W.E.G.
Member
-----Original Message-----
From: VCDL President
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 9:40 AM
Subject: VA-ALERT: GMU formally reinstates anti-gun policy!
It looks like George Mason University has put in place a new version of their campus gun ban. (George Mason is rolling in his grave right
now.)
Based solely on the story below, the new policy is too sweeping.
When we get a copy of the actual wording of the policy for analysis and I will let you know what their new rule is exactly.
I just keep shaking my head at these people. How can the lessons of Virginia Tech be so totally lost on all these educators, who like to think of themselves as 'enlightened'?
Perhaps they can solve simultaneous equations, but they are truly babes-in-the-woods when it comes to understanding criminals and violent crime.
The people in the 'ivory towers' live in a false world, where one can simply post a sign saying 'no guns' and everyone is safe. BUT THAT'S NOT THE REAL WORLD!
Higher-education's ignorance of how criminals work and think has gotten innocent people killed. But higher-education keeps pouring gasoline on the fire with their self-defense bans, while going deeper and deeper into their fantasy world.
ENOUGH!
If colleges and universities think that their student's lives are expendable, so be it. But VCDL is going to put up a fight to protect those lives.
Innocent life is precious. We should protect it. NOT by establishing 'no guns, please don't hurt me' zones which only serve to protect the criminal, but by recognizing the fundamental right of all to self defense.
The Washington Post has coverage of the issue and there is a quote from me about half-way through the article (link to a FOX poll follows and then an ACTION ITEM):
http://tinyurl.com/2kza4w
Killings Focus Attention on Security at Colleges
By Valerie Strauss and Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 18, 2007; B03
With the Virginia Tech massacre still fresh in the minds of students returning to campuses across the nation, universities and colleges this fall are taking new steps to address security issues.
The concerns run deep. A new poll suggests that half the students headed to college this year will feel less safe on campus because of the April rampage, in which a Virginia Tech senior killed 32 people before taking his own life.
Some George Mason University students sought a loosening of restrictions on carrying concealed weapons there, saying they want to be in a position to defend themselves if a similar event should occur.
But security-minded GMU officials acted yesterday to strengthen the ban on carrying weapons on campus. Only police officers are exempt from the policy.
"Just as our institution is committed to providing students with the best possible education, we are equally dedicated to establishing the safest possible environment for our students to pursue their educational goals," said Thomas Hennessey, GMU's chief of staff.
Colleges and universities have spent millions of dollars to update emergency procedures since Seung Hui Cho's rampage at Virginia Tech.
Some campuses have installed surveillance cameras, and others have installed computer programs that alert students and parents to emergencies. There were numerous complaints that Virginia Tech officials were slow to alert those on campus about the shootings.
This fall, the University of Richmond will use a new notification system that can reach every student by text message, e-mail or voice mail in the event of an emergency. The University of the District of Columbia is installing a public address system to inform students of incidents.
At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, thousands of students will receive new bookmarks with tips on staying safe.
David Ceasar, 22, a first-year graduate student at George Washington University, said: "Parents who send their kids away to colleges all around the country are always worried about safety and want to keep a watchful eye, but especially in the Washington, D.C., area because we are the nation's capital and the threat of terrorism here is higher."
A new era of security on college and university campuses began with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, school officials say. Those attacks, followed quickly by a national anthrax scare, prompted institutions of higher education to begin revamping their security structures. The sense of vulnerability was reinforced a year later by the Washington area sniper shootings.
Security plans have been evolving since.
"Virginia Tech served as another exclamation point," said Sally Weinbrom Kram, director of public and governmental affairs for the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.
A survey commissioned by MTV and conducted by the consulting firm OTX asked 200 people heading off to college whether the Virginia Tech shootings will affect how safe they feel on campus this year. Half of them said it would.
The GMU students who want gun restrictions eased contend that fewer people might have died at Virginia Tech if those with permits to carry guns had been allowed to enter university facilities while armed.
"What is the point of telling somebody that their life is so unimportant that they should not be allowed to defend it?" asked Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League and a supporter of the students' request. "Where does the university come off defending such a policy?"
The GMU Board of Visitors voted yesterday to adopt a new policy prohibiting guns on campus, because of concern that the ban might be susceptible to legal challenge. The new policy has been deemed legally acceptable by the university's attorneys and by the office of the Virginia attorney general, GMU spokesman Dan Walsch said. "That's not to say there won't still be a legal challenge," he said.
Other security initiatives have been implemented at GMU. Campus buildings will be locked after hours, and key cards will be required to enter dormitories.
On many campuses, students and faculty members will have access to new text-messaging emergency notification systems. Some, including Catholic University in the District, allow parents to receive alerts.
Georgia Tech's emergency alert system went into effect this month.
More than 4,200 students have signed up for text and voice mail notifications, and the number is growing by about 100 or more a day, officials there said.
UDC's public address system is not so high-tech, though it can sound warnings across the campus. Kram said such systems do not convey precise information. For example, one beep might mean "shelter in place," and two might mean get off campus as fast as possible.
"You have to do some education with these systems," she said.
--
Here is a poll. Let them hear from us!
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/
--
ACTION ITEM:
If you would like to communicate on this matter with the University Provost, Dr. Peter N. Stearns, here is his email address:
[email protected]
Ironically, Dr. Stearns is a member of the HISTORY department!
Surely he, of all people, should know that those who don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.
