I want to write about gossip today, but it seems a little silly and pointless, especially as I know people who have been affected by this tragedy. I’m sure I’ll get into a state of mind where I am able to write about celebrities a bit later, but I will feel a bit shallow if I don’t cover this and pretend it never happened.
Cho Seung-Hui, the student gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus early Monday morning, may have been infatuated with his first victim, 18-year-old Emily Hilscher, also a student at VT. It’s not known whether she ever responded to his advances, and to be completely frank I don’t think it matters. No one deserves to be killed under these circumstances.
Here’s the coverage from the Daily Mail:
Dressed more like a ‘boy scout’ than a mass murderer, he arrived at her dormitory room early on Monday morning.
It is unclear whether the first-year had responded to her killer’s approaches. But Cho, jealous of Emily’s boyfriend, gunned her down.
Another student, Ryan Clark, rushed to help after hearing his neighbour arguing with Cho. But the 22-year-old died alongside her.
Cho, who was described as a loner, then casually walked back to his own room, re-armed and embarked on an orgy of violence making him the most deadly murderer in American history.
Before killing 30 more, and then turning the gun on himself, Cho left a note which gave some clues to his twisted mind. He wrote: ‘You caused me to do this’.
The ‘very disturbing’ letter, four pages long, includes a rambling list of grievances and attacks against ‘rich kids’, ‘debauchery’ and ‘deceitful charlatans’ on campus.
He died with the words ‘Ismail Ax’ written in red ink on the inside of one of his arms, leading to speculation that he may have been a Muslim. In Islamic lore, Ismail is a reference to the ‘son of sacrifice’.
A candlelight vigil was held yesterday morning commemorating the dead, and President Bush attended a memorial service at the university yesterday.
Everyone is playing the blame game at the moment. It’s America’s fault for having lax gun control laws. It’s the university’s fault for not sending the e-mails out quick enough to warn people that Seung-Hui was on the loose on campus. It’s the counsellors fault for not alerting people sooner as to how troubled this young man really was.
At the risk of being lambasted for this later, all the things I stated above ARE true. America has ridiculous gun control laws that vary from state to state, it’s not regulated strictly enough, and my opinion is that our right to bear arms was put in the Bill of Rights back in the days of our forefathers when we were fighting British control of the colonies, not so everyone has the right to store a semi-automatic to use when they deem it necessary (because “necessary” can mean a lot of different things to different people).
The e-mails SHOULD have been sent out earlier, more imperative wording should have been used in the e-mails to make everyone know what was going on and to be vigilant. If anything, if there was a gunman on campus an announcement on a tanoid should have been on to tell everyone to keep gun an be wary that a psycho was on the loose. A police unit should have been sent to every part of the university to make sure no one else was affected.
The counsellors should have done more to alert others about Seung-Hui’s behavior. It is reported that he had set fire to a dorm room in the past, for goodness sake, and that he was taking medication for depression after his behavior started becoming more violent and erratic. They knew this, and did not do enough with the information. They could have restricted him from attending university classes until his behavior was under control.
But the question still remains–what the hell are we going to solve by blaming each other? We could “shoulda, woulda, coulda” all we want, but in the end it was Seung-Hui’s twisted reasoning (and I say twisted, because there is never a good reason to take someone’s life) that led him to do all this. Everything else falls in the background–no one pulled that trigger but him.
No one seems to have learned from other tragedies like Columbine and Dunblane. Everyone commiserates the dead, and then think nothing about it until another tragedy happens. Instead of pointing fingers, people need to shut up and start acting on real solutions before another stupid atrocity like this happens again.
My thoughts are with the dead and their loved ones.
Good for you for covering a bit of real news… honestly, I’m more likely to read something short & quick on here than go to CNN and search through hundreds of articles that all say the same thing. so thanks Jessie!
You’re a lot more brave than I was/am. As much as I want to post more details about the event, I’m too afraid of the backlash from posting something that may be wrong or posting my opinion (beyond the obvious of it all being incredibly sad). I hope that you don’t have to deal with too many morons here and I salute your bravery.
