Abnormal Psychology

A psychology major has admitted to being the person who has been placing a memorial stone for Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho among those of his victims:


A senior Virginia Tech psychology major has identified herself in a letter to the editor in the Collegiate Times as the person who's been placing a stone at the memorial for Seung-Hui Cho.

The writer, Katelynn L. Johnson, wrote in the lengthy letter that she placed the stone at the memorial at 4 a.m. last Thursday morning in the dark to avoid drawing attention.

"I refuse to do what is popular and agree with everyone around me that only 32 people died on Monday. 33 died."She said in the letter that she intends to continue adding a stone whenever it is removed, as was the case earlier this week.

I somewhat suspect this student aced VT's PSYCH 3014: Abnormal Psychology, based largely upon her own head start on the subject.

The fact that Cho coldly murdered 32 others and wounded 29 more before taking his own life doesn't seem to be of much concern to Ms. Johnson, who is in the process of making herself the most unpopular living student on campus by memorializing a mass murderer.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 01:11 PM

Comments

1 yup, Bob, she definitely reaches into the anti-social realm and probably transcends the boundary of abnormal psych.

Posted by: CoRev at April 25, 2007 01:19 PM (0U8Ob)

2 This girl must be insane. Putting the stone there is one thing, but advertising her name? Pass the Kool-Aid!

Posted by: Justin at April 25, 2007 01:33 PM (NiTuu)

3 I hope she has alot of stones!

Posted by: Justin at April 25, 2007 01:35 PM (NiTuu)

4 Too bad it's not politically correct in our world to have compassion on the severely mentally ill. No wonder people who need treatment are afraid to due to the stigma and lack of understanding by all the "perfect" people.

I applaud the compassionate stone setter!

Posted by: Kate at April 25, 2007 01:37 PM (XR8A9)

5 I wholeheartedly agree that we must seek compassion and parity for the mentally ill. I have to suggest that there is a difference between compassion for the mentally ill and legitimazation of behaviors. If we deem appropriate ANY behavior of the mentally ill instead of holding them responsible for those behaviors (with the caveat that they must have the capacity to know right from wrong, which in this case I believe he did) then we further stigmatize the mentally ill instead of making them a part of society as a whole.

Posted by: Steve at April 25, 2007 03:12 PM (hr/Ar)

6 Im sorry Kate, but I think honoring a mass murderer is not compassion.

Posted by: Justin at April 25, 2007 03:23 PM (NiTuu)

7 The model that many people try to live up to in our society is that of an all-compassionate, all-forgiving god. "Forgive those who trespass against us," and so on. It's difficult to live up to the ideal in such an emotionally charged situation as that surrounding VT. I wouldn't have placed the stone, but I'm a) not compassionate or forgiving, and b) afraid of riling people up.

I tried to go to the link, but it was broken, so I didn't get to read the article. Isn't it possible she made the ideally Christian choice, rather than the popular one?

Posted by: Doc Washboard at April 25, 2007 05:45 PM (nrafD)

8 There is nothing Christian about honoring a murderer.

The memorial is for the victims he murdered, and it is spiteful to equate them morally with their murderer.

Shall we next count in the Nazis killed during WWII as victims of the Holocaust?

Posted by: Foxfier at April 26, 2007 12:57 AM (1ZamT)

9 I respect her decision to place the initial stone. That, however, should have been enough to ease her soul. Any further action on her part is as insane and pointless as Cho's rampage.

Good thing she's insane enough to identify herself, I suspect this won't be the last we hear of her.

Posted by: DoorHold at April 26, 2007 11:20 AM (TPaww)

10 It's perfectly fine to forgive him in her heart. But to make a big show of equating him with his victims, and then to paint it as speaking truth to power or something, is nuts.

Posted by: Jim Treacher at April 26, 2007 09:34 PM (Q03d8)






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