http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/20843

"In the wake of Monday’s massacre at Virginia Tech in which a student killed 32 people, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg has limited the use of stage weapons in theatrical productions.

Students involved in this weekend’s production of “Red Noses” said they first learned of the new rules on Thursday morning, the same day the show was slated to open. They were subsequently forced to alter many of the scenes by swapping more realistic-looking stage swords for wooden ones, a change that many students said was neither a necessary nor a useful response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

According to students involved in the production, Trachtenberg has banned the use of some stage weapons in all of the University’s theatrical productions. While shows will be permitted to use obviously fake plastic weapons, students said, those that hoped to stage more realistic scenes of stage violence have had to make changes to their props."

And so begins the knee-jerk responses to a tradgedy which will have no useful function.

I think I gotta agree with those students, not a very useful response to the tragedy.

so just because they are one of the top universities in the world, doesn't mean that they can avoid having retards making these sorts of decisions.

gah!

This makes me ill. I hate people. People suck.

I can sort of see the logic of controlling the use of realistic guns in rehearsals for plays, etc. - actors being over-casual with fake guns have sparked SWAT responses. OTOH, blanket restrictions on all stage weapons is patently ridiculous. Among other things, the administrator has effectively neutered most of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Charitably, this is probably just an over-reaction by someone who didn't think things through, which will be quietly overturned when the heat dies down.

this is profoundly retarded. if people are in any way inspired to commit violent acts by the mere sight of a deadly weapon, there's no hope for us anyway.

This is the definition of absurd. The man responsible should be ashamed of himself and given a week off to consider such notions as "common sense" and "melodramatic, self agrandizing response to a national tragedy".

Yale!!

What a bunch of tards

Stupid fucking toffs

I am so glad I didn't rate an Ivy League Education.

Prop guns, okay. Prop swords?

They're afraid someone's going to go Sanjuro on the drama club.

I'd mock the administration by doing a production of Macbeth where instead of daggers Lady Macbeth walks around with a bloody pair of plastic mallets which make squeaky noises.