Washington Post (08/23/07) P. B1 ; Jenkins, Chris L.; Horwitz, Sari
The latest recommendations from three review committees in the wake of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech focus on university communication systems improvements, better privacy issue training for staff members, increased security for students and faculty, and reforms for the university's counseling system to ensure troubled students get the help they need. In terms of communication recommendations, the review committees indicated electronic banners in classrooms and hallways could be used to alert students to emergencies, and a location system could be used to pinpoint where students are should emergencies arise. Security recommendations included the use of locks on the inside of classroom doors to prevent killers from entering classrooms at random. The review panels also indicated changes be made to the counseling system to increase monitoring of students deemed a possible danger to themselves or others. Additionally, student health records should be shared among university staff to ensure monitoring systems are functional; it is not clear whether Virginia Tech's officials shared information on the April 16 gunman. Parents, however, continued to criticize university officials for not locking down the campus to prevent more student and faculty deaths, but the officials rebutted, "A lockdown is simply not feasible on a campus the size of a small city."(go to web site)
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