What if it happened here?

<b>The violence on the campus at Virginia Tech draws attention to the emergency procedures and prevention tactics at the University</b>

Matt Dickey and Catherine Conkle, Cavalier Daily Associate Editors

Days after students at Virginia Tech struggled to defend themselves in the face of the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, students at the University can&#39;t help but ask a simple, unanswerable question: what if it happened here? According to University officials, who say they are admittedly shaken by Monday&#39;s shootings, procedures are in place to deal with similar situations on Grounds. Yet administrators now take on the difficult task of reevaluating safety measures and finding ways to prevent an event like this from happening at the University. U.Va. responds in the aftermath In addition to helping Virginia Tech by offering security and psychological services to Virginia Tech, the University has also steps taken to ensure security on Grounds. "We have done several things in response to the Tech incident," said Susan Harris, assistant to the executive vice president and chief operating officer. "We yesterday increased the number of police officers patrolling ... Grounds and put police and security on high alert for anything suspicious." Although University administrators did consider canceling classes Monday, the administration decided that security concerns did not call for cancellation. "We did not see any increased security risk at U.Va. that would warrant [cancellation of classes] for security reasons," Harris said. Harris also said administrators felt that classes could provide and outlet for students to deal with emotional reactions to the shootings. "Being in class and discussing this with faculty members was a very effective way of dealing with and processing this kind of incident," she said. University spokesperson Carol Wood echoed this sentiment. "Class offers a safe environment where students could come together to talk if they needed," Wood said, adding that if they had canceled class, "students who needed to talk might be isolated." Vice President for Student Affairs Pat Lampkin said while classes will continue, the University will make accommodations for students affected by the tragedy. "We considered how to respond for our students&#39; and community&#39;s well-being," Lampkin said. "We did decide to go on with class but to be liberal with those who have a direct connection or are tied closely with Virginia Tech." Emergency response plans As many students struggled to cope with the tragedy, many wondered how University administrators would have dealt with a similar incident on Grounds. Although he would not comment on specific emergency response preparations for possible emergency incidents, University Police Capt. Michael Coleman said the department is ready to respond to a variety of emergency incidents including everything from hurricanes to plane crashes. Coleman also said the University police&#39;s emergency response system is integrated with those of the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County through the Incident Command System to provide for a coordinated response. "The Incident Command System is a management system that is being formulated by the U.S. government," Coleman said. "Those systems allow us to integrate with local departments ... to proceed with better coordination of activities." He added that the officers of the three departments have been trained in using the system and are familiar with it through its use at events at John Paul Jones Arena and football games. According to Coleman, the University police department will consider the events at Tech when reviewing the safety plans of the University. "We have a very good relationship with Virginia Tech and we also work with other colleges in the state," Coleman said. "When Virginia Tech has the time to provide the information then we will sit down and try to incorporate the lessons into our own plan. We will take all information and see if any of it is beneficial for the University of Virginia&#39;s safety plans." Harris said the event also will be carefully considered as administrators review emergency plans at the University. "There is no question that [with] this incident, just as with any other incident, we will try to learn from it and adjust our policies and procedures to try to improve them," Harris said. Coleman added that his department continuously reviews safety plans independent of the incident at Tech. "We evaluate and reevaluate all of our plans based on the experience of the University of Virginia, based on technological advances, and based on changes in the facilities ... and we do it based on the experiences of other locations," Coleman said. "Even without this particular incident at Tech, we are constantly involved in reviewing safety plans. Certainly we will continue to make those reviews. But it is a constant." Wood said the University is now considering a crisis management director whose job would be to work with the city and county to oversee the University&#39;s coordinated response procedure for emergency situations. Emergency warning systems In his speech to the University community at last night&#39;s vigil, Casteen stressed the importance of effective "instantaneous" warning systems in case of emergency. Wood echoed Casteen&#39;s message. "We want to use everything at your finger tips — anything you can to get in touch with students and faculty," she said. Current emergency warning systems at the University include e-mail, postings on the University homepage, telephone communication and radio and television announcements. "Over the past number of years, we&#39;ve used the homepage as a place to alert students in a crisis," Wood said. "We&#39;re trying to train people that that&#39;s the place to go." Wood added that the top bar of the University home page would turn red in the event of a crisis. In case of a Web site crash, they have plans for an "alternative server for basic information." Although the University was already in the process of updating its warning system, the shooting at Virginia Tech has given the matter a renewed sense of urgency. Planned updates scheduled to be implemented by next fall include the ability to send emergency text messages to cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) registered with the University. The desktops of University computers would also display emergency information. Harris said because of the incident at Virginia Tech, the University hopes to implement some improvements, such as text message alerts, before the fall. Wood said additional plans include a new pilot program to place large flat-screen monitors around the University in areas such as Newcomb Hall and recreational facilities. "We would get the message out on the flat-screens placed in high usage areas," Wood said. "The flat screens would normally be used for advertising or whatever that building or department wants, but the University would be able to override with an emergency message." Wood also cited a system recently acquired in collaboration with local government titled "reverse 911." "It gives us the ability to target and mass phone-mail people with information," Wood said. "We could tell students with voicemail &#39;Don&#39;t come to class — something has happened.&#39;" Psychological support services In the event of a crisis, Counseling and Psychological Services at the University would play a major role in providing psychological assistance to students. CAPS Director Dr. Russ Federman described how the office would respond.

