Here a Noose, There a Noose..

ONE NIGHT IN JULY, A SECOND-YEAR COAST Guard cadet found a noose among his personal belongings when he returned to his berth after a stint on watch aboard the barque Eagle.
A noose. The 19-year-old engineering student put it in his pocket and went about his business, taking solace in the knowledge that he was on the fifth week of a six-week cruise.
The next morning, though, found him hurt and angry. The cadet, who is Black, reported the finding to his commander, Capt. J. Christopher Sinnett. It is important to note that the cadet was at first willing to have his name attached to this story. But again, after overnight consideration, requested to have his privacy. Ultimately, that it happened at all is far more import than to whom it happened.
Sinnett investigated the incident, but found no culprit. Of course, no one admitted to it. And, for that matter, exactly what was it? Was it a poorly thought-out prank, intended to amuse? Or was it a racist act intended to intimidate and humiliate?
Sinnett said that he was, in polite terms, very upset, as were many of the cadet's friends, classmates and shipmates of varied backgrounds and cultures. They were disturbed that one of their own would be subjected to such a gesture, and that one of their own would so egregiously violate the oft-repeated code of “honor, respect and devotion to duty.”
Sinnett said he made it quite clear in an address to everyone on board that the incident was unacceptable behavior.
So what to do next? There's no one to punish. Well, you educate. Ken Hunter, the academy's civil rights officer, was notified immediately. He put together an impromptu race relations training for all of the cadets on campus and anyone who interacts with them. Unlike the academy's standard annual sensitivity training, these sessions included discussion, photographs and anecdotes on the historical derogatory symbolism of the noose.
“When you first hear about things like this, you wonder, 'Do people get it?'” Hunter said. “Then you wonder, 'Was it was a joke, or was it race motivated?' And, 'Aren't we past this?'”
Aboard ship, Sinnett convened focus groups, comprised of 10 to 15 cadets each, to talk about what was done and all of its ramifications.
“It is a problem. We looked at it as a problem and we talked about it like a problem,” he said. “The feedback was astounding. Unfortunately, there were no indications as to who did it or why, but there was a lot of positive feedback from the crew and the cadets. Many of them had a lot to say, and I think it sent a strong message to whomever did it.”
“Honestly, I think it was an inappropriate joke,” the cadet said. He said only the perpetrator knows if the act was one of bigotry.
Frankly, I find it difficult to perceive the cowardly act as having anything other than purposeful racist motivations. That perception was fortified Friday evening when academy spokesman David French told me that during the course of the training, a noose was also surreptitiously delivered to a white female who was conducting part of the training.
Generally speaking, friends of differing cultural persuasions care enough and know enough to never assume they have the privilege of making off-color jokes or comments. I can't believe that was the case here.
Incidents like this beg intense public reaction, especially on a campus where, among the minority staff and personnel, there is a feeling that the leadership on campus is insensitive to racial matters. They believe the academy would prefer such incidents remain out of the pubic eye.
Their perception is bolstered by the fact that this incident only came to light more than two months after it happened, and certainly through no effort of the academy, but rather from people who felt it was intentionally being kept quiet.
Does it beg a protest led by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the NAACP, such as is ongoing in the noose-related incident in Jena, La.? I think not. But should the public that the Coast Guard is bound to serve and protect, especially the local public, know that such things go on in our local Homeland Security college? Absolutely.
Much to its credit, the academy was quite forthcoming in response to my inquiries. Most important, the offended cadet is satisfied with the academy's response, and the opportunity he had to address his classmates and crewmates aboard the Eagle.
“I confronted everyone the next day at quarters,” he said. “I said what I needed to say. I think what I said will have the most impact on the person who might have felt that way. Or the person who played an inappropriate joke knows it and won't do it again, whichever it was.
“But, whatever it was, now I've put it behind me and moved on.”
The young man is a credit to the academy. He is even more so to his family and his culture.
(This is the opinion of Chuck Potter.)

