i was actually teaching this course in the spring semester of 2007 when the shooting in blacksburg, virginia occurred at virginia tech. my students were getting ready for the final exams. and it became imperative to share what i had learned in prepping for this course. i was rather than at first to deal with the current events. but my students kept dragging me into the present and sort of forcing me to deal with the issues that were happening in present time. and in the wake of the virginia tech shooting, i felt that that need to write about what had happened. i this a sabbatical in the phallismsic of 2007. and i sat down and began to write up the research and write up the discussions that i've had which were enlightening with my students and pulled me into the new place and new ways of wrestling with the questions of violence in our society. it seemed to be something that we couldn't get away from. and so i did that. i sat down to write. and i was working on the project for about a year. i was actually wrapping it up in the fall of 2008 when my phone rang at florida atlantic university. the

the incidents such as what happened in tucson a few weeks ago, incidents like what happened in blacksburg in 2007 and what happened in littleton, colorado in 1999 will continue. i find hope ultimately in the ability of us to collectively address these issues and to make our world a better place. let me read this passage. this is the beginning of the conclusion. it discusses what i call bio spend. at this moment it is possible to fix the problem of deadly interpersonal violence in the united states. we have not only the knowledge to curb the mayhem in our streets peterson will schools, work places and homes but the means to shake the society relatively free of danger and fear. we can create a peaceful nation in which the taking of human life is a shocking aberration instead of a common occurrence. this new were better nation would require minimal sacrifice in terms of liberty hash and could easily exist in the current framework of laws and social mores. would entail a shift in attitudes and adjustments in how we accommodate violence in our families, social relations, entertainment and publ