Discussion At least 31 dead in rampage at Virginia college

[erikrhys]

here is an article about the shooter for those of you who havent read it yet

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776/?GT1=9246

truely sad Y-Y

And here is an article about "inside the mind of the killer" its actually very interesting to read

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1612368,00.html?cnn=yes

 

[Moogle Mango]

if anyone is to blame its society. the Cho Sung was just a victim of society and it's pressure on people to conform to it's standards. heck, if people actually tried to understand him without fearing him i bet none of this would have happened.

That's not exactly correct. Sure society has some influence but you also have to look at Cho. He isolated himself. His roommates, people who would ask him to go with them to lunch, even his professors tried to reach out to him! But didn't speak a word to them! He was basically quiet. The English professor, noting that Cho had created multiple disturbing writings, took it on herself to tutor him one on one outside of the class room. To try to goad him to talk. To learn why he wanted to be an English major. To get to know him if only a little bit.

How did they fear him before this tragedy? He was a loner and everyone left him alone. Mainly not because he wasn't popular, but he never interacted!

I find his vindication for commiting this tragedy entirely absurd.

his remarks

"Do you know what it feels like to be spit on your face and have trash shoved down your throat? Do you know what it feels like to dig your own grave? Do you know what it feels like to have your throat slashed from ear to ear? Do you know what it feels like to be torched alive? Do you know what it feels like to be humiliated and be impaled upon a cross and left to bleed to death for your amusement?"

This has to be the dumbest thing ever. What's he trying to get at with his rant??! Because from initial reports, he has not experienced any of that. He may have read and heard about it, but how does that correlate with...

"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac weren't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything."

Totally idiotic.


It was also reported that he was admitted to mental clinics. And yet, the gun shop and the Virginia laws ok'd his purchasing of guns.


Sadly, when all things are said and done, this is going to be treated like yesterday's news in a couple months. Nothing major is going to be done to understand why this happens or prevent a potential next one.

I hope my dad's friend's son is ok. he goes to VT.

 

[weixiaobao]

In my view point, Cho Sung is very stupid and a very hypocrite person..
he save no one with his action
he killed the unarmed and defenless
he is very well (may) put the korean kids in the USA and possibly the whole Asian population in America (or the whole immigrant population) in discrimination....

In the end whatever his goal was he didn't accomplished it...
he just plainly an ***hole.

 

[Gold Knight]

Sadly, when all things are said and done, this is going to be treated like yesterday's news in a couple months. Nothing major is going to be done to understand why this happens or prevent a potential next one.

I doubt that. People were still talking about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold ten years after the Columbine Massacre. They'll probably be talking about this kid for as long a time, too.

Oddly enough, human society seems to be fascinated with killers particularly trying to figure out what they were thinking... I say oddly because it's not one of these things you would think would be something people should think so much about, but they do. I can't really decide if it's a good or bad thing. It's sorta like how we're trying to think about why Itachi destroyed his clan...

Anyway, this kid was obviously just - disturbed... and I guess not right in the head. However long he did live here, I still think it's not a good call to blame this one on America... heck, we're blamed for enough stuff as it is. It's a big country and people have a lot of freedom. Unfortunately it's easy to abuse that, but I'd rather be here than most other places in the world.

 

[Moogle Mango]

I doubt that. People were still talking about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold ten years after the Columbine Massacre. They'll probably be talking about this kid for as long a time, too.

But even if we still do talk about them. Have we learned anything? That's where things get in the gray.

 

[erikrhys]

^^
i feel the same way, things hapen in society and noone takes them seriously. If someone does something this radical, we should take this to heart. If anything this is another showing that kids take things too far in school. Picking on others is rediculious, messing with someone is one thing, but picking on someone to the point of wanting to die is WAY over the edge!

 

[Paper]

That's not exactly correct. Sure society has some influence but you also have to look at Cho. He isolated himself. His roommates, people who would ask him to go with them to lunch, even his professors tried to reach out to him! But didn't speak a word to them! He was basically quiet. The English professor, noting that Cho had created multiple disturbing writings, took it on herself to tutor him one on one outside of the class room. To try to goad him to talk. To learn why he wanted to be an English major. To get to know him if only a little bit.

How did they fear him before this tragedy? He was a loner and everyone left him alone. Mainly not because he wasn't popular, but he never interacted!

I find his vindication for commiting this tragedy entirely absurd.

this may be. but i've read an article saying that people did try to interact with him, except they were picky with words, and they were hesitant to talk to him at first. this might have helped trigger his murerous tendencies since he was being patronized.

 

[JeffDoogins]

any way beside of what everyone thinks the guy had a mental problem.... i believe every single one of these mas murders have had some mental issues, i dont like to think that a sane person can do this

 

[Moogle Mango]

That's not exactly correct. Sure society has some influence but you also have to look at Cho. He isolated himself. His roommates, people who would ask him to go with them to lunch, even his professors tried to reach out to him! But didn't speak a word to them! He was basically quiet. The English professor, noting that Cho had created multiple disturbing writings, took it on herself to tutor him one on one outside of the class room. To try to goad him to talk. To learn why he wanted to be an English major. To get to know him if only a little bit.

How did they fear him before this tragedy? He was a loner and everyone left him alone. Mainly not because he wasn't popular, but he never interacted!

I find his vindication for commiting this tragedy entirely absurd.

this may be. but i've read an article saying that people did try to interact with him, except they were picky with words, and they were hesitant to talk to him at first. this might have helped trigger his murerous tendencies since he was being patronized.

