1
20
2
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sara Hood
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lara Loewenstein
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-07-15
Description
An account of the resource
<b>UCLA, other schools should take time now to improve their emergency alert systems</b>
By Lara Loewenstein
Thursday, April 19, 2007
There are a few questions that have been circulating with regard to the Virginia Tech shootings. How many lives could have been saved if the administration had reacted differently? How would UCLA respond if such an event happened?
It's pretty obvious that the administration of Virginia Tech could have responded differently. But what's more important than the mistakes the administration at Virginia Tech made is how Virginia Tech and other universities can learn from these mistakes.
In response to the shooting, Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams released a statement on Monday. It began with information that should go without saying - student and faculty safety is a top priority - and then went on to say that UCPD officers are trained to handle shooting scenarios.
But that doesn't answer my questions because that isn't the issue. The issue was that students weren't and couldn't have been notified of the earlier shooting - when the gunman killed two people in the dormitories - in enough time to allow them to make an informed choice to not go to campus. There wasn't even a system in place to contact students if the administration at Virginia Tech had decided to close the campus.
Sure, the police officers thought it was a domestic violence issue and that the suspect had left campus, but now that the administration at Virginia Tech knows better, it should be apologizing for the wrong choices it made and its lack of an emergency plan. Instead, it's just making excuses.
One of the excuses Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger gave for not closing down the campus and canceling classes was that he didn't know what the alternative to students coming to class would be.
One has to ask, shouldn't such an alternative be included in an emergency plan in case of such an incident? Shouldn't the alternative have been known, available and rehearsed? After all, student and faculty safety is a top priority, is it not?
And does UCLA have such a plan?
Abrams' statement went on to say, "UCLA has an emergency response team and protocols in place to notify the campus community in the event of any circumstances requiring emergency action, such as the closing of the campus."
This gives me the impression that UCLA has such a plan in place. However, what that plan actually is befuddles me because what exactly would UCLA have been able to do differently?
They could have sent the warning e-mail out earlier, sure. But I don't usually wake up in the morning with the thought of checking my e-mail to see if there's a gunman on campus.
And as for students whose Internet was down, or don't have home access, they wouldn't have received the message at all.
I suppose they could start calling people, but it seems a little unrealistic to call more than 40,000 students and faculty. Besides, I don't think UCLA even has my cell phone number.
In that case, they wouldn't even reach me - they'd reach my parents' house, and it's likely they wouldn't even be home.
There are concerns that if universities went overboard with safety regulation then students and faculty would have to compromise certain freedoms. But there are plans that wouldn't impede everyday life that would be more effective than contacting students by e-mail.
According to the Washington Post, a campus spokesperson said that earlier in the semester, Virginia Tech had been working with a company with which they could contact students via text message in case of an emergency. Students would be required to submit their cell phone numbers when they registered for classes.
Whether this plan is going to be carried through wasn't said.
Considering the number of people who own cell phones, and how often we check them for messages or otherwise, this could reach more people than an e-mail message would.
I don't know what plan Abrams was referring to in his statement, but I hope it's better than the one Virginia Tech had in place. And if it isn't, I hope this so-called plan is reworked - maybe to include a text message notification system or otherwise.
In fact, the president of the University of California, Robert C. Dynes, said in his statement about the shootings that all UC campuses would be reviewing their security policies. He mentioned to the Daily Bruin that this system might incorporate emergency text messages.
This provides some comfort - as long as it happens soon. The next biggest shooting in modern American history could happen anytime, and it could happen on this campus. I want to know that we're ready for it.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/apr/19/emuniversities_must_learn_handling_shootingem/>The Daily Bruin - April 19, 2007</a>
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>
Title
A name given to the resource
Universities must learn from handling of shooting
campus security
crisis response
security concerns
ucla
university response
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sara Hood
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rahul Kanakia
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-06-13
Description
An account of the resource
<b> Police trained, armed with special weapons, for crisis </b>
April 20, 2007
By Rahul Kanakia
A new Stanford committee will conduct an evaluation of its emergency protocols in the wake of Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech University. The protocol review, which will be led by Vice President for Business Affairs Randy Livingston, was announced in a statement concerning the massacre by President John Hennessy.
A University Department of Public Safety community service officer records the SLAC protest with a video camera and carries a camera with a telephoto lens to photograph activists.
"The terrible ordeal suffered there reminds us how precious life is and how important it is that we all redouble our efforts to prevent such tragedies in the future," Hennessy said. "At Stanford, we plan to review all of our emergency response protocols. The safety of the Stanford community will always be a top priority for us."
Police at Virginia Tech have drawn criticism for their decision not to lock down the campus after the initial shootings in West Ambler Johnson Hall, a dormitory.
Chris Cohendet, a deputy at the Department of Public Safety (DPS), said the police train for what he called "an active shooter situation." In such a case, officers would call together nearby agencies and attempt to control the situation.
"There's obviously a lot of things that go through your mind," he said. "You want to be sure the community is safe. But you've got to figure things out. For instance, at [Virginia Tech, officers] received what they thought was a domestic dispute call earlier on. And within that time frame the police department [was] getting numerous calls with differing information. It's really hard for a police department to filter all of this information."
For these kinds of situations, Stanford's police cruisers carry a variety of weapons in addition to the standard issue handguns. They are also equipped with non-lethal weapons, such as tasers, as well as more powerful alternatives, including shotguns.
"Basically, if there's something going on where someone is going through buildings and shooting away, law enforcement has to grab teams together and react," Cohendet said. "We would have to engage the suspect, in this case."
Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, said the University would take Monday's incident into account while reviewing its policies for students with mental health issues. The Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, had previously been committed to a psychiatric facility by the Blacksburg, Va. university but was released when two female students he had harassed decided not to press charges against him.
"In recognition of the increasing prevalence and complexity of student mental health issues both nationally and here at Stanford, we have been in the process of studying the University's policies and procedures as well as our campus climate through the work of the Mental Health and Well Being Task Force," he wrote in an email to The Daily. "Created in October 2006, the task force is composed of students, staff and faculty, and it has been meeting regularly since the fall in order to assess our current policies and determine where we can make improvements."
Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs Roger Printup was unsure what changes would come from these initiatives.
"I am sure that not only Stanford but every college and university will be considering what this event means for a large number of issues," he wrote in an email to The Daily. "Campus security and mental health [are] the two most obvious issues. But it is way too early to speculate on what specific actions might be taken before institutions have an opportunity to examine those issues thoughtfully and in depth."
Betts Gorsky, who was on campus for Admit Weekend and whose daughter will attend Stanford next year, said that the shootings did not change her view of campus security.
"I think that it's very difficult for any school to protect against random acts of violence like that," she said. "Maybe it will make individuals a little more observant and willing to react if they see or hear something from a student that seems out of the ordinary or depressed. But it's always easy to have 20/20 hindsight."
--
Original Source: <a href="http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/4/20/vaShootingPromptsUnivPolicyReview"> Stanford Daily, April 20, 2007 </a>
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Permissions granted by
James Hohmann
Editor-in-Chief
The Stanford Daily
<jhohmann@stanford.edu>
Title
A name given to the resource
Va. shooting prompts Univ. policy review
crisis response
emergency protocols
stanford
university response