PLEASE don’t turn this tragedy into a jab at the constitution. the right to bear arms is crucial — one day americans might need to revolt, again, and our forefathers knew that if/when that day comes, we need the right to arm ourselves to stand up to _____ (brittish, commies, evil men in dc etc etc.) stripped of arms/stripped of our rights it would be too easy to be controlled, and we must never lose our right to revolt against the wrong. i’m not a gun nut; i don’t even own a gun… but mark my words: if we need to revolt again, i’d prefer to wage a battle with an actual weapon as opposed to throwing a few rocks palistinian style, only to be mowed down by tanks and an army who DOES have the right to bear arms. that being said, i’m very sorry you know people who were touched by this travesty. i hope you’re ok, and i hope you know that doing your job, writing silly yet entertaining gossip, doesn’t make you a bad/shallow person.. it makes you a provider for your 5 yo daughter.
its not about guns or gun control the guy was f’ed up in the head Mental illness is what needs to be focus. the guy had a history of that.
Oh Alex, I respectfully disagree. If, by some weird alignment of the stars, the most powerful country in the world does get attacked, you’re army is more than capable enough to handle it. Having your huge population running around shooting neighbours (mistakenly thinking they are commies) would be anarchy.
As a woman who chooses to responsibly own a gun for personal protection, because a rapist murderer etc. doesn’t usually heed a plee for non violence, I will say that I agree with Alex and anonymous above, and add that I think with revolt that the worry is not so much about another country attacking us but about our own government as well(not that our government ever tries to abuse power…)Anyhow, I am glad this topic was covered. I don’t usually post.
You know you can always tell people what they should have done. In this case it seems that Teachers and counselors were trying to get a handle on this student. What were they suppose to do kick him out of the school? First of all if they did that then they would have to kick all the depressed and violent students out of school and second of all he still might have decided to go on a gun rampage.
And it’s really easy to say now after an emotional event like this how lax the gun laws are and get people to jump on your band wagon but it’s also hypocritical. Do you know how many people are murdered everyday because of guns? Don’t leave them out of your argument just because you think this has high emotional value.
The bottom line is you cannot stop a determined gun man. If someone is determined enough to cause violence then they are going to accomplish their goal. The question becomes how much damage their violence creates.
Could the people at Virgina Tech done things differently and lowered the number of people who died. Yes. Certainly they could warned the students sooner, they could have locked down the campus, they could have had more security measures in place. But do we need to blame them for what’s happened? I don’t think so.
They didn’t mean for these people to die and no matter how much blame and anger we throw into their faces it won’t be near what they themselves have to live with. They have to live with making decisions they thought were right but turned out to be catastrophic. I don’t know about you, but if I had to live with something like that I’d just want to crawl into a cave and die.
Lets try to heal instead.
First, good commentary. Second, I agree with Alex and Julie but one of the things that America does allow is to bear arms. Mind you, the state I live in is big for hunting. Most gun owners are law abiding citizens. They take their right to bear arms seriously and keep them locked up when not used and use them only when needed. Their children are taught to respect arms and more importantly, the law. That said, the killer could have killed others at the campus without using a firearm. Europe and Asia in particular do not allow firearms (generally speaking) but if you look at the news from Japan (one of the most gun hating countries) the mayor of Nagasaki was shot by a Yakuza (gangster) by a hand gun. When guns are not allowed to be owned by the general public, only criminals and law enforcement officers will be the ones having guns. And trust me, the criminals will obtain handguns any way they can (and they will find them). Good debate. This is not as black and white as it appears on the surface.
Thanks you guys for keeping it respectful and thoughtful in your comments. I really appreciate it.
“When guns are not allowed to be owned by the general public, only criminals and law enforcement officers will be the ones having guns. And trust me, the criminals will obtain handguns any way they can (and they will find them).”
I know everyone is entitled to their opinion but I hate this arguement; the VT massacre is just another instance where a legally acquired weapon was used to commit a crime. How can we predict what a person will do with a legally acquired gun? We can’t. There are a whole series of issues to consider, as Jessie stated — that include mental health issues, isolation, assimilation…as Mr. T puts it, it’s not all black and white. Does anyone else think it’s at least a little sad that the new media immediately pointed out that he was Asian? First thinking he was Chinese…as if to say, “he’s not one of ours.” I know I’ll get slammed for saying all this – let the slamming begin.