People usually act hesitant with individuals like Cho, who hardly speak. Not just outside people, but even his own family! He wouldn't speak a word to his own family since he was a child! Which caused rifts in his family and extended family.

Picky with his words? Neither reports from BBC, CNN, and NYT was there mentioning of them being picky with his words. How could they be when he would never speak up?!

Stop trying to find some ways to alleviate, or make some small excuse, what that ass did! He was mentally unstable, however, the social mores, norms, society as a whole, did not contribute, to the entirety to his idiocy.

 

[Paper]

well the article was written by a turdent at VT, so i though it'd be accurate....as for the part with his family, that i didn't know about. i'm not trying to defend Cho Sung, i'm just trying to get people to view the situation differently, so that people can get a broader view on the situation.

 

[Leen]

I'm not reading the other comments so that I won't be bias in my comment.

This is my comment about the sad event itself.

I am sad for the fact that 33 people died in this incident but I am sadder that no one actually takes any preventive actions to prevent it from happening. The classmates know him as the question mark kid and they knew that he was the perfect candidate for a shooter who would kill many people. still they did not take any action towards him. Yes, they did try but they just did not try hard enough. I believed that this Korean kid is not the only one to be blamed for this incident. I will blame this incident on the society itself as well as the kid himself. Also, I don't quite understand how his parents didn't do anything as well to prevent this from happening.

Nonetheless, I feel sorry for all the souls dead in this incident. My deepest condolences to the family members and friends. May God's protection with these souls. I am deeply moved by this shooting incident and I sincerely wish that it had not happened.

Don't blame the kid for what had happened because we can never take back the past. All we can do right now is to learn from this incident and to try to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future.

Just one thing though, I wonder if this incident will reduce the number of international students to US universities. What will the admission officers think of international students now? I predict that the international student intake for class 2012 will be reduced, not significantly though.

Once again, my deepest condolences to all those involved in this incident. It should not have happened.

 

[Gold Knight]

The preventative actions WERE in progress - it's just that the Virginia Tech president underestimated the killer, and it was too little and too late. Warnings were already sent out on the internet but by the time that the students actually read the message, the killer was already at it again. At least one good thing might come out of this whole tragedy - colleges will be MUCH more quicker to announce these things.

And international students - yeah that's cause for concern. That kid seemed so vengeful against "rich, snobby white kids" - and yet he might have caused even more problems for more people in his own situation. Sort of reminds you of Magneto trying to war against "homo sapiens."

 

[weixiaobao]

And international students - yeah that's cause for concern. That kid seemed so vengeful against "rich, snobby white kids" - and yet he might have caused even more problems for more people in his own situation. Sort of reminds you of Magneto trying to war against "homo sapiens."

You hit the point dead on... I hate people like him, who don't think before they act, hypocrite...
At least we can all learn from this, except the cost was too much...

 

[PaperYomiko]

I was under the impression that he was not an international student. I thought that he was born in South Korea, but was raised for most of his life in the states. Whether or not that means he was a US citizen I'm not entirely sure, I had assumed that he was. I could be wrong, though.

 

[miyi]

no, he is a permanent resident and arrived in the U.S.A. in '92, so he has been here long enough. However, I don't think he has yet obtained U.S. citizenship. And he isn't an international student, because he did reside here in the U.S. ever since coming here.

However, I agree with Leen, that because he is a native-born Korean, this might have negative implications towards incoming international students in the educational admissions process. Hopefully this is not the case, because this should not be an issue about race, because this unfortunate event could have been perpetrated by anyone. He was an anti-wealthy, not a "racist".

 

[Leen]

no, he is a permanent resident and arrived in the U.S.A. in '92, so he has been here long enough. However, I don't think he has yet obtained U.S. citizenship. And he isn't an international student, because he did reside here in the U.S. ever since coming here.

However, I agree with Leen, that because he is a native-born Korean, this might have negative implications towards incoming international students in the educational admissions process. Hopefully this is not the case, because this should not be an issue about race, because this unfortunate event could have been perpetrated by anyone. He was an anti-wealthy, not a "racist".

He really was an anti-wealthy. He condemned those who drink cognac and vodka.
He is a permanent resident in US and he had obtained his green card too. Did anyone read the two plays that he wrote for his assignment? They were very angry plays, with a lot of foul words in them. I can't even see myself writing a play where a character tried to kill his stepfather by shoving down a half-eaten banana cereal down his throat.

I think that even if the admission officers try to be unbiased towards international students' applications, I still think that at some point, there will still be a little chance that they will admit a smaller pool of applicants due to this incident. I'm glad I applied before this incident broke out. Also, visa will be another problem. International students might not be able to get a visa as easy as before. Of course, everything is speculation from my observation only.

 

[erikrhys]

^^
what he REALLY is, is a murderer...............thats all, nationality doesnt matter....he is a killer.....that is all.....

 

[Gold Knight]

He was only a murderer when he started killing - before he killed anybody, he was just another kid like you and me. To understand why he snapped like he did, it could be used as a way to know how to prevent others from making the worst mistakes of their lives, too.

What bothers me the most about the whole situation wasn't so much that the kid snapped, but how a kid like him got ahold of a gun so easily. As long as kids are able to get man-killing weapons to satisfy their inner demons, too often it will be "too late" before we are able to stop them.