This gives an indication of the environment and the atmosphere at the Academy that gave rise to the things that happened to Webster Smith. The Academy is pretty much a closed society. Attitudes and actions start at the top of the chain of command and run down hill. The senior officers set the tone, and the lower ranking officers and cadets take their clues from them. The senior officers gave the impression that they wanted to scape-goat African American cadets to make political points with Congressman Shays and the Militant women's organizations to show how they were protecting the young white female cadets.
What they did to Webster Smith signaled to the cadets that they could engage in some subtle racially intimidating behavior. Also, if they were caught the punishment would be lax or little at all. They started to roll a snowball down a mountain, and now it is picking up momentum. They unleashed a whirl wind. Who knows where it will end? One thing is sure, Van Sice and Wisniewski opened up a Pandora's Box.
This did not happen over night. It has been brewing. What happened to Webster Smith was not an abberation. It was in keeping with the decisions and signals from the Superintendent and the Commandant of Cadets.
The correct decision in the Formal Complaint of Racial Discrimination could put the brakes on this trend, and might even stop it all together. It would show some of the lesser bigots that their pranks or intimidating acts will not be tolerated by the larger society outside of the Academy grounds.
The Rule of Law still prevails in this country. Most people would do the right thing for the right reason, if they were allowed to do so.




What's done in the dark, will soon come to light.

VirginiaTech Shooter said "You made me do it."

Massacre gunman's note said: "You made me do this"

On 17 April 2007 it was revealed that college gunman Cho Seung-Hui penned a "disturbing note" before going on a shooting spree which left 32 people dead, police have revealed.
The 23-year-old South Korean student killed his first victim, 18-year-old Emily Hilscher, before he went on the rampage and blasted to death whoever was in range.
It is not yet clear as to why Seung-Hui, described as a loner, killed Emily and then went on to slaughter dozens more people with two handguns.
Police sources said a "disturbing note" left in his room contained a bomb threat and that he probably went back there to re-arm during his deadly spree.
The note is reported to have contained the line "You made me do this".
Reports say the English undergraduate's creative writing was so "troubled" that Seung-Hui had been referred by teachers to the school's counselling service.
Theories under investigation include:
• The killer and Emily Hilscher were an item and it was an argument between them over another student which sparked the slaughter
• Seung-Hui was obsessed with Hilscher and wanted to be with her but she had refused his advances leading him to go on the rampage
• The bitter gunman despised rich students and went on the rampage to kill those with money



Some reports have suggested that Seung-Hui suspected Hilscher of cheating on him with Ryan Clark. Seung-Hui murdered them both, Clark dying with a bullet wound in the neck, according to U.S. media.
Seung-Hui whereabouts are unaccounted for from that moment until roughly two hours later, when massacre began. By the time night fell in Virginia 33 people were dead, including the gunman.
The 23-year-old's body was discovered among those of his victims in a classroom in Norris Hall, where all the dead save Clark and Hilscher were found.
Police have recovered a 9mm handgun and a .22 calibre handgun. Ballistics tests have confirmed one of the two weapons seized was used in both shootings.
The names of 32 victims will be released once identifications on the bodies are complete. A preliminary list has been released by the Associated Press, a link to which can be found above.
Steve Flaherty of Virginia State police said: "We cannot say at this stage that the same shooter was involved in both instances. We are now exploring that evidence and trying to make that trail. It's certainly reasonable for us to assume this but we don't have the evidence."
Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell, he said.
The college has faced fierce critcism from grieving students who demanded to why the campus was not locked down and how Seung-Hui was able to massacre 30 people two hours after the first murders.
However Virginia Secretary of Public Safety John Marshall stated in a press conference: "(The college)made the right decisions based on the information they had available at the time."
Other reports clamed that the gunman who carried out the US campus massacre shot his victims three times. "There were leg, arm, head, face (injuries), the more critical ones actually had head or facial shots," an emergency room doctor said.
Dr Joseph Cacioppo, who treated the wounded, added: "There were chest shots, leg shots, arm shots. He was just shooting to kill."
All the wounded still in hospital are now in stable condition, a hospital spokesman has said. All those 12 wounded have three or more bullet wounds.
Seung-Hui was a student at the university. He had residency status in the U.S. and was residing on campus in Harper Residence Hall. He majored in English.
He was a South Korean citizen who has lived in the United States since 1992, said U.S. immigration spokesman Chris Bentley. He and his family lived in Centreville, Virginia.
South Korea's president reiterated his condolences over the U.S. university shooting after the revelation that the suspect was of South Korean origin.
Hilscher and Clark were neighbours on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory.
On her own personal Myspace web page Emily Hilscher went under the pseudonym Pixie.



