Campuses on high-tech alert

Blake Nixon, Atlanta, GA — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:21:42 GMT

At Georgia Tech, our Campus Emergency Alert system can send text messages, e-mails, and even perform an automated call and voicemail. As a student, I've had this happen when crimes are committed in the area near the dorms, there was a chemical spill on campus, and when there was a tornado which ripped through the Georgia Dome just about a half-mile from school. I appreciate the effort Georgia Tech has gone through to ensure that students are equipped with knowledge to make us safer.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Juan Ganzon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:50:20 GMT

It's time for some 'intrusive' security system that is proactive in keeping everyone safe.

Campuses on high-tech alert

John Doe — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:17:31 GMT

"High-tech alert systems have been used so much over the past year that many young lives have surely been saved."

I love when a supposed "news story" makes a statement like that without having a shred of substantiating evidence. Nice reporting. All the incidents you listed were situations that in no way would have caused "many young" people to get killed.

Leave the hyperbole alone.

Campuses on high-tech alert

John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:38:06 GMT

"What that means to me is that the computer is extremely important to these shooters - why, we don’t know," Block said. "Effectively, it's like a significant other to them, and they want to destroy that along with themselves when they die."

No, it means they're destroying evidence and things about them that they don't want disclosed to the public in the wake of a high-profile investigation.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Chris Coffin, Lake Forest, IL — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:45:26 GMT

Thank you for writing about this issue. It’s important for everyone on college campuses across the country, as well as any educational, corporate, hospital campus etc., to understand that you need more than one mode of communication to get information out to the intended audience, particularly in an emergency situation. While SMS is a great state-of-the-art tool, it should not be thought of as a total solution. If a student is sleeping, has the phone off during class or has muted the sound in the library, the notification is worthless. The loud voice or signal that blares from the intercom and paging system doesn’t require any personal equipment. And it doesn’t discriminate – if you’re there, you hear.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Alan Boyle — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:00:21 GMT

I admit that I can't quantify how many lives might have been saved, but I do know that there are many cases beyond the four that I've mentioned. One of those cases did involve a person with a rifle on campus, the others were perceived threats that may or may not have had anything to them. But there are plenty more cases beyond those four, and I'm pretty sure lives have been saved, just as fire alarms save lives. I can't quantify it, though, so I've taken out the word "many" (how many is "many," anyway?). Thanks for keeping me honest, John Doe, and I'm glad to keep supplying you with the things you love. ;-)

Campuses on high-tech alert

M Haberichter, Choctaw, OK — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:03:03 GMT

I am at a campus with a high tech notification system. Frankly I would much rather for my life to depend upon my own personal low tech system - Smith & Wesson

Campuses on high-tech alert

Tom Carter, DeKalb IL — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:30:09 GMT

As a graduate student at NIU I'm a little dubious about the effectiveness of warning systems as discussed in this article. In our case by the time a warning had gone out the entire incident had concluded. That said, our professors and staff did a great job of getting students to safety and implementing emergency plans and for that we are eternally grateful.

The NIU police were at the scene immediately, less than 2 minutes from the start of the incident. Although it was over by the time they got there, their response time should be an example to campus police everywhere. If your campus has time to get out an alert before the police have arrived and contained the incident, then there is something seriously lacking in their police response.

We at NIU learned that without prior warning it's impossible to prevent someone from showing up and opening fire. The only thing that can be done is for the police to contain and end the incident as quickly as humanly possible.

Warning systems are great for natural disasters and fires but shootings happen too fast. If you are close enough to need a warning, chances are you're already running away. If you recieve the warning, chances are there's no way you'll be able get anywhere near the scene of the incident if your police force is doing their job.

All that said, Colleges should have these systems in place even if just to get out news after the fact. Unfortunately as we saw at NIU these systems are best for informing the people who aren't in any immediate danger. If your life is going to be saved it's not going to be by a text message but by your peers, staff, emergency workers, or police.

