A small group students, faculty and community members joined together Tuesday to discuss the issues brought up by the shootings at Virginia Tech.

“We thought that it was important to bring people together to discuss the implications for our campus community,” said Eugenio Matibag, associate professor of world languages and cultures.

The discussion featured a panel of faculty members who talked about their feelings, opinions and ideas brought about by the Virginia Tech killings.

The panel consisted of Matibag, Carmen Flagge, program coordinator of the dean of students office, Jerry Stewart, director of public safety, and James Dorsett, program manager for international students and scholars.

“[We want] to express our sympathy and support for the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre,” Matibag said.

He said Iowa State and Virginia Tech have similarities; one being that they have nearly the same number of students.

Matibag said because the shooter was Korean, Asian-American students have been targeted verbally and physically. He said some Asian-American students at the Ames Middle School have been beaten up recently.

“We should keep in mind that the killings were accomplished by a profoundly disturbed individual,” he said.

Matibag said it is important to learn to reflect and respect differences in the community.

He said Asian-Americans have been considered outsiders in American culture and, unfortunately, events like Virginia Tech reinforce that status.

“We should nurture our community; a diverse community of people from different backgrounds and of different racial affiliations and racial classifications,” Matibag said. “We should reinvent our community constantly.”

Flagge talked about the emotions that were brought out in students going through the loss of Abel Bolanos, which was quickly followed by the losses at Virginia Tech.

“I think the Virginia Tech thing brought a lot more emotions out when our students heard that the incident happened, after just experiencing a loss,” she said.

She said that getting support from different schools is probably helpful to people directly affected by the Virginia Tech incident.

“I think that we have a lot to think about,” Flagge said. “The way students interact with each other is very different.”

Stewart said he has close friends who work at the police department at Virginia Tech.

“Each catastrophe [that] happens has a picture that is engraved in our minds. We all vividly can picture what went on; for me, it is the picture of the officers running down the sidewalk [at Virginia Tech.]”

Stewart said America wanted easy answers. However, law enforcement put themselves on the line to protect others.

“I would ask that we not hold the responders responsible for what occurred,” Stewart said. “They were doing what they thought was the best thing.”

He encouraged the audience to report any suspicious behavior to the Ames or ISU Police Department.

“People need to feel a part of a community, and when they do so, I think they are less inclined to act out,” Stewart said. “They are less inclined to destroy property if they know that they a part of a community and they know the people who live there.”

Dorsett said students should pursue a wide variety of diverse relationships.

“Life is a precious thing and we should all enjoy it and love it,” Dorsett said. “[We should] reach out to people of other cultures and backgrounds. Get to know these people because you will be a richer person for it; we all will.”

Vijay Kanagala, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies, is president of a newly formed student organization. It is called “Cyclones for Hokies,” and it was formed in response to the Virginia Tech shootings.

They plan to support the Virginia Tech community by doing fundraising, Kanagala said.

There will be donation boxes set up on the west side of the Memorial Union, near the food court. The boxes will be out from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the remainder of the semester.

“If every student at Iowa State gave one dollar, that is a lot of money,” Kanagala said.