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Steger: Tech Has Boosted Security

March 20, 2008

By Carlos Santos

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech has spent more than $10 million and implemented dramatic changes to increase safety since the April 16 massacre, university President Charles W. Steger said yesterday.

"We're going to work our way through this," Steger told about 70 students and faculty members on hand for a town-hall-style meeting about the changes. "We want this thing to work, to add value to our sense of safety."

Tech officials are wading through some 400 recommendations made by faculty and staff members, students and a review panel appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to change campus life and security to help prevent any future violence on campus.

Tech officials have already made major changes since the massacre last year, when Seung-Hui Cho shot 27 fellow students and five teachers to death before killing himself.

Those include:

Steger said other changes are on the way. They include:

Steger said Tech is also looking at ways to try to figure out how students, whose phones are required to be turned off in classrooms, can be alerted in emergencies.

Susanna Rinehart, a member of the Tech faculty, said she understands the need for such a comprehensive review of so many recommendations. "We want to believe there is something we can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again … even though we know some things are out of our control," Rinehart said.

About a dozen students and professors asked questions of Steger and other top Tech officials, including a query about allowing guns on campus for self defense.

Ken Stanton, a graduate student, said he felt students were left defenseless because Tech prohibited guns on campus. "Would you consider reviewing your policy?" he asked Steger.

"I don't feel that having an individual with a handgun in a classroom increases safety," Steger responded.

Another faculty member, who declined to give her name, said some faculty members were "anxious about the possibility of copycat violence" on April 16. The school has planned events in remembrance of those who were killed.

Steger said there would be "enhanced security. As you can understand, we're not going to say what that enhanced security is, but we'll be significantly prepared."

Contact Carlos Santos at (434) 295-9542 csantos@timesdispatch.com