One more thing…I’m a grad student and my husband is a professor at a university in the South, so it’s hard to think of anything else right now. Such a tragedy. Thanks CB and Jessie for thoughtful writing and to all the commentors for keeping it respectful, other blogs I’ve been on are so off the wall with hate. And keep the gossip coming! It helps.
Unfortunately, the laws that are in place prevented someone from being able to stop this murderer. He knew his victims were defenseless. Easy.
Gun control laws help criminals. They make it easier for them. Period.
Van, my father in law (very bigoted) was visiting for the weekend and he heard that the gunman was Asian and his first words were, “Some Asian shot them all.” I was SO PISSED. I said, “What does it matter his heritage?! Obviously the individual was very disturbed and THAT’S what should matter.”
People grasp at straws when things like this happens. They want to place blame, make generalizations and sweeping conclusions. Unfortunately, gun laws and ethnicity were easy straws to grasp. And no, there was absolutely NO reason to play the ethnicity card.
This really hits close to home for me. His hometown and a lot of his victims were from close to the area I am. I’ve been inside of his HS alma mater for CPR class.
I am English and I keep typing what I want to say and then deleting it because I am worried I may cause offence.
Firstly I want to say that I am deeply sorry for the victims and their families. Also the American people, as I am sure the atmosphere out there must be quite distressing.
This bit is what I am finding hard to word as I have no intention to offend anyone. I disagree with the right to bare arms, simply because I believe it to be dangerous and I am morally against it.
I understand there are many people who respect the fact that the gun is a dangerous weapon and are incredibly careful with it. But I was just wondering why some Americans are so keen on keeping their right to bare arms? Honestly I have no idea how long the English have been banned from ownership of such a weapon, but I have never wanted to own one or met anyone who has expressed such a desire either. Basically what I am trying to say is its not hard living without the right to own a gun. So why are the government so scared to amend that law? I know the right to bare arms is in the constitution, but that was written in the late 1700s, so shouldnt the law have moved on since then?
Again, my deepest sympathy goes out to the victims and families.
Hmm.. did the killer use a hunting rifle? I don’t have anything against hunting or even having firearms for protection (if that’s your choice) but having a semi or any gun that fires rapidly and can do so much damage in the hands of a criminal or a lunatic should be strictly outlawed or regulated. Who in the right mind thinks that THIS is what the Constitution envisioned? How about a machine gun or a tank if you’re at it? Thank you celebitchy for a rational comment. Everyone is at fault here but you can’t close your eyes to the fact that the Second Amendment is abused by the gun lobby and misunderstood by people who should stick their heads out of their neck of the woods once in a while to see what the rest of the world is doing about gun violence. You CAN own a gun in Europe and tragedies do happen sometimes but people learn from them. After Dunblane the laws were tightened to avoid another disaster. You can have a gun for hunting if you’re member of a club, you can get a gun for protection if you apply for it.. psychological and other tests are administered to make sure lunatics don’t get guns. Sure, anything can still happen, but a frustrated kid can’t just walk up to a counter and buy himself a deadly weapon. As to being able to defend yourself — how often does it happen even if someone owns a gun? More likely, the criminal breaking into your house will find the gun and use it on you. A gun in the house provides a false sense of security and more often ends up being used in a domestic dispute or by a child, with predictable results. Check the statistics.
This stuff is priceless:
“the right to bear arms is crucial — one day americans might need to revolt, again, and our forefathers knew that if/when that day comes, we need the right to arm ourselves to stand up to .. commies” Brilliant!
I personally don’t care whether I can own a gun or not, for the most part. What I object to is the thinking that gun control will even slow down crime – it absolutely will not. Passing stricter laws will only cause a false sense of security wich is a dangerous thing. People who do not understand the criminal element cannot grasp how easy it will still be for criminals to get guns.
In the first place, they’re criminals. They have no objection to stealing them.
There will always be plenty of people who have access to guns who are willing to sell them to those they know they shouldn’t or who would otherwise not be able to have them. I have a friend who did 5 years in prison for being involved in a shootout with police. He can never legally own a gun again but he damn sure still has a trunk full of them. In the worst case scenario it is pretty easy to make a gun from some regular household items, you can find instructions on the internet. I saw one of those true crime shows where someone was shot with a homemade gun and they showed the thing and how it was made.
