New semester, new security

August 12, 2007 09:19 pm

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By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
The shots fired on the campus of Virginia Tech University in April still ring through the heads of the nation’s universities.
As area campuses prepare for the fall semester, they are unrolling new security features to add layers of protection for students.
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Pittsburg (Kan.) State University and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami have reverse-911 systems either in place or under development. In the event of an emergency, the systems will send messages to students’ cell phones.
Such a system is in place at MSSU, said Ken Kennedy, director of public safety.
The university signed an agreement with Jyngle, a messaging company that is providing its service to universities for safety notifications. The university will pay 6 cents per text message.
“One thing that has been on our mind is immediate notification,” Kennedy said. “A good way to do that is with cell phones, since so many students have them.”
Students voluntarily sign up for the notifications at no cost. Normal charges for text messages charged by cell-phone companies will apply.
As long as the notification program is voluntary, junior Matthew Baum, of Kansas City, thinks the program is all right.
“It will be a help as long as it’s not mandatory,” Baum said. “I’m not sure about forcing everyone to give their cell number.”
MSSU also will assemble an advisory group this semester dedicated to identifying students who might be at risk for emotional problems.
“This would be a multi-disciplined group, with members from faculty, staff, housing, public safety and counseling,” Kennedy said. “We would talk about students who might be at risk, who show emotional or mental problems.”
The group would meet about once a month, Kennedy said.
The idea of the group didn’t sit well with some students who were interviewed by the Globe.
“I’m suspicious of a group like that,” Baum said. “That sounds like going overboard.”
Other schools
Butch Herring, university police chief at PSU, said a similar phone service is being developed. The system would call students, and deliver a prerecorded message and avenues for getting more information.
Herring said he didn’t know when the system would be in place. A system for delivering emergency e-mails should be in place by the end of the year, he said.
NEO also plans to implement such a system before the end of the year. Christen Stark, public information director, said the system would send text messages on cell phones.
Crowder College in Neosho has no immediate plans to implement such a system.
“One of the things we learned from Virginia Tech is that e-mails are of no value if they are not being read,” said Mark Kalmbach, security supervisor. “We are not sure what we’ll do about getting such a system.”
Kalmbach said the college is working with the Neosho Police Department on a crisis plan. In addition, Neosho officers, both uniformed and plainclothes, will regularly patrol the campus.
Task-force findings
Gov. Matt Blunt soon will release the findings of a task force appointed to study campus security. The task force, commissioned days after the Virginia Tech shooting, analyzed security needs for all Missouri universities.
Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer said the findings will be released the week of Aug. 19, the same week many universities have their first week of classes. He would not elaborate on the findings or whether the report indicates how secure universities are.
Kennedy said MSSU is doing many of the things the findings recommend. He also would not say what those findings are.
Students feel secure
For all the preparation going on at universities, security probably will not be foremost on the minds of students, said MSSU senior Nathan Blanchard, of Lamar.
“Students will be more worried about getting a parking ticket,” he said.
Blanchard and junior Luke Sheafer, of Kansas City, said they see a steady presence of campus security officers.
“Every time I go sledding on the hill, one comes by and discourages me from doing it,” Sheafer said. “I think security is fine, but they can’t prevent everything.”
Herring, at PSU, said preventing a tragedy like the one at Virginia Tech is almost impossible.
“I hate to be reactive, but I’m just trying to grasp how it is possible to proactively prevent something we don’t know anything about,” Herring said. “Someone could go off the deep end with no notification, and there’s nothing we can do to control that.”


Task force

Rod Surber, public information director for Missouri Southern State University, was a member of a task force assembled by Gov. Matt Blunt and charged with assessing security needs at the state’s colleges and universities in the wake of the April 16 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 before shooting himself to death. He also wounded 25.

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