Pink Poogle Toy Forum

...In a school of that size, it's impossible to notify a good percentage of the people of something like this. There's just too many people, and professors aren't guaranteed to check email, and word of mouth doesn't cover that many people that quickly.

Making a mass public announcement before they had any idea where the shooter was probably would've created a huge panic and killed more people through students/faculty becoming hysterical and acting aggressively(like knocking people over to get them out of their way or attacking people they mistake for the gunman). It also would've alerted the shooter that they knew about him and he could've gotten away if he had intended to. Evacuation of that many people would be impractical and ineffective, especially without knowing where the gunman went. The school could possibly have gone into lockdown mode, but what if the gunman had a bomb or something? And what about students who were outside when the lockdown went into effect?
Maybe the response was handled badly, but how, honestly, could it have been handled better? There are so many factors involved with protecting so many people.

Like the others said, for a school with that many students and covering that much land, there's no way they could notify everyone, and it would probably cause panic. I know that here at UTA every building has a keypad + ID swipe box. They're never used except whenever school isn't in session, and they only allow certain people with their IDs in at that time. I'm guessing that system could be used as a lockdown if this incident occurred at UTA, but there's still the issue of the people outside and the people who might exit the buildings and not know they're on lockdown.

Some blame does have to go to the university, because they should not have assumed that the gunman left the campus (this is the first time I've seen any kind of school, whether primary, secondary, or higher, that assumed the gunman left the campus and the area).

I disagree. When I was in college, I always listened to the radio on the drive in. And caught the local TV for the weather while I was getting dressed. My daughter always checks her emails before going to school. Almost everyone has a cell phone with them 24/7 and have access to text messages. Easy to put a non-specific warning on all of them. And within minutes. "There has been an emergency on the VA Tech Campus. Please do not go to the campus until notified. If you are on campus, please contact the security guard in the building you are in for more information." The college I attend has my email address. They can hit one button and send the same message to all students/staff on their roster. Instantaneously. It also has a security guard at the door's entrance. And security guards walking the halls to make sure people are safe. As recent history has shown us on more than one occasion, we need to start seeing that things aren't as they were 40 years ago. We have more than adequate technology, so now it is time to tap into that technology and use it to protect us as a society. The keycard is one idea. We used that at the law firm I worked at 20 years ago. Well before anyone worried about terrorism. I hate to be so blunt but this is the age of terrorism, so we can't pretend that we still live in Mayberry R.F.D. and that Barney Fife's bullet in his pocket is going to save us. If it is "impractical" at a university that size, then officials need to think of making the campus more practical. And they should have been doing so since 9/11. Cause if a lone gunman could do something like this, think about what a few bad people with bad intent (i.e. terrorists) could do. You don't think they are looking at the U.S. and looking for vulnerabilities in our security system?

Morningstar, I respect your opinion but I really feel you're looking for someone to blame here. There's no feasible way to secure 9,000 people living on campus and another 11,000 in transit, especially if the shooter was a student who knew his way around the dormitories(as he appears to have been). Mistakes were made, but we're looking at it in retrospect.

Not looking for people to blame. Just looking at how vulnerable we are. And how it seems that no matter what bad thing happens to us as a society, nothing seems to be done to fix the ultimate problem. I live in Chicago. Where a gunman went into our main train station last December, was able to get past security guards, and kill people in the office building attached to that train station. I go into that train station quite a bit. And no one is really looking very hard at anyone who enters. I don't see security guards at the door. Hundreds of thousands of people go into that train station every day. Thousands are in there at any one time. I drive past the Sears Tower at least once a week. There are no barricades. No police patrols outside. Just a small curb, a little bit of sidewalk, and then the building. So I see the vulnerabilities quite clear. And don't see anyone doing too much to alleviate the potential harm that could be done. Nor do I see anyone telling me or anyone living in this city just what the heck we should do in the event of an emergency. Most we ever got was the advice to use duct tape and plastic on our windows.

And it is still a shame that the school officials didn't let students decide for themselves whether going to class today was worth the risk. Rather than make that decision for them. I am not saying anything that others more wise than myself aren't saying on the news right now. Watch and see. I am not alone in my thoughts whatsoever.

Most students check their school e-mail no more than once a day, and the school wouldn't have access to everyone's cell phone. Also, I know that here at UTA there isn't a security guard for every building, but the police do have a short response time (not to mention there are special call boxes everywhere that patch you into the campus police).

By far it's easier to warn people who are living on campus than those who commute, because in many residence halls they have loudspeakers, not to mention the Residence Assistants.

Let me try another example... UT Austin has around 50,000 students. It's an extremely large campus, and there are a lot more buildings than on VA Tech. In addition, it's right in the middle of downtown Austin. If a gunman started shooting people in one of the many buildings, it would be virtually impossible to secure the campus because of how many students and buildings there are, not to mention they'd have to secure/evacuate the buildings immediately adjacent to it.

The point is, unless there is only way in and out of a campus, there's no feasible way to secure it.

This is starting to get a little heated... so I will remind everyone that we have a debate board for a reason, you are all bringing up good points but this is honestly not the place to be voicing them. Please, lets all just say respects for those lost from this point on.

This is sad...here are heartless people out there. I just don't think we can really stop it. :\ It seems they're getting more and more organized as well, which is a bit scary.

Edit - Sorry, didn't see your post, Nessa.

Things like this make me start to lose faith in the human race. But then I think about the victims and their friends and families, and realise that maybe we're not so bad after all. But then I get depressed.

Nobody should have to die like that.

I wouldn't group everyone together. There are some people that go to extremes like that for whatever reason they can devise. Maybe they've lost their sanity, or couldn't take their life and lost control. Some people fall to the stress of everyday life. Some lose whatever bit of themselves are still there. It's just some people, though. I think most people are 'good' in whatever way people may interpret it. Some people just snap, it's very difficult to know why or how, and I don't think we will really ever understand it. I don't think it's a deterioration of the human race, just a few "lost souls", for lack of a better name.

It makes you wonder.....why? I don't understand he could do such a thing, or anyone for that matter. But I send my condolences to the victims and their families. This is shocking and just a terrible, awful thing.

I heard about this yesterday and I always feel sad when young lives have been lost in such an awful and senseless way. Many of them were there to secure good lives and build towards careers...and now that's all been taken away. It just makes me so angry. It also stigmatises mental illness, which is another aspect of all this. He wasn't sane for doing what he did and he lost control, yes...but now, those affected with mental illness, such as my mom, myself and many others might be stigmatised because of this gunmans actions. It just isn't fair.

My thoughts go out to the families - to parents who have lost children, to siblings who have lost brothers and sisters, to their cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and close friends...*sigh*

I didn't know they had attributed Cho's actions to any illness or disorder.

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