First of all, I'm sure they did what they thought was right and they couldn't have known what was going to happen. However, I have some thoughts.
My nagging common sense seems to think that when someone kills two people in a dorm an initial action would be to shut down campus. I'll be the first to say that I don't know all or even most of the details of the shooting situation but no additional facts change my opinion in that fact. This is a superb example of humans relying on technology, and this time it resulted in death.
Here's the situation: A couple students get shot. Let's send an email.
You're kidding me right? If there was a killer running amok in the Fort Hays dorms I would not go to class and I would sure as hell not want to rely on an email to give me this kind of information. I want guys and gals in uniforms with flashing lights. I want them at every building telling students to get off campus or to lock themselves up in their dorms.
I know we're all techno-happy as a society but not everyone has email wired into the brain. Professors have the luxury of having an office where they can more easily get email on campus. Students are in class, in the library, walking to and from class. When exactly are they supposed to check for an email titled Re: Shooting? One student was quoted as saying that these campus official whoevers had "blood on their hands". Since I wasn't getting shot at I aviod taking it that far but I agree with him in sentiment. You close campus, period. Don't rely on phone calls and emails, just keep people out of the buildings in the first place. He locked them in before he started shooting. I'm sure he was thankful for the convenience of everyone still being on campus.
I hope that if nothing else universities look over their crisis "plans" and do it with a little bit of common sense. Or here's an idea--ASK THE STUDENTS. I wouldn't be all that surprised if that didn't happen in the planning stage. (Most likely after 9/11.)
Consider you are the person in charge of notifying people of this kind of event and think about this-- if your kid was on campus would you send them a fucking email to warn them that their classmates are being shot? I don't think so.
And just so it's said I would like to point out that the psycho was a senior English major. See what happens when we don't foster creativity? It moves off the page if one is disturbed enough to take it there. He was crazy, but I still think it's an issue.
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In case anyone was wondering:
(We got this message this morning.)
In light of yesterday's tragedy at Virginia Tech, Fort Hays State University wants to assure students, faculty, staff and the general public that it has an emergency response management plan that is implemented when such incidents occur. After first responders such as police, firefighters or utility crews have secured the scene of an emergency and ascertained whether a broader threat may exist, a crisis management team convenes to
determine what messages should be sent and to whom. The university then issues timely a warning to all affected publics by e-mail and other means of communication depending on the nature of the situation. Responses are coordinated with other emergency agencies off campus. Updates continue as needed until the crisis has passed. Through the services of the Kelly Center, the university will also provide counseling for those who have been
affected by the crisis.
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