New-aged technology for emergencies

situations on campus.

ASST FEATURES EDITOR

BLW723@CABRINI EDU

Is it too much to say that school violence is out of hand in the United States? First Columbine, Virginia Tech and now Northern Illinois University?

Steven P. Kazmierczak, the accused shooter involved in the incident at Northern Illinois University on Feb. 14 where he allegedly shot 21 people and killed five before shooting himself, does not fit the typical profile of a gunman.

The University Police Chief Donald Grady said, “There were no red flags… He was an outstanding student, he was an awarded student, he was someone revered by the faculty, staff and students alike… So we had no indications at all.”

The Valentine’s Day shooting happened in a lecture hall where 160 students registered to attend the class. Kazmierczak had graduated the college in 2006 with a degree in sociology and had no problem of reentering the lecture hall unannounced.

It turns out that Kazmierczak and the shooter from Virginia Tech purchased weapons and accessories from the same Web site. Investigators are looking into the connection.

The shooting at Northern Illinois University occurred only

In my opinion, the problem is not only that school violence is out of control but there is no way to know who is going to be the perpetrator.

As our generation has grown up knowing about the incident at Columbine, we have always pinpointed shooters as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They are stereotypically thought of as males, loners or people outcasted by their fellow classmates like Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter at Virginia Tech.

Yet, in these incidents in Baton Rouge and Northern Illinois that occurred a week short of a fortnight apart, the shooters were not stereotypical. The first, a female. The second, a male who did well in school and seemingly had no social problems.

Nowhere seems to be safe from school violence like this. In a posting by one of my friends on her livejournal, she said, “What’s wrong with this generation?”

I think, what’s wrong that we can’t fix with this generation? If everyone could just stop and do something good for someone else every day, like in the movie “Pay It Forward,” with Haley Joel Osment, maybe nothing like this would happen again.

FEATURES EDITOR

BLL722@CABRINI EDU

This semester, Cabrini has implemented a new emergency notification system. This system utilizes text messages as a means to alert students and staff members of any dangerous

I think that this is a good idea on Cabrini’s part. There have been many dangerous incidents at Cabrini in the past few years and the campus needed to find some way to be able to reach everyone.

I think a text message that is sent out right away is a much better and faster way of communication than an email sent out several hours later.

It seems that almost everyone has a cell phone these days and I’m certain the student body and staff of Cabrini are no different. However, the only prob- lem I foresee is the fact that the text alert is voluntary.

If only a few people sign up for the alert it won’t have the effect it is meant to have. I think it should be made mandatory for all students so they can be aware of what is happening on campus.

As a commuter, it is important for me to know what is happening on campus when I’m not there. This alert system will allow me to know what is going on so I know not to come on campus.

This is equally important for students who actually do live here so they can get to safety as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, Cabrini hasn’t had a situation like that of Virginia Tech but that doesn’t mean our campus will always be a safe place. We’ve already had two stabbings in the past three years and who knows what could happen in the future.

I strongly believe that all students should sign up for the emergency text alert. It only takes a few minutes of their time to sign up and if they won’t do it for the school, they should at least do it for their own safety.