Bush honors Israeli professor killed in Virginia Tech shooting
'This Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live,' US president says during Shoah memorial service in Washington. On Iran: You who have survived evil know that the only way to defeat it is to look it in the face and not back down Yitzhak Benhorin Published: 04.18.07, 20:24 / Israel News WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush on Wednesday honored Professor Liviu Librescu, an Israeli Holocaust survivor who died trying to keep a gunman from shooting his students in a killing spree at Virginia Tech University. Librescu, an aeronautics engineer and teacher at the school for 20 years, saved the lives of several students by using his body to barricade a classroom door before he was gunned down in Monday's massacre. "That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of courage," Bush said at a memorial service held at the US Holocaust Museum to a crowd that included many survivors. "We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live. And this morning we honor his memory and we take strength from his example. 'You who have found refuge in a Jewish homeland' President Bush continued to say that, "This is a place devoted to memory. Inside this building are etched the words of the prophet Isaiah: You are my witness. As part of this witness, these walls show how one of the world's most advanced nations embraced a policy aimed at the annihilation of the Jewish people." Turning his attention to the Iranian nuclear threat, the American president said, "You who bear the tattoos of death camps hear the leader of Iran declare that the Holocaust is a myth. You who have found refuge in a Jewish homeland know that tyrants and terrorists have vowed to wipe it from the map. And you who have survived evil know that the only way to defeat it is to look it in the face and not back down." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and newly appointed US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, were also on hand for the Holocaust memorial service. Associated Press contributed to the report -- Original Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3389555,00.html
Efrat Yaari,Marketing Manager,Ynetnews (Efrat-ya@y-i.co.il)
Business as usual at high school after Virginia Tech shootings
By Ryan Bray GateHouse Media Thu May 03, 2007, 02:22 PM EDT Scituate - In the two weeks since the Virginia Tech shootings swept through the college town of Blacksburg, Va., people nationwide are still struggling to grasp and adjust to the tragic events that left 33 students and faculty members at the school dead. But miles an miles away from all the mourning and controversy, it's business as usual at Scituate High School, as students and faculty members go about their daily routines. Students rush about the halls while seniors, many of whom are in the process of hearing back from colleges and making their plans for the fall, count down the remaining days of their high school careers. "It hasn't impacted them at all," said Sherri Lewis, director of guidance at the high school, regarding the impact of the shooting on outgoing students. "They all seem very excited." But while students have carried on with things as they otherwise would, that's not to say that the Virginia Tech shootings haven't had some effect on the school, however slight. Principal Donna Nuzzo-Mueller said the shootings are of greater concern to teachers than to students, whom have come to learn of the tragedies from a distance through television and the news. "I think our educators dwell on this more than the young people do," Nuzzo-Mueller said. "Developmentally at their age, I think it's difficult to grasp the severity of it all at that stage of their lives." However, students are reacting in their own ways. Nuzzo-Mueller said several school groups and clubs have rallied to raise money for a fund established for the families of the shooting victims. Others, she said, have likely dealt with the tragedy outside the school with friends and family. "We certainly have kids who want to reach out and help, and that's natural," she said. The shootings almost immediately brought attention to the issue of how to better prepare and respond in the event of a similar emergency in the future. Administrators and campus police officials came under fire from parents and the media in the days following the event for what some saw as an inadequate response to the shootings, while locally, Gov. Deval Patrick met with administrators from public colleges and universities across the state to discuss how to best safeguard students in the event of another shooting. But Nuzzo-Mueller said at the high school, there isn't much the school can likely do to prepare for a similar attack beyond the school's current emergency evacuation plan. She said incidents of the scale and magnitude of Virginia Tech or Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., could never be fully prepared for in spite of the best efforts from faculty and administrators. "It all just shows that it could happen to anybody," Nuzzo-Mueller said. "It's a problem that just exists. There's always a slice of humanity that struggles with this issue. No matter what plan are put in place, you'd likely have to adapt to the situation should one arise." Superintendent of Schools Mark Mason said he would meet with security advisers next week to discuss the potential for increased security within the district's six schools. But while student safety is always top priority, Mason said a balance must be struck between what's too much and not enough. "It's a philosophical question," he said. "We want to keep our schools safe, but do we want to keep the kids in lockdown mode throughout the year?" Nuzzo-Mueller said she is uncertain if any outgoing seniors will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall. She said that while graduates have gone on to attend the school in the past, it is not common from year to year. -- Original Source: Scituate Mariner http://www.townonline.com/scituate/education/x1592158543 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0
C.U. Officials Discuss Response to Va. Tech
