Category: Virginia Tech massacre

Leesburg requesting donations for Virginia Tech memorial

WTOP:

Organizers of the Virginia Tech Memorial Grove, to be located on the southeast corner of Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, are seeking donations. This landscaped grove of ornamental and shade trees memorializes those who lost their lives on the campus of Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007.

Names of contributors will be permanently placed on a metal and stone marker nearby.

Tax-deductible checks may be made payable to the Town of Leesburg (note on memo line: “VA Tech Memorial Grove”) and sent to Town of Leesburg, Parks and Recreation Department, 50 Ida Lee Drive N.W., Leesburg VA 20176, ATTN: VA Tech Memorial Grove.

Dedication of the Virginia Tech Memorial Grove at Ida Lee Park is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 12. The public is welcome to attend.

For more information, visit www.leesburgva.gov, or call 703-777-1368.

This was a no brainer

From the AP via WUSA9: Virginia House Panel OKs College Emergency Plan Measure:

Legislation requiring colleges and universities to develop emergency management plans was unanimously endorsed Friday by a House of Delegates committee.

[…]

The bill would require universities to update their emergency plan every four years, establish a threat assessment team, and create a system to notify students and employees of emergencies by e-mail, phone, text messages or other means.

UPDATE: The following colleges/universities have already set up alert systems:

Uh-oh, they’re not being politically correct…

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Despite Ban, Va. Tech Fans Shout Out Chant [emphasis mine:

In a year of profound sadness, perhaps fans of Virginia Tech football can be excused for a playful protest.

Despite a ban by the administration, thousands of fans Saturday yelled out a cheer deemed offensive by some.

By whom? Can you provide some names, please, instead of using weasel words? “Many claim that NBC 4’s stories are written by morons.” See my point?

As the players neared the end zone, thousands of Tech students moved their hips and yelled three times, “Stick it in.”

Then the rest of the stadium cheered.

School officials have been promoting “Hokie Respect” and sportsmanship in recent years. The ban on the suggestive chant is part of that effort.

But after the April 16 massacre on campus, some said it was time to get silly.

Tech won, by the way. The score over Ohio was 28-7.

"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers."

From 630 WMAL in Washington, D.C.: How Much Is Enough?:

Thomas Fadoul wants Virginia to form a money pool modeled after the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which would be used to pay the families of the 32 people killed by gunman Seung Hui Cho on the Virginia Tech campus last April.

Fadoul told 630 WMAL’s Chris Core that the seven-million dollar Hokie Spirit Fund already collected by the school is woefully inadequate to meet the expenses of the victims’ families, and he is hoping to see compensation that is more in line with the amounts received by the families of those who died at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The amounts by those families averaged around two million dollars. Fadoul is meeting with his clients this week to decide whether to move forward with a formal proposal to create a compensation fund.

Fadoul say such a fund could come from taxpayer contributions, and that fundraising efforts could include personal appeals from the victims’ families. Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the distribution of the September 11th funds, is now the administrator of the existing Hokie Spirit Fund.

He is recommending compensation ranging from $8,000 for those who were in Norris Hall on the day of the shooting to $150,000 for the families of those killed in the tragedy.

You people have some nerve, when are you going to start selling your homes and cars for these people? How convenient is it that the lawyer himself, Thomas Fadoul, would receive money not just from legal fees from the relatives but also due to the fact that his cousin was murdered during the massacre? How convenient is it that those who lost someone will receive over eighteen (18) times more than those that were in the building. How are those that were injured supposed to pay for their hospital bills and counseling?

In no way an attempt to minimize the lost to the families, but how many of the students were supporting a family like the police, firefighters, and other victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks?

And here’s the link for those wishing to donate. The fund will be closed for donations on August 1st.