OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

As colleges across the nation reach the most stressful part of the semester, the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. was ravaged by the worst shooting spree in U.S. history. In what will be remembered as a national tragedy, 32 people were killed this Monday morning in a seemingly random act of horrific violence.

We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the Virginia Tech community, sympathies that are felt across the Georgia Tech campus as well as the nation. As a sister school in the ACC and a fellow "Tech" school, Virginia Tech has always had close ties to our school. Notwithstanding these personal ties, as an entire college community we still feel the loss experienced by the Virginia Tech community.

There has been a great surge of support from the national collegiate community following Monday's shooting. Here at Georgia Tech there has been an admirable outpouring of support on our campus. The memorial held at the Campanile Tuesday afternoon was quickly and efficiently organized for students, faculty and other members of the Tech community as an outlet for their grief and to show their respects.

However, this demonstration of solidarity has been inconsistent. For instance, the College of Management canceled the scheduled filming of the television show Mad Money on Tuesday, citing that it would be "incongruous with the pain that our peers and colleagues at Virginia Tech and their families are experiencing." On the other hand, the Student Center Programs Council (SCPC) held Sting Break Student Appreciation Day as planned-demonstrating that Georgia Tech cannot stop because of a tragedy outside of both our campus and human control.

Though we have heard so often in the past few days that this tragedy could just as easily have happened here, it is important to remember that it did not. The tragedy in Virginia seems to have called attention to the lack of emergency response systems in place on college campuses across the nation.

In light of this realization, it is natural for students to begin to worry about safety on our own campus, but Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, while similar institutions, have different campuses. Blacksburg is a college town with a vast campus. If a similar event were to happen at Georgia Tech, this campus is far smaller and would be easier to secure, and GTPD would be able to rely on the assistance of the Atlanta Police Department.

While we sympathize with the Virginia Tech community, we must realize that life goes on. We will keep them in our memories, but we cannot let thoughts of the tragedy overwhelm us.