By Ben Eisen Sun Staff Writer Apr 25 2007 "Half of college students report having felt extremely depressed," said Ray Kim, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to a crowd of students in Goldwin Smith's Hollis E. Cornell auditorium yesterday afternoon. "60 percent of students report feeling absolutely hopeless at times. 10 percent of students reported seriously considering suicide. How many people knew it was this bad?" No one raised their hands. Kim was one of four speakers on a panel yesterday afternoon to speak about the Virginia Tech tragedy and Cornell's level of preparedness for such emergencies. Hosted by Omega Phi Beta Sorority and Lambda Phi Epsilon, the goal of the discussion was to bring the past week's events home to our campus. Other speakers included George Sutfin, head of crime prevention at Cornell Police, Chief Curtis Ostrander who has worked for CUPD since before the 1983 shooting at Cornell, and Dr. Ya-Shu Liang, who works for Counseling and Psychological Services. "Every time something happens [response and prevention] plans are reevaluated," Sutfin said. "Columbine got everyone reevaluating response," added Ostrander. "New training was developed. I was one of the first officers who received training." Sutfin told the audience that Cornell is now in the process of making a contract with a company that alerts everyone on campus of emergencies by text message. "If something happens at an elementary school, it's easy to shut down, but Cornell is a small city, and it's very hard to shut down the entire campus. Studies show that 90 percent of students have cell phones, so [the new plan will] send texts to everyone in a circumference." Though the officers were unable not comment on their current response plans to the specific type of emergency that happened at Virginia Tech, Sutfin said that CUPD senior staff sat in on meetings to discuss changes to the plans while the panel was going on. He added that a lot of prevention rests in the hands of students. According to Sutfin, many students let unknown people into their dormitories, putting everyone at risk. He cited an incident when, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, he was able to get into a dorm, go into an unlocked room and "steal" a computer, without ever being asked who he was. Kim said that there is added pressure in a university setting, which often drives people to need help. He said that University policy forbids the administration from telling parents when their students show signs of problems unless the student provides consent, and Gannett and Cayuga Medical cannot tell the administration when students need help. This means that a lot of responsibility for reaching out to those in trouble rests in the hands of students. Liu spoke about the infrastructure that Gannett has implemented to help at-risk students through CAPS. "If students are in danger to themselves or others, we may break confidentiality," Liu said. "If someone called the hotline and said that they were going to kill people, we would force them into the hospital." She added that students have also used CAPS to help them cope with the Virginia Tech tragedy. This panel was the only community forum organized by students, according to Antonia de Jesus '09 of Omega Phi Beta, who helped arrange the event. "I got a call from my mother crying the day it happened," said de Jesus. "She had seen the pictures of all students. I looked it up on the internet, and I thought that something had to be done, so we put it all together." Tiffany Brutus '07, president of Omega Phi Beta, was concerned because Cornell students had not done more in response to the tragedy. "It's a big reflection on our generation. People care about it in the now, but not a couple days later. If you don't go to Virginia Tech, people forget about it." -- Original Source: Cornell Daily Sun - April 25, 2007
Jonny Lieberman <jdl46@cornell.edu>, <lieberman.jonny@gmail.com>
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A cadet carries one of the victim's hokie stones back to the seating area while spectators - including many members of the Marching Virginians band - look on. The stones were taken from the original memorial that sprang up after the events of April 16. Photo taken at the intermediate memorial dedication ceremony on August 19, 2007. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
Items left at the memorial plaque of Caitlin Hammaren on the drillfield. Photo taken on 5-1-07. Photo by Teri H. Hoover.
Teri H. Hoover <crystalirisphotos@gmail.com>
One of the 33 Hokie Stone memorials on VT's drill-field Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/killfile/502619831/in/set-72157600298230023/ Photo Courtesy of Chris Thomas
Permission: Chris Thomas http://www.flickr.com/photos/killfile/502619831/in/set-72157600298230023/
Although many miles away, we at California Polytechnic State University feel the pain and sorrow for all of our fellow peers at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts and prayers were for you and your families during this candlelight vigil held on 18 April 2007. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464835500/ Photo Courtesy of Jason Ozaeta
Permission: Jason Ozaeta www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464835500/
Although many miles away, we at California Polytechnic State University feel the pain and sorrow for all of our fellow peers at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts and well-wishes were being added to a poster that we hope you will accept. This humble offering comes from fellow college students. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464844899/ Photo Courtesy of Jason Ozaeta
Permission: Jason Ozaeta http://www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464844899/
Although many miles away, we at California Polytechnic State University feel the pain and sorrow for all of our fellow peers at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts and prayers were for you and your families during this candlelight vigil held on 18 April 2007. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464836088/ Photo Courtesy of Jason Ozaeta
Permission: Jason Ozaeta www.flickr.com/photos/inferno10/464836088/
Caltech grieves for VA Tech student victims
By Jean-Lou Chameau, Institute President Thursday, April 19, 2007 We live in a time when tragedies occur almost daily in the world. They trouble us; however, many of them seem so distant that they do not affect us deeply, although they should. The tragedy experienced yesterday on the Virginia Tech campus is one that is affecting all of us more deeply because it took place in a community we understand and cherish. Violence of young people against young people is tragic--impossible to truly comprehend, but especially shocking in a university environment. The university years provide a unique period in the lives of young people, a period when they can learn, experience, and interact with others in freedom and safety. Our thoughts today should be with the Virginia Tech community, and especially with the families of the victims. We grieve for them. As we learn to adjust to this event, our commitment and energy should remain focused on assuring that universities like Virginia Tech and Caltech remain safe, free environments where young people can prepare themselves for life. -- Original Source: The California Daily - April 19, 2007
