Colleges seek to faster ways to get out word of emergencies

Associated Press / WSLS NewsChannel 10
Published: April 17, 2007

AP) - Administrators at Virginia Tech are being subjected to some second-guessing over how long it took to get out a campus-wide warning in yesterday's shooting rampage.

The first killings occurred in a dorm. More than two hours later, the gunmen opened fire in a classroom building, killing 30 more people and ultimately himself.

The only alert was sent by e-mail, telling people there'd been a shooting and urging caution.

Security officials at other big schools are sympathetic. And they're also looking at ways to speed up communications in a crisis. U-C Berkeley is considering sirens or an outdoor P-A system. The University of Florida is already working with police on an auto-dialing phone system for emergencies.

And Virginia Tech itself has been working on a system to warn people via cell-phone text messaging.