You can argue other benefits of gun control but lowering crime is not one of them.
Wait a minute.
Is this why nobody responded for two hours and is this why Bush showed up?
Btw is the girl Jewish?
The shooter committed a gross crime; however, the school, students and society are all just as responsible as he was for what happened.
I’m a former college instructor (business/computing). Yet, my sensitivity to humans and the insensitivities of the American cultural way of life to those who don’t fit in helped me identify and counsel problematic students.
I have been threatened by parolee students, challenged by apathetic rich and poor kids, and had to fight the system using unorthodox methods of helping these individuals. My method has yet to fail me.
Rather than isolate this student with a problem, I would have discussed the issue in the classroom with all students, not pointing out any one individual. By opening up the discussion of the arrogance, egotism and insensitivity of our society, a dialogue could have opened up showing both the loner and the other students there is a problem and they are all part of the solution.
I am sick and tired of the defensive American way of pointing fingers at others without showing our responsibility for being part of the problem.
Let’s face it: arrogance, selfishness, egotism, violence, racism, hypocrisy and greed are at the base of our society here. This attitude will always draw enemies with a passive/sensitive Eastern Philosophy to us. Until we face up to our own dysfunctional society, we are hellbent for self-destruction.
Cho has some heavy karma to deal with, but so do we…
This boy was obviously psycotic, and the most common cause of this is abuse.
Parents and gardians need to be aware that actions and words of anyone in contact with their children affect them to the core.
Physically, sexually and mentally abused children are our future. Not one day that passes that I don’t hear about another child abuser.
The sad reality is that these people are the real cause of violent and psycotic children and teenagers. The sentencing of these demons is way to leniant and in ten years they will be back on the streets scoping out their next victum.
People that do such wrong things to children never change their ways.
The only way to change this deadly cycle in the world is to catch these mosters and put them away for good or “get rid” of them.
They are spreding a disease of hate and hurt. Stop the cycle and change the world.
It’s as simple (yeah right) as that.
my goodness, i love how kailie2 mangled my sentence for her own benefit, and took it out of conext. for future reference: how do you think the sun/us weekly/star magazine etc come up with crazy quotes that celebrities never said? perhaps they use kailie2’s method of “….” to knock out the important words and leave you with a stupid, fragmented sentence that completely betrays what the celebrity was trying to say. nice job. yes, my biggest fear is commies, good job.
Jesse,
All I am going to say is that I am a VT student, and that you need to be more respectful in the way you speak about VT officials and the way they handled things. You were not here and from the way you speak of how things could have been done better, it seems that you have never been to our campus. Next time you wish to make assumptions about how things could have been handeld during such a tragic event, do not post them online.
I think overall the media coverage has been very level-headed and sensitive to all the issues involved.
I’m wondering when we will actually learn a bit more about his parents. About all I know is that they are ‘quiet’.
When law-abiding citizens are not allowed to carry guns, you must realize that the only people who will have them are the government and criminals. The right to bear arms is a necessity for us to remain free and to be able to protect ourselves. The guns are not the problem. And even if there were no guns, you have to realize that someone intent on causing harm is going to do so anyway using different means. To those who are anti-gun, I dare you to put a sign on your front door stating that you do not and will never have a gun in your home. The criminals would pounce in a heartbeat. If our right to bear arms was taken away, it would amount to the same thing for everyone. Criminals would have a field day. One deterrent now is that a criminal never knows who might have protection of their own. And I feel much safer knowing that I am capable of defending myself, my family, and my home if the need should arise.
I don’t think gun control is the answer. While I think that owning a gun does provide a false sense of security, and is often used against the owner (and most women who are killed by their husbands or significant others are killed by the “family gun”), we do have the right to bear arms, and I just don’t think we are ever going to unring that bell. There are just too many guns in circulation.
I do think that this event is a huge wake-up call for more and better mental health services, and more accepting and kind school environments. Our society is pretty isolating for lots of people, and we don’t have the social systems needed to deal with the aftermath.
Mind you, I am not blaming the victims in any way, but I think that we have a pretty casual attitude on the whole to exclusionary, even cruel attitudes and actions in school. We think that sometimes very severe teasing and hazing is normal. In just about every school shooting, the perpitrators were teased and shunned for being unathletic, nerdy, etc. Now clearly, there was some serious mental illness in this case, but I do think that it was probably exacerbated by isolation and cruelty. He was a ticking time bomb.
