One of the readers here is also a student at Virginia Tech, and has written his own reflections on the tragedy.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
One of the readers here is also a student at Virginia Tech, and has written his own reflections on the tragedy.
Thank you for the posting, PZ. For those of us going through this, it is therapeutic for us to discuss and express our experiences.
I hope my university sent flowers. That was a nice gesture.
Could we not at the very least ban handguns that shoot 19 bullets? Who needs that kind of weapon? Why are we allowing that kind of killing machine to be in the hands of just about anyone (even non-citizens!)? I do not understand it.
Bad bad news re a freshman student who was in a state of panic Monday because she couldn’t reach her friends at VA Tech. She showed up for our 12 o’clock class. (Radford reopened today after a one-day closure). I asked how she was, and she burst into tears. Here is what she knows so far: one girdfriend is safe, one girlfriend was shot in the chest and hand and is hospitalized, and one male friend, an engineering major, has not been heard from by anyone since before the attack. Dismissed class, sat with the student for awhile, then walked her across campus to the counseling center, where a counselor was made available right away.
Exactly, CalGeorge. Could you imagine preschoolers going to class everyday with Heckler & Koch G41’s?! Clearly, a line MUST be drawn somewhere, and gun freaks aren’t seeing it.
I saw Franklin Graham on Fox “News” (they keep it on here at work) earlier. He claimed this happened because the man was possessed by a demon.
It’s a sad state of affairs when we still, in this century, diagnose mental illness as “demon possession”. The cure? God of course. At least, per Franklin Graham.
They think diabetes is caused by demons too, specficially *dramatic pause*
A SQUID DEMON!!!!
WARNING: Really annoying MIDI file that you can’t seem to turn off
http://www.demonbuster.com/diabetic.html
That alone would be grounds for seeking new employment, for me. Sanity and a desire to remain living are more important than a paycheck.
I posted this before, but incase you missed it-
That grubby racist Debbie Schlussel is now complaining that you can see Muslim students in the foreground of a pic of grieving V-Tech students
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/04/random_washingt.html
CalGeorge,
There actually was a ban on manufacture of oversized magazines, but it hit its sunset clause a few years ago. However, there is no evidence whatosever that the ban had any effect whatsoever, nor that it would have had any effect on the VT tragedy had it not expired.
It can be reasonably debated whether or not the 2nd amendment serves any useful purpose in the modern United States, but I would say that now is not the time. Knee-jerk responses based only on gut instinct are no better when applied to gun control than Islam, athiests, or liberals, and the strong emotions serve only to cloud discussion.
cbutter,
They keep it on only in the break areas, so at least I’m not subjected to rightwing propaganda eight hours a day.
I work in Tennessee, so, clearly, the only “fair and balanced” news is Fox “News”.
Strangely, it was on CNN when I went to lunch. I’m sure that won’t last long once someone realizes the error.
About the Debbie Schlussel comment. There were Muslims visible throughout the student body. Many were wearing black mourning outfits. I saw a Muslim praying, then leaning to fix candles that had caught fire some of the grass around the memorial, while a Jewish man stood next to her, praying. This is not Debbie Schlussel’s moment. We have an international, peaceful student body. I am taking a class this semester where my practicing Muslim professor moved our class pizza day since one of the Jewish students in our class could not eat on the planned date due to passover.
Thanks Zeteo,
You’re right. This is not Schlussel’s moment- and I’m wary of giving her any more publicity. However, we should not forget her racism when she next pops up on cable or in the media.
My heartfelt condolences to students, staff and professors V-Tech. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.
No, it’s not her moment at all. See, there may be a lot of adults around that try so hard to make everything racial, but the college kids there, they don’t care.
VA Tech is a massive school, with a diverse student body, like a lot of campuses. The students don’t care what religion anyone is, or what their race it, they’re all hurting together.
This stuff upsets me to read, then I turn to Facebook and my fellow students. There, the students are discussing their disgust with the media for focusing on the race of the killer and the religions involved. Students from hundreds of campuses are decrying the behavior of the media. And it makes me feel a little better, that any attempt to point fingers at a race or a religion for this is immediately shut down by a dozen students who are intelligent enough to see through this crap.
Zeteo…THAT is the VT that I have come to know through my child. A student body who cares for one another, no matter what the race, religion, sexual orientation, whatever is. Child is in mourning now…2 girls from the dorm Child lives in were killed, both of whom Child knew, and the young cadet, Matthew, was the friend of a friend, and also a fellow New Jerseyan.
What strikes me about Schlussel’s post is not the hatefulness, but how dumb she looks trying to say something clever: “Just a random photo, right?”
Uh, why would the Washington Post choose a photo at random? Why would the photographer choose one at *random*? Photographers take hundreds of shots, most of which never see the light of day. A news outlet might choose to publish a particular one based on its artistic merit or noteworthiness, but certainly not at random. So, no s— Sherlock, it was not a randomly selected photo.
In this case, it’s noteworthy that Muslims are among those mourning, and may come as a surprise to those with preconceptions about rural Virginia. That’s the whole point of the shot: a diverse community coming together in grief. In the current political climate, including Muslims in the shot is effective shorthand for this diversity. So, yeah, that’s the point. So frickin’ what?
Re: #5 – arrgh ! It’s precisely because of primitive magical thinking like Franklin Graham’s that you find people who don’t or won’t seek professional help because they or their caretakers thought they could “pray away the crazy” or “exorcise the demons”. Incredible, the utter irresponsibility of the religiosi. Especially if they’re gonna pull a Ken Ham act and blame any resulting postal rampages on atheism.
There was a pretty moving interview on NPR today with a student who was the only one in his classroom who didn’t get shot, here.
That has to be some survivor’s guilt.