Emergency.Blog

Colleges try to find best method to get word out to students

Published: 4/12/2008 11:50

Colleges try to find best method to get word out to students on problems

By Joseph Ryan -- Daily Herald Staff

ILLINOIS: A full year after the Virginia Tech massacre, Illinois college campuses have taken noticeable steps to tighten security -- but many still lack universal public address systems that could help students avoid danger.

Instead, most campuses rely on a patchwork of blast e-mail, voice mail and text message alerts, a Daily Herald survey of college security has found.

Some experts say those systems might fail to reach enough students in enough time to get them to safety.

"Who is going to find out what is going on when they are in a classroom?" said Mathew Lippman, a University of Illinois-Chicago criminal justice professor who specializes in security concerns.

Lippman argues that a universal public address system is the best way to get emergency information to the most people instantly as opposed to text messages, e-mail or voice mail that rely on immediate access to a phone or computer.

Since a student ruthlessly shot 32 people to death in the nation's bloodiest school shooting nearly one year ago, university officials have been searching for ways to keep students safe from such unpredictable violence.

The hunt for answers intensified locally when a gunman shot five Northern Illinois University students and himself to death in a packed lecture hall on Valentine's Day...

Story continues at: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=171969

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Emergency.Blog Reference:

Total of Five Dead in NIU Shooting

Virigina Tech Shooting, 31 Confirmed Dead

EmergencyNet News Summary of Recent/Major School Shootings