Monica,
The reason that guy managed to kill so many people was because he had a gun. If he had a knife, it would be easier to tackle him, but with a gun, you have very little defence. So yes he may have still caused harm, gun or no gun, however, he would not have been able to kill so many people.
You may feel you need to have a gun to feel safe in your own house, but have you ever thought that if your society could not access guns then you would not even need the gun yourself. Why would you want to live in a society where the only way you can feel safe in your own home, is by having a weapon and the option to kill if needed? Thats caveman thinking.
The problem with this guy is that instead of using the gun as a defence, he used it as an emotional outlet. Which can easily be done again, and I personally find that quite frightening.
I am British and the laws over here are much different regarding firearms. There is no debate over the matter as no one needs one. The only real reason anyone would want one, is if they were a criminal and its not easy for them to access guns. We are known to have one of the strictest gun legislation in the world and I am not saying over here we don’t have gun crime at all, because of course it happens everywhere however, its not something I have to concern myself with because the chance of that happening to me or my family is minimal.
There is absolutely no defence to own a gun. I think the whole defence argument is BS because if guns were not a threat then you wouldnt need a gun. Move into the modern world and realise that law made in the 1700s cannot possibly apply today, as the world has changed.
Look up Kennesaw,GA on the internet. They passed a law requiring every household to own a gun. As soon as it passed…guess what? The crime rate dramatically dropped and is still low today.
I can’t say whether I am for gun control or against. There are a lot of valid points for both sides.
the press is calling him a “gunman”. I don’t think that’s the accurate term.
I think that they should be calling him a murderer.
the words, gunman and terrorist seem to have little punch or accuracy in defining the person.
i have no compassion for murderers. i dont care what his excuse is. there is no excuse that explains that away.
maybe in a few weeks when the dust settled a tiny bit, there might be a full story and understanding and facts…
May all the victims rest in peace.
With that said, how long did it take to relate this mind blowing event to Muslims?
Hey just because he had that written on his arm doesnt make him muslim. Jolie has arabic tattooed on her arm that doesnt make her arab. He was christian why, because on the video(s) he is constantly bringing up christ and his crusificion. Also comapring himself to christ aswell and that his action will “inspire the weak”….sick bastered. You know whats twisted about this whole thing….he did inspire. you justknow some where someone is thinking …awsome. my god…when does it end?
With that said, how long did it take to relate this mind blowing event to Muslims?
Not long…CB could care less. He or she only copied and pasted that part of a long article so I suggest you click on the daily news link.
Totally agree with everything Anonymous 18 April 7.07 pm said. Noone could have said it better. You are so, so right. And Kaillie, I agree with you too, what Alex said was laughable. Sorry Alex, but it really was a moronic statement.
Jesse great work on airing your opinions, I agree with you and its nice to see that the people running this website have good opinions and also a little bit of courage! 🙂
if you want to write about this tragedy, write about the victims, not about the killer. Because things like “making him the most deadly murderer in American history” is exactly the kind of publicity these people want. All this coverage of the guy just encorauge other psychopaths like him.
I never said “making him the most deadly murderer in American history” in my blog… did anyone say that on this comment page?
I didn’t write my article to give anyone ideas–the guy was a psycho that deserves to burn in hell for what he has done to the victims and their families. I don’t think anyone in their write mind intends to inspire another generation of nutjobs by saying he was a deadly murderer–they are probably just repeating what everyone else is saying. Crazy people will find any excuse to be inspired to do horrible things. I don’t think people should stop saying factual statements for fear of inspiring other people to do horrible things, I wish it were as simple as that.
Having said all that, I see your point and I do wish I can write something from the victim’s perspective. But this site isn’t CNN where I can interview people, unfortunately–it’s Celebitchy, and the blog was a one off with all the other celeb news coverage. I posted it because I wanted to vent my views, and some reviews of it have been positive, others haven’t. At the end of the day the most important thing is to remember who has been lost and to make sure dialogue is open to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
right, not *write* in the 2nd para, sorry!
