Tragic irony

Like the rest of the world, we are shocked and saddened by the recent events at Virginia Tech. It has hit our small community especially hard, as our college town has much in common with Blacksburg, VA; the population is roughly the same, and the local State University is an important fixture in the area. There is a palpable sense on campus today that this tragedy could have easily happened here.

Virginia Tech's web site has been converted to a memorial page, with links to information and resources to help folks there cope with this senseless tragedy. In a sad twist of irony, there is also a link on the site that leads to an "All About Blacksburg" page, which contains the following paragraph under "Quick Facts":

The Town of Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech campus experience very little crime. In a recent National Citizens Survey, 91 percent of Blacksburg’s residents reported that they feel safe in their neighborhoods.

Somehow I expect that figure has declined this week. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.