraria campus, which is the busiest academic library in the state. Unfortunately, our downtown location and publicly funded status make the library a destination for many homeless and otherwise shiftless individuals, and this is a constant problem for us. Because we are a publicly funded, academic library, all are welcome to enter and use the facility.
The Auraria campus police are often reluctant to help library staff deal with the homeless population that hangs out in the library. The soup kitchen next door at St. Elizabeth’s church attracts many homeless to the campus and worsens the problem. On the occasions when a homeless person creates a disturbance and the police are forced to intervene, we often learn later that the individual had numerous outstanding warrants, often for violent crimes.
The students in Colorado’s busiest academic library deserve a safe and secure environment for their studying and research. I encourage state and campus officials to re- evaluate and strengthen security on the Auraria campus. Let’s work to prevent a tragedy like the one at Virginia Tech from occurring here.
Jeffrey Beall, Denver
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It is right that we grieve and feel our pain over their pain at Virginia Tech. It is right that we connect this shooting with Columbine and its horror. In both cases, we can see madness, for there is no reason.
What is not right is that we do not make the connection with another madness: Iraq. Day after day, week after week, month after month, those Iraqis endure Virginia Tech and Columbine over and over again. In a war we started. In our arrogance and our incompetence, a war which we continue as if we were humble and smart enough to see our way out. Tens of thousands of deaths we caused that we seem to feel only in the abstract.
It is madness, and what has been started is out of our control. There is only one way to approach one’s own insanity, and that is spiritually. We humble ourselves and confess our own faults. We weep for the children and teachers at Virginia Tech and Columbine. And we lift up a culture of not killing as the only true way towards security.
Jeff Neuman-Lee, Denver
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While they may be comforting to some, we don’t need the president, the Pope, teddy bears or balloons. We need change. We need gun control, media, entertainment, sports leaders and toy manufacturers who refuse to support and glorify violence, and a compassionate society that respects individuals of any age, ethnicity, religion or gender. Until then, massacres of the innocent will continue to reflect the nation we have become.
Karen D. Herndon, Littleton
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