our hearts i believe are with you mate

The building they keep refering to, Norris Hall (one of five engineering buildings on campus), is very close to Cowgill Hall and Burchard Hall where the architecture program is housed in.

All the architecture people seem to be okay. Just to let you know.

we're with ya archmed

I'm very glad that you're all right. The other thread on this got derailed, so I'm glad there's somewhere else for any hokies out there to let us know they're ok.

Yeah, I saw that it got all crazy and political. I really appreciate your concern, rationalist.

I just now was able to get off of campus. There was this girl in the lockdown area where I was who was extremely upset and worried and I was trying to confort her in anyway that I could. I didn't know her but she had a BF who was an engineering major in Norris Hall and could not get through to him at all. I stayed with her until she was okay and I'm happy to say that she was reunited with her boyfriend.

It'll be tough, but I have to finish my preparations with my thesis meeting tomorrow with my committee. We have to move on somehow.

wow archmed. thanks for sharing. i'm glad you're ok. out here on the west coast, you guys are in our thoughts right now.

only an architecture student would ignore a police officer's order to leave campus and head to studio!

Glad to hear you're okay, Archmed.

Cris, yeah I'm at my appartment right now trying to take a breather and the only thing I can think about besides for this appalling tragedy is my thesis.

and i think that's a good thing archmed. immerse yourself in it. lose yourself in your thesis.

It's sad that you still have to think about it when there's shit like that going on, though.

So glad to hear you're ok, Archmed. Kudos on helping others to get through the situation as well.

Hope you're okay, Archmed.

glad you are okay. prayers go out to all.

hang in there. so sad, so sad...

extend my pray and bless y'all at vt

Glad you are OK. I'm so sorry. E-hugs.

Thanks to all for the wishes. I hope no one else has to ever deal with this.

As for thesis, I wish I could get my mind off of this but there is just so much to do in so little time. I start my new job in mid june so I have to get it out there. Right now, no one can get into the building let alone campus.

My wife had a classmate murdered at medical school with finals the next day and the school kept the scheduled tests...I couldn't imagine taking a test, let alone a medical exam, after enduring such emotions just hours before.

Try and relax and just do what you can.

Good luck!

Yeah totally. I just got a call from some of my colleagues who have committee meetings scheduled the same day and said that they have been cancelled.

Thank goodness because I would need to print about five sections, five plans, and about a dozen rendered interior and exterior perspectives

thanks for the well-wishes all! It is truly appreciated!

...archmed... we got beer in the fridge... chill out lad... you work will be there in the morning!

as everyone has shared Archmed, we are very glad to hear you are well and indeed kudos for being that lowly girls strength whilst she was shaken.

And do make an attempt to deal with this how best you can, if it does mean immersing yourself in final prep, then so be it, if it means reflection, then do what is right for you.

Hope you're presentation all goes well (as I am sure it will).


Cheers

Archmed

thanks for the insight on the situation there, very journalistic.

hope your fine, emotionally.

our hearts with u and whose who lost a loved one....

Good to know all the VT archies are okay. Archmed, I can't even imagine going through all that. Just stay positive and focus on your work, after all, you'll be graduating very soon.

Thank you, Archmed, for posting this news and these details for those of us only hearing/seeing the blatherers on TV. THIS is when the internet is amazing.

God bless you and your mates at VT.

Oh here is the rumor we're hearing everywhere on campus:

The gunman has been described by many as a person who went to another school about 15 miles away called Radford University. The motive was that his girlfriend who was a Virginia Tech Engineering student had just broken up with him much to his dismay. As result, this morning he went to look for her at her dorm in West Ambler-Johnson Hall but wasn't there. Reports are that he killed her roomate and RA.

No one found out about this until about an hour later while he was already at Norris Hall on his next shooting spree. Apparently that is where his girlfriend took engineeting courses. That is where most of the carnage took place.

Again this is the rumor. But it's slowly becoming THE rumor.

Radford. 'nuff said.

you know, archmed, rumors travel fast!

i heard that same rumor over here, in southern california!

not sure who reported it, but that's what my boss told me.

That's consistent with what the NY Times is reporting...

Archmed... said it in the other thread but just wanted to reiterate - Sorry you & cowgill & others have to endure this. But so glad that you are all right. It's unbelievable and horrifying. My heart goes out to you and your schoolmates.

