VPI

[theoriginalblurker]

Still can't believe what happened yesterday at Virginia Tech.  I know this is going to sound strange, but somehow I just don't expect this kind of thing to hapen at a technical school.  Had it been U of F, I think I would be a lot less shocked.  Horrified, but less shocked.  I wonder why that is.

Comments

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Whereas my thinking was that it took a mind that was goal-oriented and organized to plot and carry out a mass murder of that "success."

I don't think tech schools are immune to batshit crazy psychopaths.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

Very true.

I guess I'm comparing it to my time at RPI. The two schools are fairly closely associated (or at least they were at the time). I can't imagine this happening at RPI. The clear tendency is to suicide, but not to take anyone else along with you. I'm very interested to learn more when they determine motive.

This is just horrifying.

[kcarp.livejournal.com]

Apparently the people in China are horrified-fascinated.

Most of the international community did their standard 'that's what happens when Americans can get guns so easily...' commentary. And now it turns out to be a Chinese man here on a visa. Hmm. And private citizens can't own guns in China...

(And perhaps it's not the fault of Grand Theft Auto...)

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I read he was South Korean.

[kcarp.livejournal.com]

I must have gotten an earlier (wrong) report. Huh.

Good thing I didn't make a preemptive strike on China.

*squishy little dot on pavement*

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I utterly fail to grok this mindset. It's beyond anything I can relate to.

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

I don't really think of events like this as being connected to their location. Think about that small schoolhouse in Amish country - is that the kind of place you'd imagine fostering that kind of violence and horror? Most likely not.

It seems to me that when events like this happen, it's natural to try to understand and explain them. But to do what that man did, reason has to stop being a factor. There is obviously a serious degree of mental illness. And that, my friend, unfortunately has no target audience.

[auspeople.livejournal.com]

What she said...

[kcarp.livejournal.com]

"If the world were a logical place, men would ride sidesaddle"

-Rita Mae Brown

Liz, does it help that he was an English major and thus less likely to be a part of the tech culture?

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

Are you mocking me? ;)

[kcarp.livejournal.com]

Nah. Just pointing out that perhaps VT isn't as much the hardcore tech community it used to be? (if it ever was? Dunno!)

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

I really would like to see a timeline of the tactical situation, because the combination of the weapon (handgun), the large number of casualties, and the large fraction of fatalities really make me wonder.

At U of F, I would have expected returned fire.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

At U of F, I would have expected returned fire.

Why would you say that? Students at UF aren't especially known for being armed. I would expect more armed students in Texas than in FL, and then not even very many. Was this a joke?


As to your first comment, from what I understand, the shooter had two guns, and an ammo vest. They believe he went back to his dorm to reload after the first set of shootings.

Just checked, and Wiki has a timeline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre#Timeline).

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

Mostly just taking the piss, although Dave Barry continually credits South Florida (which does not, I know, include Gainesville) with being the "most heavily armed nation on Earth".