--

Original Source:<a href=http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30185&pid=1583>The Cavalier Daily - April 18, 2007</a>

Matt Dickey and Catherine Conkle

The Cavalier Daily

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

On behalf of Virginia Tech students

To the students and administration of the University of Virginia: On behalf of 30,000 students, administrators, and our Virginia Tech community, I cannot begin to express our gratitude for the outpouring of sympathy, support, and concern that U.Va. has shown us in the past two days.

It is an understatement to say the aftermath of our losses has beenemotionally trying for us. The realization of losing 32 valuable livesin our Virginia Tech family is something that we are trying desperatelyto recover from ... But even in the most difficult day of our history, we have found strength. It is your university in particular thathas sustained us, far beyond what you will ever know.

We thank you for your students and faculty that gathered to memorialize our victims and to share in our sorrow.

We thank you for the initiative and commitment your student government made towards finding 30,000 candles for our grieving campus so that our student leaders could focus on healing and comforting instead.

We thank you for the hundreds of Hokies who saw your painted bridge, and were moved to tears.

We thank you for the way your students instantly put aside our infamous rivalry, to the point where the greatest measures of compassion from another institution have been from you. Your aid has had such a profound impact upon our students. Please know that what U.Va. is doing is being noticed, is making a difference and is nothing short of extraordinary.

Thank you for being a testament to the best of collegiate student leadership and to humanity in general. In what we have been calling the darkest night Virginia Tech has ever seen, U.Va. is one of our brightest lights. The strong alliance that has been formed between our school and yours is part of our foundation in moving forward.From our hearts to yours, thank you for your noble efforts. May you alsofind solace and restoration as we grieve together as students and as anation.

In or out of times of need, Virginia Tech will stand beside you as fellow students, Virginians, and most importantly, as friends.

With gratitude,

Elizabeth Hart

Student Government Association Director of Public Relations

Elizabeth Hart

The Cavalier Daily

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

Virginia Tech students react

<b>In wake of tragedy, students reflect on shootings that rocked community, describe "fearful environment"</b>

Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler, Cavalier Daily Associate Editors

Only in her worst nightmares could Nicole Shyti have anticipated the carnage transpiring as she slept on the fifth floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory yesterday morning. One floor beneath her, two Virginia Tech students had been murdered by a gunman who was still at large. It wasn&#39;t until 9:30 a.m., when a friend called her to make sure she was safe, that she learned about the killings.

