Spring Break
Dorm safety questions arise in wake of attacks
Nick Veronin
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News
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Many questions have been raised in the wake of Monday's tragic shooting at Virginia Tech University, but there is perhaps no question more glaring than the one raised by San Jose State University student Brian Ciopyk:
How was the suspected gunman, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, able to conduct two separate shootings more than two hours apart on opposite sides of campus, taking the lives of 33 students including his own?
"The fact that the guy was able to get completely across a (2,600) acre campus after doing that," said Ciopyk, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering, "that's pretty ridiculous."
Ciopyk said he lives on the seventh floor of Campus Village. He said that aside from evacuating the building via the fire escapes he has no idea what he would do if a similar incident as the massacre at Virginia Tech were to occur in his residence hall.
"I know the fire evacuation plan," he said, "but that is the only type of evacuation plan I know of."
Ciopyk noted that he feels safe in the dorms and does not worry too much about his safety.
Alexis Rosen, a freshman majoring in psychology, said she was taken aback that authorities did not take immediate action - assuming that the gunman had fled campus.
"I thought that was really not OK," Rosen said. "I mean when there are people getting killed you don't assume the perpetrator just left right away."
Rosen said that although she feels safe in her room in Joe West Hall and that what happened at Virginia Tech on Monday was somewhat of an anomaly, it is something that weighs on her mind.
"It hit really close to home," she said.
Rosen said she wouldn't know what to do if a gunman were to open fire in Joe West.
"I mean, no one really knows what to do in a situation like that," she said.
When contacted by phone, Kovina Brown, community relations coordinator for housing at SJSU, could not comment in detail on the plans her department has in place if such an emergency should occur in the residence halls at SJSU, but said that there was an "extensive system" to deal with such an event.
How was the suspected gunman, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, able to conduct two separate shootings more than two hours apart on opposite sides of campus, taking the lives of 33 students including his own?
"The fact that the guy was able to get completely across a (2,600) acre campus after doing that," said Ciopyk, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering, "that's pretty ridiculous."
Ciopyk said he lives on the seventh floor of Campus Village. He said that aside from evacuating the building via the fire escapes he has no idea what he would do if a similar incident as the massacre at Virginia Tech were to occur in his residence hall.
"I know the fire evacuation plan," he said, "but that is the only type of evacuation plan I know of."
Ciopyk noted that he feels safe in the dorms and does not worry too much about his safety.
Alexis Rosen, a freshman majoring in psychology, said she was taken aback that authorities did not take immediate action - assuming that the gunman had fled campus.
"I thought that was really not OK," Rosen said. "I mean when there are people getting killed you don't assume the perpetrator just left right away."
Rosen said that although she feels safe in her room in Joe West Hall and that what happened at Virginia Tech on Monday was somewhat of an anomaly, it is something that weighs on her mind.
"It hit really close to home," she said.
Rosen said she wouldn't know what to do if a gunman were to open fire in Joe West.
"I mean, no one really knows what to do in a situation like that," she said.
When contacted by phone, Kovina Brown, community relations coordinator for housing at SJSU, could not comment in detail on the plans her department has in place if such an emergency should occur in the residence halls at SJSU, but said that there was an "extensive system" to deal with such an event.
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