Gunman's writings were disturbing (Eagle Scout saves his life by applying a tourniquet from a cord)

Chron.com ^ | 04.17.07 | MATT APUZZO

[Coleus]

Eagle Scout, survived >> some kids choose scouting, some soccer and few may do both. Scouting is down and soccer is up, if parents would only know the life-long benefits of scouting.

[Coleus]

.

[DogBarkTree]

I still want to know if Cho went islamo.

[TexasCajun]

Cho Seung-Hui was no Stephen King!

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

"You caused me to do this."

Typical whiny liberal.

[Ingtar]

Ismail Ax on the left arm (closest to the heart) of the killer tells me all I need to know about his motives.

Ismail (Ishmael) was the father of the Arabs and was cast out in our accounts while Isaac was offered up for sacrifice. In the Moslem accounts/koran, they write that Ismail was the true sacrifice and the scribes corrupted the account. Ismail Ax means to me makes it appear he was sacrificing himself for his 72 virgins.

[Bahbah]

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said Cho's writing was so disturbing that he had been referred to the university's counseling service.

I read a piece of his "creative" writing over at the Smoking Gun. In addition to being violent and disgusting, he had no business in a college English class, much less being allowed to major in it.

[Doogle]

the more and more that comes out about this wing nut the more and more “red flags” appear...just like at Columbine (sp?)..but alas PC.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

note had been described to him as "anti-woman

Anti-woman? That's new info I had not seen before. Tends to support the theory that he might have been influenced by Islam, although that could also be simply from being rejected by girls and becoming a stalker.

[Man50D]

Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.

That's now a moot point.

[llevrok]

if parents would only know the life-long benefits of scouting

In this Scouts case, truly LIFE LONG benefits.

[martin_fierro]

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said Cho's writing was so disturbing that he had been referred to the university's counseling service. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be," Rude said. "But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."

Now showing at Blockbuster.

[PeterFinn]

That’s it! Stephen King goes to jail, NOW!!!

[nevergore]

Uh...no....

[Charles Henrickson]

The Washington Post quoted law enforcement sources as saying Cho died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on one of his arms, but they were not sure what that meant.

_ _ _ _ _

Dr. ISMAIL AK is a Professor of Psychiatry at a university in Turkey. His research interests include the following:

Personal Disorders, Agresivve behavior and self-mutilation, ECT, Substance-related disorders, Sexual Disorders, Forensic Psychiatry, Sleep Disorders

From the Turkish Association of Psychopharmacology website:

President-elect:
Professor Ismail AK, M.D. Head, Department of Psychiatry, KTU School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
Ismail AK is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Head, Department of Psychiatry, KTU School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
He is an experienced on clinical psychopharmacology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

Dr. Ismail Ak is one of the authors of an article about patients with mental disorders, psychotic features, etc.:

As regards pharmacotherapies, 354 (50.2%) were given antidepressants. . . . Among antidepressants, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were 72.8%. . . .

This is an abstract of an article co-written by Dr. ISMAIL AK:

Even though all psychiatric disorders do not have the same potential with regard to committing a crime, the number of individuals having psychiatric disorders is gradually going up depending on the increase of crimes and violent behaviors committed in a society. . . . The relation between existence of psychiatric disorder and crime behavior has been significantly emphasized in several earlier studies. In conclusion, it is notable that the rates of committing crime for the individuals with psychiatric disorders are on the rise.

Dr. Ismail Ak is apparently one of the world's leading experts on the psychiatry of antisocial and suicidal behavior, psychotic and bipolar disorders, psychopharmacological therapy, etc.

The young man had been noticed to be disturbed and had been referred to counseling. Dr. Ismail Ak is an expert and author in the particular field most directly related to the guy's disorder.

So it's possible that the writing on the guy's arm said

ISMAIL AK

and the K was written in a way that people *thought* it said

ISMAIL AX

That seems more likely to me than a connection to Moby Dick or to Islamic terrorism.

This is an angle the investigators need to pursue with the school's counseling service, the killer's computer, and Dr. Ismail Ak himself.

[TexasCajun]

Hannity played a bit of Rosie's "Blame Bush" rant from her show Rosie's View on his radio program today.

What a total idiot.

Perhaps Rosie should hold the university and its administrators liable if she refuses to hold the mass murderer accountable himself.

[Alberta's Child]

In addition to being violent and disgusting, he had no business in a college English class, much less being allowed to major in it.

Seems like so many of these big news stories are littered with examples of just how mediocre our nation's standards for "higher education" have become.

This loser Cho is to Virginia Tech's English department what Mayor Ray Nagin is to Tulane University's MBA program.

[Trust but Verify]

Why? Will it satisfy some personal need you have? There is no evidence this has anything to do with islam or terrorism.

[Callahan]

NY Times Lede Blog posted a quote from a guy who was in Cho’s drama writing class. He said the minute he heard about the tragedy he knew it was Cho. Apparently, the dude’s writing was so violent and his silence so creepy, students and professors were afraid to criticize his work during peer review. He also said he imagined that Cho was the school shooter type so far as to construct a plan in his head for what he would do when he showed up with gun.

[LetsRok]

The rich kids do not go to Virginia Tech. They go to UVA or America University. Seeing that Cho lived in Centreville, I guess everyone would appear rich to him.