Although it has been almost a year since the killings of April 16, 2007, many will never forget the day student Seung-Hui Cho opened fire in a dormitory and classroom building on the Virginia Tech campus. He killed 32 and wounded 26 people before committing suicide.

On Wednesday, January 28, 2008, Penn Valley students assembled to hear a firsthand description of the Virginia Tech shooting from one of Cho’s victims, Garrett Evans, 31.

"The first thing I saw was a .22 semi-automatic. As the bullets left the gun, they entered bodies one at a time and each one dropped right in front of my face," Evans said.

"There were bodies, blood and shell casings everywhere. I was the last one out of the room and I smelled death." Evans was among the 26 injured.

While it was later discovered that Cho was an outcast at school and had a mental condition, Evans continues to tour the country talking to students and faculty about the importance of putting the guns down and taking responsibility for our actions.

He emphasized the importance of treating everyone the same and resolving conflict before things escalate. "I tell people, whatever conflict you have; there is nothing that you can’t work out. Everything can be worked out; all you have to do is sit down, put your differences on the table and work it out."

Since the mass shootings, Evans has gone back to Virginia Tech and received a degree in economics. When asked by an audience member how hard it was to forgive Cho, Evans responded, "Not hard at all. I refuse to let confusion beat me."

As a consequence of last year's events, Evans has become the co-founder and spokesman for a new school alert system. It's a free service being offered to all two and four year universities.

According to the October 14, 2007 online issue of In Rich, Virginia's largest schools enacted several shooting-related changes last year, and the one measure they all took in common was installing text-messaging systems to instantly alert students, faculty and staff.

Penn Valley is following that lead, said Gary Wilson, Director of MCC-PV’s Public Safety Department and chairman of the Campus Safety Committee. "We have our own student dispatch system. MCC-PV has always put safety first. We want students to feel safe while on campus. We frequently patrol and are highly visible throughout the hallways, parking garages and other pertinent locations."

Mindy Johnson, student advisor and co-chairperson of the Campus Safety Committee said, "It is my understanding that we are testing a text messaging system for our students and it will be launching sometime this semester."

Why set up our own text messaging system instead of employing Evans’system? Johnson said, "I believe we started research before his company started. Shortly after the Virginia Tech shootings, the messaging system really came about but we were already moving in that direction; we were already starting to upgrade our security system here."

The Campus Security Committee was formed because "a general recommendation was made about safety for all the campuses…when you look at our emergency procedures manual it's for the whole district… but we really wanted to specifically address safety issues," Johnson explained.

Johnson maintained that the Campus Security Committee has already made "definite recommendations to the district" pertaining to campus security, particularly "to equip our public safety officers with something that will help them protect us…because right now they carry nothing and so when they have to detain someone, they have no protection for themselves or for the people around them."

Public safety officer Jim Hughes said, "We are very proactive when it comes to enhancing our school's security system. Guns are strictly prohibited on campus. The school's policies regarding concealed weapons can be found in the student handbook, page 96, for anyone who wants to read it."

Four school shooting incidents have already occurred in the U.S. in just the month of Februrary this year. According to the February 15 issue of USA today, twelve states are considering laws that would allow students to carry concealed weapons on campus as a means of self-defense.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus - which claims to be adding 1000 members a day through its website (http://concealedcampus.org/) - is promoting awareness of the issue with a nationwide protest scheduled one week after the Virginia Tech massacre, April 21-25.

USA Today reports that the push to allow guns on campus infuriates Garrett Evans, who was shot in both legs during the Virginia Tech rampage. Evans has been quoted saying that "Having guns in the classroom only makes things worse."

For more information on the Virginia Tech shooting or the new school alert system, check out the following sources:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-21-0001.html
http://web.utk.edu/%7Emrussom/jem222/stories/virginia.html
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/world_07schoolshooting_page.html]

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