Have a few more things to say about the shootings at Virginia Tech. I’ve been kind of drawn to CNN and the other news networks the past few nights. I’m not sure why, it’s not as if I feel that there is going to be a great revelation and today did mark the return of the screaming head of Nancy Grace, who shouldn’t be allowed on television much less a major news network. But, I always have to watch these stories in an attempt to just answer the question why. It’s a tough one to answer.
(At some point I have to stop watching just because the news is too sad and depressing and you feel completely helpless in the process. It’s not healthy to go days where your only emotion is sadness.)
The first point is based on what I wrote on Monday. I did immediately assume that the shooter was an engineering student. This was based entirely on the fact that Virginia Tech has a strong engineering program and that in the past, engineers have been involved in campus shootings. I never would have expected that this would be the work of an English major. I know that this is stereotyping of a degree but that doesn’t seem to be a major that a loner would be drawn to. That and the fact that his writing did and would show what was going on in his mind. It’s sad that they weren’t able to get him the help that he needed. I’m not sure what else could have been done.
I’ll still stand by my claim that engineering programs have to address the fact that it is a high stress major filled with people who aren’t always equipped to handle that type of pressure. I’m not implying that it is a dangerous field or anything. I am extremely proud that I have a degree in electrical engineering and that I worked my way through the program. But, if I had some dark moments in that process and I know others that did as well you have to wonder what will happen when someone who doesn’t have a support network faces those type of stresses.
The second point is based on an interview I saw on Chris Matthews. It was with a student who was a suite mate of the shooter and Matthews grilled him on the relationship with him. And I mean grilled him, they were harsh questions to ask a twenty year old who just discovered that a mass murder watched television in his living room. What this student mainly said is that he tried talking to Cho but he never said anything or showed any emotion. He wasn’t even sure if he spoke English. After a few weeks he just started to leave him alone.
Chris Matthews couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t fathom how you wouldn’t tell anyone if a roommate just kept to himself and didn’t interact. The fact is, his roommate’s reaction seems completely reasonable to me. Anyone who has had to deal with roommates assigned randomly knows that at some point you deal with someone strange. In a best case scenario a roommate is your best friend, usually what you hope for is someone that you can stand. If the guy just doesn’t talk and doesn’t interact you just give him a wide berth. It isn’t that you are callous and uncaring, it is simply the easiest way to deal with an awkward situation with someone who is a complete stranger. It really isn’t that unusual of a situation. I think there were a handful of students that I spent two years of business school with who I never heard speak and I talked with everybody.
My last point is about the video that Cho sent to NBC that was released today. It is a very confounding piece of film. My reaction, and this is going to be tough to explain, is that it almost seems like a parody of a manifesto. I know that parody isn’t the right word but it definitely doesn’t seem real. If you asked someone to write a manifesto and have it be over the top that is what it would sound like. It seems like a bad script. I’m not sure if you can even say that there is emotion in his speech, at times it is like he is reading off cue cards.
That’s what makes it so frightening and disturbing. Even with his filmed explanations as to why he did this horrible act it still doesn’t make any sense. You can’t get a grip on any of his reasoning or his logic. It really plays out like a bad movie. And that is what really bothers me. I understand that bad things happen but you would like to think that there is a reason. In New Orleans the levees failed. Here, I can’t even begin to understand what would push someone to that point.
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