Editor, Daily Nexus,

The horrific massacre at Virginia Tech last week got me thinking about the gruesome tragedy of Feb 23, 2001 in Isla Vista. A mentally ill young man purposely drove his car into a group of people walking down the street (“Jury Declares Attias Insane,” Daily Nexus, June 6, 2002). Four innocent lives were taken and a fifth person was critically injured, his life changed forever. Body parts were strewn all over the street and on parked cars. The killer got out of his car and screamed about being “the angel of death.” It rocked the I.V. community. It could have been any of us walking down Sabado Tarde Road that night. The idea that someone would deliberately mow down pedestrians like that was terrifying and sickening. I’m sure everyone who lived in I.V. at that time can remember where they were when they heard about what had happened. I was surprised that Monday’s events at Tech failed to remind Isla Vistans and the UCSB community of our own tragedy. In an editorial in the Nexus (“Staff Editorial: Shooting Hits Close to Home,” Daily Nexus, April 17) and in the memo from Chancellor Henry T. Yang, the idea that “what happened at VT could happen anywhere” was mentioned more than once. Well, something similar did happen at UCSB. How soon we forget.

That said, I am proud both as a UCSB alum and a current resident of Virginia, that the UCSB community has shown so much support for the Hokies. Perhaps the healing that enveloped I.V. after the tragedy of Feb. 23, 2001 can give hope of healing for the Tech community in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

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