Permissions: Marissa Cevallos <tech@caltech.edu> editor-in-chief, The California Daily
By Yang Yang Thursday, April 19, 2007 Some found out when they checked the morning news, only to be greeted with horror; others learned about it when concerned parents began calling. The rest discovered the gruesome news when fellow students began discussing it. By lunchtime Monday, every student at Caltech was well aware of the two shootings which left 33 dead that occurred earlier that day at Virginia Tech. "I first found out about this when my friend began talking about it at lunch," junior Henna Kermani said. "At first I couldn't believe it." For Ricketts RA Amy Eastwood, a Virginia native, the shootings struck a little closer to home. "My initial reaction was shock. I kept checking back [and] the number of casualties kept increasing and increasing. It was so sad, an RA was killed. He was a triple major, member of the band, 4.0 kind of guy. Why?" she asked. Inevitably, some began to wonder about whether such a massacre could happen at Caltech. "Obviously, I imagined whether or not it could happen here," sophomore Cliff Chang said. "It's the same as the reaction to Columbine, [you wonder] if any of the other students you don't really talk to is thinking about [shooting everyone]." To address potential concern, a campus-wide gathering was held on Tuesday. There, chief of security Gregg Henderson and director of counseling Kevin Austin addressed the handful of people who showed. Security looks to expand immediate notification list According to Henderson, Caltech is one of the safest schools in the U.S. The campus has rarely seen violence, much less deadly shootings. The last fatal incident on campus occurred in April 1994; no students were involved or harmed in the event. The Institute has emergency response plans for shooter situations, but Henderson could not disclose any details. Coincidentally, Caltech emergency dispatchers underwent training two weeks ago for emergency conditions such as a shooter on campus. "We just went through training with our dispatchers on those exact things, gathering information, making sure proper notifications [are made] to agencies outside of Caltech that we may need to bring in," Henderson said. New mass notification system being put in place A major concern raised by the Virginia Tech shootings is timely notification of crimes in hopes of preventing more harm. The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, better known as the Clery Act, mandates that universities "shall make timely reports to the campus community on crimes considered to be a threat to other students and employees ... that are reported to campus security or local law police agencies. Such reports shall be provided to students and employees in a manner that is timely and that will aid in the prevention of similar occurrences." In the case of Virginia Tech, mass emails were sent to students two hours after the first shooting, some argue that time gap was too long. Caltech recently began subscribing to a mass notification system called ConnectEd, which is capable of sending alerts through email, phone and text message. However, currently the system only sends notifications to members of the crisis management committee, a "representation from across the campus, from student affairs to faculty, to counseling," according to Henderson. Members include Dean John Hall, Assistant VP of student affairs Erica O'Neal, and Assistant VP of Campus Life Tom Mannion. There has been talk of adding the rest of Caltech to the ConnectEd system. "We anticipate beginning to populate ConnectEd with the entire campus, students, faculty, and staff in the near future," Henderson said. "[To do so] we will need community members to submit the various methods that ConnectEd uses for communication, including e-mail, home and campus phones, cell phones, and text to us. More information about the system will be provided as we move forward with the project." The best course of action when one suspects a shooter is to inform security, not trying to intervene, according to Henderson. "We are a very secure campus, I can provide security," he said. "I can put people out there to patrol the grounds... [but] people need to communicate with us, if you have something that feels suspicious, [if] your initial reaction is [that] something's not right, call us immediately, let us come in and figure out what's going on." Counseling center emphasizes help, not fear for mentally ill Austin emphasized prevention at the campus gathering on Tuesday. By identifying troubled individuals and getting them counseling and professional help, he said, violent incidents with trouble individuals can be prevented. Changes in one's behavior may highlight deeper issues. "It's easiest [to notice change] when you already have a relationship with a person, because you have a baseline of what's normal for them," Austin said. "Perhaps the person stopped going to class, stopped going to dinner, they seem much more pessimistic, quieter, less responsive [and] less interested than what they used to be." The counseling center regularly handles students, 20% of the undergraduate population has been seen by the center, according to Austin. Most go to just talk about their issues, but three to 10 students a year are hospitalized for their own safety. People with mental illnesses are not predisposed to violence and should not be treated like threats, Austin strongly stressed. These individuals need care, not fear. "If you look at the Virginia Tech shooter, he was a loner and had a mental illness," Austin said. "Those two things alone don't predispose people to violence... [Things which may cause violent tendencies] are extreme trauma: witnessing something horrific, being an object of abuse or [the person is] subjected to violence themselves." To reach out to someone who may be having trouble, Austin recommended opening a friendly conversation. Rather than trying to evaluate the person's mindset, just describe the changes the person is undergoing and express concern about the shift in behavior. Although one might think it's meddling to do so, the conversation may help immensely. "The strength of this place is that students look out for one another, they should continue to do so," he said. "But sometimes there is reluctance to draw attention to someone needing help, encourage them to take the next step." -- Original Source: The California Tech - April 19, 2007