VT President Charles Steger talks about April 16th, nearly one year later

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Moving forward. That's what Virginia Tech focused on in the wake of the shooting massacre that happened nearly one year ago.

And as we all watched the events unfold, the tragedy hit Virginia Tech's President, Charles Steger, harder than most. Not only is he the face of the university's leadership, but he also found himself updating the media about what happened on his campus.

"I'm really at a loss for words to explain or to understand the carnage that has visited our campus," Steger said last year during the shootings' aftermath.

And while we still don't really understand it, I got the chance to sit down and talk with President Steger about all that's happened in the past year, as the anniversary approaches.

Carlin: Would you say most of the heavy lifting, so to speak, is still in the mental health arena?

Steger: Yes. I'd say it's the most complex one. You have this need to strengthen our early warning systems, but as you well know there are serious issues of privacy.

Carlin: If someone with Sung Hui Cho's mental profile appeared on campus today, or is on campus today, how would that person already be handled differently that he was a year ago?

Steger: Well, I think that we put in place the threat assessment team... And the other part of that is that we have to create a climate where students feel comfortable in coming knowing that the confidences will not be broken... We have to create a system, where if that information is wrong, that person is not damaged... But if you find you know, and individual, a student that is willing to take their own life, there is almost no defense."

Carlin: The state and university offered $100,000 to the recipients or the potential recipients which are the families who lost loved ones on the day of the shootings. Is that enough money?

Steger: Well I don't think you can place a value on people's lives. As you know we have given or provided $200,000 out of the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund already, and this amount was arrived at through various ways of analyzing the situation. What we are trying to do... how can we help these families move forward and recover."

Carlin: The attorney who is representing the families is calling it "hush" money. Is that fair?

Steger: No. We... I think it is in everybody's best interest to bring this to closure. We are in the middle of that right now and we get a lot of overstatement in these things that is not helpful."

Carlin: We look back on that week a year ago, the sadness, information seeking media, everything that was going on. You were the one person at the focal point. How did you stand it?

Steger: It was exhausting. There is no question about it. I used to run cross country (laughs). Not marathon running, but long distance running. That's not a good analogy, but you had to do it. You had no choice.