(no subject)
Apr. 17th, 2007 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThere are several things that particularly bother me about the Virginia Tech massacre.
I remember discussing the clock tower killings at the University of Texas in my freshman psych class at Wesleyan. Such events seemed so remote then, a part of the inaccessible past.
I'm a little dismayed at the fact that some people seem interested in pointing fingers and placing blame on the university for their actions (or lack thereof) after the first shooting in the dormitory. Yes, Virginia Tech should definitely review and revise their emergency and crisis procedures. But as far as I can tell, I think the administration probably did the best they could. Hindsight is 20/20, and I doubt anyone is ever truly prepared to deal with something like this. Maybe the search for blame is really a search for answers. Maybe the need to find fault is stronger because the gunmann killed himself and thus cannot be made to answer for his acts.
Last night on the news, I saw a brief interview with two students who had survived the attacks (one of them had been treated for a gunshot wound to the arm). They described barricading the door after the shooter left, and then having to hold it closed when he came back and tried to re-enter the room. It struck me that this is the kind of scene featured in horror movies and nightmares, not the kind of thing anyone should have to experience in real life.
I remember discussing the clock tower killings at the University of Texas in my freshman psych class at Wesleyan. Such events seemed so remote then, a part of the inaccessible past.
I'm a little dismayed at the fact that some people seem interested in pointing fingers and placing blame on the university for their actions (or lack thereof) after the first shooting in the dormitory. Yes, Virginia Tech should definitely review and revise their emergency and crisis procedures. But as far as I can tell, I think the administration probably did the best they could. Hindsight is 20/20, and I doubt anyone is ever truly prepared to deal with something like this. Maybe the search for blame is really a search for answers. Maybe the need to find fault is stronger because the gunmann killed himself and thus cannot be made to answer for his acts.
Last night on the news, I saw a brief interview with two students who had survived the attacks (one of them had been treated for a gunshot wound to the arm). They described barricading the door after the shooter left, and then having to hold it closed when he came back and tried to re-enter the room. It struck me that this is the kind of scene featured in horror movies and nightmares, not the kind of thing anyone should have to experience in real life.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-04-18 02:04 am (UTC)Virginia Tech is 26,000 students. Plus staff and faculty. That's the equivalent of a fairly large town.
The total security force available (town plus college staff) was under 120 people.
Those sort of numbers make any sort of 'lock down' simply impossible.