WTF Virginia Tech?

AmoroAgain

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/21/virginia.tech.death/index.html

That's it.  VaTech is officially the college of crazy Asian students.

goheels05

Whoa.  How am I just now hearing about this?

goheels05

And what's up with this?

Xin's slaying was the first on the Virginia Tech campus since April 16, 2007, when Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and professors before turning a gun on himself.

Congrats, VT, on going a year and a half without some grizzly murder?

laurenclaire1386

Oh goodness. Apparently there's something in the water at VT.

AmoroAgain

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wtf-virginia-tech?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:08f6ad82-d3ba-4588-85f5-b9a75fbd7e57Post:0889b046-9688-4f27-89e9-381fb74b74fd">Re: WTF Virginia Tech?</a>:
[QUOTE]And what's up with this? Xin's slaying was the first on the Virginia Tech campus since April 16, 2007, when Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and professors before turning a gun on himself. Congrats, VT, on going a year and a half without some grizzly murder?
Posted by goheels05[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I thought that was weird.

MattsPenguin

Ummm, yeah.  As a Hokie, this was not a normal thing.  This was an isolated incident in what seemed to be a love affair gone bad.   I remember it happening in January, but it seriously was just isolated. 
I was on campus in August 2005 just after a guy was found dead on a sidewalk.  A year later an escaped convict was on campus.  I remember getting the e-mail, but just skimming through it and not realizing what it was saying.  We were then sent home and told to lock our doors.  When I heard about April 16 (I had just graduated the December before), I thought "What would have happened if they had sent an e-mail?  I might not have read it thoroughly." 

Anyway, I remember a murder or two at Purdue when I was in undergrad.  It happens everywhere.  VT just got a bad rap afterApril 16.

mwhitson14

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wtf-virginia-tech?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:08f6ad82-d3ba-4588-85f5-b9a75fbd7e57Post:82e5db9a-0d79-44c8-80db-309d194db42a">Re: WTF Virginia Tech?</a>:
[QUOTE]  It happens everywhere.  VT just got a bad rap afterApril 16.
Posted by MattsPenguin[/QUOTE]

It happens everywhere? There hasn't been a murder on my campus in at least the past three years, which is the farthest I could find stats for. But I've been there almost 5 years, and don't remember a murder happening.

goheels05

There haven't been any recent murders at my undergrad or grad school, either.

And that serial killer was loose on VT's campus before the crazy kid shot all those people.  So, that's like 4 major separate incidents in, what, 4 years? 

MattsPenguin

Well I know at Purdue we had a double murder in Summer 2001 and then a kid disappeared and was found electrocuted in a closet (he shouldn't have been in) just last year. 

So maybe it's just schools that I attend . . .

Sorry, the media just pissed me off when they attacked the President of the University in April 2007. 

MattsPenguin

And there wasn't a serial killer, just an escaped convict . . does that sound better or worse?

goheels05

Sorry, yeah serial killer trumps escaped convict. 

mwhitson14

Obviously, the media shouldn't have attacked the President, something like that is beyond his/her control.

MattsPenguin

Anyway, I guess you should just be aware of your surroundings now matter what.

And I'm very happy that they are implementing a "text message" protocol to alert people of serious situations.

April 16th was a very scary day for me.  I lost a few classmates and almost lost a few more (thank goodness they had just dropped the class).  I spent the whole day at home watching the media coverage, fielding phone calls from friends/relatives.

goheels05

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wtf-virginia-tech?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:08f6ad82-d3ba-4588-85f5-b9a75fbd7e57Post:ffee1441-0787-4f49-9edd-129cb72c15ea">Re: WTF Virginia Tech?</a>:
[QUOTE] Sorry, the media just pissed me off when they attacked the President of the University in April 2007. 
Posted by MattsPenguin[/QUOTE]

Me too.  It was like to make up for the lack of solid information in all the confusion, they were fishing for a story that wasn't there.  The headlines were stuff like "Should the school have acted faster?"  I remember they were interviewing some students, and they were practically putting words in their mouth to say that more could have been done to inform the students what was going on. 

Short of text messages,<strong> nothing</strong> could have been done.  An email went out first thing in the morning after the initial shooting, which was thought to be a domestic dispute (at the time).  They acted in a way that made sense for the facts that were given.  And please, how many college students check their email before heading to a 9AM class?  I was lucky to be awake by 8:30, let alone checking my campus email.

goheels05

Sorry about your friends, Penquin. 

My employer had a recruit/former intern there finishing up her last semester.  We were so relieved when we heard she was ok, but she was really shaken up by what had happened.  I can't imagine the sense of helplessness and insecurity that you would feel after that happens somewhere you think is safe.

polichik

For some reason, even though all murders upset me, something about decaptiation just makes me puke. Literally.

I remember reading about the guy on the Greyhound bus last year who was stabbed, decapitated, and cannabalized by his seatmate. I just can't deal.

Murder is always awful, but somehow going that step further makes me think that the person's mind wasn't at all human anymore. That's absolutely terrifying.

MattsPenguin

Thanks, heels (sorry not back on sooner, had to go home and such)

SarahSmile23

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wtf-virginia-tech?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:08f6ad82-d3ba-4588-85f5-b9a75fbd7e57Post:7a5f4559-e656-4fce-9033-f580fe1614b7">Re: WTF Virginia Tech?</a>:
[QUOTE]For some reason, even though all murders upset me, something about decaptiation just makes me puke. Literally. I remember reading about the guy on the Greyhound bus last year who was stabbed, decapitated, and cannabalized by his seatmate. I just can't deal. Murder is always awful, but somehow going that step further makes me think that the person's mind wasn't at all human anymore. That's absolutely terrifying.
Posted by polichik[/QUOTE]

poli, that one really got to me, too. what makes it worse is that the 2 guys didn't even know each other! how can you want to do those horrible things to someone you don't even know? not that it's ok when you do know them, but...at least they could have a reason to be upset with the other individual.