.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....
Saturday, July 21, 2007

Tech families voice worries over fund distributions

Families of the shooting victims also said they wanted greater assistance from Virginia Tech apart from the memorial fund.

RICHMOND -- Families of Virginia Tech shooting victims raised concerns Friday about a preliminary plan for distributing money in the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, and also expressed frustration with the university's responsiveness to their needs.

About 30 relatives of the shooting victims met privately with the memorial fund's administrator to discuss an initial proposal for allocating more than $7 million in contributions. The meeting took place at the Virginia Tech Richmond Center.

Kenneth Feinberg, the fund's administrator, said relatives raised "the full panoply" of concerns about the proposal. But the questions had less to do with plans for allocating the money than with the overall amount of money available to families, he said.

"You get the obvious response: 'Why isn't it more than $7 million?' " Feinberg told reporters after the 90-minute meeting.

Some families also voiced frustration with the university's administration, saying they want greater cooperation and assistance from Tech apart from the memorial fund, according to a participant in the meeting. Most declined to speak with reporters.

"The other sentiment that clearly came across the board was a frustration with the way Virginia Tech as a university has responded or not responded to the families of the victims," said Rabbi Yosel Kranz of Richmond, who attended the meeting representing the widow of slain Tech professor Liviu Librescu.

"All of them felt the university has not stepped up enough to respond to the needs of the victims, to be there for the needs of the families," Kranz said. "There's a lot of frustration with that."

Among other things, Kranz said, some in the meeting suggested that Tech should offer benefits such as tuition assistance in addition to awards from the Hokie Spirit fund.

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said any additional financial assistance from Tech likely would have to come from operating money allocated by the General Assembly. Money raised by the private Virginia Tech Foundation is dedicated to specific purposes, he noted.

Hincker also said he knew of no specific problems in responding to the needs of families.

"We're trying our very best to be responsive," Hincker said. "We're pouring people on this thing. We're giving away the money that was given to us."

Hincker said university liaisons maintain "regular contact" with victims' families. The university soon will have a permanent liaison in the dean of students office to work with the families of student victims, he said. Another senior administrator is assigned to work with families of faculty victims.

Friday's meeting was the third session Feinberg has held with families affected by the April 16 shootings that left 33 dead and 25 wounded. Tech appointed the Washington attorney to voluntarily oversee the $7.1 million contributed to the fund. About $1 million of that amount has been designated for specific purposes. The remainder will go to victims' families.

Under Feinberg's draft plan, families of students and faculty killed in the shootings would have a choice of receiving a $150,000 payment or dividing that amount between a cash payment and an endowed scholarship in the name of their loved one.

Wounded victims who were hospitalized for 15 days or more would be eligible for $75,000 payments, and those hospitalized between three and 14 days would qualify for $25,000. In each case, victims also could choose to divide the amounts between cash payments and scholarships.

Victims who suffered less serious physical injuries would be eligible for $8,000 payments. Those suffering from psychological trauma would be eligible for free counseling from Tech's Cook Counseling Center.

Asked if families disputed the specific allocation plans, Feinberg said, "There's more a pervasive sense of money is a poor substitute for loss. That's the heart of it."

Feinberg said he will hold more meetings with families in the coming weeks, including an all-day session in Blacksburg on July 31.

.....Advertisement.....