A positive suggestion for Virginia Tech and all other universities: Instead of using

[Redstone]

e-mail as a "warning system," how about installing sirens? After all, people in the Midwest know EXACTLY what to do when the tornado-warning sirens go off, and incoming students could be told to go into lockdown mode when they hear the siren.

The warning would be immediate, and received by all immediately.

Just a thought.

Redstone

[Demeter]

1. Those Bloody Sirens Don't Work

They cost too much to maintain and the weather croaks them.

[IA_Seth]

6. The bloody sirens work great here in Iowa...

The weather (and we experience some extremes!) hasn't knocked any out of service, and I have always been warned of tornados well ahead of time thanks to them. They also function as the noon whistle daily in many small towns.

Sounds like a winning plan to me.

[Redstone]

7. Oh, damn. I didn't like hearing that, but I'm glad you told me. It happens that we live

in an area with nuke-plant sirens.

I SURE hope they're maintaining them.

Redstone

[wakeme2008]

2. IMHO sounds better to me too nt

[wtmusic]

3. As we all grasp for solutions

that seems as likely as any to help. In my kids' school district, when a particular alarm sequence goes off, they go into "lockdown" -- everyone is confined to rooms.

Granted, a university is a whole different animal than an elementary school.

[Marie26]

4. They had sirens

The sirens just weren't activated. They had a whole emergency procedure - when the sirens sound, the campus is supposed to enter lockdown, students are supposed to stay inside & listen to the radio or call the campus emergency line for more info. Why weren't the sirens turned on?

VA Tech Early Warning Siren System - http://www.ehss.vt.edu/Programs/OSD/Emergency%20Planning/siren%20system.htm

[Redstone]

5. I'll be damned. I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

Redstone

[Marie26]

10. Sure

Looking at their website, VA Tech did have a detailed emergency plan for these kinds of situations. The only problem is, they didn't follow it. I still don't understand why.

[RC Quake]

8. Sounds Great

But, who is going to pay for the installation of this warning system? State? Feds?

I think not...

Tuition.

[Lil Missy]

9. Sadly, there is probably not much anyone can do when a psychotic snaps

Seriously, there is NO WAY an entire campus can be evacuated without anyone getting shot when a gun-wielding delusional person is among them. Impossible.

Better solution would be to take the warning signs seriously, and he sure gave off plenty of red flags. Indeed, he was released from a mental health hospitalization in 2005 after being designated as someone in danger of harming himself and/or others.

The only fault I can assign to the university is that they did not evict him after several complaints from students and faculty. I don't understand why they couldn't do that, but maybe they were the victims of strict regulations regarding such things. But honestly, if a 6 year old can be suspended and removed from school in handcuffs for a tantrum, why can't a college ban a student for the much more extreme behavior demonstrated by this kid?

And I don't have any answers. It's just fuckin' sad that people cannot get adequate care for mental illness in this country. This guy was obviously very sick and in need of medical intervention.

[BlackVelvet04]

11. A number of students said they heard

a siren.

"Steger said that soon after the dorm shooting the university used a telephone alert system to notify resident assistants of the tragedy and sent out e-mails to help notify the students who lived on- and off-campus. He also said warning sirens went off."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/campus.security/index.html

From what I understand the warning didn't go out until the second shooting because there was evidence that the first shooting was a domestic event and the shooter had fled the campus. They had the boyfriend of the first girl who was killed pulled over on Interstate 81 and was questioning him at the time.

My cousin walked out of her dorm just after the second shootings started. She saw people running around and screaming and had sense enough to go back into her dorm room and lock the door.

Governor Kaine has called for a full investigation.