As an alumni of Virginia Tech, yesterday’s shooting hit me in a very personal way. I lived in a dorm right around the corner from Ambler Johnston and attended classes in Norris Hall. Those kids who died yesterday were me 30 years ago. For five years I walked that campus at all hours of the day and night without a single thought for my personal safety. In the 70’s Blacksburg was a peaceful oasis where many of the off campus businesses were run by people who had come to town to attend school and had stayed to make a life. It’s hard for me to imagine how hard it will be to restore a sense of security in the community.
David’s post concerning the ‘Asian’ connection reminded me of two experiences. One summer I took a class on the history of Arab Israeli conflict. The class included both Arab and Jewish students and the class discussions often became quite passionate, but we were always able to leave the disagreements in the classroom. I also remember walking into an engineering class one morning to find several Iranian students celebrating the seizure of the American embassy. They had their say and then class went on as usual. Somehow, the world’s conflicts always seemed more manageable within the university community.
Finally, I’ve been wrestling with the contrast between the value we place on life here in America compared with life overseas. Thirty Americans are killed in a senseless act of violence and we are treated to around the clock news coverage. No one will argue that this isn’t a tragedy. However, events of this magnitude occur almost daily in Baghdad and to many of us its just another statistic. The administration tells us ‘we’re fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here’. I wonder what gave us the right to make this choice for the Iraqi people.
CNN is reporting that one of the slain students was Ross Alameddine of Saugus, so I guess there’s a local connection to the story. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, family, friends, and fellow students who were affected by this tragedy.
to this:
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I was a graduate student at Ireland’s Dublin City University on 9/11/01. The fellow who lived next door to me in my dorm suite was Bangladeshi, his wife Chinese. We had known each other for the past 12 months or so, and got along well enough.
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On September 12th, he and his wife invited over some friends and celebrated the attack. Perhaps one of my life’s most impressive (and important) accomplishments was not throwing him out the window.
I’d be in an Irish jail right now for a double murder.
Somehow what may be some facts are coming out of the media circus. It seems that the perpetator’s family lives in Virginia. Charlie Gibson was just on TV saying that he’s been knocking on the family’s door all morning and there has been no answer.
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I’m sure they are as shocked and saddened as the victims’ families. It must be difficult to lure them into the 3rd ring of the circus.
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Anyone tired of the inane, impolite, stupid questions aimed at those that went through the ordeal?
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“How did you feel when you saw your dead friends?”
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“Are you a hero?”
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“Why do you think you lived when so many others died?”
After all, the guy killed himself too. The parents of Cho must be in both deep shock for what their son did, and grief at his suicide. They should be left alone.
The shooter’s parents came to this country as adults and I read that they work in a dry cleaner’s. There is a good chance that their English is not the most fluent. They’ve probably spent a great deal of time anguished and confused about the strange social disconnection of their son and felt powerless to help him…compounded by their economic status and lack of native understanding of American society.
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I hope that I’m not making incorrect assumptions based on what I’ve read about how long they’ve been here and where they work, but I imagine that they are feeling profoundly confused, lost and frightened right now. I hope that they have strong friends who are standing by them.