The impact of the rampage shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007 continues to be felt across the U.S. and the world. Clearly this incident, along with other active shooter incidents that have occurred since the Virginia Tech tragedy, has impacted one's awareness of campus safety and security. A number of states, other governmental entities,…

Objective: Most suicides (60%) are committed with firearms, and most (80%) of individuals attempting suicide meet diagnostic criteria for mental illness. This study assessed the prevalence of firearm injury prevention training in psychiatric residency programs. Methods: A three-wave mail survey was sent to the directors of 179 psychiatric…

The gun smoke had barely cleared from the lecture hall at Northern Illinois University where last week a former graduate student had executed five students before killing himself when local and national scribes began speculating about a new trend in mass murder American-style. The "Chicago Tribune" Web site, quick with coverage of the…

The issue of why only particular isotopes of uranium and plutonium are suitable for use in nuclear weapons is analyzed with the aid of graphs and semiquantitative discussions of parameters such as excitation energies, fission barriers, reaction cross-sections, and the role of processes such as [alpha]-decay and spontaneous fission. The goal is to…

New to the curriculum at many colleges this fall will be instruction for students in survival skills. The training material will not be like Clemson University's "College Survival Skills" Web site, which features useful advice on note taking, studying for exams, and dealing with professors. Rather, a new security DVD, Shots Fired on Campus:…

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban could have implications for colleges that prohibit firearms on their campuses. Last month the court declared for the first time that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun, not just the right of states to maintain armed…

People can bring guns most places in Arizona, but the state's Board of Regents has long banned all weapons from public college campuses. Now some lawmakers are trying to change that. State Senator Karen S. Johnson, a Republican, proposed a bill in January that would trump the regents' ban, allowing anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to carry a…

This month a company in Spokane, Washington, plans to release "Shots Fired on Campus," an instructional DVD with strategies for preventing and surviving a gun rampage. About 50 colleges have ordered the video, and its creators expect to sell several hundred more this fall. Since the massacre at Virginia Tech last year, colleges everywhere have…

In this article, the authors as assistant professors of teaching and learning at Northern Illinois University react to the campus killings. They share their stories and sentiments regarding the campus killings. They state that their prayers and condolences go out to their campus, to the families of the lost and wounded, and the family of the young…

In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, a number of state legislatures are considering bills that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. The author recently spoke at a conference on higher-education law, sponsored by Stetson University and the National Association of Student…

This article reports how researchers at Virginia Tech, working in a variety of disciplines, are studying the long-term effects of the campus killings 10 months ago. After the killings, administrators at Virginia Tech realized that their normal institutional-review process for research proposals was not sufficient to deal with the likely onslaught…

The old childhood ditty "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" has proved wiser than the avalanche of commentary provoked by the recent insults by Don Imus and the killings at Virginia Tech. Our society forbids public name-calling but allows sticks and stones. Anyone can acquire a gun, but everyone must be…

This issue of "Legislative Review" takes a look at the news in higher education from February 9 to 13, 2009. This Legislative Review reports that: (1) the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee acted on HB 1348, the concealed weapons bill, Friday, February 13. The House will consider the proposed amendment and vote on the bill,…

Colleges must manage all types of risks on their campuses every day, and none should be of greater concern than those involving students. With students at the core of their mission, higher-education institutions should minimize any risks related to student safety and satisfaction, and governing boards should establish effective policies to support…

At even the best-prepared universities, there is no playbook for handling the crush of tough decisions that comes after a mass shooting rocks an otherwise quiet campus. While colleges and universities have always had tragedies, recent occurences like the shootings at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech have fundamentally changed the way…