over the shootings at Virginia Tech. It has been a combination of grief
and insanity here the last couple of days. Most of the people I know
have been on the net - trying to get information on what has happened,
if friends or loved ones were involved, finding out what will be
happening over the next days and weeks. We have also had to defend the
actions of our president and police force, and I have never been so
disappointed in the media. The whole community will be relieved when the
spotlight is turned off.
I did not know any of the victims personally, though I knew of some of
them. As you may know, one of the classes involved was a graduate class
in Civil Engineering, and the professor and at least four of the
students are known to be dead. I have not spoken to anyone at Virginia
Tech in the CEE department except a student who was helping me on a
small project, and only briefly. I'm certain they have been inundated
with emails and phone calls; I do not need to add to that burden. At
least one of the professors lived in my small neighborhood on the south
side of town.
Please do not use this to frame the firearms debate, for or against.
Here in Blacksburg, arguments from all sides ring hollow in the
aftermath of the loss we have suffered. Please take your anger and
posturing elsewhere. If you should have a chance, there is a rebroadcast
of the convocation held at Tech on hokiesports.com, and I suspect it
will be on youtube in fairly short order. The words spoken there were
timely and heartfelt. It is difficult to condense the range of emotions
and feelings into a single hour, but I believe that is exactly what was
done yesterday.
Again, many thanks to all who have offered their support over the past
couple of days.
Jordan Truesdell, PE
Virginia Tech Aerospace & Ocean Engineering
Class of 1992
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