Campuses on high-tech alert

James, Columbus, OH — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:30:31 GMT

Yeah that'll work all right. More precrime!

Of course, the only response that would actually _work_ without going completely dystopian is politically incorrect...

Campuses on high-tech alert

Dennis Causey, Roanoke, VA — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:40:38 GMT

I enjoyed your article on campus alert systems. I disagree with your classification of the "good old public address systems" as being "low tech" solutions. We at Valcom are the largest intercom/public address system manufacturer / solutions provider in the world and many of our products are considered very "high tech" with their modern software controls integration with campus e-mail, IP and SIP based phone and free-standing systems, text and voice messaging, pre-recorded (as well as "on-the-fly") wave file announcements, etc. More importantly, NOTHING developed to date has proven more effective for IMMEDIATE campus alerts during emergencies than an effective announcement system that covers at least major inside hallway areas of campus buildings and high-traffic outside areas. These systems must be flexible by zones or sections of campus so that, if necssary, different instructions may be given in a particular emergency pertinent only to that portion of campus or in other situations where an "all call" message would be more appropriate. We would love for you to join us on a webinar in the near future and we believe you will no longer be inclined to refer to all public address solutions as "low tech". We believe (actually we know) that all of the "high tech" solutions you mentioned are effective and necessary, but are better as the "secondary and complimentary" devices for students to turn to after the initial emergency announcements / instructions are made. We look forward to some contact from you. Thanks, Allen, and keep reporting on a very timely and potentially life-saving subject.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Drew Crecente, Atlanta, GA — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:06:09 GMT

I am encouraged to see that campuses are working to leverage technology to help protect their students, faculty and staff. It's important to not forget however that the tragedy at Virginia Tech began with what was assumed to be a "domestic incident" and as such was considered to be isolated.

If schools do not have a contingency plan for dating / domestic violence then no amount of technology is going to prevent future tragedies. It's essential that all educational organizations adopt plans for dating violence incidents in conjunction with these high-tech initiatives.

Two years ago my teenage daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. At the time I had no idea that 1 in 3 teenagers are impacted by Teen Dating Violence. Similarly, the majority of our high schools and colleges are not aware of the prevalence of this abuse.

In my daughter's memory I created an organization dedicated to preventing Teen Dating Violence. Last year we were successful participants in a move to have the Texas legislature create a bill that requires every school district in the state to adopt a formal policy regarding Teen Dating Violence (House Bill 121).

I'm encouraged by this bill and am hopeful that other states will adopt similar legislation. All the technology in the world will not help save lives unless we have spent the time to better understand the issues.

Drew Crecente
Director, Jennifer Ann's Group
http://www.JenniferAnn.org

Campuses on high-tech alert

J. Weikle — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:57:59 GMT

There was a time in America when a student respected and apprieciated the wisdom of a professor or teacher and educator.

In America today, teachers are not respected by students or even the family of a student. In many aspects this disrespect for the professional educator, and even respect for other individuals, their property, their personal opinions, and sharing of ideas, is causing the social ramifications of Campus Security in America.

There has been a generation--the last 25 years--in America that have grown up not respecting individuals in society.

When people start respecting people, society will not have to be faced with campus crime--Kent State, Virginia Tech, to highlight the issue.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Keyser Soze — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:07:39 GMT

HA HA HA....funny stuff, "Alert, Alert, you are about to be dead, please kiss your butt goodbye..." I'll be shooting back thanks. I'll take my chances being judged by 12 rather than being carried by 6.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Concerned Citizen — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:46:44 GMT

TechRadium, Inc. holds several Patents on High Tech Notification for schools and cities. They are also a fast growing company. I have provided the link to the product below. Hope this helps all of you who do not have a system yet. I like this company because they do not sell on fear or the alert basis. Their system is used often for general information in an attempt to keep users more informed.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Concerned Citizen — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:05:19 GMT

