show floor

The Virginia Tech shootings that claimed the lives of 32 people on April 16, 2007 when a mentally ill student, Seung Hui Cho, opened fire on campus, has often been cited as the impetus for the wide-spread adoption of mass notification at schools around the country. Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that Virginia Tech has been fined $55,000 for violating campus safety laws and failing to provide timely warnings to students and staff.

But some people don't think that fine is substantial enough:
“Virginia Tech’s violations warrant a fine far in excess of what is currently permissible under the statute,” wrote Mary E. Gust, an official in the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid.

Here's how the response happened:
At issue is what the university should have done after two students — Cho’s first victims — were discovered fatally shot in the West Ambler Johnston dormitory. Gust’s letter indicated that the first Virginia Tech police officers arrived at the scene about 7:24 a.m. and that Steger was aware of the incident by 8:11 a.m.

Soon afterward, Cho started killing teachers and other students in Norris Hall, an academic building.

I have to agree that $55,000 is really piddly (not even close to a student's four-year tuition, I might note) and particularly low especially considering that also in 2007, Eastern Michigan University was fined $357,500 after officials mishandled communications following a campus homicide, according to the article.

But then again, hasn't this school suffered enough? It's been an unfortunately lesson for security practitioners around the world about the importance of having a strong mass notification system in place, one that provides students with timely and accurate information. What do you think? Should Virginia Tech have to pay more?

Every time I look at my schedule for ASIS International's Annual Seminar & Exhibits next week, I feel exhausted. Once again, my schedule is jam packed with 20-minute booth appointments, which, no matter how well I plan it, often leaves me running around the convention center like a madwoman, trying desperately not to be late ... again.

While booth appointments are an opportunity for me to catch up with company executives and see what new products and services they're offering, it's not really my thing. I mean, I like to see demos and "touch and feel" products, but really, I want to talk to the end user community. I want to learn who's using these systems. I want to know what their primary challenges are and what they're doing to solve them. Pretty simple and straightforward, really.

At ASIS this year, I'm excited to be able to talk with more end users than ever before. And the best part is, most of them have agreed to sit down with me on camera to tape segments for sdnTVnews. While the majority of SDN's articles include the end user voice, getting security practitioners on camera gives you out there an opportunity to hear their story directly from them, without my involvement. And while I think I do an excellent job of sharing their conversation with the readers of SDN, nothing beats hearing it straight from someone's mouth, with no interpretation.

And, just to wet your whistle about what to expect from upcoming sdnTVnews postings, here's a few conversations I'm particularly excited about:

- Steve Wrightson, director of security for the America’s for Christie’s auction house about securing some of the world's most valuable artwork

- Jeff Cantrell of Corrections Corp of America (they provide detention and corrections services, bet there's some cool stuff there)

- JJ Murphy from Wilkes Barre, Pa. about their approach to municipal security

- Captain Don Farrell of the Los Angeles Police Department. (Lest you forget how much you love hearing from these guys, check out the number of hits from our last interviews with them here and here)

Pretty good mix and a little something for everyone, I'd say.

And, as a reminder, if you're going to be at ASIS in Dallas on Oct. 12-14, be sure to stop by our booth (4143) and say hi. No matter how famous I become from all my star-studded sdnTVnews appearances, I'll always have time to talk with my readers. Heck, I may even convince you do to a spot with me. We'll get famous together.