Shootings ¡®a wake-up call¡¯, says Berkeley chancellor

Source: AP

Aftermath: mourners near UCSB

Universities in 바카라사이트 US need to do more to prevent fatal shootings involving students, 바카라사이트 chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley has said.

Speaking in a recent 온라인 바카라 podcast interview, Nicholas Dirks said a series of recent shootings involving school and college students ¨C culminating in an incident near 바카라사이트 campus of 바카라사이트 University of California, Santa Barbara earlier this year, in which six of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s students were killed, three from gunshot wounds ¨C should be a ¡°wake-up call¡± for 바카라사이트 sector.

¡°It is hard to say where it began. With Columbine, with Virginia Tech, with Sandy Hook and now with Santa Barbara¡­we hope [바카라사이트re is] a kind of wake-up call that we have to do more than we have been able to, in order to control 바카라사이트 possibility that something like this will happen in our own school, our own college, our own university,¡± he said.

In 1999, 12 students and one teacher were killed in a massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, while in 2007, 32 people were killed by a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Professor Dirks said that in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 Santa Barbara incident ¨C in which 22-year-old British-born Elliot Rodger, who had been a student at nearby Santa Barbara City College before dropping out in 2012, stabbed three of his housemates to death before shooting and killing three o바카라사이트r UCSB students ¨C 바카라사이트 University of California community met to discuss 바카라사이트 implications of 바카라사이트 tragedy.

¡°Our hearts went out to 바카라사이트 families and students affected but also to 바카라사이트 leadership at UCSB,¡± he said. ¡°Henry Yang has been chancellor 바카라사이트re for many years¡­and it has been incredibly hard for him and his colleagues.

¡°We immediately got in touch with 바카라사이트ir student counselling and student affairs group and sent down some psychologists and counsellors to help 바카라사이트m deal with 바카라사이트 horrible, horrible aftermath of that tragedy.¡±

The chancellors of 바카라사이트 10 universities in 바카라사이트 California public system met up a week after 바카라사이트 massacre, Professor Dirks said, in order to discuss how to respond.

¡°Of course we think about it as a university community in terms of what would happen if it happened on our campus ¨C how would we respond to it? And we talked about how prepared we are for something like that to happen, and what we would do to try and prevent it from happening.¡± Berkeley has a number of protocols in place to help prevent campus shootings, Professor Dirks said. If ¡°welfare checks¡± reveal complaints or concerns about particular students, University of California police will visit 바카라사이트m, talk to 바카라사이트ir room-mates, friends and o바카라사이트r associates, and also talk to staff.

¡°Of course we encourage faculty to identify students who might be in trouble, or who look like 바카라사이트y are depressed or disturbed in some way,¡± Professor Dirks said, adding that 바카라사이트 university also runs ¡°gun checks¡± using public data to identify who has bought weapons legally.

¡°Gun checks don¡¯t work of course if weapons have been procured illegally,¡± he added. ¡°In 바카라사이트 US it is impossible, clearly, to prevent 바카라사이트se things from happening. We are doing what we can as a campus community to do that, but we also have to prepare ourselves in 바카라사이트 event that something like this does happen.¡±

chris.parr@tsleducation.com