Shyti said she heard the sounds of siren after siren outside her dorm room. It was at that point, she said, that she knew something serious had happened.

"I saw people running across the lawn outside, and it was just a lot of commotion," Shyti said.

The shootings, which eventually left 33 dead, instantly transformed the Virginia Tech campus into a worldwide epicenter of tragedy and confusion. The campus was left nearly deserted as the university went on lockdown. An impromptu vigil on the Drill Field yesterday evening captured the intensity of emotion. Students locked arms -- some crying -- still waiting to find out whether friends had made it out alive.

Virginia Tech student George Lane-Roberts said the rapid escalation of casualties left him "dumbfounded and shocked."

As students spent the day within the familiar walls of their dorms, press outlets from around the world descended on Blacksburg to report the greatest tragedy to hit an American college campus.

That blanket of media coverage provided many Tech students, hunkered around televisions, with their primary window into the events of the day. Tech student Joseph Chapman said he first found out about the shootings on TV before reading official e-mails from the university.

Some have criticized Tech&#39;s response to the initial shooting as too little too late, saying that an earlier lockdown of campus could have prevented 30 deaths. The initial e-mail from the university came almost two hours after the first shooting occurred. Lane-Roberts recalled a shooting in Blacksburg on the first day of classes last August. He said he remembered that the entire campus had been locked down, even though no students were casualties of that shooting.

Members of the media may be coming to their own conclusions, but students at Tech are still more confused than angered by the administration&#39;s response.

Nathan Carter, who is still waiting to find out whether three of his friends are all right, said he doesn&#39;t blame the administration for its handling of the shootings.

"Hindsight is 20/20," he said, adding that what Virginia Tech officials thought they had on their hands with the Ambler Johnston incident was a domestic dispute gone wrong.

Freshman student Holly Faust said she was leaving campus, on her way to Radford University with a friend. By late afternoon, she said half of the students in her dorm had already left. Faust, who lives on the top floor of Slusher dormitory, one of the tallest buildings near Norris Hall, said a number of students went up to the top floor to observe clumps of police. Despite being within eye shot of the center of events, Faust said she also relied on television news reports for information about the unfolding events.

Faust said she received the first official e-mail informing students of the shooting at about 9:30 a.m. and decided not to go to class.

Many students first heard about the massacre not from the Virginia Tech e-mails, but through calls, e-mails and instant messages from friends and concerned family members.

A resident advisor in Payne dormitory, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said he found out about the incident through an instant message from a friend.

To notify his residents, the RA said he posted notices in stairwells and alerted students leaving the building to be cautious.

He said RAs are trained extensively to handle serious situations such as this. Most of his duties yesterday included dispelling rumors and providing his residents with as much information as was available, he said.

Carter described how the lack of solid information added to the confusion surrounding the events, saying the rumors ranged from gang-member involvement to "ridiculous" reports that the shooter was eight feet tall. Some may have falsely assumed that the shooter was lurking nearby, even after he had killed himself -- fears that were heightened by the saturation of gun-toting police who were sweeping the campus for any suspicious activity.

Lane-Roberts said he and other students watched from a window as two police officers with assault rifles "tackled" a black student. The officers were "shouting" at students to close the blinds and "get in our rooms," he said.

Chapman said RAs played a major role in communicating the lockdown to students.

Virginia Tech freshman Margaret Hatcher said she never left her room because she had been advised to stay there and distance herself from the windows; however, her roommate had to find shelter in an academic building.

"My roommate was actually in class this morning, and actually she was in the building next door to Norris," Hatcher said. "They took them all into the basement for a few hours" and around 12:30 p.m. told them to leave campus immediately.

Sophomore Erik Stange said he lives off campus and learned of the situation when his parents called him around 11 a.m.

Stange said he later learned from friends that a friend of his who was an RA in West Ambler Johnston had been shot.

"He got shot in the leg, [so] hopefully he&#39;ll be okay," Stange said.

