Bucks says campus is secure
SARA CROUSE
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Campus News
After yet another school shooting,
this time on Valentine's Day,
students across the nation wonder
what their colleges were
doing to ensure that emergency
alerts and responses were up to
par.
Northern Illinois University is
the latest school in mourning
after a graduate student opened
fire in a lecture hall. Stephen P.
Kazmierczak killed seven students
and injured 15 others,
finally ending the slaughter by
taking his own life. Just two days
prior, on Feb. 12, a 14-year-old
boy shot a student at E.O. Green
Junior High School in Oxnard,
Ca., leaving the 15-year-old victim
in a comatose state.
Although preventing these
devastating acts is unlikely, there
are measures that schools can
take.
At the beginning of 2007's fall
semester, Bucks issued a statement
to all students encouraging
them to sign up for emergency
alerts through text messages and
emails. "I signed up for text
alerts right away," said Kevin
Ruddell, a networking technology
major from Langhorne. With
the new emergency warning system,
alerts are automatically sent
to those who registered online.
In addition to the e2campus
service, students can access the
Bucks website and a web crawl
banner will alert students of any
urgent notifications.
There has also been some talk
about installing security cameras
this year at Bucks. "Security
cameras are currently limited to
the bookstore, library and lower
library hall which are all frequent
causeways, and the campus
is working towards
installing an underground conduit
to add cameras in the parking
lots and areas such as the
financial aid office where money
is transferred," said Chris Lloyd,
director of security and safety.
The campus would benefit from
added security cameras as they
are a cost-effective way to reduce
deviant behavior on campus.
With the addition of surveillance
cameras throughout the campus,
this time on Valentine's Day,
students across the nation wonder
what their colleges were
doing to ensure that emergency
alerts and responses were up to
par.
Northern Illinois University is
the latest school in mourning
after a graduate student opened
fire in a lecture hall. Stephen P.
Kazmierczak killed seven students
and injured 15 others,
finally ending the slaughter by
taking his own life. Just two days
prior, on Feb. 12, a 14-year-old
boy shot a student at E.O. Green
Junior High School in Oxnard,
Ca., leaving the 15-year-old victim
in a comatose state.
Although preventing these
devastating acts is unlikely, there
are measures that schools can
take.
At the beginning of 2007's fall
semester, Bucks issued a statement
to all students encouraging
them to sign up for emergency
alerts through text messages and
emails. "I signed up for text
alerts right away," said Kevin
Ruddell, a networking technology
major from Langhorne. With
the new emergency warning system,
alerts are automatically sent
to those who registered online.
In addition to the e2campus
service, students can access the
Bucks website and a web crawl
banner will alert students of any
urgent notifications.
There has also been some talk
about installing security cameras
this year at Bucks. "Security
cameras are currently limited to
the bookstore, library and lower
library hall which are all frequent
causeways, and the campus
is working towards
installing an underground conduit
to add cameras in the parking
lots and areas such as the
financial aid office where money
is transferred," said Chris Lloyd,
director of security and safety.
The campus would benefit from
added security cameras as they
are a cost-effective way to reduce
deviant behavior on campus.
With the addition of surveillance
cameras throughout the campus,
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