"Today we are all Hokies"

The Monday tragedy that struck Virginia Tech shcoked not only the United States but the whole world. Students and teachers in all academic instituions worldwide have expressed shock over the killings, but also expressed solidarity with the students and officials of Virginia Tech. As a sign of solidarity, students and academics with My Space accounts and Facebook Accounts have replaced their pictures with black ribbons, a sign of mourning for those who died on Monday. As i was checking Reuters this morning for updates on the VT killing spree, it turned out that a South Korean student, a loner at that, went on a rampage that killed 32 students and injured 20 more. Hours before the massacre, the student reportedly shot 2 people in a university dormitory. The student, identified as Mr. Cho, also shot and killed Liviu Librescu, a professor at VTech. Librescu used himself as a human shield to give time for his students to jump out the window. An inpromptu shrine for the heoric professor was built by students after the shooting. Now, some US citizens have begun campaigning for stricter gun-control laws. America has one of the most lax gun-control laws in the world. It is because of a provision in their constitution of the "right to bear arms" that hinders some legislators to pass stricter laws against kids being able to buy handguns. Thank God this country hasn't gone that way yet. And we shouldn't wait for this nation to go that way, either. As for now, i join the rest of the world in mourning the kids (no report yet if there are filipinos who died in VT) and their professors who died in what can only be described as the worst school shooting in american history. Today, we are all Hokies.