Oops: Here's the link: http://www.useiris.com

Campuses on high-tech alert

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:01:33 GMT

It is a sad state of affairs that we even have to address this topic. Please bear with me. When we were in grade school in Goodman, WI we could spend $0.50 per student for Christmas and drew names. We always traded for a boys name. That is what a box of 50 - .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridges cost back in 1959 when I was 12, so most of the boys got a box wrapped up along with a Christmas card. We then all got together and went out hunting over the Christmas vacation for Snow shoe hares with our older brethern or whoever was old enough to drive or had a car. Sometimes we had to walk a couple of miles out of town to a cedar swamp. Sometimes the older boys would kill a deer illegally. Poached Venison was an important part of our diet. (PUN intended)
I was taught the old NRA Hunter Safety Course in one of the class rooms in Goodman-Armstrong Creek Grade School and we got to bring one of our firearms to school for showing the rest of the class and so we could also learn the shooting positions.
During the late 70's and through the 80's I, along with a couple other fellas, taught the Wisconsin Hunter Education class. Sometimes two classes for 6 weeks each on four nights a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other on Mondays and Wednesdays with a Saturday shooting at the range. I think the total for all the years I taught (10+)was about 900 students, ie adults and kids around 12. Most of the classes were taught in the elementary school library or the music classroom in Peshtigo, WI after regular classes. We would set up our classes by laying out the rifles, shotguns and handguns on the tables while the Weight Watchers class finished up. We would have up to 30 students at a time. No one thought anything of laying out our firearms for the kids to use and in a school no less. What has changed?

1. We didn't hear or see any of these mass shootings, if they might have even happened in the first place, on our TVs daily or hourly.
2. They may not have happened at all during that era, because we were told it would be wrong to do something stupid like that. I don't know if anyone ever thought of it or who couldn't control themselves if they did think of it.
3. Many of the kids went to church on Sunday and each of the homes had an actual woodshed built on the back, full of shoe heel (board ends from the planing mill) and log ends from the saw and veneer mill for fuel. They got a pretty good spanking sometimes.
4. When I was 6 or 7 my Dad taught me to clean his guns and have respect for them.
5. My Dad bought me my own Savage 20 ga. single shot break open shotgun when I was 12. He said, "I taught you everything I know about guns and safety and how to take care of them. I want to tell you what my dad told me. He stuttered so it wasn't as plain as this. He said, "Until you get older, 'go hunting alone'. If you shoot yourself accidently, your ma and I will have to live with it. If you shoot someone else, you, your sisters and your Ma and I and the whole town will have to live with it."

I did hunt alone many times unless it was with the "crew" after the hares. We never thought of using a shotgun for them and we were especially careful to watch out for one another while shooting the rifles (a .22 can go over a mile and a half and still injure or kill). We were taught respect for ourselves, each other, our firearms, and the animals we hunted. That may be the difference between then and today.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Laura Collins, Southeastern PA — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:55:31 GMT

EXPERT GROUP DISCOVERS 5 REASONS WHY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ARE NOT SAFE

The SERAPH Research Team, consisting of education and law enforcement experts, has discovered five reasons for unsafe college campuses.

The SERAPH Research Team provides a bi-yearly school-safety report for Congress and in 2006 prepared an assessment of the “The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report”.

In its analysis of security concerns at colleges and universities across the country, SERAPH has determined:

1. Since the Columbine massacre in 1999, police departments across the United States have been training in “active shooter” response. This has been a well-established practice for use in public [K-12] schools.

However, our survey of college and university security directors and police chiefs shows that few have had this training. Two reasons were given: Administrators often do not want to pay for the training or in some cases bar campus security/police from participating in training to avoid what they perceived to be a "militaristic campus atmosphere”.

2. College administrators have no training in security or police operations and as a result micromanage security operations on their campuses. This is problematic because of the obvious delay it causes in response time. In addition, when a college or university has a police department, administrative micromanagement can violate state law regarding obstruction of justice.

3. A proper security audit is vitally important to campus security. However, our survey of security directors / police chiefs indicates that most college administrators will not allow these assessments to be done out of fear of liability exposure and the chance the audit would require changes in management systems.

