Virginia Tech; What is our Administration Doing?
Stojanow, Jennifer
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: News
The massacre that took place at Virginia Tech shocked the nation. It was the deadliest shooting in this country's history, killing 33 people and injuring several more. The shooting lasted for at least nine minutes. The killer, Seung-Hui Cho, fired at least 140 rounds.
This week, classes are back in session at the college leaving students on university campuses across the country feeling scared and uneasy. Many students are asking themselves, what is the plan of action if something like this happened at my college?
Last week Adele Gatens, Vice President for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students, sent an email to all Mount Saint Vincent faculty and students. The email explained the plan of action in case of an emergency.
The plan noted that Mount students would be informed via email, similar to the way students at VT were notified. The problem with email being that most students do not check their "edu" accounts.
Critics are now coming down on active plans of communication and how effective they are in times of crisis and informing students on what they should be doing.
With the rise of campus crimes, many colleges are looking into alternate forms of alerting their students. Virginia Tech was in the process of updating their campus alert system the week of the shooting. One college in New Jersey has gone as far as issuing "alert-ready" cell phones to all incoming freshmen.
The newest forms of alert systems can send messages in multiple ways, through text messaging, voice calls, and second by second web updates. Honeywell Building Solutions is now marketing a system that can send out 6,400 text messages a minute, and 100,000 30-second phone calls in 15 minutes.
"For the price of less than one lunch meal per student on an annual basis, we can put this system in place," said Kevin Madden, vice president of sales at Honeywell.
We live in a society that requires such measures. It is important that students not only feel safe on their campus, but are also aware of the emergency and notification systems. Colleges should incorporate these plans in their freshmen orientation programs, so that each incoming student is fully aware of what needs to be done in high pressured situations.
Making sure all students are informed about an emergency plan does not solve the problem entirely, but it does lessen confusion and allow campuses to be prepared.
With technology today, there is no excuse for any college campus to be unprepared for any type of crisis; be it acts of random violence or even weather emergencies.
This week, classes are back in session at the college leaving students on university campuses across the country feeling scared and uneasy. Many students are asking themselves, what is the plan of action if something like this happened at my college?
Last week Adele Gatens, Vice President for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students, sent an email to all Mount Saint Vincent faculty and students. The email explained the plan of action in case of an emergency.
The plan noted that Mount students would be informed via email, similar to the way students at VT were notified. The problem with email being that most students do not check their "edu" accounts.
Critics are now coming down on active plans of communication and how effective they are in times of crisis and informing students on what they should be doing.
With the rise of campus crimes, many colleges are looking into alternate forms of alerting their students. Virginia Tech was in the process of updating their campus alert system the week of the shooting. One college in New Jersey has gone as far as issuing "alert-ready" cell phones to all incoming freshmen.
The newest forms of alert systems can send messages in multiple ways, through text messaging, voice calls, and second by second web updates. Honeywell Building Solutions is now marketing a system that can send out 6,400 text messages a minute, and 100,000 30-second phone calls in 15 minutes.
"For the price of less than one lunch meal per student on an annual basis, we can put this system in place," said Kevin Madden, vice president of sales at Honeywell.
We live in a society that requires such measures. It is important that students not only feel safe on their campus, but are also aware of the emergency and notification systems. Colleges should incorporate these plans in their freshmen orientation programs, so that each incoming student is fully aware of what needs to be done in high pressured situations.
Making sure all students are informed about an emergency plan does not solve the problem entirely, but it does lessen confusion and allow campuses to be prepared.
With technology today, there is no excuse for any college campus to be unprepared for any type of crisis; be it acts of random violence or even weather emergencies.
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