What can be written about promising lives cut short? Perhaps recognition to the fallen, encouragement to the survivors, and hope for those who will continue to carry the academic torch.

This column is dedicated to the fallen, survivors, and future college students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

To the fallen:

• Ross Abdallah Alameddine
• Christopher James Bishop
• Brian Roy Bluhm
• Ryan Christopher Clark
• Austin Michelle Cloyd
• Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
• Kevin P. Granata
• Matthew Gregory Gwaltney
• Caitlin Millar Hammaren
• Jeremy Michael Herbstritt
• Rachael Elizabeth Hill
• Emily Jane Hilscher
• Jarrett Lee Lane
• Matthew Joseph La Porte
• Henry J. Lee
• Liviu Librescu
• G.V. Loganathan
• Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan
• Lauren Ashley McCain
• Daniel Patrick ONeil
• Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz
• Minal Hiralal Panchal
• Daniel Alejandro Perez
• Erin Nicole Peterson
• Michael Steven Pohle, Jr.
• Julia Kathleen Pryde
• Mary Karen Read
• Reema Joseph Samaha
• Waleed Mohamed Shaalan
• Leslie Geraldine Sherman
• Maxine Shelly Turner
• Nicole Regina White

To the survivors:
The best encouragement I can dedicate is one that has helped me. It is a combination of an excerpt from the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr and one of Mahatma Gandhi's quotes: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference" ..."You must be the change you want to see in the world."

We should all be part of the change necessary to prevent future tragedies as these.

To the future:
On June 6, 2007, the Virginia Tech Foundation fully endowed 32 scholarships in honor of the fallen Hokies, faculty, and students of the April 16 attack. May their memory and spirit live on in future academic achievements.


Cathy Bazán-Arias, Ph.D., P.E., works for GAI Consultants, Inc., in Pittsburgh.

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