Hours later, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Finchum confirmed that an RA in West Ambler Johnston had died.

Stange is just one of many students forced to cope with uncertainties about yesterday&#39;s events.

"At this point, there are still a lot of questions and not answers," Shyti said. "We&#39;re in a fearful environment right now, [and] I think what contributes to the fear is that people don&#39;t know what&#39;s safe."

As the community looks to beging the healing process, Virginia Tech has organized a memorial service in Cassell Coliseum, the basketball stadium, to be held today at 2 p.m. Freshman Elizabeth Rogers said she plans to attend the service.

"Even though I don&#39;t know anyone directly who [has] been harmed, I just feel that as a university we need to band together ... and try to find the best way to be there for everyone in this time of need," Rogers said.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said the university is starting a "long, difficult road" to recovery from the massacre. As the initial shock turns into a quest for answers, students at Virginia Tech are finding that the first step on that road is coming to terms with the magnitude of what has occurred.

As one RA said, "Most of us are just kind of sitting here wondering when we&#39;re going to wake up, because it feels like a dream."

--

Original Source:<a href=http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30159&pid=1582> The Cavalier Daily - April 17, 2007</a>

Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler

The Cavalier Daily

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

TRAGEDY AT VIRGINIA TECH

<b>Deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history claims 33 victims</b>

Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler, Cavalier Daily Associate Editors

"Horror, disbelief and profound sorrow" was how Virginia Tech President Charles Steger described the Blacksburg community&#39;s reaction to what is the deadliest shooting incident in the nation&#39;s history. The school now faces what Steger called a "long and difficult road" to recovery after two shootings yesterday morning resulted in at least 33 fatalities, including that of a gunman, and about 30 injuries.

The first shooting occurred at about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, resulting in two confirmed deaths. One of the victims has now been identified as one of the dorm&#39;s resident advisors.

Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum cited evidence that a domestic dispute led to the first shooting.

As of press time, police had questioned a person of interest who knew one victim and was potentially involved in the first shooting; however, police had not taken the individual into custody.

After the first incident, Virginia Tech officials issued two e-mails informing students that there had been a shooting. The first e-mail was sent at 9:26 a.m. and stated that a shooting incident had occurred at West Ambler Johnston. The second e-mail followed at 9:50 a.m. and alerted the community that there was a gunman loose on the campus. Students and faculty were urged to remain inside and away from windows.

As these e-mails were sent, the second shooting began in Norris Hall, ultimately leaving at least 31 dead, including the gunman.

Virginia Tech sophomores Trey Perkins and Derek O&#39;Dell said in a televised interview with Brian Williams the shooter entered their German class, shot their professor and opened fire on students.

Perkins, one of the few students not shot, said the shooter fired for about a minute and a half as students used desks to shield themselves from the fire.

O&#39;Dell, who was shot in the arm, described the shooter as "an Asian male, about six-feet tall."

"I think we&#39;re both still in shock," O&#39;Dell said. "It&#39;s amazing that we were saved."

Shortly after the second shooting, Virginia Tech students received a third e-mail at 10:16 a.m. announcing that classes were canceled and that outside persons were not to come on campus. Students were also urged to "lock their doors and stay away from windows." A fourth e-mail at 10:52 a.m. notified the community of the second shooting in Norris Hall with multiple victims. At that point, police were on the scene and a suspect had been detained, but police continued to search for a second shooter.

Bodies were later found at different locations throughout Norris Hall, and doors to the building were chained when police arrived on the scene, Flinchum said, noting that this was "unusual."

According to Flinchum, the campus did not go on lockdown until the shooting in Norris Hall took place because officials believed the dormitory shooting to be an isolated incident.

Fifteen victims are being treated at hospitals in the Roanoke and New River Valley area. Officials confirmed reports of some individuals jumping out of windows to avoid facing fire.

