VT Vigils Make Us Ignore Other Tragedies

Commentary
By Philip Grant

Dear Chancellor Drake,


My most heartfelt sympathies are also with those affected by the terrible events of last week at Virginia Tech.


I write to you nonetheless not merely to share my sympathies with you, but to express my anger. I am deeply disturbed by the message you have sent to the community of UC Irvine. My misgivings lie at two levels.


Firstly, I do not understand why the victims of the massacre at Virginia Tech are alone deemed worthy of special e-mail messages from the chancellor of the university, of candlelight vigils and so on. Consider the following statistics:


Wednesday, April 18, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq: 200 dead in six separate bombings.


March 6, 2007, Hilla, Iraq: 90 dead in two bombings.


Feb. 3, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq: 130 dead in a single bombing.


Dec. 2, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq: 50 dead in a single bombing.


Nov. 23, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq: 200 dead in a series of bombings.


These are only the major "incidents" of losses of civilian life in Iraq in the eight months since I have been at UCI. I do not recall any e-mail messages inviting us to candlelight vigils on their behalf. I do not recall that they were even considered worthy of a single second of serious reflection on any of our parts. Perhaps we are overcome by a surfeit of suffering: Whether one Iraqi dies or 100 is all the same to us, since there are just too many deaths for us to comprehend. What need solidarity, therefore? Yet the "families and friends of the victims" of the more than 60,000 Iraqi civilians (Iraq Body Count, reported deaths only) or the 100,000 to 150,000 Iraqi civilians (Iraqi Ministry of Health), or the 655,000 Iraqi civilians ("The Lancet") that have been killed since the beginning of the war - could we but speak with them face to face - might have something to teach us concerning what it means to be confronted with suffering on an unimaginable scale. Perhaps we can no longer muster the humility required to look on them and listen in attentive silence.


What happens to our sense of solidarity, our compassion, our shared humanity, when we turn our attention from Virginia to Iraq? No doubt: The candle-flame of our sympathies is quickly extinguished by the chill currents of the Atlantic.


Secondly, I am astonished that I am being told that "our nation" is in "stunned sorrow," that "everyone at UCI and across the nation" is affected by this tragedy. I remember being very impressed during my TA training when I first came to UCI by the instructors who taught us of the importance of being sensitive as teachers to the great diversity of the UCI community, to the wonderful variety of origins and backgrounds of the people we would be teaching or with whom we would be interacting during our careers here. I hope I have taken this lesson to heart and that I practice it during every waking hour of my time here.


Yet I find that the chancellor of the university is appealing to my sympathies as part of "our nation," and I do not know how to react, except with sorrow.


I am not of your nation! If I were in a minority of one, then perhaps I would shrug my shoulders and let these words pass. But I am not: There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of students, staff, and faculty at UCI who are not of "our nation"; we are grateful for the opportunities we have here, and we strive as hard as anyone to contribute to this community. Have you forgotten this? Am I - are we - not part of this community too? May we not express our sympathies and solidarity for the victims of the Virginia massacre, not because we are members of "our nation," but because as human beings we know that those who died in Virginia had faces like us, because we can imagine ourselves as others who are like us? "We are, on a fundamental level, all members of one community," you write. Does this truly mean "all" of us, or only those of us who are part of "our nation"? The answer must be the first: "Our nation" has no role to play in how we commemorate and mourn this tragedy.


Why is it, in this community that is so palpably diverse, in this country where people have as many origins as there are stars in the sky, that we have to resort to the exclusionary rhetoric of "our nation"? Why mourn those who died and commiserate with those who remain on the grounds that they too are part of "our nation," when we could instead speak in a spirit so much more generous and hospitable, so much more open and humane: We mourn those who died not because they were like us and of us, but because they were like us and yet different from us. Surely ethics starts not with ourselves, but with others.


