The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Steve Helber / The Associated Press Virginia Tech students look over the permanent memorial for slain students and faculty in front of Burris Hall.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech's internal review of the mass shootings on campus recommends more monitoring of troubled students, classroom locks and other security measures, but does not critique the school's actions on April 16.

University President Charles Steger said the internal review was never intended to investigate Tech's actions, but was meant to be forward-looking, examining improvements needed in policies and infrastructure. He said an outside panel, not the school, should do any look at the university's handling of the shootings and that he had recommended that the governor form the review panel that will issue its report Aug. 30.

"It's essential that there be an objective assessment for it to be credible," he said at a news conference Wednesday to release the internal reviews.

Steger again defended the university's decision not to lock down the campus between the time student gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed two students in a dormitory and went to a classroom building where he shot 30 people and himself.

"Such a lockdown is simply not feasible on a campus that's the size of a small city," he said.

But the president acknowledged that some things could have been done differently.

"Looking back, yeah, there are some things that are obvious that, gee, maybe you should have done that, but I think at the time we were doing the best we could, and we're going to learn from this and try to make it a more secure campus," he said.

In May, Steger named committees to look at counseling services, security and communication following the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The review panel appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is looking into the response to the shootings, Cho's background and how he was handled by the mental health system after a court found he was a danger to himself.

In calling for creation of a team of police, counselors and other university personnel to monitor students who may pose a threat to themselves or others, the counseling committee said Tech needs a better system to deal with such students. Jerome Niles, a retired dean who chaired the committee said the panel was recommending the addition of two case managers to maintain contact with troubled students.

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