Officials declined to release the Norris Hall gunman&#39;s identity. Police continue to investigate whether a different gunman was involved in the dormitory shooting. Steger said an investigation remains underway to determine whether or not the two shootings are connected.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, currently flying back from an Asian trade mission in Tokyo, declared a state of emergency earlier yesterday to help organize the flow of assistance into Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech is currently receiving assistance from state police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, local jurisdictions and the Red Cross, according to Steger.

U.S. President George W. Bush spoke from the White House earlier today, saying he was "horrified" by the shootings and promising to "do everything possible" for the victims. Media officials have reported that President Bush may travel to Virginia Tech today.

Virginia Tech classes are canceled today and the university will hold a memorial service at 2 p.m. today at Cassell Coliseum.

"I cannot begin to covey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless and incomprehensible, heinous act," Steger said at an earlier press conference. "Today the university was struck with a tragedy we consider of monumental proportions."

--

Original Source:<a href=http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30158&pid=1582>The Cavalier Daily - April 17, 2007</a>

Jordan Dods and Courtney Kessler

The Cavalier Daily

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

Police identify Norris Hall shooter as Va. Tech student

Cho attended Northern Va. high school, peers describe him as &#39;loner&#39;

Maria Tchijov and Thomas Madrecki, Cavalier Daily Senior Writers

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Police identified Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, as the gunman responsible for killing 30 victims Monday in Virginia Tech&#39;s Norris Hall. Some who knew him described Cho as "a complete loner" and the author of "disturbing" and "excessively violent" plays.

Cho was found dead among the carnage that spanned four rooms and a nearby stairwell in Norris Hall.

Cho, a native of South Korea, was linked to the murder weapon through a fingerprint contained in immigration documents. Ballistics tests confirmed that one of the two guns found at Norris Hall was also used at the shooting that took place two hours earlier in West Ambler Johnston dormitory. While police said it is likely that the two shootings are related, the investigation is ongoing.

An ongoing investigation

Cho was an English major at the university from Centreville, Va. Peers from Cho&#39;s middle school in Centreville said he was quiet, shy and withdrawn.

"He was made fun of a lot by everybody," said Samuel Linton, a homeroom classmate of Cho&#39;s during seventh and eighth grade. "He was a complete loner, he never said a word ... he had no interaction with teachers -- he just stared like he wasn&#39;t paying attention."

David Gearheart, who also attended middle school with Cho, said he talked to Cho once or twice, but that talking to him was just that -- talking to somebody rather than with somebody.

"He had a lot of crazy writings in his notebook and stuff, how he hated Americans," Gearheart said.

Linton said Cho was once reported to the principal for writing down the names of people he was supposedly planning to kill.

"It was like a hit list," Linton said. "They found one in his locker."

Linton said people "constantly" talked about how Cho might be the type of person that would one day attempt to kill someone.

Officials at a press conference yesterday said they could not comment on allegations that Cho had a previous run-in with law enforcement officers in Blacksburg in 2005.

Authorities executed a search warrant yesterday of Cho&#39;s dorm room in Harper Hall and removed mostly documentary evidence, including his writings that were widely characterized as violent by peers and professors.

Stephanie Derry, a senior English student at Virginia Tech, said she knew Cho from a playwriting class. Derry described Cho&#39;s plays as "disturbing," but said nobody in the class took them as entirely serious.

"The plays were excessively violent," Derry said. "But you can&#39;t really assume that everything written is true or is going to be true."

The Associated Press reported that officials recovered a note in Cho&#39;s dorm that lambasted "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans."

Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said, however, there is no evidence of a suicide note.

Flaherty also announced that the handguns used by Cho in the massacre were purchased in accordance with Virginia law in March. Police have not yet determined whether Cho had an accomplice in the shootings.

Officials indicated that a person of interest from the first shooting is cooperating with police. That individual was an acquaintance of the female victim of the first shooting and was stopped by police and questioned by authorities at the time of the second shooting. As of press time, this individual was still considered a "person of interest."

