Virginia Tech Massacre Needed Better Coverage

As elated as I was to learn that I will potentially be saving money on my textsbooks next year, I was aghast to learn that the reporting of the single most deadly shooting in United States history was relegated to ... page seven? How is it possible that no one stood up in the newsroom and decided that maybe this was front page news, especially considering that mere weeks ago our campus was the site of a similar tragedy? In the name of responsible journalism, the staff at The Daily ought to be ashamed of itself that no one prioritized this information. I believe that you owe your devoted readers some sort of apology.

— Paul Tomisser

Senior, International Studies

I really enjoy reading The Daily, and I think that the articles presented are interesting and valid to the UW community. On Tuesday morning, however, I was really shocked to see that there was not an article about what happened Monday at Virginia Tech. It seems to me that something that devastating deserves some sort of coverage, especially since the UW just had a shooting not too long ago. There are obviously other news sites where students can get the same (if not more up-to-date) information about what is going on over there, but I think that to completely ignore what happened is wrong. What happened yesterday at Virginia Tech could have easily happened at any other university, and I believe that some acknowledgment of the situation is in order.

— Cate Bradford

Fifth-year, Speech and Hearing Sciences

Editor's note: The Daily did run a news brief about the Virginia Tech shooting Tuesday, April 16 on page 7.

Details missing from assault coverage

I am writing in regards to the article "Assault Suspect Still in Custody" (April 17) by Camden Swita. While The Daily always writes about current issues and covers them well, I am concerned that this article had a few incorrect facts. The author could have easily obtained the correct information about numerous items in the article. First, he states that police had said that in a previous arrest a handgun was pulled. This is inaccurate and for the author to say police had said this baffles me. If the author had truly done his research, police could have looked at the record and given him the correct information about the arrest. Also, when this article was published the suspect was not in custody.

I am sorry for being upset, but to me this is an attack on this individual. While I know The Daily is trying to put news out there, all I ask is that, especially when reporting about sensitive issues such as this one, please have the authors do the research. All of the information that was incorrect in the article could have been easily obtained (as it all is public record).

I think The Daily does a fine job of reporting news that is relevant to all University students, and I hope that you understand where my concerns are coming from.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

— Amy Smith