In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, there is a sense of solemnity on the Mississippi State campus. On Wednesday, students gathered on the Drill Field for convocation in remembrance of the victims where they grieved, prayed and spoke. Our hearts and minds go out to the families of the victims and to the students, faculty and staff of Virginia Tech.It’s difficult to fathom such a tragedy on a university campus not so different from ours. It is a hard-hitting tragedy for this country, but it’s even closer to home for college students and employees. Imagine waking up for class one day and witnessing a massacre in a place of comfort and connection like MSU; it’s something most would probably say would never happen.
Of course it did happen in Virginia, and now universities including MSU are taking measures to tighten campus security. However, while the tragedy at Virginia Tech is by no means a small matter, students at a university with such a low crime rate as ours shouldn’t be overly alarmed or paranoid.
While the tragedy may not have been avoided, administrators could have reacted in a way that would have limited the loss of life. Shots were first fired on campus at 7:15 a.m., killing two, and classes weren’t cancelled until three hours later, half an hour after the gunman killed 30 more people in a lecture hall.
Understandably, Virginia Tech officials were not expecting such a horrific series of events and were caught off guard, but when a killer is on the loose on a college campus, simple common sense should kick in immediately. Classes should have been cancelled after the first shooting.
There’s also another huge problem with the Virginia incident, though. The media has sensationalized the tragedy to a gruesome degree. Many TV outlets especially succeeded in focusing too much on the killer himself instead of paying more attention to how victims and mourners are coping with the tragedy. Local and national newspaper headlines read “Massacre” and “Rampage.”
Cho Seung-Hui has gotten a lot of publicity as a result of his actions, but what about the victims? The video footage and pictures he sent to NBC News have dominated TV news channels and news Web sites and have only given him the notoriety he sought. The media has failed at giving a fair amount of coverage to the victims.
The lack of attention given to friends and family of those whose lives were claimed Monday is a sickening reminder of the decline in quality journalism on the national level. We believe the Virginia Tech family and the families of each victim, not Seung-Hui, are the ones who should be at the forefront of America’s thoughts during this tragic time. Forget ratings, we’re talking about humanity.