Never forget Virginia Tech

Let's keep them in our prayers and ask for the forgiveness of Cho Seung-Hui's soul. You may not agree with that right now but I think that is the way those that are grieving will only heal right now. Please do not try to put the blame on the government, the school administration, or anything else. It is only one person's fault. There are 93 schools represented in that picture, keep up the support the Hokies need it.

ABC Story
Yahoo Story-A look at the victims

Here at OU today, we had a minor scare this morning. At 9:50 AM, a mass e-mail was sent out from the University President, advising all students, faculty, and staff to stay indoors until an all clear signal was given. In an email sent at 10:19 AM President Boren stated:

"TO: All Students, Faculty, and Staff

The OU Police Department has made a saturated search of the area where a person carrying a suspicious object was spotted. No person with a weapon has been found. It is now believed that the person was possibly carrying a yoga mat which was mistaken for a weapon.. We should therefore proceed with the normal schedule. The individual carrying the items was described as a caucasian male of student age partially balding or with short hair and wearing a yellow shirt. If such a person is seen carrying a suspicious object it should be reported to the OU Police Department at 1911 or 325-1717 or blue phones should be used. If anyone feels that he may have been the person who was seen and was thought to be carrying a weapon that person should also call the OU Policy Department to reassure the community.

Thank you for your cooperation

David L. Boren
President"

Later on, the student that had been carrying the "mysterious object" had self-identified himself to the OUPD and told them he was only carrying an umbrella and not a weapon. Although this was not anything serious, I am glad to see that our university is taking everything seriously and not leaving anything to chance. The easiest way to prevent tragedy is over cautiousness, so I applaud the administration and OUPD for keeping all students, faculty, and staff safe. The time period right after this tragedy is the most vulnerable because of possible copycat attacks so be aware of anything suspicious. Again, please keep the VT family in your prayers, whatever religion you may practice.

-Jamie

Virginia Tech shooting leads other universities to take precautions.

For those of you who don't know about the events that transpired today, turn your TV to the news or check out Yahoo!. The biggest news of the day was the Virginia Tech shootings, with 33 people killed and more wounded in the hospital. These horrible events that occurred today have prompted other universities around the country to take extra safety precautions.

Here at the University of Oklahoma, the president of the university has sent an email reading:

"As an extra security precaution in light of the tragic events at Virginia Tech University, the security doors in our residence halls will be locked 24 hours a day for the remainder of the semester and require an ID card or room key for access.

Sincerely,

David Boren
President"

Before now, residence hall floors were just locked from 10PM (12 PM on the weekends) until 7AM or 8AM but as the note says, the doors will be locked 24 hours a day for the rest of the semester. I believe that this is a necessary precaution for the university to take and I applaud them for their efforts. A friend of mine a Texas Tech told me that there was an increased security presence on campus and he believes there would be more precautions coming.

As a fellow blogger (link) says, this is a very scary situation because it is just one or two events away from occurring here or at any other university campus in the nation. Hopefully, other campus will take security precautions or any other actions that will prevent this from happening anywhere else. This is the worst shooting massacre in the U.S. (I believe) and worst on a university campus since the University of Texas shooting in 1966 (EDITED from 1964). Please keep the departed, the wounded, and families and friends involved in your prayers. If anyone at other universities has any other news about safety precautions, please let me know.

EDIT: I recently found this story from a few first hand sources at Virginia Tech. One of the students was in the class next door to the class that was shot and told a story of his teacher risking (possibly sacrificing) his life so his students could get out. Read the full story here.

-Jamie