I remember only too vividly how, after Sept. 11, young people in Iran poured into the streets and held spontaneous candlelight vigils for those who died in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, without it ever occurring to them that they should only mourn those who were of "their nation." Strange thought! It is the "Axis of Evil" that teaches the "land of the free" respect for others, and not the other way round, whatever we might expect. We know what follows, and perhaps now at last, however obscurely, we begin to glimpse an answer - a troubling answer - to the question a very great man posed nearly two millennia ago:


"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?"


I did not attend the candlelight vigil on Monday, April 23, not because I do not wish to express my solidarity with the victims of the massacre in Virginia, but because I cannot express my solidarity with them while excluding those who are not of "our nation," those who die like cattle in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere.


However, from the time I went to bed that Monday night until the time I woke up on Wednesday morning, I abstained from all food and drink except tap water, as part of what the French call a "jeûne d'interpellation," an untranslatable phrase that means something like a fast designed to call people's attention to a problem. I wish to call our attention to the selectivity of our solidarity and compassion, to ask us all not to quench our candlelight in the sea but to bear it aloft in memory of all those who die a violent death anywhere, just as the young women and men of Iran have taught us. I am not expecting to change the world by this one tiny action; perhaps all I can hope for is to make people stop and reflect, if only for a second, on the fact that our community extends well beyond Virginia.


Philip Grant is a graduate student in the department of anthropology.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.newuniversity.org/showArticle.php?id=5791>New University - April 30, 2007</a>

Philip Grant

New University

2007-08-19

Sara Hood

Zachary Gale <newueic@gmail.com>

eng

Letter to the Editor: UCI Student&#39;s Suicide Ignored

I am writing with some reactions I had to three pieces in the New University of April 30, namely Anam Siddiq&#39;s front-page article on UC Irvine&#39;s vigil for the Virginia Tech community members who died on April 16, their families, and the survivors; Emilie Doolittle&#39;s article on under-funded counseling services at UCI; and Philip Grant&#39;s open letter to Chancellor Michael V. Drake on his message to the UCI community in response to the Virginia Tech events.

Grant asks why the chancellor would send a message about 32 dead in Virginia, instead of any number of dead on a given day in Iraq. There is probably no answer, or too many, to that question. I have a different question: Why have the murders of 31 and the suicide of another on a campus in Virginia warranted a campus-wide message and vigil, while the March 30 suicide death by gunshot in a social sciences stairwell of a member of UCI&#39;s own student body goes unmentioned, save a lede in the OC Register and a similar one at the beginning of Doolittle&#39;s article?

Did this student&#39;s life mean less than any one of the victims at Virginia Tech? Does the proximity of his death, and his membership in our UCI community, before we get to questions of "our nation," as Grant mentions, not make the event of his suicide perhaps more important, in terms of a public announcement and vigil? We were called upon to cope openly with the Virginia tragedy; is there no need to cope with the death of a fourth-year undergraduate who must have had human connections here—roommates, classmates, professors and friends? Or did the distance and sensationalism that marked the Virginia events call more for a public response than a largely unnoticed nighttime end to a UCI student&#39;s life in a quiet stairwell?

I believe that a community response to this young man&#39;s death would do more to remind us of the pressures of university living, and to produce awareness of treatment options, than a response to a series of deaths thousands of miles away. Perhaps his family would benefit, as well. I do not know his name, and perhaps we should not. I mourn for him in some way, nevertheless, and in another way, I mourn for the loss of a memorial from his, our, community—a memorial that would have afforded us a moment to consider some of the values that Chancellor Drake sets out: respect, empathy, appreciation, or at the very least what Vice Chancellor Gómez described at the vigil for others as "stunned sorrow and common grief." Perhaps these can be shown in silence, but can they be shown in ignorance?

Brook Haley
Ph.D. Candidate,
Department of Comparative Literature

Brook Haley

2007-08-19

Sara Hood

Zachary Gale <newueic@gmail.com>

eng

University enacts many campus security measures

By: ELI DILE
Staff Writer
Posted: 5/22/07

The Virginia Tech massacre in late April was a shocking reminder of the importance of campus safety.

Pitt, which spends more than $9 million annually on security measures, has many organizations and programs that promote safety on campus.

