Could Have Been You

About 31 students from a Virginia college are dead and at least 22 others are injured, according to MSNBC.
Today has left me at a loss for words, but also with the urge to somehow mark this tragedic date in American history. I have been sitting in my dorm room for the last half hour trying to write a meaningful and though-provoking blog, but I have retyped this blog entry four times already.
As both a journalist and a college student, this event has shocked and angered me to the very core. As a new journalist, I now realize how daunting and difficult it must be for journalists to report and carry the nation through a day like today. I am actually very impressed with the coverage I have seen and read so far. Fox News has been interviewing students, police officers, and school officials in a tasteful, yet informative manner. A man, whose son died in Columbine, even offered and interview to comment on how difficult it will be for parents of victims to find information. I can only hope that one day I will be able to handle a time of crisis with the same professional and genueinely sympathetic manner.

As a college student, the words "this could have been me" have been streaming through my mind. These students woke up in their dorm rooms just like mine and began their day, probably dreading class or work. The next thing they knew, a shooter had opened fire.
If that wasn't terrible enough, he moved to a classroom building across campus, that is similar to Michigan State's Wells Hall and opened fire killing about 30 others. I keep wondering how many of those students almost skipped class and stayed in bed today. If only they would have all submitted to that temptation.
These shootings occurred almost 2 hours apart, according to Cnn. What shocked me most was the absence of a plan that would warn students to stay at home and prevent them from coming to campus after the first shooting. How is Michigan State any different and would we be prepared if this had occurred on our campus? If someone where to open fire in Case Hall, how would I know? I hope that the university will now consider students safety on campus, because the unthinkable has happened in Virginia and it could happen here.
It is so easy today to worry about national safety, especially with the War in Iraq. Even talk about securing our nations borders from Mexico and Canada are major concerns of policy makers and citizens today. But what about the safety of students on campuses all over the country?
I know, as a student living in a dorm, I increasingly vulnerable today. Anyone can walk into this building carrying any hidden weapon and no one would ever know. It would be a large and expensive task to create increased security or even a warning system on campus that could prevent future shootings.
But we can't put a cost on safety of those pursuing higher education. Universities around the country need to invest in a plan, no matter how expensive, because it will save them from the grief of having to explain to parents that their children were murdered.

May God be with the victims and families of this tragedy.