On her personal profile, which has not been updated since October 2006, she talks about meeting a new boy.
She wrote: "I am the pixie. my friends are what keep me smiling. i unfortunatly am alone... all alone.. i live love and get booted but eventually that will change. have a wonderful guy who is hopefully going to change all of that... but dont know what is going to happen." It is unclear what boy she was meant, and it was obvious that she did not update her MySpace page often.
Emily and Ryan Clark were shot at 7.15am. U.S. media reported that Clark had been shot in the neck.



The parents of Ryan Clark, who is from the town of Martinez in Georgia, were told their son had died in a telephone call from the coroner in the town of compiling the list of dead from the massacre.
Stan and Letitie Clark were being comforted by friends and family last night at their home as the investigation into the massacre continued.
Ryan Clark, who has a twin brother, was an officer in the college's army reserve unit.
Pals of the Emily and Ryan posted messages of tribute on Internet social-networking site 'Facebook' and other blogs remembering Hilscher her as a vibrant girl with an engaging personality.
"Emily was a kind and wonderful person who always put a smile on my face," wrote pal Jessica Gould.
Ryan Clark - a prefect in the dormitory - was in his fifth year at Virginia Tech and a leader in the school's marching band.
"He was such a friendly person," said friend Sarah Davis, 21, a trombone player in the band.
"When I came in as a freshman, I was scared to death. He was always really friendly. If he didn't know you, he'd introduce himself.
"He was like, 'I want to know everybody."
Columbia County Sheriff's Office in Georgia confirmed that 22-year-old Ryan Clark from Martinez, Georgia, was one of the first shooting victims.
Hilscher, from Rappahannock County, Virginia, was confirmed dead by Rappahannock Country administrator John McCarthy, a friend of the Hilscher family.
"You hear about people in other places mourning the loss of a child of great potential and great hope, and now we're the ones that have to bear that great loss," McCarthy said last night.
"It's a great loss to the county, and a terrible, terrible tragedy to the family," McCarthy said.
"The Hilschers are strong people, and this is a strong community, and they'll have our support. And the best we can hope for is a time of healing."
Police are still investigating the motive behind the attacks and detectives have not ruled out the possibility that there was a second shooter or an accomplice to the gunman.
Two hours after the slayings of Clark and Hilscher in the West Ambler Johnston Hall building at least 31 more victims - including the gunman - were shot dead in the University's Norris Hall building.
Virginia Tech officials are expected to release a list of those killed and wounded later today.
By Monday afternoon information about those who had been killed had already began to filter out.
The list of the dead is known to include at least four staff members working inside the Norris Hill building.
A message on the front page of the school's engineering department website paid tribute to two of the staff.
It read: "In Memoriam. Professor Kevin Granata and Professor Liviu Librescu who died on April 16, 2007 wwhile serving Virginia Tech."
Prof Kevin Granata was killed while holding his course in the Norris Hall building.
Professor Liviu Librescu, originally from Romania, was killed alongside Granata.
A third instructor in the engineering department, Professor GV Loganathan, was also killed in the massacre.
Loganathan was teaching in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering when the gunman went on rampage.
His colleague Prof Raman Kumar confirmed the news of Loganathan's death.
A language teacher, German instructor Jamie Bishop, 35, was also confirmed dead. He had been leading a class when a gunman burst through the doors and shot him in the head, according to witnesses.
"I don't think he was the type of person who had an enemy," said Troy Paddock, a close friend of Bishop.
"He was a very friendly person. He did weekly gatherings for students out of class to practice German where they could talk about anything. He was a nice and helpful person."
Bishop's wife, Dr. Stefanie Hofer, is another instructor in the school's German department.
All victims in hospital now are in stable condition.