Officials respond

Gov. Tim Kaine extended his condolences to the Virginia Tech community during a televised broadcast last night.

"Our hearts go out to the entire community, Kaine said. "This is the darkest day in the wonderful history of Virginia Tech."

Kaine also said he will commission an independent panel of law enforcement experts in the next 48 hours to examine the administration and law enforcement response to the events leading up to and immediately following Monday morning&#39;s shootings. The purview of this examination will include complaints about the university administration&#39;s delay in notifying students of danger immediately after the first shooting. That decision has been questioned publicly by some students and members of the media.

Kaine did not answer questions regarding policy changes.

"Before we talk about any policy changes we have to get our best assessment of what occurred," Kaine said.

Kaine added that families of the victims were the number one priority.

"This is not a crusade or something for a political campaign," Kaine said. "It&#39;s about comforting families ... and helping this community heal ... For those who want to make this into some kind of crusade I say take that elsewhere."

Officials said yesterday they are not releasing the names of the victims until they have identified all the remains and notified the next of kin. Several media sources, including the student newspaper at Tech, have released preliminary lists of the victims&#39; names.

Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said Virginia Tech will cancel classes for the remainder of the week. Further announcements about classes were expected today. Norris Hall will remain closed for the rest of the school year.

"As you can understand, we are still working to understand this terrible tragedy," Steger said. "It is very difficult for me to express how we feel."

-- Alex Sellinger and Stephanie Kassab contributed to this article

--

Original Source: <a href= http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30192&pid=1583>The Cavalier Daily - April 18, 2007</a>

Maria Tchijov and Thomas Madrecki

The Cavalier Daily

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

Virginia Tech panel discusses prevention strategies

<b>Experts in fields of security, law and mental health comprise panel; victims&#39; families voice reactions</b>

Daniel Colbert, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

Thursday, April 19, while the nation was still coming to grips with the tragedy that had unfolded in Blacksburg three days earlier, Gov. Tim Kaine created an eight-member panel of experts in the fields of security, law and mental health to investigate fully what had gone wrong and what could be done to help prevent a similar incident in the future. Last Wednesday, the panel held what was to be its last public meeting -- it has since been announced that another will follow -- at the University. While the panel heard testimony on topics as wide-ranging as community mental health services and gun control laws, much of the discussion centered on the unique challenges faced in servicing and protecting a college population.

Beyond "lockdown"

As schools consider the most efficient and safe methods for responding to threats such as an active shooter on campus, lockdowns are a common solution. In fact, much of the panel&#39;s discussion of security procedures focused on the appropriateness and plausibility of a campus-wide lockdown; however, all of the law enforcement experts who testified at the meeting in Charlottesville suggested that responding to such an event is not so simple.

"I think we have this impression that we hit a switch and everything is locked and everything is secure, and that is not the case," said Don Challis, chief of police at the College of William & Mary.

Challis testified that a lockdown creates a "target-rich environment" in the academic buildings where students congregate. He instead recommended that colleges advise students to take refuge in their own rooms or other safe places. Challis emphasized that colleges need to make it clear in advance what would be expected of students in a crisis situation.

"Hope is not a plan," Challis said. "We can&#39;t hope that when something happens these people hang on our words and do what we say."

Avoiding a tragedy

Perhaps the most vexing question surrounding the Virginia Tech tragedy regards the various warning signs of the danger that shooter Seung-Hui Cho posed to others. The panel spent much of the morning hearing ways for universities to more readily identify a troubled student.

Central to the goal of pre-emptive action are Threat Assessment Teams. These teams, present at many schools though not formally at the University, are made of up administrators, deans and law enforcement officers that meet to identify and evaluate potential threats posed by students, according to Challis&#39;s testimony.

Both Challis and Dr. James Madero, a professor at Alliant International University, testified that teams like these can be helpful in preventing school violence.

