2008 Woodie Awards
NIU Campus Shooting Raises Safety Concerns
Emergency Preparedness Urged by University Police
Jackie Carbajal
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: News
On Thursday, Feb. 14, Northern Illinois University Graduate Student, 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak, opened fire in a lecture hall on campus killing five students before turning the gun on himself.
The next day, President Karen Haynes released a message to the campus community.
"I know I speak for all of us that we feel great sadness and empathy for the students, faculty, staff and families of those personally affected by the tragedy at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Our sympathy goes out to them as they struggle to deal with the shock at such a sudden and violent loss to their community," President Haynes said.
While questions regarding the motives of a student with no record of trouble and in good academic standing will likely go unanswered, administration is reaching out to students and faculty to help focus on preventative measures.
"We've had several systems in place even before Virginia Tech because we are such a newer campus," said University Police Department Emergency Manager, Dean R. Manship. "One thing people probably aren't aware of is that we have the ability to lock down pretty much all of our buildings from University police dispatch. So if we had some sort of situation like that, within two seconds they could click on one of their displays to lock down all the exterior doors for campus buildings and interior buildings for some of the newer buildings such as Markstein Hall."
Manship stressed the need for students to program the University Police dispatch line (760-750-4567) into their cell phones in order to connect directly with University Police dispatch for a rapid response, rather than dialing 911 and being connected with the Highway Patrol.
Students can also register for the emergency notification system at www.csusm.edu/ep to receive notifications only during an emergency. The system can notify students via cell phone, landline phones, text messages, and e-mail.
The shooting rampage is the latest to plague the United States since last April's shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University which claimed the lives of 32 people.
The next day, President Karen Haynes released a message to the campus community.
"I know I speak for all of us that we feel great sadness and empathy for the students, faculty, staff and families of those personally affected by the tragedy at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Our sympathy goes out to them as they struggle to deal with the shock at such a sudden and violent loss to their community," President Haynes said.
While questions regarding the motives of a student with no record of trouble and in good academic standing will likely go unanswered, administration is reaching out to students and faculty to help focus on preventative measures.
"We've had several systems in place even before Virginia Tech because we are such a newer campus," said University Police Department Emergency Manager, Dean R. Manship. "One thing people probably aren't aware of is that we have the ability to lock down pretty much all of our buildings from University police dispatch. So if we had some sort of situation like that, within two seconds they could click on one of their displays to lock down all the exterior doors for campus buildings and interior buildings for some of the newer buildings such as Markstein Hall."
Manship stressed the need for students to program the University Police dispatch line (760-750-4567) into their cell phones in order to connect directly with University Police dispatch for a rapid response, rather than dialing 911 and being connected with the Highway Patrol.
Students can also register for the emergency notification system at www.csusm.edu/ep to receive notifications only during an emergency. The system can notify students via cell phone, landline phones, text messages, and e-mail.
The shooting rampage is the latest to plague the United States since last April's shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University which claimed the lives of 32 people.
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