First and foremost, the Pitt police department safeguards the lives of students every day and represents the third largest police force in Allegheny County. In addition to officers on foot, bicycle or motorcycle, the department includes 74 commissioned police officers and has a minimum of four cars patrolling Oakland&#39;s streets during each shift.

There are four Pitt police stations on campus. They are located at Sutherland Hall, Sennott Square and two locations on Forbes Avenue, one between the Barco Law Building and David Lawrence Hall. The other is the new Public Safety Building located at 3412 Forbes Ave.

Students can report crimes by calling the Pitt police at (412) 624-2121 or by dialing 4-2121 on a campus phone, going to one of the stations or by using the anonymous tips portion of the Pitt police&#39;s website at www.pitt.edu/~police. More than 500 emergency phones, which students can use to contact Pitt police in case of an emergency, are located across campus. Exterior and garage phones are easily identifiable by their blue lights.

In addition, nearly 300 surveillance cameras are spread throughout the campus and are monitored 24 hours a day.

The University also maintains many other safety measures beside the University police. In the event of a campus-wide emergency, the communications center at the Public Safety Building is equipped to lock down 80 percent of Pitt&#39;s buildings. Also, the University can send emergency e-mails to students, faculty and staff and make emergency announcements over the public address systems in campus buildings.

Pitt&#39;s Office of Sexual Assault Services provides counseling and medical services for anyone who has been sexually harassed or abused. Students can reach OSAS at (412) 648-7930.

Each term the University offers a one-credit personal-defense course, which teaches students to defend themselves and escape from an attacker.

Security guards control access to all residence halls. Students must present their student IDs, which are then swiped through an electronic system by the guards, to gain access to their residence halls. Guests wishing to enter a residence hall must first have a student who lives there sign them in. Guests must also be signed out or the resident may face a fine.

Each residence hall has a resident assistant on every floor. Their duties include supervising fire evacuations, resolving roommate disputes, and handling vandalism, disorderly conduct, medical and psychological emergencies. RAs are on duty every evening, including weekends and holidays. Each residence hall has a resident director to supervise the RAs.

In all residence halls, dorm-room doors can only be opened with either a key or the occupant&#39;s student ID followed by a four-digit code.

The University also urges students to practice common sense when traversing the campus. Students should stay in well-lit and highly-traveled areas. When running or walking, students should travel with someone and carry a whistle. Students should also familiarize themselves with emergency phone locations.

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.pittnews.com/media/storage/paper879/news/2007/05/22/NewStudentGuide/University.Enacts.Many.Campus.Security.Measures-2906644.shtml>The Pitt News - May 22, 2007</a>

ELI DILE

2007-08-19

Sara Hood

Annie Tubbs <annietubbs@gmail.com>

eng

Task Force to better secure OSU campus

By: Alaina Busch
Posted: 4/30/07
Representatives from Ohio&#39;s colleges and universities will meet today as part of a statewide effort to address campus security issues and concerns.

Today&#39;s meeting is the first for the Campus Security Task Force, formed at the request of Gov. Ted Strickland after the Virginia Tech shootings.

"The effort is to ensure the communication and response efforts are better than adequate,"said Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey.

The Ohio Board of Regents organized the discussion-based group composed of more than 70 representatives from Ohio&#39;s public and private colleges and universities. The representatives will meet by videoconference at eight sites throughout the state, including the Ohio Supercomputer Center in Columbus.

The Board of Regents is a nine-member panel that coordinates higher education policy in Ohio and makes recommendations to the governor and General Assembly. Chancellor of Higher Education Eric Fingerhut said each university&#39;s president and board of trustees are legally responsible for their campus safety. He said the task force will first identify the best practices available and then decide what the state can do to be more helpful.

"There is value in sharing plans," Fingerhut said. The task force will compare safety practices and recommend future actions to the governor based on their findings. Depending on how the group&#39;s ideas evolve, the outcome could include a statewide coordination of safety practices or a legislation proposal, said Fingerhut.