"It needs to be a campus-wide group that includes ... people who have the most contact with students," Challis said. "If they see a flag, they can run that by others."

The panel also heard testimony on the effectiveness of campus psychological services, primarily from Russell Federman, University director of counseling and psychological services.

Federman pointed to the low suicide rate at the University-- three suicides in the last seven years, which is less than a third of the national average -- as evidence that CAPS is effective in dealing with high-risk individuals.

Among the factors contributing to this success, he said, are frequent communication between the administration, faculty and CAPS to determine individuals who may pose threats and follow-up procedures for high-risk individuals who do not appear for counseling.

"My hunch is that if Mr. Cho had been involuntarily hospitalized at U.Va. [as he was at Virginia Tech before the shootings occurred], CAPS staff would have become involved with him much earlier," Federman said.

Not everyone was satisfied with Federman&#39;s reasoning, however. Holly Sherman, whose daughter Leslie was a victim of the shootings, told reporters she thought the procedures Federman described were "very similar" to those in place at Virginia Tech before the shootings.

Although he said he was confident that academic deans would have contacted CAPS about a student exhibiting the strange behaviors attributed to Cho, Federman said in a later interview he also could not say with certainty that CAPS would have prevented the shooting.

"We can&#39;t buy into the illusion that we can control the uncontrollable," Federman said. "The bottom line is if someone chooses to be violent, he or she can be without us being able to stop that."

Issues of confidentiality

One of the hotly debated issues of the day was the importance of students&#39; rights, as adults, to privacy regarding their mental health records.

Panelist Diane Strickland, Law School alumna and former dean of Student Legal Services, asked if CAPS had access to the mental health records of incoming first-year students while another panelist, Dr. Roger Depue, said he wondered if such information would prove to be helpful.

Privacy concerns dictate that the University does not have such access, Federman answered, but that is not necessarily a problem for CAPS.

Mandatory on-Grounds housing for first-year students ensures that mental health problems are observed quickly by Resident Staff or fellow students, Federman said. He added that even if mental health professionals had access to background information on a student, it would not always be necessary in deciding how to proceed with treatment.

Several victims&#39; parents expressed concern that privacy issues may hinder communication between administrators about students who present potential threats and may prevent mental health professionals from informing parents if their children seek psychological help.

The experts testifying were divided over whether privacy laws make it difficult to share information among administrators. While Challis testified that privacy laws sometimes make it difficult to determine what information can be shared legally, other experts did not believe this to be the case.

"I have been very alarmed by the perception that the law somehow impedes colleges and universities from doing what they think to be the right thing," University law Prof. Richard Bonnie said.

Parental involvement does not always help mental health professionals treat students, Federman said, and it is rarely absolutely necessary. College represents a time of transition between dependency and autonomy for many students, and he said he believed, in most cases, automatically involving parents would undermine that transition.

"That&#39;s quite different from a very acute situation where we&#39;re looking at issues of violence and danger to self and where we absolutely need the family involved to help us prevent a tragic outcome," Federman said.

During the panel&#39;s meeting, Federman resisted a call from Tom Ridge, former secretary of homeland security, to develop standardized guidelines for informing parents when their children seek psychological help, but assured the panel that mental health professionals would breach privacy laws if a situation demanded it.

Several of the victims&#39; parents present were unsatisfied with the explanations.

"I worry about a society that places individual rights in such a high regard that it jeopardizes public safety," said Catherine Read, step-mother of victim Mary Read.

--

Original Source:<a>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30458&pid=1596>The Cavalier Daily - July 26, 2007</a>

Daniel Colbert

2007-07-31

Sara Hood

Meggie Bonner <meggiebonner@gmail.com>

eng

Beta Bridge at UVA

This picture was taken on the morning of Tuesday, April 17, 2007. UVA students had re-painted Beta Bridge on Rugby Road with maroon paint with the phrase "Hoos for Hokies" in white letters

Vincent Rivellino

2007-04-29

Vincent Rivellino

eng