Dr Loganathan's family gets ready for last rites

Washington, Apr 20 (UNI) Virginia Tech' slain faculty member, Prof G V Loganathan's family was received at the Dulles airport here by Indian Embassy officials and sent by a chartered flight to his home in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Heartrending scenes were witnessed as the old parents and brothers of the professor were received at his home by his widow Usha and her daughters.

All arrangements are being made for the last rites which would most probably be conducted soon at a local funeral home, Embassy sources told UNI here today.

Prof Loganathan fell victim to the deadliest rampage by a lone gunman in modern US history when a Virginia Tech student from South Korea, Cho Seung Hui opened fire on the students and killed himself in the end.

Meanwhile Virginia Governor Timothy M Kaine has declared today a day of mourning and called for a moment of silence at noon to honor the 32 victims in Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech. Churches around the country, from California to National Cathedral in Washington D C, have scheduled vigils and special prayer services.

As families began burying the victims, investigators worked on the evidences and looked into the warning signs in Cho's past, including two stalking complaints against him and a psychiatric hospital visit in which he was found to be a danger to himself.

Kaine yesterday appointed an independent panel, including former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, to look into how authorities handled the tragedy.

It may be recalled that G V Loganathan, a professor at Virginia Tech for 25 years, was teaching advanced hydrology to 14 students when the gunman arrived. His death was one of many the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering is mourning. Nine students were killed with Loganathan in the classroom, the department chairman said.

Loganathan, 51, born in India, was remembered as a quiet, formal and dedicated scholar who took time to get to know each student.

He specialized in water systems.

Department Chairman Bill Knocke described Loganathan as "pure of heart" and said he had won multiple teaching awards. Students respected him, said Yvan Beliveau, director of the Myers/Lawson School of Construction at Tech.

Loganathan received his bachelor's degree from Madras University in India, his master's from the Indian Institute of Technology and his doctorate from Purdue University. He had been an associate editor of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, a member of the faculty senate and a counselor on the University's honor court.

He was professional almost to a fault. "It probably was six years into my tenure as department head before I got him to call me anything but Dr Knocke. It was only after I refused to call him anything but Dr Loganathan that he said, 'Okay, all right.'" -- Susan Kinzie and Chris L Jenkins.

UNI