Can campuses curb violence?

Nearly a year after the April 16
shootings at Virginia Tech, VCU’s latest
Commonwealth Education Poll reports
Virginians are split about whether an
incident similar to the one at Virginia
Tech could be prevented.

According to a VCU press release,
48 percent of those responding to the
poll think government or societal action
could prevent a similar incident. Of the
respondents, 47 percent think shootings
like the Virginia Tech massacre
are unpreventable, regardless of any
change in society or further government
intervention.

Sophomore Carlyn Biggs, an international
studies major, thinks prevention
isn’t possible.

“I think if somebody’s determined to
do it, it’s going to be done,” she said.
Biggs said there are ways to lessen the
risk through security and thinks VCU
does “a pretty good job.”

Senior Jeffrey Wetzel, a homeland
security and emergency preparedness
major, said he participated in a study of
Hibbs Hall’s security this past semester.
Wetzel agrees outright prevention is
impossible.

“There are certainly things you could
do to reduce the likelihood,” Wetzel
said.

One section of the poll asked
respondents whether they thought
personal records regarding social or
emotional problems should be released
to schools.

A majority of Virginians – 69 percent
– said parents should be required to
tell schools of any social or emotional problems their
children suffer from to curb school violence. Eighteen
percent think this information is best kept private.

Biggs said there’s a certain point where this should
be a requirement.

“I’m personally pretty liberal when it comes to what
institutions, like colleges, know about people,” Biggs
said.

If someone’s mental or emotional instability could
harm himself or herself, or someone else, the individual’s
state might need to be reported.

“At that point, should they really be in college?”
Biggs said.

According to the press release, this type of information
is vital to colleges and universities.

“While the legal and academic communities continue
to debate privacy issues, Virginia’s citizens seem to feel
strongly that colleges and universities need to know
more about the young people who are being admitted,”
stated William C. Bosher Jr., executive director of the
Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, in the
press release.

Students who might be affected see things differently.

“I do not support the release of private medical
information to schools,” Wetzel said.

Wetzel cited a few existing statutes about when such
records are accessible and about whether somebody
receives treatment as a minor or as an adult. He also
pointed out another possible problem if these records
become public to the university.

“There’s still discrimination based on health information,”
he said.

Wetzel said this is the reason for the privacy rule
included in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act.

The eighth annual Commonwealth Education Poll
was conducted by telephone with a sample of 800 adults
across Virginia. The margin of error is plus or minus
4 percentage points. Each year, VCU’s Commonwealth
Educational Policy Institute conducts the poll.