Why is it that whenever something terrible, something that makes us sick to our stomachs and hurts us to watch, happens, we cannot help but stare at the television, engrossed by the unfolding drama?

I can remember being unable to turn away from the horrific events of Columbine, Sept. 11 and the Amish School shootings, among many others. On Monday, I awoke elated to find out that school had been canceled, but was then crushed by the news that a gunman had opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus.

All of the students echoed the same sentiment of disbelief: It could never happen in Blacksburg, Va. That always seems to be the first thing out of people’s mouths: not here, not to us.

Events like this seem to be becoming more commonplace. In my four years at Binghamton University, I have never felt threatened or unsafe, and it is not because I can see a blue light no matter where I am on campus. We are in a lazy upstate New York town; nothing happens here ‘ right?

I just can not comprehend how someone could be filled with so much rage and hate, that they can justify taking over 30 innocent people down with him and injuring countless others. These were students, just like all of us, in class, learning and working toward their future goals. Maybe they were planning on heading out to trivia with friends later that night, or maybe they were dreading sitting down to write a paper that was due the next day. In an instant all of that was taken away by a selfish individual.

I do not care how poorly you are doing in a class or how upset you are with a girlfriend, nothing can justify taking such extreme actions. I cannot even begin to imagine what the students of Virginia Tech are going through right now.

What can we do to protect ourselves from such incidents? In the past few years, I have noticed the increase in security at many facilities. You can no longer expect to walk into a public arena, such as a museum or even Disney Land, without first undergoing a security check. Will college campuses soon join the crowd? Will we have to walk through metal detectors just to get into Lecture Hall?

Shooters are known to exhibit warning signs. They become withdrawn and are usually isolated or rejected from social circles. They have the inability to control their anger and may tell others of plans to carry out violent actions. Of course, we all want to believe that the person is joking, and no one wants to be a rat, so people neglect to get these at risk students help. When do you actually raise your hand and say this person is at risk, and who do you direct that to? Though it is difficult to go to someone with these concerns, it needs to be done.

It is sad that securing our safety has come to this. I want the freedom to go to class and feel safe, but unfortunately that luxury is no longer available. If anything, this incident should teach us all that we have to be wary. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. No one is immune. Let’s all just pray that the students of Virginia Tech can work through this tragedy and that incidents like this do not become the norm on college campuses.