Campus Security not to be taken lightly by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Following the shooting that led to the death of 32, injury of 29 and suicide of the agressor at Virginia Tech University, some colleges have started to take more measures regarding campus safety. Birmingham University in New York, have added some orientation session entirely dedicated to campus safety. Others, such as Delaware Valley College put in place new mass text-message systems to help reach students and parents faster in case of a situation like the Virginia Tech shooting spree or cases such as fire or chemical spill. Although colleges don't intend to scare parents and student, they wish these security measures be taken seriously. And although campus security has always been on the agenda, but this time it is more certain that people are listening. The Austin State College in Texas had the police chief instruct orientation leaders about new security measures, and also to directly answer parent's questions. These orientation sessions are held either at the beginning of the academic year, or during the summer, in which case parents and students are being called upon in scheduled shifts. Other measures of security include improvements in communication - an important element that Virginia Tech seemed to lack - security bells being installed and the encouraging of students to report imediate or potential dangers to authorities and even other students. In many other schools, like Georgia Tech, parents turned out not to be as inquisitiveas expected. At Virginia Tech, Spokesman Chris Clough observed that the level of interest in security matters was not noticeably higher than in other years, but it was certainly a start.

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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