With the nation, natch, the world, still listing from the worst mass murder in U.S. history, emotions have risen to the surface and lay exposed, like a raw nerve.  People are sad, depressed, confused and underlying all of it, they are pissed off.  And they have no place to channel that anger, some will drink it away, others will lash out at loved ones and friends, most will just swallow it where it will lay buried, like some roadside improved explosive device, waiting to explode at the most inopportune time. 

This is a dangerous time, there is little oxygen in such an emotional climate and yet crucial, life changing decisions and laws have life breathed into them.  We saw the same type of over reaction in the aftermath of 9/11. 

Step back and just breathe.

Meanwhile, consider the following report from Newsday reporter Tom McGinty who side-stepped the pack journalism that typically surrounds such events and did some worthy reporting that really puts Monday's tragedy in perspective.



Violent crime is relatively rare on college campuses compared to society as a whole, according to federal campus crime statistics.

The 32 homicides yesterday at Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus easily surpassed the average annual total of 16 murders and manslaughters reported on all American campuses over the past six years, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics. The deadliest year over that span was 2002 when 23 people were killed on campuses nationwide.


The administrators of 8,771 college campuses across America reported a total of 7,600 violent on-campus crimes in 2005, from murder and manslaughter to forcible sex, robbery and aggravated assault. Those nationwide statistics have remained fairly constant over the six years they've been centrally collected.


The campus rate in 2005 works out to about 42 violent crimes per 100,000 students enrolled at all those institutions, a much lower rate than the general population of those 12 and older that year, which the U.S. Department of Justice estimated to be about 2,000 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.


Source: newsday.com