Gabrielle Vaughan April 20, 2009 CAS 100A

April 16, 2007 Assailant: 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho Location: Virginia Polytechnic Institute FIRST ATTACK- –West Ambler Johnston Building Co-ed residence hall –Housed 894 students –Only assessable to residents via magnetic keycard Cho shot his first two victims at 7:15 AM

The Assailant's Next Move: Fled the scene to dorm room Deleted s/hard drive 9:01 AM - Mailed a box of writings and video recordings to NBC news Headed to Norris Hall

Norris Hall Cho brought a backpack –Filled with: several chains, locks, a hammer, a knife, two guns and approximately 400 rounds of ammunition. Cho’s following actions: Chained the doors shut/taped bomb threat to the door Moved from classroom to classroom shooting and killing many students and professors

Norris Hall

The Second Shooting Could Have Been Prevented The students could have been evacuated/notified directly after the shooting –The reason they were not: Officials thought that the shooting was “domestic” - suggesting that it was between individuals that knew each other, also that it was an isolated attack. The bomb threat was found by a faculty member and brought to the administration - but it was never called in. If the police were to be notified of the bomb threat, they could have arrived on the scene before the shooting occurred.

Importance of Increased Security on College Campuses THREE MAIN POINTS: –How to go about increasing security –How much will it cost? –How effective it can be

Statistical Information All schools and campuses can improve upon their school security Out of the 6,000 colleges and universities nationwide: –There have been: 40,000 burglaries 3,700 forcible sex offenses 7,000 aggravated assaults 48 murders PER YEAR According to March 2008 edition of Reader’s Digest

These Statistics Can Be Lowered Almost 90% of crimes on campuses are due to lack of security. –Precautions that should be taken: Control over who is let onto school property Armed security should be placed at the entrance of the campus, along with many of the buildings and dorms to check for identification Visitors should be searched before entering campus Students should carry ID with them at all times This will prevent trespassers

How Much Will it Cost? There is a definite lack of funding According to Obama, it would cost the country $40 million dollars to assure MINIMUM security on campuses That would require college students to pay an additional 5-7,000 dollars a year Many students do not feel that paying this money would be worth it.

If you had the chance to go back and pay an extra seven thousand dollars that day of the VATech shooting, to ensure that those 33 individuals would be alive today, would you?

Time is Money It is a disadvantage that we will have to pay thousands of dollars to increase our college campus’ security… –But you cannot put a price on someone’s life! –This extra money will be spent to hire more people to keep us safe, these precautions will not only save lives, but prevent many theft, assault and rape cases.

It’s Almost Impossible to Prevent All Crimes Every life saved is a step closer to a safer environment. The smaller the campus, the less number of entrances it has, which will be easier to protect students and faculty. Bigger campuses present a bigger safety challenge, but it is not impossible.

Conclusion There are various steps every campus should take in order to ensure their students and faculty a safer environment. This act holds a $5-7,000 dollar price tag, but it could save your life - or the life of a loved one. This will not put a dead stop to crimes but it will drastically lower the amount of crimes on college campuses.

Contact Information 305 North Hall