The Virginia Tech shootings have left us a nation in mourning. Without warning or reason, promising futures have been snuffed out, and nothing we can say or do will bring the victims back. This is a dark time, not least because we are all powerless to rectify the situation.
It is even darker because what happened in Blacksburg could have happened here.
If hell were to break loose on the Vanderbilt campus, it is difficult to say what would happen. It is unlikely anyone, when facing almost certain death, would tackle the shooter to the ground and disarm him before any harm takes place, despite adolescent fantasies to the contrary. Therefore, the only prudent course of action is to develop alternate plans.
Dean of Students Mark Bandas has emphasized the measures undertaken to improve dorm security, which were well underway long prior to the Virginia Tech shootings. Currently, only a handful of dorms have card readers and cameras on elevators and in stairwells; they will be installed in Morgan, Lewis and Towers this summer and in all other dorms during the summer of 2008. In addition, third-party security officers will staff the nine residence hall desks during night hours and on weekends.
These are excellent measures, and they are overdue to say the least. However, they are essentially reactive rather than proactive. It is not as if security cameras are set to monitor all areas 24 hours a day and VUPD will teleport into the area at the first hint of trouble; cameras essentially ensure potential shooters are caught after the fact. Of course, catching anyone after the fact fails to help anyone injured or killed at the time. While Bandas’ plan is a good one, it is far from enough. Students must take the initiative at Vanderbilt before a situation spirals out of control.
The easiest means of preventing such horrific violence is to exercise common sense. For example, the university offers counseling services, and there is no reason not to take advantage of this service. On the more immediate end of things, it is time for students to take building security more seriously and stop swiping cards for people they do not know. While the cost of being that guy who won’t swipe a card may seem high, the cost of a life is much higher.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Virginia Tech. As the memorial Facebook groups say, today we are all Hokies.