Rick Amweg, assistant chief of University Police, and Todd Stewart, director of OSU&#39;s program for International and Homeland Security, represent OSU along with students Sean McKinniss and Jamie Levine.

"Students are on the front line in the efforts to prevent," Fingerhut said. "Students bring a very important perspective to this."

Levine, a first-year MBA student, said it is important to compare resources and share ideas.

"The causes are bigger than one university," she said, citing gun control policies and mental health issues as areas of consideration.

Levine worked in downtown Washington D.C. during the Sept. 11 attacks as an undergraduate student at American University. She said she experienced first-hand campus safety issues when her campus was evacuated because of bomb threats.

"In reality, there&#39;s no way to prevent this," she said. "You can do things to mitigate them, but you can&#39;t live in fear."

Alaina Busch can be reached at busch.61@osu.edu.

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/04/30/Campus/Task-Force.To.Better.Secure.Osu.Campus-2888077.shtml>The Lantern - April 30, 2007</a>

Alaina Busch

The Lantern

2007-08-16

Sara Hood

GERRICK LEWIS <lewis.1030@osu.edu>

eng

Summit reviews campus safety

By: Benjamin Lammers
Posted: 8/7/07

More than 350 representatives from Ohio&#39;s universities met at Ohio State&#39;s Fawcett Center last week to discuss school safety and the state of security and disaster response.

Following the shootings at Virginia Tech last spring, Gov. Ted Strickland created a task force to look at the disaster preparedness of Ohio&#39;s universities. The task force, composed of representatives from Ohio&#39;s schools, has been meeting regularly to review campus safety and advise the governor on campus security.

The Ohio College Campus Safety and Security Summit was a result of the task force&#39;s recommendations.

Security experts from a number of schools spoke at the summit, including Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police.

Strickland said in a press release campus security in Ohio is the primary responsibility of the state&#39;s schools. He asked how the state of Ohio can assist college campuses to improve security and safety in both public and private universities.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut said universal participation, including professors and students, is needed to maintain public safety.

"We have learned that there is no simple cookie-cutter solution that fits all, and that we shouldn&#39;t expect that there are any simple, one-size-fits-all, quick fixes when it comes to this issue," he said in a press release.

Ohio&#39;s colleges and universities were directed to complete the "Ohio Campus Security Checklist" for the Board of Regents by Aug. 24, which will outline actions each university needs to take during the long haul to improve security. Questions in the checklist include coordination, communication, support mobilization to disasters and protocols for identifying and addressing dangerous behavior by students, faculty and staff.

Todd Stewart, director of the OSU Program for International and Homeland Security, said the purpose of the summit was not to focus only on shooting scenarios and acts of violence, but to include response to natural disasters.

Fingerhut did not limit the discussion to human-caused disasters like the one at Virginia Tech.

"This task force may have been instituted as a reaction to the shootings at Virginia Tech, but this summer we are talking about making sure that Ohio college campuses are ready for all kinds of critical incidents," Fingerhut said.

Rick Amweg, assistant chief of University Police at OSU, said the summit was a great chance to learn from other institutions by discussing common goals for campus security.

Amweg said OSU&#39;s security response plan is in good shape.

"We were very prepared before Virginia Tech and continue to be prepared," he said.

However, Amweg said the tragedy at Virginia Tech highlighted the need for new emergency communication procedures. He said the information from the meeting will be used by the Board of Regents to identify the best practices Ohio universities can use to prepare themselves.

Stewart said OSU has made a considerable effort in preparedness.

"Ohio State is in better shape than most schools in the state because we have more resources available," he said.

Benjamin Lammers can be reached at lammers.62@osu.edu.

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/08/07/Campus/Summit.Reviews.Campus.Safety-2929697.shtml>The Lantern - August 7, 2007</a>

Benjamin Lammers

The Lantern

2007-08-14

Sara Hood

GERRICK LEWIS <lewis.1030@osu.edu>

eng

Sympathy resounds in wake of VT tragedy

By:Editorial Board
Posted: 4/17/07

On Monday April 16, 32 Virginia Tech students were killed in a tragic shooting incident. The Miami Student editorial board is shocked and deeply saddened by this abhorrent act, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members of those affected. While law enforcement and rescue personnel responded quickly to the scene, the random, senseless nature of this act can leave students with a sense of helplessness. Nonetheless, while it is virtually impossible to prevent all random acts of violence, universities must continue to work with local police departments in order to ensure that contingency plans are in place and that there are effective lines of communication between the administration and students during times of emergency.

