News listening is an inseparable part of AIC listening module, and I once told my students in class, “an English saying goes that no news is good news, so if there’s some breaking news, it’s usually bad news.”
So here comes the bad news.
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours and a half-mile apart before the university could figure out what was going on and get the warning out to students.
The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with tragedy, perhaps forever. (AP)
Carnage of this kind is surely shocking, but I have to confess that my sorrow and grief almost gave way to anxiety and apprehension when rumor came that the killer was of Asian descent. Be it dignity as a Chinese citizen or concern for future visa applicants, I simply hate the idea that the slaughter might be committed by a Chinese person. Then the gunman’s identity was revealed and confirmed, a 23-year-old South Korean national named Seung-hui Cho. Feeling of relief might be cruel, and labeling it ultranationalism is too much, but the fact that that young guy is not Chinese does not make things any better, at least not for the bereaved mass of the candlelight vigil.
Grief and sympathy are proof of humanism, yet we have to have enough inventories of sorrow for even distribution, since bad news seems on the heels of each other.
Coal mine accidents have claimed 104 lives in the past eight days…
A fertilizer plant in southwest China discharged a "huge amount" of sulfur dioxide, sickening about 140 children and teachers…
Even a bleeding heart may have no more blood to spare for so many tragedies, and indifference seems the only possible attitude. Yet at least we still have our own life to live, our own job to do, and our own family to love. Our sympathy for others can only be justified by gratitude and humility towards our own life.
Please allow me to quote Virginia Tech president Charles Steger at a memorial congregation.
“Words are very weak symbols of our true emotions at times such as this. It’s overwhelming, almost paralyzing, yet our hearts and our minds call to us to come together to share our individual attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible, to make sense of the senseless, and to find ways for our community to heal.”
(Attachment: 20070417 President Bush mourning the shootings at Virginia Tech)
http://fileblog.hjbbs.com/upload/200704/20070418112011500_208_1817.mp3
Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech today. The exact toll has not yet been confirmed, but it appears that more than 30 people were killed and many more were wounded.
I've spoken with Governor Tim Kaine and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger. I told them that Laura and I and many across our nation are praying for the victims and their families and all the members of the university community who have been devastated by this terrible tragedy. I told them that my administration would do everything possible to assist with the investigation. And then I pledged that we would stand ready to help local law enforcement and the local community in any way we can during this time of sorrow.
Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community.
Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today.
posted on 2007-04-18 11:21
王晓波 阅读(2341)
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