4. Threat assessment as a science has existed in the United States since the early 1940s. Predication and prevention of violence is a critical aspect of campus security and one that, in SERAPH’s experience, seriously is lacking on higher-education campuses. All Resident Assistants, security / police and department administrators should be trained to identify violent behavior in students, staff and visitors.

A lack of systematic monitoring of people on campus contributes to crime.

5. An emergency plan is only as good as the data in it and the ability of key personnel to use it effectively.

Training is important for the effective management of an emergency by key personnel. You cannot ask untrained people to do what trained people do.

SERAPH Research Team: http://www.seraph.net/about_seraph.html

Campuses on high-tech alert

John Doe, Seattle, Wash — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:35:11 GMT

I work in the emergency notification industry and it is shocking to me that schools are still not taking this issue seriously. The choice of an alerting solution is generally left to a low level IT administrator, and they generally go with the cheapest one available versus buying one that is proven to work. It's shocking really since voice alerting and text alerting is still so error-prone. There are plenty of cases in the media of schools sending out alerts where fewer than 60% were delivered, or when messages were delayed for over an hour. I don't understand why schools don't drop those solutions instantly. Schools need to realize that the "free" and "almost free" solutions out there are no bargain, and performance needs to be taken seriously.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Jonathan Hampton, Elizabethton, Tennessee — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:30:12 GMT

Suitable low-tech response: Handgun permit holder with a 1911.

Suitable high-tech response: Handgun permit holder with a 1911 that has a flashlight attached.

No further measures required.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Michael Stovall — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:28:11 GMT

When seconds count, the police are minutes away. It's nice to know that you have time to pray before you die. Oh wait, that would be illegal! No prayer in schools either.
Back when both guns and prayers were allowed, even encouraged, such things did not occur. Somehow they still want to blame it on us rednecks...

Campuses on high-tech alert

Stan Adamson Brazil Indiana — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:31:34 GMT

Gee...no mention of the best security system. Allow students to carry their own individual defense systems. Why? Why won't you even discuss letting people actually defend themselves? It is because you're afraid of guns? Get trained on them, learn to respect them and then you too could be big boy and defend yourself rather than be defended by a police officer who only arrives in time to defend your corpse.

What part of "shall not be abridged" do the universities not understand? Ain't they go nobody who can read?

Campuses on high-tech alert

Tom Carter — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:20:00 GMT

Wow, a serious topic like school shootings and there are a couple of serious responses, a handful of adverts and a handful of folks who want everyone at a university to be armed to defend themselves.

Maybe some folks have been out of college a while but if everyone on campus had the right to carry a concealed firearm it would be anarchy. Given the rampant use of alcohol at universities can you imagine a frat party with concealed weapons? There are a dozen fights and one or two injuries a week related to alcohol on campus and a couple of fatalities a year. That's without guns, now instead of beating eachother up people can just shoot eachother. Asking people to be conciencious and responsible is hard enough with cars, especially among young people, now you want to let everyone carry something far more deadly? I'll drop out of school and go home the moment they allow concealed weapons on campus.

Personally I'm a handgun and rifle owner but they stay in their locked safe at home. I have no problem with target shooting or even hunting when used in a responsible manner. I've done gun safety courses and taught a couple as well as winning several target competitions. I know how to safely use a handgun, but I will not carry a concealed weapon because the only purpose of that is to use it against people and that is something that I will not do.

Putting concealed weapons in the hands of college students is irresponsibility of the highest order. If you want to arm students do it with swords or something that requires more skill and is far harder to kill someone with than just pointing and pulling the trigger.

Campuses on high-tech alert

Someone who cares, Toledo, Ohio — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:11:37 GMT

Thank you Mr. Carter!

Campuses on high-tech alert

a p garcia — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:02:08 GMT

I am for allowing students, if they have a permit to carry guns, to be allowed to bring them to classes the same goes for Professors and support staff.