Auburn Sign for VT

Students sign poster for Virginia Tech.

Unknown

Auburn Plainsman

2007-09-03

Sara AA Hood

David Ingram <ingradc@auburn.edu>

eng

What if it happened here?

<b>Virginia Tech tragedy causes campus safety issues to surface at AU</b>

By Bethany Kirby
Assistant State & Local Editor

One question has probably crossed every college student&#39;s mind in the last three days.

What if it had happened to us?

It&#39;s a valid question. Virginia Tech, which lies in the heart of the college town of Blacksburg, Va., is similar to Auburn in both size and spirit.

Cho Seung-Hui, who was identified as the gunman in Monday&#39;s Virginia Tech massacre, took the lives of 32 of his fellow students before taking his own.

It has sent universities across the country into a heightened state of awareness about their own preparedness for extreme incidents.

"Auburn University has a comprehensive emergency response plan that is practiced frequently," said Christine Eick, director of risk management and safety.

"The University has really put a lot of resources into our emergency management and planning," Eick said. "It is something we take very seriously."

The University has periodic drills in training for emergency situations.

Eick said this develops the communication between the University and the emergency response teams such as the FBI, the Auburn Police Division, the Opelika Police Department, the Lee County Sheriff&#39;s Office and the Alabama State Troopers.

Eick said the drills include practice in a variety of possible scenarios, so the teams will have a good framework for any type of emergency.

"We have actually planned and drilled on persons with weapons," Eick said.

Although the most recent drill was different than the situation at Virginia Tech, Eick said it was actually conducted on a larger scale.

"It&#39;s pretty hard to give out reassurances at this time, because it was a horrific event," Eick said. But she emphasized that for Auburn, emergency management and response is a priority.

Capt. Tom Stofer of the Auburn Police Division said there is a school crisis plan for situations like this one in Auburn.

"It just basically gives us our protocol to respond to any crisis on any campus," Stofer said.

This includes the University, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools.

"It covers all type of emergency situations, both natural and man-made," Stofer said.

Stofer said it is hard to say exactly what would happen with an incident like this in Auburn.

"Every situation is unique in and of itself," Stofer said. "Every situation would demand a response that&#39;s unique in and of itself."

Stofer said that if another shooting happened tomorrow, it would be different than the one on Monday.

"Every situation is different," Stofer said. "Hopefully those agencies that respond ... have the training and flexibility to make wise decisions. Time will tell what things could have been done better."

Jamie Duff, a junior in human development and family studies, is from Williamsburg, Va., and many of her friends are students at Virginia Tech.

"It&#39;s reality — those are my friends," Duff said. "I have a connection with them."

Because she knows people closely involved, Duff said it is as real to her as if it had happened at Auburn. Duff said she can&#39;t help but compare Virginia Tech and Auburn University — the two schools are similar in size, and the town of Blacksburg is a small college town much like Auburn.

"It has the same feeling," Duff said of the similar atmosphere among students at Virginia Tech.

"People are questioning why, needing something to blame," Duff said. "People want to place blame on something.

"And I think some people right now are looking more at the blaming than the feelings of the people involved. We don&#39;t need to turn that into anger yet."

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Original Source: <a href=http://www.theplainsman.com/node/2417>Auburn Plainsman - April 18, 2007</a>

Bethany Kirby

Auburn Plainsman

2007-09-03

Sara AA Hood

David Ingram <ingradc@auburn.edu>

eng

Auburn students drive sign to VT

By Sarah Brock
Senior Reporter

Less than 24 hours after Auburn students created a sign to show support for the Virginia Tech community, the sign was resting on the Drillfield at Virginia Tech&#39;s campus thanks to a late-night drive by two Auburn seniors.

Around midnight on Tuesday, Cary Farrington and Ryan Hill began to drive to VT to deliver a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood signed by many Auburn students and faculty.

When Farrington and Hill arrived in Blacksburg, Va. around 8:30 a.m., they were received by members of Virginia Tech&#39;s SGA, who helped them erect the signed memorial, which reads "We stand with you in Prayer."

Farrington described the campus as real silent, partly because many students had left. The students the pair did encounter were still shocked.

