As VA Tech continues to heal from the worst massacre in US history, they got dealt another blow, this time by the US Department of Education. According to the Washington Post:
The federal government said Tuesday that it plans to issue the maximum possible fine against Virginia Tech — $55,000 — for violations of a campus safety law in connection with the 2007 shooting rampage that left more than 30 students and teachers dead.
A federal official wrote in a letter to Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger that the penalty for failing to provide timely warnings about the threat to the campus on the day of the massacre should be greater.
“Virginia Tech’s violations warrant a fine far in excess of what is currently permissible under the statute,” wrote Mary E. Gust, an official in the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid.
Her conclusion represents a stinging rebuke for Virginia Tech, which for nearly four years has sought to overcome wounds inflicted by the deadliest school massacre by an individual in U.S. history. It also bolstered the view of some victims’ relatives that the university was negligent in efforts to protect the campus community.
Virginia Tech, which denies wrongdoing, said it will appeal the action.
Perhaps the massacre at tech will always raise questions that Americans will never be able to agree upon. Could an early warning system have saved lives? Many think yes. Could allowing students to be armed have avoided the huge number of deaths or could armed students have exacerbated the problem? Would we have more student deaths allowing students to carry weapons?
Should VA Tech be fined? Should they appeal? Can we expect a college campus to provide for our security? All these questions will continue to be debated, plus many others. Who will ever forget April 16, 2007?
I’ve never understood why the students stayed in the classrooms. Why didn’t they leave? The shooter couldn’t be everywhere at once. Why did no one even attempt to defend themselves once they knew he was wandering around?
Some broke bones jumping out windows.
I don’t think they knew what was happening. Cho moved to different floors.
Some, including Colin Goddard, “hid” under a desk for 10 minutes. WTF? If you can’t plan an ambush, at least try to get out of the room and get some maneuvering area. If the shooter finds you in a hall, at least you can run. And lead him away from other students.
Didn’t anybody play “army” or “cowboys and indians” as a kid, especially the boys? Or HALO for that matter?
I still don’t get it.
I think it happened too fast. I don’t know where that ten minutes can from. Was it in Goddard’s documentary?
Cargo, you’re thinking with a tactical mindset where a lot of these students don’t think this way. They either didn’t want to believe what the tiny part of their brain was telling them OR they honestly believed that if they sheltered in place that they’d be rescued. IIRC humans are the only known life-form that questions it’s base instincts.
Different mind set.
Ever drive down a road and see a squirrel just “stop”. So panic-striken it doesn’t know to keep moving forward or run back? ..yup.
Yes, And then they become road kill.
We have to bring back “army” and “cowboys and indians.” And WWII movies.
I even found out that military people don’t think the way I do. I’m not saying that I’m a tactical genius or anything, but I watched enough war movies to know that you don’t just sit there. When I was training for Kuwait, I was put in charge of all the officers as their squad leader 😈 🙂 for a field op with laser firing M-16. Basically the training cadre cheat, throw flash bangs (small ones) at you, and you have to go up a hill and “get them.”
I found myself at one edge of the “field.” Now, I’m just as Navy as the next squid, but even I realized that we had to go up the hill and flank them. “Come up around behind them there bad guys.” is how they put it in the movies.
Apparently Navy officers have never watched a war movie. It was like herding cats….
At least when the MSgt came around to tell me to flank them, I had already started…
That was fun day.
Cargosquid, you can probably train people to think tactically but I’d bet that some people just naturally think three and four steps ahead. They see the opportunities or challenges almost instantly. Others think of only the next step (if that) and then the one after that. I guess it’s what my father would have called “street smarts” – sizing up your opportunities or evaluating the danger of a situation.