Universities face a difficult challenge between maintaining safety and fostering a relaxed and open academic environment for students. This tension between security and freedom will likely be reevaluated in the months ahead as schools consider ways they can prevent catastrophes like this from happening in the future. It is important that Miami University&#39;s campus remains one that feels open, even as any potential security updates are made.

Based upon preliminary reports, there have been criticisms, warranted or not, leveled at the Virginia Tech administration for failing to adequately communicate with students as events were unfolding. On a campus the size of Miami&#39;s, such communication is a difficult task, but a rapid e-mail response and the use of a special warning siren or PA system might be feasible options for signaling a campus-wide lockdown. Even so, while contingency plans can and should be implemented, no amount of preparedness can avert all disasters. Local law enforcement must be familiar with their operating procedures and able to coordinate their efforts with surrounding forces. Moreover, they must be adequately equipped to stabilize a situation until larger, more specialized law enforcement units arrive.

The events at Virginia Tech were especially painful because of the vulnerability of the victims and the similarities between their lives and the lives of Miami students. A measure of trust in life&#39;s daily routine was lost Monday, and this tragedy should serve to remind each of us to consciously embrace and cherish the time we have and too often overlook.

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2007/04/17/Editorials/Sympathy.Resounds.In.Wake.Of.Vt.Tragedy-2845773.shtml> The Miami Student - April 17, 2007</a>

Editorial Boards

The Miami Student

2007-08-14

Sara Hood

"Skotzko, Stacey Nicole" <skotzksn@muohio.edu>

eng

What went wrong at Blacksburg?

By: Jason Javie
Posted: 4/20/07

The Virginia Tech tragedy will continue to resonate for some time to come, and rightly so. Many questions surrounding last Monday&#39;s events are yet to be answered, and must be in order for the grieving victims and families to move on from the horror that was April 16th, 2007.

To be fair, there has been no official statement concretely outlining the events of that fateful Monday morning, although what has been pieced together speaks to a rather shabbily-handled situation.

Why was there a delay in the excess of two hours following the first incident before students were notified? Why had President Charles Stegler not declared a campus-wide emergency and locked the school down? Why were students in the classrooms at Norris Hall at 9:10 a.m. trying to make sense of a vague e-mail informing them of the shooting?

The only precautionary measure taken by the campus security apparatus prior to 9 a.m. was to lock down the site of the first incident. Shortly after, an e-mail was sent advising the University community of the incident, recommending caution, and instructing them to contact police with any information. Less than one hour later, the gunman reemerged to massacre 30 people in a nearby classroom. One cannot help but ponder if, had more decisive initiatives been taken, many of the deaths and injuries could have been preventable.

Freak tragedy, yes-unmanageable, no. As the president of Virginia Tech, Mr. Stegler is responsible for the safety of students during emergencies. In the words of Dr. Sharon Javie, former professor of Marketing at LaSalle University, "It is unconscionable that [Stegler] did not lock the campus down after the first two students were shot. You either apprehend the suspect, or you shut the campus down."

I can&#39;t say I disagree. While impossible to predict the first shootings, Mr. Stegler has indicated that he thought the first killings were simply the result of a domestic dispute and that the gunman had fled campus. Even so, it&#39;s better to err on the side of safety. Mr. Stegler gambled with the safety and well-being of his students and lost miserably.

Dr. William Dunkleberg, former Dean of the Fox School of Business at Temple University and professor of Economics, explained the sensitivity of the issue. "Your first response in such a situation is that it&#39;s personal and isolated. It is highly unlikely that what occurred is actually the beginning of a killing spree. You&#39;re faced with a dilemma." A dilemma, indeed, but if locking down the campus could ultimately save lives, I doubt many would complain.

