No Silly Title Needed

The Virginia Tech tragedy makes me angry. I understand that the situation is much more complicated than I will probably ever know, but it seems like it was at least partially preventable. I can't understand how the university failed to notify students of the first shooting until more than 2 hours after the fact. It seems like, especially in a post-9/11 era, that the university should have taken a more proactive approach. (I'm thinking of how they failed to evacuate the second tower after the first one had been hit, because they didn't think they were in any danger...) I understand that they thought the first shooting was an isolated incident, but without knowing for sure, why would they just go about business as usual?!?

During a discussion about the incident in one of my classes, someone said it made sense that they wouldn't have announced it to the whole campus, for fear of creating chaos. Instead over 30 people died. I have read statements from students at Virginia Tech who say that the university has a campus-wide PA system, which they could have used to make an announcement about classes being cancelled for the day, without giving a reason. From my own experiences, most students wouldn't question why classes were cancelled, they would just head home.

The president of Virginia Tech also said that it was difficult to notify students, because many of them were commuting onto campus at the time. Now, I don't know how their campus is set up, but at Iowa State, there is a commuter parking lot that thousands of students park in every day, and then catch a bus to campus. Many also take CyRide from their homes. It seems to me, like if the situation had been taken more seriously, that many students could have been stopped from arriving on campus by spreading the word through the use of public transportation workers.

I know I'll never understand what was going through the heads of the officials at Virginia Tech, but it still makes me angry that the officials seemed to take the situation so lightly. I can't imagine how the families of the victims must feel...

Most of the stories I've read have focused on the shooter, which is obviously the most salient aspect of the situation, but I found this story to be very touching.