April 20, 2007…As the nation joins the Virginia Tech community in mourning the senseless slaughter on their campus, serious questions need to be addressed about the handling of this case. On Monday, fingerprints and ballistic tests link both incidents to Cho Seung-Hui, a very disturbed South Korean who had been living in this country since 1992. Hui killed his first two victims in a dormitory at approximately 7:15 a.m. and then two hours later he committed suicide after killing 31 others in a classroom building across the campus. Why did campus officials wait two hours before alerting students about the first incident? Why wasn’t there some sort of campus lockdown or at least a campus-wide alert system to warn students about the fact that a killer was on the loose? An e-mail was sent to students at 9:26 a.m. informing them of the first incident, but this was right as the killer was at the Norris classroom building killing more innocent victims, giving students no chance to take evasive action. This incident should be studied by colleges across the nation so that this type of tragedy never happens again.
April 13, 2007…This week, the Durham, North Carolina nightmare finally came to a close as the North Carolina Attorney General threw out the remaining charges against three former Duke Lacrosse players, who were accused by a stripper of sexual assault in March of 2006. The stripper changed her story numerous times, which should have been enough of a warning sign. In addition, there were no corroborating witnesses, no DNA evidence and at least one of the Duke players had strong evidence showing him at another location at the time of the supposed rape.
Founded in 1974, Save Our Cemeteries, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and protecting New Orleans' 31 historic cemeteries. Over the years, Save Our Cemeteries, Inc. has been responsible for the actual restoration of historic tombs that otherwise would have disintegrated beyond repair. Proceeds from tours led by representatives benefit the Save Our Cemeteries' tomb restoration programs, as well as educational projects, lectures, and workshops on cemetery preservation.