I am so tired of you people jumping on these writers for minor errors. You find errors in every sort of written publication, just let it go.
VT student,
Read the article again. I don’t see how Jessie was being disrespectful to VT officials. She simply stated that a lot more should have been done by the counselors and administration when sending out the emails.
But at the end, she said that we can blame whoever we want to blame, but the only one who pulled the trigger was Seung-Hui.
As she stated, this is just HER opinion. She, just like everyone who has a heart, is truly upset and angered by what happened at your school. She’s just making her sentiments known. Relax.
The reason why idiot Americans canNOT handle guns is because they are all too imbalanced due to the unnatural chemicals, hormones and sugars they eat all day. In order to have guns, you must show you are responsible, sorry. And Americans are whiney and think themselves blameless and better than everyone (I am an American, just not a blind one).
This guy let out plenty of warnings, and maybe if we taught our kids compassion and shit, they wouldn’t pick on people to the point that they act like this.
And honestly? We’re not any better. That is what Hollywood comes down to. Look at us making fun of how “ugly” Kirsten Dunst is and stuff. I do it too, but honestly, it does shame me a bit. I’m not proud to be here, it just makes my work day more entertaining. But it feeds into the same logic and machine that eventually ruined this kid and turned him into a killer — the superficialness of our culture.
What do we expect? Carrying a gun or not is really not the answer.
If you don’t like America then get out. Personally I would rather be free to choose my religion, carry a gun, voice my opinion, read celebitchy, show my face, dis the president, choose whom I marry and all of the other freedoms we have here. Yeah America is not perfect, but it’s a hell of a lot better then some places in the world. I feel safe here! People all choose how they treat others. Choose to be a good person and don’t follow the pack and you will provail.
I don’t mind America, I mind the ignorance of most Americans is all. You are NOT free, either, Cp. That is what I’m talking about. People sit on their fat white asses touting their “freedoms” while all the while your rights are being removed from you and the govt is approving more deadly killers IN YOUR FOOD that you are too busy feeling proud and “free” to eat… it is laughable. Go get cancer like the rest. You “showed” them, you proud American you. GET A CLUE.
I’m free to say FUCK YOU BITCH!
I’m sorry that was mean.
Did you catch that part where I said I was free to dis the president? Yeah well that includes the government. I don’t agree with how they handle anything here in this “democracy” So I guess I agree with you there. Our government sucks, but at least we have the power to do something about it, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem like what we do matters because the whole world is going to fall to Glabal Climate Change anyway, and sorry but that’s not only our falt that’s the falt of the whole world, just like it’s all of our responciblity to try and do something about it.
Oh and I don’t think that Americans are the only ones who get Cancer. You obviously showed your true colors with that comment. So enjoy your hate and anger, beacuse you obviously are a very unhappy person.
Has anyone seen the new pictures that Cho sent to NBC in the press kit? He looks kind of normal in the ID picture they have of him on the news, but these pictures of him with the guns and the anger in his face. I really feel so sorry for all the people that were at VT that day, and all the families. My heart goes out to all of you.
“Go get cancer like the rest. You “showed” them, you proud American you.”
Maybe you should go have some sugar since that was quite a sour statement. I think your organics are going to your head. The hate you spew forth is astounding. Wishing ill on people is not a pretty trait–and no organic food is going to fix that! Here’s a pound of sugar, maybe it will help that attitude of yours.
Good post, Jessie. Thanks for taking this on.
In the general media, I’m sick that this killer is getting rock star publicity. I understand the media wants to work this: it’s a huge tragedy that has touched many, but I’d rather see them discuss the lives of those who were killed and mostly I’d rather see this discussion: our huge mental health problem and the lack of help available. My sister is schizophrenic and bi-polar. She cannot get help until she is at a serious danger point. She’s gone to hospitals before saying she feels unstable and dangerous, only to be turned away because there’s no “appearance” of imminent danger! It’s as if there is no preventative care for metally diseased, only weakened damage control. It’s very very sad. Friends and family can only help to a small degree. It is a serious medical problem that needs serious attention from society as a whole because it affects society as a whole. I’d have no problem paying taxes toward something like this. We should be proud of how we handle health issues in this wealthy nation, not ashamed and fearful.
Trillon, I completely agree with you.