-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
From: VCDL President
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 9:40 AM
Subject: VA-ALERT: GMU formally reinstates anti-gun policy!
It looks like George Mason University has put in place a new version of their campus gun ban. (George Mason is rolling in his grave right
now.)
Based solely on the story below, the new policy is too sweeping.
When we get a copy of the actual wording of the policy for analysis and I will let you know what their new rule is exactly.
I just keep shaking my head at these people. How can the lessons of Virginia Tech be so totally lost on all these educators, who like to think of themselves as 'enlightened'?
Perhaps they can solve simultaneous equations, but they are truly babes-in-the-woods when it comes to understanding criminals and violent crime.
The people in the 'ivory towers' live in a false world, where one can simply post a sign saying 'no guns' and everyone is safe. BUT THAT'S NOT THE REAL WORLD!
Higher-education's ignorance of how criminals work and think has gotten innocent people killed. But higher-education keeps pouring gasoline on the fire with their self-defense bans, while going deeper and deeper into their fantasy world.
ENOUGH!
If colleges and universities think that their student's lives are expendable, so be it. But VCDL is going to put up a fight to protect those lives.
Innocent life is precious. We should protect it. NOT by establishing 'no guns, please don't hurt me' zones which only serve to protect the criminal, but by recognizing the fundamental right of all to self defense.
The Washington Post has coverage of the issue and there is a quote from me about half-way through the article (link to a FOX poll follows and then an ACTION ITEM):
http://tinyurl.com/2kza4w
Killings Focus Attention on Security at Colleges
By Valerie Strauss and Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 18, 2007; B03
With the Virginia Tech massacre still fresh in the minds of students returning to campuses across the nation, universities and colleges this fall are taking new steps to address security issues.
The concerns run deep. A new poll suggests that half the students headed to college this year will feel less safe on campus because of the April rampage, in which a Virginia Tech senior killed 32 people before taking his own life.
Some George Mason University students sought a loosening of restrictions on carrying concealed weapons there, saying they want to be in a position to defend themselves if a similar event should occur.
But security-minded GMU officials acted yesterday to strengthen the ban on carrying weapons on campus. Only police officers are exempt from the policy.
"Just as our institution is committed to providing students with the best possible education, we are equally dedicated to establishing the safest possible environment for our students to pursue their educational goals," said Thomas Hennessey, GMU's chief of staff.
Colleges and universities have spent millions of dollars to update emergency procedures since Seung Hui Cho's rampage at Virginia Tech.
Some campuses have installed surveillance cameras, and others have installed computer programs that alert students and parents to emergencies. There were numerous complaints that Virginia Tech officials were slow to alert those on campus about the shootings.
This fall, the University of Richmond will use a new notification system that can reach every student by text message, e-mail or voice mail in the event of an emergency. The University of the District of Columbia is installing a public address system to inform students of incidents.
At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, thousands of students will receive new bookmarks with tips on staying safe.
David Ceasar, 22, a first-year graduate student at George Washington University, said: "Parents who send their kids away to colleges all around the country are always worried about safety and want to keep a watchful eye, but especially in the Washington, D.C., area because we are the nation's capital and the threat of terrorism here is higher."
A new era of security on college and university campuses began with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, school officials say. Those attacks, followed quickly by a national anthrax scare, prompted institutions of higher education to begin revamping their security structures. The sense of vulnerability was reinforced a year later by the Washington area sniper shootings.
Security plans have been evolving since.
"Virginia Tech served as another exclamation point," said Sally Weinbrom Kram, director of public and governmental affairs for the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.
A survey commissioned by MTV and conducted by the consulting firm OTX asked 200 people heading off to college whether the Virginia Tech shootings will affect how safe they feel on campus this year. Half of them said it would.
The GMU students who want gun restrictions eased contend that fewer people might have died at Virginia Tech if those with permits to carry guns had been allowed to enter university facilities while armed.
"What is the point of telling somebody that their life is so unimportant that they should not be allowed to defend it?" asked Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League and a supporter of the students' request. "Where does the university come off defending such a policy?"
The GMU Board of Visitors voted yesterday to adopt a new policy prohibiting guns on campus, because of concern that the ban might be susceptible to legal challenge. The new policy has been deemed legally acceptable by the university's attorneys and by the office of the Virginia attorney general, GMU spokesman Dan Walsch said. "That's not to say there won't still be a legal challenge," he said.
Other security initiatives have been implemented at GMU. Campus buildings will be locked after hours, and key cards will be required to enter dormitories.
On many campuses, students and faculty members will have access to new text-messaging emergency notification systems. Some, including Catholic University in the District, allow parents to receive alerts.
Georgia Tech's emergency alert system went into effect this month.
More than 4,200 students have signed up for text and voice mail notifications, and the number is growing by about 100 or more a day, officials there said.
UDC's public address system is not so high-tech, though it can sound warnings across the campus. Kram said such systems do not convey precise information. For example, one beep might mean "shelter in place," and two might mean get off campus as fast as possible.
"You have to do some education with these systems," she said.
--
Here is a poll. Let them hear from us!
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/
--
ACTION ITEM:
If you would like to communicate on this matter with the University Provost, Dr. Peter N. Stearns, here is his email address:
[email protected]
Ironically, Dr. Stearns is a member of the HISTORY department!
Surely he, of all people, should know that those who don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.
-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
