First there was the student who caught the sound of gunshots on his cell phone. Jamal
Albarghouti, whose video was shown on all the networks even became part of the media storm; the civil engineer was patched in to the CNN newsroom to talk about his 70-second clip.
But Albarghouti’s is not the only voice and video out there from the school. MTV has a great compilation of sites where you can find Va. Tech bloggers, discussion groups, school emails, and firsthand news accounts. All from students and members of the school community who are far more in the know about the day’s events than the ever-spectulative media.
My bet is that most of the nation has likely only heard of Virginia Tech, if they’ve heard much of anything at all, for their often-excellent Hokies football and basketball teams. Not anymore, not ever. And with this tragedy (the school’s motto is Invent the Future) will come a transformed community. Because what’s happening now, on this campus, is anything but a game.
