In Memoriam
First, I would like to give my condolences to the students, faculty and parents of Virginia Tech. This is such a horrifying event, and one that few parents envision will take place on the campus where they send their children to study. It's beyond comprehension, this act of violence, as most acts of supreme violence are. And you think the worst thing that might happen to your child on an American campus (and I note "American" because a campus such as the University of Baghdad has faced incredible carnage due to sectarian conflict) is that his or she might receive a "minor in possession" charge or a failing grade. You never think he or she might be randomly shot four times in a German class or an Engineering class.
As a professor at a Division I school, I cannot say that this scenario has never crossed my mind. But I can say it hadn't crossed my mind until about five years ago, which is when I started noticing a subtle and disturbing trend in a small minority of students: unfettered anger. In the last five years, I have had a student block my way out of a classroom because of a perceived poor grade (a "C"), several students yell at me, and a few who have written emails that were just short of threats. These encounters were all over the matter of grades. For many students, it's not enough to receive a "B" anymore; it must be an "A" for the purposes of being competitive. But of course, the vast majority of students deal with their disappointment with grades, or with college in general, gracefully. But those that don't can be very scary—not only for the instructor, but also for fellow students if an outburst occurs in class (which has, thankfully, only happened once to me and my students, but I hear other faculty report incidents more frequently than I can remember).
So, I don't think we can just write this shooting off to a "nutter": we must look at ourselves, at our culture, and at what could be behind the rage. I am not trying to make excuses for the perpetrator of this massacare; I have a vested interest in trying to understand why shootings like this, and the recent one at the University of Montreal, happen. These incidents, with the exception of Charles Whitman who killed 16 people and wounded 31 at the University of Texas in 1966, did not occur thirty years ago. (The Whitman murderous rage may have been a lethal combination of amphetamines for finals, and a brain tumor that was found during an autopsy—his behavior had markedly changed in the last weeks of his life). Why did these incidents begin to occur in the late 70s and have accelerated since then? I really am at a loss for an answer. My students think it is technology: the inability to cope with vast amounts of stimuli and information, and instant access to nearly anybody. As one student put it, "technology radically changes every 18 months, and we as students bear the brunt and stress of keeping on top of it." I don't know if this a valid answer, but at least it is an answer.
I have none.
First, I would like to give my condolences to the students, faculty and parents of Virginia Tech. This is such a horrifying event, and one that few parents envision will take place on the campus where they send their children to study. It's beyond comprehension, this act of violence, as most acts of supreme violence are. And you think the worst thing that might happen to your child on an American campus (and I note "American" because a campus such as the University of Baghdad has faced incredible carnage due to sectarian conflict) is that his or she might receive a "minor in possession" charge or a failing grade. You never think he or she might be randomly shot four times in a German class or an Engineering class.
As a professor at a Division I school, I cannot say that this scenario has never crossed my mind. But I can say it hadn't crossed my mind until about five years ago, which is when I started noticing a subtle and disturbing trend in a small minority of students: unfettered anger. In the last five years, I have had a student block my way out of a classroom because of a perceived poor grade (a "C"), several students yell at me, and a few who have written emails that were just short of threats. These encounters were all over the matter of grades. For many students, it's not enough to receive a "B" anymore; it must be an "A" for the purposes of being competitive. But of course, the vast majority of students deal with their disappointment with grades, or with college in general, gracefully. But those that don't can be very scary—not only for the instructor, but also for fellow students if an outburst occurs in class (which has, thankfully, only happened once to me and my students, but I hear other faculty report incidents more frequently than I can remember).
So, I don't think we can just write this shooting off to a "nutter": we must look at ourselves, at our culture, and at what could be behind the rage. I am not trying to make excuses for the perpetrator of this massacare; I have a vested interest in trying to understand why shootings like this, and the recent one at the University of Montreal, happen. These incidents, with the exception of Charles Whitman who killed 16 people and wounded 31 at the University of Texas in 1966, did not occur thirty years ago. (The Whitman murderous rage may have been a lethal combination of amphetamines for finals, and a brain tumor that was found during an autopsy—his behavior had markedly changed in the last weeks of his life). Why did these incidents begin to occur in the late 70s and have accelerated since then? I really am at a loss for an answer. My students think it is technology: the inability to cope with vast amounts of stimuli and information, and instant access to nearly anybody. As one student put it, "technology radically changes every 18 months, and we as students bear the brunt and stress of keeping on top of it." I don't know if this a valid answer, but at least it is an answer.
I have none.
posted by mariestaad at 10:09 AM
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