In lieu of recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, I decided to find out just how secure my college is.
They just setup cameras in some of the most trafficy spots, but most of the hallways and stairwells are completely unmonitored. There is no campus-wide PA system. Some of the doors do not even have locks. The most disturbing two areas though is that all the doors open out into the hallway as opposed to opening into the classroom, and most of the windows are bolted shut. If there was someone doing something, and we were told to barricade the door, it wouldn't matter because the doors open out into the hallway and whoever they are could just go at it. And even if we did have time to escape the windows are bolted shut.
I know its a small community college, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Hell one of our security guards needs a cane just to walk around! The first couple of weeks after a school shooting are always the scariest. It's fresh in crazy people's heads. They see this as inspiration. Cho even called for troubled students to rise up and do the same. I was always made fun of until high school. And I see people getting made fun of today still. You would hope seeing this type of stuff would get people to stop picking on people, seeing the consequences to the extreme on national television for days and probably weeks to come. But it doesn't. That doesn't justify any sort of retaliatory violence, but it just shows how no body really gets it until it happens to them.
I think this massacre will open up a new era of collegiate responsibility. College recruiters will now be hearing questions about security, not inter-collegiate sports. But also I think this tragedy will bring in a new wave of rights-nudging laws and limitations. Metal detectors and extensive psychological background checks on prospective students. Can a college student with a 4.0 be rejected by a college because he/she's a nutcase? Can colleges have the power to kick a student out for being crazy? Where is the bar set when it comes to psychological sanity and insanity? Should there be a "one strike, you're out" rule when it comes to psychological health problems. For example a seemingly normal student creeps a couple kids out and because of that is kicked out of school. Where does this put creative writing? Apparently Cho wrote some real Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish shit. The guy or guys who wrote the Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't kill 32 people. Hey these are stories I bet a couple of us would love. Do you limit what creative writing students can write? Can you limit how violent or disturbing someone's writings can be?
These questions will be asked. Because we have to do everything that we can to make sure that this doesn't happen ever again. This is not going to end any time soon.
They just setup cameras in some of the most trafficy spots, but most of the hallways and stairwells are completely unmonitored. There is no campus-wide PA system. Some of the doors do not even have locks. The most disturbing two areas though is that all the doors open out into the hallway as opposed to opening into the classroom, and most of the windows are bolted shut. If there was someone doing something, and we were told to barricade the door, it wouldn't matter because the doors open out into the hallway and whoever they are could just go at it. And even if we did have time to escape the windows are bolted shut.
I know its a small community college, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Hell one of our security guards needs a cane just to walk around! The first couple of weeks after a school shooting are always the scariest. It's fresh in crazy people's heads. They see this as inspiration. Cho even called for troubled students to rise up and do the same. I was always made fun of until high school. And I see people getting made fun of today still. You would hope seeing this type of stuff would get people to stop picking on people, seeing the consequences to the extreme on national television for days and probably weeks to come. But it doesn't. That doesn't justify any sort of retaliatory violence, but it just shows how no body really gets it until it happens to them.
I think this massacre will open up a new era of collegiate responsibility. College recruiters will now be hearing questions about security, not inter-collegiate sports. But also I think this tragedy will bring in a new wave of rights-nudging laws and limitations. Metal detectors and extensive psychological background checks on prospective students. Can a college student with a 4.0 be rejected by a college because he/she's a nutcase? Can colleges have the power to kick a student out for being crazy? Where is the bar set when it comes to psychological sanity and insanity? Should there be a "one strike, you're out" rule when it comes to psychological health problems. For example a seemingly normal student creeps a couple kids out and because of that is kicked out of school. Where does this put creative writing? Apparently Cho wrote some real Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish shit. The guy or guys who wrote the Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't kill 32 people. Hey these are stories I bet a couple of us would love. Do you limit what creative writing students can write? Can you limit how violent or disturbing someone's writings can be?
These questions will be asked. Because we have to do everything that we can to make sure that this doesn't happen ever again. This is not going to end any time soon.
valium:
you have the BEST profile pic ever 