How?

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• Almost 24 hours after yesterday's shootings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA it has been made known that the gunmen was in fact a student.
  
  The gunmen, who later shot himself has been identified as Cho Sueng Hui, 23. He has been described by newspapers and officials as a South Korean resident alien, and English major in his senior year at Virginia Tech.
  
  I understand that the 2,600 acre campus is extremely large, and that there are in fact 36, 000 student and faculty on the campus. But I find it so strange that the campus was not shut down, or more efforts made after the first shooting that occurred in a dorm room that killed two. I understand that they thought it to be an isolated incident, but I feel that precautions should have been taken, it could have possibly prevented the second episode which left 32 dead.
  
  I feel that so often simple measures can be taken to prevent such great tragedies. I feel that anytime such a violent act occurs in a place, especially a school, whether it kills one or twenty, it should be shut down and under strict security until the area can be declared secure.
  
  I feel great pain and sorrow for all of the people who lost their lives, or they're loved ones in this tragedy. It just leaves me wondering what could cause a person to take 32 lives in cold blood. To line innocent people up in a class room and execute them. It is something that I can absolutely not understand. But I must say that I hope that our country is not completely desensitized to this kind of horrific event, because whether it is people dying in war, in terrorist attacks, or in their classrooms they deserve our compassion, our sympathy, our sadness for them and their loss. People both living and dying deserved to be remembered.

Tragedy

Yesterday in Blacksburg, Virginia a great tragedy in our nation's history occurred. At Virginia Tech 32 students were killed and over 20 injured, making it the deadliest school shooting that the United States has ever seen. I'm sure that everyone has read, seen or heard about yesterday's tragic events, but the reaction seems different to me any way, than that that was elicited by the Columbine Shootings that took place this exact same week eight years ago.

I feel that in the last eight years our country has under gone a major transformation. I can recall eight years ago sitting in my living room with my father as he wept for all of the students and families in Columbine. But yesterday I did not see that kind of reaction from anyone. As one student brought it up in one of my classes yesterday, people seemed shocked for a moment because no one knew anything about it, and then a few kids said "Oh I have friends there, I guess I should call them." But that was it. There were no tears, there was no horror that this could happen.

Maybe people are feeling shocked and horrified by this tragedy, but I guess after all our society is getting used to this kind of thing. I know all I could think about yesterday was those poor people, getting up going to school or work, having no idea that there lives would be over in just a few short hours. Every day we get up, expecting to go through the motions of our day, and very rarely does the idea strike us that it could be our last. Maybe that is what frightens people. Maybe that's why people don't talk about these things any more; pretend that they didn't happen....pretend that everything is fine.

At What Price?

With campaigning for the next presidential election, campaigning is well under way. But at what price? Should it cost millions and millions of dollars to run for president?

Within three months of campaigning Democratic candidate Barack Obama raised 20 million dollars, and Hillary Clinton his main opponent raising over 26 million dollars thus far. Is it me, or does this seem absolutely obscene?

I think that the mere fact that elections, or rather campaigning costs so much money goes directly against the democratic ideal. It makes attaining any position in the Senate, the House, or even in the White House impossible to those that are not the 1% of the population able to afford to spend both their own, and their friends millions.

I think that elections should be free and fair...but if elections costs millions upon millions, is that free or fair? How far must we get before people open their eyes to how ridiculous this is? When will America wake up and realize that this is absurd, and should have serious limitations placed upon funds for campaigning.

Both candidates and their supporters are spending obscene amounts of money, that let's face it could probably be better spent elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I think that it is extremely important that candidates make themselves known to the public, so that we know who we are voting for, but there must be a less expensive way to do so (i.e. not spending millions and millions and millions of dollars).

"Just Do It" Response

I think that Augusten Burroughs is truly an amazing writer. He has this ability to write raw. Most of the time when you're reading his work, you're sitting there thinking to yourself did this actually happen, could this have actually happened? I have to admit that the portion of "Dry" that we read for class is the first of his work that I've read, but it truly impressed me. I saw the movie Running with Scissors, which I absolutely think did no justice to the book which I heard was amazing from everyone whose read it.

I think that his ability to take everything bad that has happened to him in his life, and twist it around to make it almost humorous is amazing. I found myself sitting there in the middle of Starbucks reading a story about a man sitting in a bar, who works in a funeral home talking about shoving a broom stick down the neck of a decapitated corpse so the family could have an open- casket. His writing is captivating, sarcastic, and effective. Needless to say...I'm hooked.

One of the things that really amazes me about him is how amazing a writer he is, with having so little education. I think that this is one of the true signs that he is a brilliant self-educated writer, who just happens to have thus far led a very interesting...to say the least life. He has found a way to take all of the pain, sorrow, and confusion that he experienced at such a young age, and was able to turn it around...truly impressive.