[url=http://cdn-69.liveleak.com/liveleak/8/media8/2007/Apr/16/LiveLeak-dot-com-43042-myspace.jpg
]This is Weird[/url]

oh my god.... my cousin goes to Radford. His ex-wife goes to Tech. If I hadn't just heard from him that he's all right, I'd be a bit freaked out by that rumor.

I think these were young students too -- ones that were students at each school. I heard the shooter was in his early 20s. I can't assume they were married.

yeah, my cousin is 23. So I'm really, really glad that I've heard from him already today, otherwise I would be getting extremely freaked out by this stuff. Not that I'm not horrified already, but that would just be too much.

really sick.

the media out here can't even get the state right.

glad to hear you archinerds are ok. there still arch. structures classes in norris?

"glad to hear you archinerds are ok. there still arch. structures classes in norris?"

yeah... 'bout the only thing that bldg's used for

As a Virginia Tech grad, I wish there were something I could do... if even to preserve the reputation of the institution.

Glad to hear you're okay, Archmed and cowgill.

I graduated from VT a few years ago and couldn't believe my ears this morning when my alarm clock went off and they were talking about the whole thing.

I'm sure all the VT grads across the country are sending their thoughts and condolences to Blacksburg tonight.

"if even to preserve the reputation of the institution"

-i'm especially shocked at how the media's spinning this as something that could have been overly preventable/attacking charles steger.

Only thing I've heard in the coverage of this disaster that has brought a slight smile to my face. Very funny, Cris.

Archmed and cowgill and any lurkers out there, please take care of yourselves. Don't be too hard on yourself for the next long while - give yourself some mental space to recover. If burying yourself in work is helpful, do that, but if not, then don't - and in either case don't beat yourself up over it.

"if even to preserve the reputation of the institution"

try and preserve the nature of the country, son.

This may sound like a silly question but since im two continents away ,Im wondering Why cant there be more frisking, metal detectors or regular searches of dorms and rooms in your univs ?

nevermore,

i don't believe any of those would have prevented what happened today. i believe you've described a prison, and not a university.

i think this is part of a larger issue that depserately needs to be discussed in this country, violence against women.

similar events happened in the last few weeks here @ UW and also @ CNN.

*desperately

yea Holz, I agree its not a prison , it's a univ, but conversely also when there's so much of freedom given in the states to anyone and everyone , then there have to be some 'inconvenient measures' that have to be implemented to safeguard that very freedom for everyone .

another thing is that , as you mentioned violence against women is not restricted to the US, its a worldwide problem.

Discussions could go on for ever, Everyone can Talk all the way to town but there will always be freaks such as this individual who will always exist and continue to perpetrate such acts in the future.
( regardless of the outcome of any discussion or any law which comes out of the discussion or whatever.)

IMHO , Stricter and practical control at a micro level could lessen --if not eradicate the occurrence of such events in the future.

i've visited or attended universities on 4 continents.
all were extremely open.
i can't imagine universities getting any more strict than they are (think columbia) without being a prison. some of the buildings on columbia's campus even look like a prison.

or we could be like the swiss:
bomb shelters in our houses, rifles for all... and training to actually use them.

hey, maybe that's why they produce good architecture?

So..... turns out not at all to be what some of you have been reporting. By now you all know that it WAS a VT student, an english major from South Korea, and apparently he's responsible for both shootings.

That's some crazy shit, regardless.

there goes the americans are more violent than anyone else theory.

Yeah, we got the rumor that he was an individual of Asian origin, but I didn't feel inclined to post that information. I didn't want to throw the whole race card out without knowing for sure. We know where that gets us. I'm not sure where the Radford info came from (I knew it was a bad idea posting rumors). But at any rate, he was still a mass murderer who ruined the lives of hundreds of people no matter what he was.

The morning after is really difficult. It's just now starting to hit us now that some of the images of the victims are comming out. So young and so innocent.

Our classes have been cancelled this entire week and I have no idea when I could get back onto campus. I've been getting calls all day from my colleagues asking whether or not they should attempt to go there. There is a convocation this afternoon in which the President Bush, the first lady, and the governor will attend. Maybe we can get some answers. Right now that is mainly what we're looking for.

►◄

archmed-

everything can only get better from this point on. you are on the hearts and minds of many people all over the world. everyone feels touched by this situation... especially through this forum because many VT students have graced these discussions and so you have all become apart of us, too. these situations remind us of our finite time here on earth... and to grasp every opportunity to live life to the fullest.

we all give you our love + support.

as a student from one of your school's biggest rivals (uva), just know you have a friend here.