Also unnerving is the lack of mechanisms in place at schools to identify individuals like Cho Seung-Hui and get them help before they act out. Described as an introvert, Cho shocked his fellow students and English professor with disturbing and violent plays written for a class, now posted on aol.com.

Issues of free speech and confidentiality would conflict with such systems, but shouldn&#39;t there be a point where the line is drawn?

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.thehurricaneonline.com/user/index.cfm?event=displayregistrationprompt&requiredregistration=1&thereferer=http%3A//media.www.thehurricaneonline.com/media/storage/paper479/news/2007/04/20/Opinion/What-Went.Wrong.At.Blacksburg-2871105.shtml>The Miami Hurricane - April 20, 2007</a>

Jason Javie

The Miami Hurricane

2007-08-09

Sara Hood

Dominick Tao <dtao@alligator.org>

eng

Campus security in the wake of Va Tech

By: WSN Staff
Posted: 4/17/07

The shooting yesterday at Virginia Tech was shocking, particularly because of its enormous death toll - 33 students were killed in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. Our condolences go out to Virginia Tech and the friends and families of the victims. While it was an isolated incident that took place far away from NYU, Public Safety is nonetheless beefing up security in response, doubling and tripling up on patrols, with all officers advised to be on "high alert."

This in turn prompts us to ask, "How would NYU respond to a similar event?" From the few details that have emerged from Virginia Tech, it appears that the assailant shot and killed two people in a dormitory before moving on to another part of campus, where two hours later he killed 30 others, then himself. It&#39;s important to note that the gunman was not a student. So, from that larger question comes two others: Would a shooter still be on the loose two hours later? And would current security policies limit the ability of a nonstudent to commit such a crime?

Clearly, having students flash their IDs poses no deterrent for a rampaging gunman - but there&#39;s little that can be done about that. Public safety officers at NYU are equipped with a red button on their walkie-talkies that sends an emergency signal to the central station - should central station determine that an emergency is taking place, the New York Police Department would be notified. Direct intervention by campus security officers is frowned upon, and for good reason - without the proper equipment, they too could easily become victims. But the inherent lag time in this emergency system is somewhat disconcerting, given that the packed halls of the Silver Center could produce dozens of victims in just a few moments. That said, given the nature of our Washington Square "campus," it&#39;s unlikely a gunman would be able to continue on his way two hours later.

Though this sort of event is seemingly random, we&#39;d like to think that they&#39;re at least somewhat preventable, which is why we appreciate that the Wellness Exchange is making itself more visible in response. While it&#39;s not a perfect solution - especially when the perpetrator&#39;s not a student and unable to take advantage - offering these services to the students who need them is a good step toward making students happier and safer.

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2007/04/17/Opinion/Campus.Security.In.The.Wake.Of.Va.Tech-2845894.shtml>Washington Square News - April 17, 2007</a>

WSN Staff

Washington Square News

2007-08-08

Sara Hood

"Alvin Chang, WSN" <editor@nyunews.com>

eng

Public Safety assures senate of campus&#39; safety

By: Sergio Hernandez
Posted: 4/20/07

The University Senate adjourned for the academic year yesterday after meeting to address a number of campus-wide issues including a report on NYU&#39;s emergency preparedness in the wake of Monday&#39;s Virginia Tech University shootings.


EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Public Safety vice president Jules Martin and emergency management director Jim Kerr delivered a report on emergency preparation and response at NYU, informing the senate of the measures in place to handle campus emergencies.

Martin lauded NYU&#39;s Office of Public Safety, calling it "second to none" in terms of campus security and emphasizing the importance of strong partnerships with outside agencies such as Federal Emergency Management Agency or the city&#39;s Office of Emergency Management.

Kerr&#39;s presentation, meanwhile, outlined NYU&#39;s "emergency plan," which he said would emphasize the importance of "communication, mobilization and action" when responding to campus emergencies.