"It still had not registered with them," Farrington said. "They still had not processed everything. It was really a shock for them."

Farrington and Hill had the chance to see the campus, including the buildings where the shootings occurred. Despite the quiet atmosphere, Farrington said police were all over campus.

"The Virginia State Police were patrolling everywhere," Farrington said. "I&#39;ve never seen so many police. On gameday here we see a lot of Alabama State Troopers. This just blows that out of the water."

The sign was created by members of Auburn&#39;s Wesley Foundation, which held a prayer vigil Monday night. Julie Robertson, associate director of Wesley Foundation, said about 45 people attended the vigil where Farrington and Hill brought up the idea of a sign.

"The beautiful thing about the response was the idea of &#39;what can we do to tangibly show we love them from a distance,&#39;" Robertson said.

Farrington, who is president of the Wesley Foundation, isn&#39;t sure how many names are on the sign, but he said after the first two hours on the Concourse, he counted 500 names on the front alone. He estimated another 300 on the back. He said the highest guess anyone has made is approximately 2,500 signatures total.

"There&#39;s literally not any room to put another signature on there," Farrington said.

Farrington said the Virginia Tech students received the sign well.

"Everybody up there was really appreciative and excited," Farrington said. "It was amazing to see how well they received us."

Pictures of the sign on Virginia Tech&#39;s campus have been posted on cnn.com and in the photo gallery on usatoday.com. Farrington said he and Hill had to drink a lot of Red Bull and double-shot espressos to make the trip possible. Robertson said an anonymous donor also ensured the sign made it to Virginia Tech by providing the money to make the trip happen.

Robertson described the journey as a "labor of love," and one the pair didn&#39;t hesitate to take.

"The boy has a very busy week," Robertson said. "He did not have time to drive up to Virginia, but it was never a second thought. He never second-guessed it all."

But Farrington is reluctant to receive any sort of recognition.

"We were real adamant that we wanted to make sure it wasn&#39;t about us or us bringing it up," Farrington said. "It was from the Auburn family and that&#39;s how we want it to be perceived."

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.theplainsman.com/node/2451>Aubrun Plainsman - April 19, 2007</a>

Sarah Brock

Auburn Plainsman

2007-09-03

Sara AA Hood

David Ingram <ingradc@auburn.edu>

eng

Our View: Tragedy strikes Virginia Tech

We cannot begin to imagine what the community is going through, but we do know they stood strong in the face of terrible acts of violence.

We would like to specifically recognize the Collegiate Times, the student newspaper at Virginia Tech, for its excellent news coverage as the rest of the University faced crisis.

While the entire school was in a state of shock, the newspaper&#39;s staff managed to provide up-to-date information on the paper&#39;s Web site, and we want the paper to know their efforts did not go unnoticed.

As student journalists, we can understand the horror of working through the greatest school tragedy in history.

Many members of The Plainsman staff referenced that site throughout the day to get the latest information, and we are proud of these strong students.

As the details of the tragedy continue to be released, we have confidence the newspaper will continue its excellence in reporting.

While we watched in shock as the tragedy unfolded, we began to wonder what we would do if something like this happened at Auburn.

We discussed the safety measures at Auburn, and we began to realize that is is almost impossible to prepare for an emergency situation of this magnitude.

It is the kind of situation that takes one by surprise in the worst way imaginable, and we feel no amount of preparation could have completely prevented the events at Virginia Tech Monday.

We commend everyone involved in the tragedy for the efforts they put forth to help the Virginia Tech community.

Again, we offer our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by the events on Virginia Tech&#39;s campus, and you will remain in our thoughts.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.theplainsman.com/node/2418> Auburn Plainsman - April 18, 2007</a>

Anonymous

Auburn Plainsman

2007-09-03

Sara AA Hood

David Ingram <ingradc@auburn.edu>

eng

War Eagle!

Auburn University shows its support for the victims of Virginia Tech. This memorial whiteboard was located at the Drill Field.

Original source: <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxpower/468731254/"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxpower/468731254/</a>

Licensed under <a href=" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0</a>

Max Power

2007-05-25

Chad Newswander

Permission
Contact: Max Power
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxpower/468731254/)
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0

eng