• Responding to the Virginia tragedy

  Many factors help clarify why 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui went on his shooting rampage at Virginia Tech university on Monday morning, assuming he alone was responsible for all the deaths and injuries. The easy availability of lethal handguns in Virginia is undoubtedly one of them. So is the prevailing anxiety, insecurity, embitterment and violence currently felt in this cultural centre of the US military as the war in Iraq turns so sour for its troops on the ground. None of this can explain, much less excuse, the reprehensible action of this young man or what drove him to it. He alone is responsible. But such conditions certainly facilitate the resort to random violence and are a valid concern of public policy in the wake of this disaster. p
  

• Music training

  The decision of the board of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (NYOI) to merge its two orchestras has been greeted with the kind of response that such a retrograde step deserves - a unanimous outcry of protest, but also understandable bafflement. The NYOI has been an exemplary training ground for young Irish musicians whose performances have been acclaimed by demanding critics, and whose ambassadorial roles in front of audiences abroad we should be proud of. It is a shame that the board appears to be damaging its legacy of achievement and its previous visionary commitment. p
  

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