Following Kerr&#39;s presentation, John Lee, a student senator from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, voiced his concern about NYU&#39;s safety priorities.

Specifically, Lee used the example of Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech student who killed at least 33 people - including himself - in a shooting spree at that campus on Monday. Lee, who cited what he called a lack of community at NYU, said he believed a Virginia Tech situation could also arise at NYU and that the university&#39;s plans focused too much on response rather than prevention.


GREEN ACTION PLAN

Lynne Brown and Alison Leary, co-chairs of NYU&#39;s Environmental Sustainability Task Force, delivered a report to the senate on the university&#39;s Green Action Plan - the series of environmental-responsibility initiatives it announced last fall. Brown said the Task Force would deliver a full report to the university community by the end of the semester, which would include an update on the university&#39;s Sustainability Fund.

In February, the Task Force announced it would award funding to certain student- and faculty-proposed projects that would contribute to NYU&#39;s greening efforts.

The Task Force received 46 proposals, 15 of which a Task Force subcommittee had recommended for funding awards, Brown said. She added that the awards range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars and will be publicly announced in early May.


CUOMO INVESTIGATION

Cheryl Mills, NYU&#39;s senior vice president, general counsel and university secretary, briefed the senate on New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo&#39;s scrutiny of student lenders and their ties to private colleges.

Cuomo&#39;s investigation, announced in February, aimed to examine whether universities were receiving kickbacks for listing certain lenders as "preferred lenders."

Mills said NYU picks its preferred lenders through a "request for bids" process in which it chooses lenders who offer the lowest rates and the highest coverage for students.

Early this month, NYU signed an agreement with the attorney general&#39;s office that will require the university to return $1.3 million to Citibank, one of its preferred lenders.

Mills said NYU had picked Citibank as a preferred lender because its loans offered the lowest rates and were available to 80 percent of students. Mills also said that Citibank had offered part of its profits to NYU, which the university agreed to take and use for financial aid. Citibank has said it will credit the returned $1.3 million to students&#39; accounts.

During the meeting, President John Sexton called Cuomo&#39;s investigation "an aggressive exercise of government power" and said NYU&#39;s signing of the agreement had nothing to do with wrongdoing, but was because the university was not interested in prolonged litigation.


CALENDAR CHANGES

The senate also passed a proposal that will add an extra day to the Columbus Day "fall break" beginning in the fall 2008 semester. Proponents of the measure said making Columbus Day a four-day weekend would alleviate stress commonly felt by undergraduates in mid-October. Meanwhile, opponents of the calendar change said they were concerned about its impact on graduate students and whether the extended weekend would really reduce or just postpone the "stress" problem.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2007/04/20/News/Public.Safety.Assures.Senate.Of.Campus.Safety-2870851.shtml> Washington Square News - April 20, 2007</a>

Sergio Hernandez

Washington Square News

2007-08-08

Sara Hood

"Alvin Chang, WSN" <editor@nyunews.com>

eng

Universities must learn from handling of shooting

<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&#39;s pretty obvious that the administration of Virginia Tech could have responded differently. But what&#39;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&#39;t answer my questions because that isn&#39;t the issue. The issue was that students weren&#39;t and couldn&#39;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&#39;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&#39;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&#39;t know what the alternative to students coming to class would be.

One has to ask, shouldn&#39;t such an alternative be included in an emergency plan in case of such an incident? Shouldn&#39;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&#39; 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&#39;t usually wake up in the morning with the thought of checking my e-mail to see if there&#39;s a gunman on campus.

And as for students whose Internet was down, or don&#39;t have home access, they wouldn&#39;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&#39;t think UCLA even has my cell phone number.

In that case, they wouldn&#39;t even reach me - they&#39;d reach my parents&#39; house, and it&#39;s likely they wouldn&#39;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&#39;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&#39;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&#39;t know what plan Abrams was referring to in his statement, but I hope it&#39;s better than the one Virginia Tech had in place. And if it isn&#39;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&#39;re ready for it.

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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>

Lara Loewenstein

2007-07-15

Sara Hood

Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>

eng